The reports were true: Thom’s releasing a pair of “new” songs this month (9/21), both produced by Nigel Godrich, both under his name (Thom Yorke, for now). He wrote on deadairspace this morning:
Dear Sir or Madam
This is to inform you of the release of two more bits of work shortly.
They are loosely under the Thom Yorke name this time, although these days its all getting kind of blurry.
FeelingPulledApartbyHorses is written & played by Jonny and I and is a radical rework of an old tune thats been kicking around without a home since 2001? i think.
The Hollow Earth is a bass menace that was born out of the Eraser period but needed a little more time.
Both were produced by Nigel Godrich as ever. And mastered by Bob Ludwig.
They are being put out on 12″ with sliced sleeve by Stanley and Tchock.
My sources tell me this will be available from the 21st of September if you’re interested.. On sale in the w.a.s.t.e part of our website (with a gratis download.)
Or you can go buy it in a good record shop if you are lucky enough to have one near you.
Then later on there will be like a normal download thing i think around the 6th of Oct through the usual channels.And so it goes. all the best
Pre-order is up now at the W.A.S.T.E. store for 10 quid. There’s a gratis digital download for W.A.S.T.E. members on release day, followed by an official digital release 10/6. This whole disenchantment with the album format thing is working out pretty well so far.
In other W.A.S.T.E. news, “These Are My Twisted Words” is now a t-shirt.
Finally, here’s a new video of comedian Adam Buxton with the singer at Latitude, suggesting some smart alternatives (T.Homme, Thomosexual) to “Thom Yorke,” which is played out.
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I like albums. I like physical cds.
Am I am old fogie? I am only 29.
I too like albums and physical CDs. I’m only 21.
Does the album art remind anyone else of Unknown Pleasures?
Sorry; ‘artwork’. Thom doesn’t like albums.
I’m with Sammmy and Coj. I like the cohesiveness of an album and not tracks coming at me at random times that may or may not add up to something bigger. Maybe for the ADD generation, this works, but as far as the whole single format goes, I think its something left best for pop music. Next up, Spotify is going to kill iTunes and artists will finally be wondering how come they aren’t making money anymore.
Not to parrot the previous posters, but, to parrot the previous posters:
I feel this sentiment of “the album is dead” is getting a little out of hand. I understand the argument that the album has become a “product”, while this new digital democracy has given the music room to breathe for itself, but at the end of the day, I don’t want some intangible files, I WANT something I can hold and play from start to finish and immerse myself in. I WANT to struggle with the cellophane and hold artwork in my hands, and get lost in a cohesive piece of music.
The album ain’t dead. It just hasn’t evolved yet.
I agree. Pitchfork seems to be leading this “CD is dead” revolution (with the Beatles back catalog getting remastered being the final death blow to CD according to them), because they always have to be on top of things of course, but CD’s are not going away completely. Most people like having something to hold and look at and cherish. Look at vinyl, its still hanging around after all these years and didn’t die like many predicted. Pitchfork sings the praises of vinyl of course, but had they been around for the transition from vinyl to cassette to CD, they would have been promoting the death of it as well. I am sick of people following trends to look like they are in the know, or think they see what the future holds. Is it just me, or does it seem like Pitchfork really started promoting the death of the CD when big I-Tunes banners started gracing the homepage of their website…
Thomosexual
That shirt is revolting.
Radiohead Presents: These Are My Unknown Pleasures
the man promotes record stores but doesn’t want to put albums in them. breaks my heart.
Quite similar to ‘Unknown Pleasures’ only way less interesting.
so, I think you guys are confused maybe?
I think he is bored more with albums than physical products. The new stuff is being released in a format for enthusiasts. It will just, for the time bing, be released as one-offs.
I am not in the least bit confused. I just find the disenchantment with CDs in the music world quite snobbish, typified in the way that you refer to vinyl as an ‘enthusiasts’ format. With that said, it’s quite normal for artists to have vinyl/digital-only single releases, which I don’t have too much problem with as I’m, by and large, a lover of albums (and there’s usually promo CDs if I want something that badly). I just get frustrated by the assumption that some people (including artists) seem to make; that the vinyl’s there for the collectors, and everyone else will be satisfied with the digital release. And I hope it doesn’t progress to the stage where artists stop releasing albums as CDs.
Again, I have to side with Coj. Okay, we get it — CDs are not “cool” since they are the format being replaced by digital downloads, but 10 years ago, cassettes were being thrown out the door, too, and now what is happening? Cassettes are the new vinyl, and probably will be “cooler” than CDs a year from now. This snobbery Coj noted regarding CDs is frustrating. Just release the music on all formats (you can always limit how many are printed if its cost you are worried about) and that way you don’t alienate listeners. I think we’re at a stage in music where we’ve covered all bases, and now its okay to just release music on every format and let people decide what works best for them.
I agree for the most part. The problem is one of distribution and scale. For the smaller independent artist, digital-only releases are dirt cheap. A dude in his bedroom can make a record, anywhere from one song to CD-length, and have it distributed through the major digital channels (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, etc) for almost nothing. If nobody buys the record, the financial losses are trivial; if the record gets a bunch of attention, there’s no danger of being understocked. Distribution is wide-reaching, instantaneous, and requires no transactional labor from the artist or label.
With physical formats, production and distribution costs are both serious concerns. For an artist on the level of Thom Yorke, I completely agree that multi-format releases make sense and serve both the artist and the fanbase. But a great deal of artists are not at a level where this makes obvious sense. Production costs for physical media are far more significant than those of digital media, and there is risk of losing money on undersold units. When physical media are produced, distribution becomes an issue. The small runs you suggest reduce production costs, but they also reduce availability on store shelves. Mailorder is the obvious solution, but then that competes with the instant gratification and reduced cost of the digital download.
I think the “CD is dead” argument holds water in the sense that now music distribution is not limited by the constraints of production and distribution costs. And for both artists and fans, that’s huge. Revolutionary even. I don’t have to think that far back to the days when I would hear a friend’s out of print Pram CD, or Tortoise 12″, and I’d have no way of getting an actual copy. That now seems unthinkable, and it’s because of digital distribution.
Artists with established fanbases should definitely release vinyl, CD, and digital versions of their records. But every other artist, and music fan, should be grateful that releasing or acquiring new music is not constrained by the necessity of a physical object, and shouldn’t really sweat it when that physical object isn’t part of the deal.
I’m sure they’ll make albums again at some point. Just not right now. They’re hardly the first band to release a few non-album singles. I really don’t get why people are getting so worked up about it.
Also, I propose a petition to change Radiohead’s name to The Thomosexuals. It’s pretty much the best idea ever.
That Adam Buxton guy is painfully unfunny.
Pitchfork reported that it was rumored that only 8,000 copies of this was being released…any truth to that? In their follow up article about the actual announcement, they didn’t mention it….
I remember hearing that, too.
Well I couldn’t care less about the death of the CD. Audio downloads and being able to put thousands of songs in the space of a deck of cards or smaller (hopefully) is here to stay and CDs will only be sold as collector items. It’s about the music not the packaging.
the question that doesn’t need asking, but that’s what blogs are for… who here thinks Thom swings both ways?
I can totally imagine Thom having the hots for Jonny and vice versa:) A girl can dream right?
I think he does. I mean he made out with Colin once, so he’s probably gotten farther than that with someone else.
Michael Stipe??? jk
looool
(probably)
Yeah, it does look kinda like Unknown Pleasures. When I saw the thumbnail, I jumped to the conclusion Thom Yorke was doing some covers of Joy Division songs, and was sadly let down.
The guy of the interview is simply an ass none of the jokes are fun. Seriously he should get another job