Radiohead - "Lull"

In honor of Radiohead's upcoming 2-night run at the Roseland Ballroom (tickets go on sale Monday), we decided to dig up one of our favorite B-Side moments from the UK fivesome.  "Lull" is a B-Side to the classic "Karma Police", and appeared on the 1st of 2 CD singles for that track.  Culled from the Paranoid Android sessions, the track is pure, classic Radiohead.  Moreover, it is one of the many pieces of contributory evidence to the fact that the band probably could have released twice as many records, and they'd still be just as good.

Opening only with a heavily reverbed guitar and a stark xylophone, the track gradually builds as it adds double tracked vocals and finally bass and drums.  The melody has a droney quality that could only be pulled off by Thom Yorke, and its lyric is a stark apology of an indivdual adrift in their own mind.  Ending almost before it begins, the track fades into an echo-y sample loop, and begs you to hit play once more.

mp3: Radiohead - Lull

New Radiohead Album Drops This Saturday

Well kids, welcome to the future. Officially gone are the days of record release cycles, advances, or any other kind of requirements for a band who wants to put out a record. What are we talking about? Well, out of thin air, Radiohead has announced that their latest record The King Of Limbs (cover above) will be available from their website for download starting this Saturday, February 19th. Yup, just like that.

The album is a collaboration with longtime cohort Nigel Godrich, and will also be available as a super-deluxe double clear vinyl package, which you can preorder now. That's about all we know about the record at this point, and we have to admit we sorta like it. No hype, no leadup, no warning. Just the record, in your face, this Saturday. Rawk!

Radiohead Played Outside Lands

Last week, we tempted you with a pic of Radiohead at Outside Lands, and indeed, we did have an up close and personal view of the gig. To say the crowd was massive would be an understatement, as it was most certainly the most packed day of the festival. Radiohead is a difficult band to review live, simply because their live show is so often spot-on amazing. They manage to take all the sonics that you would think are studio trickery and absolutely transform them into a live epic.

That being said, we can tell you that the Outside Lands set certainly deserves to be given a place of honor in the Radiohead legacy. For one, the band played a fantastic setlist combining a variety of old and new material. For another, the light show was completely appropriate for the large scale venue, and delivered a real sense of the concert, even to those way in the back. However, more than anything, the band simply delivered an awesome set. Despite some audio dropouts with the PA, the band maintained the utmost professionalism, and delivered the crowd a killer set of fantastic rock music. We likey.

As an added bonus, our friends over at Stranger Dance have posted soundboard quality mp3s of the show. Do we even need to tell you that it's worth the download?

Outside Lands: Some Musical Moments

While we weren't exactly able to get super-close for most of the Outside Lands shows, we did manage to get a few shots that we thought you might enjoy. Check out some shots below, and keep an eye out: we were lucky enough to get up close for one of the gigs, and we got some great shots! You'll have to check back though, we're not going to ruin the surprise...

Manu Chao

Charlie Walker

Cold War Kids

Jeff Tweedy

Radiohead

"Outside Lands" Adds SF Into The "Big Festival" Fray

So, word has come down the wire that there will be a festival in Golden Gate Park this summer from August 22-24, and it will be called the "Outside Lands" festival. A few thoughts on the subject:

- We're really starting to feel like festivals have jumped the shark. They're everywhere, they're a pain in the ass logistically, and unless you really want to jockey for position, it's a pretty unsatisfying viewing experience.

- We're very much hoping that this does not mean there's not going to be a Treasure Island Festival. Last year's was so awesome, we'd hate to see it overturned by this gigantasaurus.

- Radiohead and Tom Petty are headlining, so yes, against our better judgement, we'll probably be there.

- Jack Johnson is headlining this festival too. Really? Is he this popular? We thought his hype had ended with "Bubble Toes".

Anyway, we're sure news will continue to trickle out, so we'll keep you duly informed, despite our skepticism.

New Radiohead Album "In Rainbows" Breaks 10/10

Well, the news is all over at this point, but in case you missed it: the new Radiohead album "In Rainbows" drops on October 10th, and the band is allowing listeners to pay as they see fit for the digital download. Leave it to Radiohead to break ground not just musically, but with their business model as well. Should be interesting to see how it turns out.

The options include a digital download, or a fancy-shmancy "discbox" with lots of vinyl goodness, and a bonus CD:

Album Name: In Rainbows
Available In: Download or Discbox
Release Date: Download: October 10 Discbox: December 3
Prices: Download: Whatever you want it to be Discbox: £40 (roughly $80)
Tracklisting:
CD 1: (digital download and discbox)

15 STEP
BODYSNATCHERS
NUDE
WEIRD FISHES/ARPEGGI
ALL I NEED
FAUST ARP
RECKONER
HOUSE OF CARDS
JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE
VIDEOTAPE

CD 2: (discbox only)

MK 1
DOWN IS THE NEW UP
GO SLOWLY
MK 2
LAST FLOWERS
UP ON THE LADDER
BANGERS AND MASH
4 MINUTE WARNING

Preorder the download at www.inrainbows.com