MEAD

I know there are undoubtedly many Radiohead fans here. But there are not so many topics on them. So using the recent preformance at the Ether Festival as an excuse. Lets talk about Radiohead and their new song Arpeggi.

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Here are some phrases I'd like to be able to say, in all honesty, before I die.
"That's it, send out the ninjas!"
"So then I had to kill my way to the second floor."

Derwood

I haven't heard it. Is it available at their website? (I guess even if it was, you'd never find it....most cryptic website of all time)

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"You can't shoot a country until it becomes a democracy." - Willravel

MEAD

No it's not on the site. It is most definitly bootlegged from the concert. However, it is all over Radiohead message boards, available mostly through "Yousendit". You can check out ateaseweb.com's message boards more specifically the multimedia page. But if you can't seem to find it there, I would be obliged to send it to you myself.

__________________
Here are some phrases I'd like to be able to say, in all honesty, before I die.
"That's it, send out the ninjas!"
"So then I had to kill my way to the second floor."

Seanland

o man i want to hear this song, i have yet to hear to either!

Sleepyjack

You can download various clips and photos of the Ether concert here: http://member.ycn.com/~ewwoess/tmp/

but be quick cause it might be taken down again or soemthing....
There's also a version of where blue birds fly and a song called smear or something which is like some floydian soundscapes from johnny greenwood (i think). I quite like the version of where blue birds fly and arpeggi is pretty cool as well - although i've mainly been listening to Antony and the Jonsons - I am a Bird Now; damn good album! - soi haven't heard them too much

Here are some pics from the concert.













Also, they're apparently starting to work on new music for their 7th album
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-03/23.shtml

Ryan Schreiber reports:
After two years away from the studio, Radiohead have begun working on new music again, planting the seeds of what will likely become the follow-up to 2003's Hail to the Thief. A cryptic message from frontman Thom Yorke, posted earlier this month to the band's official webboard, suggested that this may be the case, however vaguely, reading, "hey weve started work. (speaking of cookies) no really." Now there's confirmation from guitarist Jonny Greenwood to back up the gibberish.

"Everything starts with songs, and with Thom, and with the excitement you can get in the band when you hear new music, and you know you've got the chance to watch it mutate and change," Greenwood told NME. "There's nothing like that, nothing as exciting. We're rehearsing at the moment, and again it's fun. We all want to push forward, and when you have five people who are all like that, you couldn't ask for a better thing."

In related news, Yorke and Greenwood will be appearing live in London next Monday and Tuesday at the London Royal Festival Hall, as part of The London Sinfonietta, to premiere new material they've apparently written specifically for this event. Fans should prepare to witness "two evenings of experimentation, collaboration and cross-genre juxtaposition," according to the performances' spokespersons. A selection of classical works and Arabic traditionals will also be played.

snowy

I just got back from a lecture here at my university by Joseph Tate, a scholar who has studied the lyrics of Radiohead very closely using methods of literary criticism. It was fascinating to dig into some of the songs and see them from that kind of perspective. I took my best friend along with me, who is a complete music nerd, and we agreed the lecture would have been helped by pairing the literary and lyrical criticism with musical criticism as well.

Tate is the author/maintainer of this site: http://pulk-pull.org/radiohead/ which is a blog cataloging references Radiohead make in their music and videos to literature, art and politics. He is also the editor of a collection of essays about Radiohead that is coming out this spring.

He finished the lecture with Arpeggi and I have to say I loved it. The first section reminded me of church bells. So beautiful. My friend went into nerd-mode afterwards and analyzed the song from the musical standpoint. Both of us were very impressed. At one point I remember looking over at him and he had his eyes closed, obviously off in his own Radiohead-land. And they are that kind of band that pulls you away and into the other. Definitely.

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

MEAD

They are really the kinda of band that doesnt get enough recognition in America, mostly due to a miunderstanding that they are just very depressing and are for depressed people. However, they are also the kind of band where it doesn't really matter. I am just happy that I enjoy their music so much, they are one of the few things that I can get so exicted about nowadays. When christmas has all hope of being special, new music from radiohead is what i wait for.

__________________
Here are some phrases I'd like to be able to say, in all honesty, before I die.
"That's it, send out the ninjas!"
"So then I had to kill my way to the second floor."

MEAD

And on the song Arpeggi, again Thom has a vague way of writing that lends itself ot many interpertations. This song is no expection, I feel like many of Thom's songs that are thought to be critical of politics or religion or society are really deeply personal and are abotu things impossible for us to know about him, this song is jsut that for me. It connects to me on a personal level. But I am a sucker for lushly orchestrated pop songs and thom could almost say anything on top of those wonderful notes and Id love it.

__________________
Here are some phrases I'd like to be able to say, in all honesty, before I die.
"That's it, send out the ninjas!"
"So then I had to kill my way to the second floor."

snowy

Well, to analyze in a fashion closest to literary criticism and what criticism attempts to do, one distances themselves from the idea that the narrator and the writer are one and the same. It's like a triangle--you are at one point, the writer (in this case lyricist) at another and the narrator of the song/story/whathaveyou at the third. It's all relative to point of view. So Thom Yorke may not be the narrator of the songs...he may be. But in the interest of criticism and analysis (which I agree is hard to do with Radiohead) we should not make any assumption that he is.

Anyways...I love talking criticism...and to see it applied to Radiohead was amazing.

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

MEAD

As a songwriter, I know the stark distinction between me and the person speaking in the song. However, I also know how connected they are. As the writer of the lyrics I may create fantasies out of a very real situation, or emphasize events in a situation that I am a part of. This is all done to make the story worth telling. However it doesn't mean that these songs are any less personal. There is plenty of evidence that Thom does speak personally with little distance from reality. Just look at the song Lift where he actually gives up that he is talking to himself by using his own name. "You been stuck in a lift, we've been trying to reach you, Thom". Now, I doubt that that Thom really was stuck in a lift and had to be rescued. However the use of his own name is telling of how personal those images are anyway. However, Thom, continualy adhereing to that vagueness, choose to take out his name from later versions of the song, which might suggest that other songs are also very personal, but gaurded by obscuring lyrics.

__________________
Here are some phrases I'd like to be able to say, in all honesty, before I die.
"That's it, send out the ninjas!"
"So then I had to kill my way to the second floor."

Nancy

That reminds me that I MUST buy their OK Computer album next month

__________________
I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy.
I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

Locobot

Yes you must. I like Kid A even more, both are great.

They're huge in America, they fill stadiums whenever they want. They're just never going to have the type of publicity engine that propels pop bands, and thankfully so.

Glad to get hear the new material, but it seems bit rough yet. Really sounds like territory they've been over at the moment, but I still have high hopes for the studio recordings.

d3cemberist

Radiohead is amazing. I cannot wait for their new album. I love that new song too!

jvwgtr

They are one band I'm just hoping I can see live sometime. Thanks for posting the links!

alec

is there word on a new album anytime soon? radiohead.com is great too for a headtrip of a website

Tom Thumb

they're awesome x3 live.

arpeggi didn't impress me much, though. they haven't made a sub-par album since pablo honey - let's hope they keep it up. or i'll kill them for being in a harry potter movie.

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