Sunday, February 20, 2011

More from the Thom Yorke interview with The Believer

Here is an interview with Thom Yorke talking about a revolutionary way of releasing an album.

August 10, 2009

HE BELIEVER:…This isn’t the end of Radiohead album art as we know it?

TY: No, we’ve actually got a good plan, but I can’t tell you what it is, because someone will rip it off. But we’ve got this great idea for putting things out.

THE BELIEVER: In a digital realm?

TY: In a physical realm and a digital realm. But, yeah.. no, I can’t tell you what it is. [Laughs] Sorry to be so vague about everything.

///

THE BELIEVER: Do you think [the In Rainbows pay-what-you-want method] worked?

TY: Oh, yeah. It worked on two or three different levels. The first level is just sort of getting a point across that we wanted to get across about music being valuable. It also worked as a way of using the Internet to promote your record, without having to use iTunes or Google or whatever. You rely on the fact that you know a lot of people want to hear it. You don’t want to have to go to the radio first and go through all that bullshit about what’s the first single. You don’t want to have to go to the press. That was my thing, like, I am not giving it to the press two months early so they can tear it to shreds and destroy it for people before they’ve even heard it. And it worked on that level. And it also worked financially.

BELIEVER: Do you think this method would work for other bands who aren’t as known as Radiohead?

TY: With the press, we’re in a lucky position where we don’t really have to rely on a reviewer’s opinion, so why would we let that get in the way? If people want to play it for themselves, why don’t we just give it to them to listen to? I just don’t want to have to read about it first.

BELIEVER: And that style of release definitely promotes the album as a work of art, rather than a bunch of singles floating around the Internet.

TY: Oh, that’s interesting. I appreciate that. Unfortunately, a lot of people got the album in the wrong order.

BELIEVER: What about the idea of an album as a musical form? You think that the format is still worthwhile amid iPod shuffling?

TY: I’m not very interested in the album at the moment.

BELIEVER: I’ve heard you talk a lot about singles and EPs. Is that what you’ve been moving toward?

TY: I’ve got this running joke: Mr. Tanaka runs this magazine in Japan. He always says to me, “EPs next time?” And I say yes and go off on one, and he says, “Bullshit.” [Laughs] But I think really, this time, it could work. It’s part of the physical-release plan I was talking about earlier. None of us want to go into that creative hoo-ha of a long-play record again. Not straight off. I mean, it’s just become a real drag. It worked with In Rainbows because we had a real fixed idea about where we were going. But we’ve all said that we can’t possibly dive into that again. It’ll kill us … Jonny [Greenwood] and I have talked about sitting down and writing songs for orchestra and orchestrating it fully and just doing it like that and then doing a live take of it and that’s it — finished. We’ve always wanted to do it, but we’ve never done it because, I think the reason is, we’re always taking songs that haven’t been written for that, and then trying to adapt them. That’s one possible EP because, with things like that, you think do you want to do a whole record like that? Or do you just want to get stuck into it for a bit and see how it feels?

///

THE BELIEVER: In some ways, the way Internet singles work is close to the way things used to be with the music industry in the ’50s, before full-lengths were the thing, and radio singles were what defined artists.

THOM YORKE: Right, and if you forget about the money issue for just a minute, if it’s possible to do that — because these are people’s livelihoods we’re talking about — and you look at it in terms of the most amazing broadcasting network ever built, then it’s completely different. In some ways, that’s the best way of looking at it. I mean, I don’t spend my fucking life downloading free MP3s, because I hate the websites. No one seems to know what they’re talking about. I’d much rather go to sites like Boomkat, where people know what they’re talking about.

BLVR: Boomkat is great.

TY: It’s brilliant. To me, that’s a business model. It’s like when I used to go to music shops in Oxford. You’re looking at this and you’re looking at that and there’s a whole line of other things going down the side saying, “You’ll probably like this,” and “You might like this.”

BLVR: I love those stores where everything’s hand-selected and the clerks write little descriptions about the music.

TY: Yeah, and you can listen to it all. I mean, Boomkat is very specific with the type of stuff they flog there, but I can’t see why that wouldn’t work for all music.

link to original: http://www.greenplastic.com/2009/08/10/more-from-the-thom-yorke-interview-with-the-believer/





This was my initial video when The King Of Limbs was announced.



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15 comments:

  1. This might be of interest: http://www.radiohead.com/msgboard/dim.html?ID=331008157

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  2. thanks kyle. I was able to find out its no really Jonny. When the band posts its first name only and in blue

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  3. Hi, I've been thinking about the black picture with hands,and if you take it from the right to the left, you have 4 groups: 2 limbs with an eye, one limb with an eye, 2 limbs and 1 limb. It could be - the first group =8 tracks released on full moon (moon on the stick, as you said), something shorter released on the next full moon, and the other two releases (one longer and one shorter) on the no moon periods.

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  4. Josh first off Thanks for this site it is pretty damn slick. Love all the theories floating around about TKOL2. I am definitly a believer, I have wrote a post about it on my own blog, but your info here is so much more insightful and in more depth.

    Some of my additional theories are along the lines of how they have marketed and advertised the release of TKOL. Also only picking 4 songs out of all the unreleased stuff and only putting out an 8 track album seems fishy. I am with you on the 99% chance that there is more to this album. The fact is it is the first ever Newspaper album it is bond to be EPIC in everyway possible and that starts with the way it is released.

    Anyways here is the link to my thoughts on this
    http://fakeplastictunes.blogspot.com/2011/02/radiohead-king-of-limbs-part-2.html

    Thanks again for this site it is just great!

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  5. I guess you need to see the first thing that got me going:

    http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?c=1&p=9807&title=radiohead_the_king_of_limbs_the_conspira&blog=10&more=1

    So then I look at the Chieftain Mews Twitter and this stands out:


    "If all the holes were filled in Albert Hall then there shall be no leaks. I am at a casino and need you to transfer me funds: 112872391247"

    What do these 12 numbers mean? Who the fuck knows, I'm only in MATH-110. You really need to see the whole Twitter account... I just created a Twitter and sent a request to Chieftain Mews. My only Tweet says: "I'm on to you." My profile picture is the one at the top of this e-mail. Pretty sure I won't be friended or whatever you call it on Twitter.

    Here is the first Albert Hall reference I could come up with:

    "I read the news today oh boy
    Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
    And though the holes were rather small
    They had to count them all
    Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.
    I'd love to turn you on"

    Excerpts from Albert Hall on Wikipedia:

    "Around the outside of the hall is a great mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication. Proceeding anti-clockwise from the north side the sixteen subjects of the frieze are: (1) Various Countries of the World bringing in their Offerings to the Exhibition of 1851; (2) Music; (3) Sculpture; (4) Painting; (5) Princes, Art Patrons and Artists; (6) Workers in Stone; (7) Workers in Wood and Brick; (8) Architecture; (9) The Infancy of the Arts and Sciences; (10) Agriculture; (11) Horticulture and Land Surveying; (12) Astronomy and Navigation; (13) A Group of Philosophers, Sages and Students; (14) Engineering; (15) The Mechanical Powers; and (16) Pottery and Glassmaking."

    "The official opening ceremony of the Royal Albert Hall was on 29 March 1871. After a welcoming speech by Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak, so the Prince had to announce that "The Queen declares this Hall is now open". A concert followed, when the Hall's acoustic problems became immediately apparent. These were not properly tackled until 1969 when a series of large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") were installed in the roof to cut down the notorious echo. It used to be said that the hall was the only place where a British composer could be sure of hearing his work twice.

    Initially lit by gas (when thousands of gas jets were lit by a special system within 10 seconds), full electric lighting was installed in 1897. During an earlier trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times newspaper declaring it to be "a very ghastly and unpleasant innovation"."

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  6. As far as the rest of the Mews Twitter is concerned (which, again, you need to see) - from here on out the combinations of first letters of words that I googled and other such terms will be in italics and bold (I didn't think to do any anagrams, now that I think about it):

    - Merchandise X7 = Coca-Cola formula
    - Solid State Relay (googled "ssr")
    - "I got no proper tleep, ltd, in truth, so bad waa This nonditioj Van, I dreaded going to bed. My nerres wan^orouvhly unstrung, and affected tbtJOl side of my face, which was quite dYtWD. I suffered martyrdom w.th facial neuralgia."
    -Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) is primarily a software development methodology originally based upon the Rapid Application Development methodology. In 2007 DSDM became a generic approach to project management and solution delivery. DSDM is an iterative and incremental approach that emphasizes continuous user/customer involvement."

    Both of these next terms were in the same message:

    -Greyfriars Bobby... This statue of Bobby sits at the corner of Edinburgh's Candlemaker Row and George IV Bridge, and is a Category A listed building
    Breed Skye Terrier Born c. 1855 or 1856 Died 14 January 1872 (aged 16)
    Edinburgh, Scotland Resting place Greyfriars Kirkyard Awards Key to the City of Edinburgh Owner John Gray Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh after reportedly spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner, John Gray, until he died himself on 14 January 1872.[1] A year later, Lady Burdett-Coutts had a statue and fountain erected at the southern end of the George IV Bridge to commemorate him.
    - Hachikō (ハチ公?, November 10, 1923–March 8, 1935), known in Japanese as chūken Hachikō (忠犬ハチ公?, "faithful dog Hachikō" ('hachi' meaning 'eight', a number referring to the dog's birth order in the litter, and 'kō,' meaning prince or duke)), was an Akita dog born on a farm near the city of Ōdate, Akita Prefecture,[1] remembered for his remarkable loyalty to his owner, even many years after his owner's death.

    -Bigger Better Deal Better Business Bureau 2 of every animal=bellbivdevoe ("bbd")
    - Neutral B meson oscillations (or B–B oscillations) is one of the manifestations of the neutral particle oscillation, a fundamental prediction of the Standard Model of particle physics. It is the phenomenon of B mesons changing (or oscillating) between their matter and antimatter forms before their decay.

    - The Queen of Diamonds (see top picture - just made a weak connection) indicates a fair-haired woman; or a woman with Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorn) predominating in her chart. She may be a little self-serving on the negative side, and very sound of mind and practical on the other.

    - E.A. Technique (M) Sdn Bhd - Malaysia shipping management company and logistic provider with own ship involve in oil, gas & upstream businesses.
    -xxxx=xl=eraser2

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  7. For example: one of the lines was "Mob Likens Fight" - so I googled "MLF":

    -The MLF carries information about the direction that the eyes should move.
    - In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation (FM) conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency.
    - In mathematics, the general linear group of degree n is the set of n×n invertible matrices, together with the operation of ordinary matrix multiplication. (general linear group - "glg")

    tAKES a lEAK
    The story of Tal, a little orphan, and the adventures that befell him on the amazing journey to the land of Troom. His companions were the wise old man, Noom-Zor-Noom, and Millitinkle, the talking donkey, whose caustic comments enlivened the journey.

    Tiocfaidh ár lá (Irish pronunciation: [ˈtʲʊki aːɾˠ ˈl̪ˠaː]) is an Irish language phrase which translates as "our day will come", the hoped-for day being that of a united Ireland. It became a popular slogan with militant Irish republicans in the 1980s.

    The Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period (also called the transitional administrative law or TAL), was Iraq's provisional constitution following the 2003 Iraq War. It was signed on March 8, 2004 by the Iraqi Governing Council.

    <<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>
    TAL effectors (TALEs) are proteins secreted by Xanthomonas bacteria via their type III secretion system when they infect various plant species. These proteins can bind promoter sequences in the host plant and activate the expression of plant genes that aid bacterial infection. They recognize plant DNA sequences through a central repeat domain consisting of a variable number of ~34 amino acid repeats. There appears to be a one-to-one correspondence between the identity of two critical amino acids in each repeat and each DNA base in the target sequence. These proteins are interesting to researchers both for their role in disease of important crop species and the relative ease of retargeting them to bind new DNA sequences. Similar proteins can be found in the pathogenic bacteria Ralstonia solanacearum.[1]

    The Transalpine Pipeline (TAL) is a crude oil pipeline, which connects Italy, Austria and Germany.

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  8. I did some research on the song names:

    The Bloom filter, conceived by Burton Howard Bloom in 1970,[1] is a space-efficient probabilistic data structure that is used to test whether an element is a member of a set. False positives are possible, but false negatives are not. Elements can be added to the set, but not removed (though this can be addressed with a counting filter). The more elements that are added to the set, the larger the probability of false positives.

    A. Thank you for the opportunity. A goddess called Fokulon and her two sisters were playing beside the lake when a beautiful magpie dropped a piece of red fruit. Fokulon picked it up and ate it. Soon she gave birth to a boy, named Bukulirongshun, and he became forefather of the Manchu people.
    Bukulirongshun and his descendants were all heroic and skilled fighters, but neighbouring tribes felt threatened and combined to wipe them out. All but a boy called Fancha was killed. He escaped, pursued by the killers. As dusk fell, they almost caught up with him - but then a magpie landed on his head. He stood motionless - and the hunters mistook him for a tree trunk. Ever since, Manchu people look upon magpies as a symbol of happiness and luck

    "The story of ‘Eric’ was written with but one single object—the vivid inculcation of inward purity and moral purpose, by the history of a boy who, in spite of the inherent nobleness of his disposition, falls into all folly and wickedness, until he has learnt to seek help from above. I am deeply thankful to know—from testimony public and private, anonymous and acknowledged—that this object has, by God’s blessing, been fulfilled." (little by little)

    However, returning lost species to their environment can have the opposite effect, bringing damaged ecosystems back into balance - In addition to the meaning of the word feral described here, from Latin fera, "a wild beast", the word has a second unrelated meaning, from Latin feralis, "belonging to the dead", "funeral".[1]

    I love the lotus because while growing from mud, it is unstained. (need to look into your suggestion still)

    A codex (Latin caudex for "trunk of a tree" or block of wood, book; plural codices) is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple signatures (two, four, or eight sheets which are folded, stitched, and bound), then typically bound together and given a cover.

    To die, or in the case of inanimate objects, to cease working. (give up the ghost)

    Repeated application of the separator theorem produces a separator hierarchy which may take the form of either a tree decomposition or a branch-decomposition of the graph. (((((((((A mathematical sign used to separate the integer part from the fractional part of a number. For example, the decimal

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  9. separator and the binary separator)))))))))(((((

    SEPARATOR LINKS:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D...

    8 songs. Weirdly similar picture (on 2nd link)to the black and white tree man on their site. Is this a stretch?
    ................................


    My verdict? All of this adds up to something. And Radiohead writes songs with math. They are fucking with us. It is insulting, but the the fact that the music rules so hard makes it okay. I still think it's odd that he protected his Twitter shortly after I posted this shit. Like within an hour.

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  10. Sorry about all that nonsense above. I didn't feel like rewriting it so I copied and pasted an e-mail I sent to a friend. I posted this all on Feb 22 on this site:

    http://puddlegum.net/radiohead-01-and-10/#comment-153544912

    Within an hour of posting this I could no longer view the Mews Twitter.

    The secret lies in this bit here:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_decomposition

    Or this:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branch-decomposition

    I think there is something much crazier than a second album going on here. If someone can figure out the which songs they are using and then the math that applies to them then they can probably write the next Radiohead songs (or summat).

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  11. dude, chill out and go outside for a few hours. most of that is just way over the top.

    also, the reference to looking for an anagram to somniloquence? why does there have to be an anagram? it's a real word that means blabbing in your sleep basically. there's definitely something going on but don't take it to the absurd.

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  12. One for the fake file I think. I've already commented on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DeMfTUDpB0

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  13. Ok, I got a fixed thought about the 3 part album concept. I noticed in one of the photos you posted that one of the images is from a series that Stanley Donwood just released in his show at Greek Street for Outsiders. It's titled Bad Woods. There are 3 pieces to the series:

    http://www.theoutsiders.net/shop/prints/stanley-donwood,1

    Now look at the image in the bottom left:

    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vGotX1bAAHA/TWkt7TZlr_I/AAAAAAAAAK0/RDJrBW-HCzE/s1600/1298708135866.png


    Hmmmmmmmmmmm

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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