Showing posts with label Radiohead News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Radiohead News. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Radiohead, NIN to headline Lollapalooza?
The stars are rumoured to perform at the Chicago Festival
Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails are rumoured to be headlining this year's Lollapalooza Festival.
Promoters of the festival, which is set to take place at Chicago's Grant Park August 1-3, have not yet confirmed the lineup. But "industry sources" told the Chicago Tribune that Radiohead have been booked as the "centrepiece of the festival".
They also said that Nine Inch Nails will give their first Chicago performance in several years at the event, which was founded by Perry Farrell.
Last year's headliners included Muse, Pearl Jam and Daft Punk.
More than 100 artists are expected to perform at this year's Lollapalooza, with the lineup to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
They also said that Nine Inch Nails will give their first Chicago performance in several years at the event, which was founded by Perry Farrell.
Last year's headliners included Muse, Pearl Jam and Daft Punk.
More than 100 artists are expected to perform at this year's Lollapalooza, with the lineup to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The fact: Radiohead's latest album, "In Rainbows," certainly cleared up any doubt that the band can still produce tasteful, energetic, and invigorating songs after being on hiatus for so long. Not to say that people weren't anticipating more ingenious chaos. But how could Radiohead possibly deflate an ever-growing critique that they were constantly trying to out due themselves?
While not exactly on the "Ok Computer" or "Kid A" creative pedestal, "In Rainbows" solidifies what the band does best: continuing to push the envelope on modern rock songwriting and giving birth to interesting and clever repertoires. With "In Rainbows," we aren't given the obscure kind of musical passion found in any latter albums but a more unambitious simple album that, still holding true to their nature, sends off a more uncomplicated splendor and a much more chilled vibe. The expectation was met with an album that gave life to the 90's Radiohead that the masses had grown so strongly in love with. Thom Yorke leaves behind his experimental influence, letting Phil Selway's and Colin Greenwood's rhythms and Ed O'Bryan's guitar work stick out. It's nice to hear that "band" sound again. Songs such as "All I Need" and "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" offer such generosity.
Breaking off from their major label contract this past year, they released "In Rainbows" exclusively online for which customers could pay what they feel. For a band to be at the zenith of their career, yet control the strings of the mainstream marionette, sends out a bold message that they aren't out to change the world commercially but to write amazing songs that manage to impact the modern rock audiences…and somehow the world.
In short, "In Rainbows" is one of the best albums of the year and shouldn't go unheard. Even if you are not the biggest Radiohead fan around this is definitely a move in the right step for today's market.
Breaking off from their major label contract this past year, they released "In Rainbows" exclusively online for which customers could pay what they feel. For a band to be at the zenith of their career, yet control the strings of the mainstream marionette, sends out a bold message that they aren't out to change the world commercially but to write amazing songs that manage to impact the modern rock audiences…and somehow the world.
In short, "In Rainbows" is one of the best albums of the year and shouldn't go unheard. Even if you are not the biggest Radiohead fan around this is definitely a move in the right step for today's market.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Amplive's Rainydayz Remixes, an 8-track collection featuring remixes of Radiohead's historic seventh album, In Rainbows.
The songs are available in a zip file below and feature verses courtesy of Too $hort, MC Zumbi of Zion I, Chali2na of Jurassic 5, and Del the Funky Homosapien. download Amplive's Rainydayz Remixes
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Leave it to British powerhouse Radiohead to spice things up in a dismal music industry that has become blander than an Amish wedding.
Since their legendary breakthrough album in 1997, "OK Computer," Radiohead has not only revamped music, but it has recently begun to revolutionize the business itself by making it obsolete.
Since their legendary breakthrough album in 1997, "OK Computer," Radiohead has not only revamped music, but it has recently begun to revolutionize the business itself by making it obsolete.
In October 2007 Radiohead surprised fans on its Web site by suddenly announcing that its long-awaited new album, titled "In Rainbows," was complete.
And as if that weren't enough to get people roused, Radiohead also revealed that fans could pay whatever amount they wanted for the new album.
They probably should've warned fans to sit down before writing that message, don't you think? Pay-what-you-want - it sounds like a plot left out of "Forrest Gump."
Well, stupid is as stupid does, and if that's the case, Radiohead's stupidity certainly paid off.
Living up to its name as the most experimental and innovative band in rock, Radiohead has created a masterpiece that is (dare I say it?) better than "OK Computer."
"In Rainbows" is Radiohead at its rockin' finest, filled with all the moody atmospheres of "Kid A" and "Amnesiac," as well as the lyrical embodiment and melodic diction of "OK Computer." From the frantic "Bodysnatchers" to the serene atmosphere of "House of Cards," "In Rainbows" surpasses all expectations after the lackluster "Hail to the Theif" in 2003.
Even though most of these songs already made their debut on previous tours, Radiohead worked its magic in the studio by tweaking some things and adding bits, and it has now produced some of its best work in a decade. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi," in particular, is a song that Thom Yorke and company have been messing around with for years, originally titled "Weird Fishes," but the final product is one of beauty as the song builds up to the climax that is "Arpeggi."
This is just one of the many highlights that makes "In Rainbows" so memorable. So, what was the motive behind Radiohead's bold decision to give fans the freedom to pay what they want?
http://media.www.villanovan.com/media/storage/paper581/news/2008/01/31/Entertainment/Radiohead.Experiment.Continues-3177617.shtml
And as if that weren't enough to get people roused, Radiohead also revealed that fans could pay whatever amount they wanted for the new album.
They probably should've warned fans to sit down before writing that message, don't you think? Pay-what-you-want - it sounds like a plot left out of "Forrest Gump."
Well, stupid is as stupid does, and if that's the case, Radiohead's stupidity certainly paid off.
Living up to its name as the most experimental and innovative band in rock, Radiohead has created a masterpiece that is (dare I say it?) better than "OK Computer."
"In Rainbows" is Radiohead at its rockin' finest, filled with all the moody atmospheres of "Kid A" and "Amnesiac," as well as the lyrical embodiment and melodic diction of "OK Computer." From the frantic "Bodysnatchers" to the serene atmosphere of "House of Cards," "In Rainbows" surpasses all expectations after the lackluster "Hail to the Theif" in 2003.
Even though most of these songs already made their debut on previous tours, Radiohead worked its magic in the studio by tweaking some things and adding bits, and it has now produced some of its best work in a decade. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi," in particular, is a song that Thom Yorke and company have been messing around with for years, originally titled "Weird Fishes," but the final product is one of beauty as the song builds up to the climax that is "Arpeggi."
This is just one of the many highlights that makes "In Rainbows" so memorable. So, what was the motive behind Radiohead's bold decision to give fans the freedom to pay what they want?
http://media.www.villanovan.com/media/storage/paper581/news/2008/01/31/Entertainment/Radiohead.Experiment.Continues-3177617.shtml
If you want to know the best bands, albums and songs of 2007, you don't need to ask a journalist any more. They'll just say Arcade Fire or Radiohead, in any case. No, what you want to do is ask more than 600 MP3 bloggers, since they're the new online tastemakers deciding what's hot and what's not in the music world.
Which is exactly what MP3 blog aggregator Hype Machine has done. It's been rooting through the archives of more than 600 blogs to produce definitive lists of the top 50 bands, albums and songs of 2007. The top band is, er, Arcade Fire, and the top album is, ahem, Radiohead's 'In Rainbows'. Okay, so maybe the bloggers aren't so different from the journalists.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Welling Up - A film score and an orchestral work by Jonny Greenwood, of Radiohead
0 comments Posted by radioheaddicted at 12:32 PM
Until now, Greenwood, a thirty-six-year-old native of Oxford, England, has been known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Radiohead. But he shouldn’t be mistaken for one of those rock stars, like Paul McCartney, who get by in the classical realm with a little help from their musically literate friends. Greenwood is better understood as a composer who has crossed over into rock. Trained as a violist, he worked seriously at writing music in his youth, and had just embarked on studies at Oxford Brookes University when, in 1991, Radiohead was signed by the EMI record label.He dropped out of college to join the band on tour. Within a few years, Radiohead had become a creative colossus, and Greenwood’s skill at orchestration and his mastery of unusual instruments—he is one of the few living adepts of the ondes Martenot, an early electronic-music device—have augmented the band’s maguslike aura.
Greenwood has resumed composing in the past few years, although his output is so far small: a score for the documentary “Bodysong,” with expert and soulful writing for string quartet; “smear,” an edgy, eerie piece for instruments and electronics; and “Popcorn Superhet Receiver,” whose title alludes to a type of shortwave radio and, by extension, to the white noise one hears as one twists the dial. Greenwood’s sources of inspiration are easily identified. He has worshipped Olivier Messiaen since his teens, and during his university stint he encountered the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, whose assaultive avant-garde creations of the nineteen-sixties—notably the “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima”—inspired the glissandos of “There Will Be Blood.” If Greenwood had stayed on the academic route, he would eventually have discovered that Penderecki’s early works were considered dated. Penderecki himself later turned away from them and adopted a neo-Romantic style. In the separate universe of Radiohead, Greenwood has pursued his enthusiasms without becoming distracted by musical politics, and has emerged with a fascinating synthesis of twentieth-century sounds—avant-garde Romanticism, you could call it.
“Popcorn Superhet Receiver,” an eighteen-minute work for thirty-four strings, is Greenwood’s most ambitious score to date. Although the composer has made self-effacing comments in interviews about his reluctance to tackle longer forms, he hardly comes off as a neophyte; the piece possesses a solid architectural shape, with slow-moving, darkly meditative passages framing a kinetic, rock-tinged midsection. The writing for strings is idiomatic and inventive; at one point, Greenwood devises a buzzing barrage of “Bartók pizzicato”—sharply plucked sounds from violins cradled like ukuleles. The one structurally shaky moment comes in the transition back to the opening material; the switch feels abrupt, as if a tempo-changing gesture has gone missing.
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2008/02/04/080204crmu_music_ross
Greenwood has resumed composing in the past few years, although his output is so far small: a score for the documentary “Bodysong,” with expert and soulful writing for string quartet; “smear,” an edgy, eerie piece for instruments and electronics; and “Popcorn Superhet Receiver,” whose title alludes to a type of shortwave radio and, by extension, to the white noise one hears as one twists the dial. Greenwood’s sources of inspiration are easily identified. He has worshipped Olivier Messiaen since his teens, and during his university stint he encountered the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, whose assaultive avant-garde creations of the nineteen-sixties—notably the “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima”—inspired the glissandos of “There Will Be Blood.” If Greenwood had stayed on the academic route, he would eventually have discovered that Penderecki’s early works were considered dated. Penderecki himself later turned away from them and adopted a neo-Romantic style. In the separate universe of Radiohead, Greenwood has pursued his enthusiasms without becoming distracted by musical politics, and has emerged with a fascinating synthesis of twentieth-century sounds—avant-garde Romanticism, you could call it.
“Popcorn Superhet Receiver,” an eighteen-minute work for thirty-four strings, is Greenwood’s most ambitious score to date. Although the composer has made self-effacing comments in interviews about his reluctance to tackle longer forms, he hardly comes off as a neophyte; the piece possesses a solid architectural shape, with slow-moving, darkly meditative passages framing a kinetic, rock-tinged midsection. The writing for strings is idiomatic and inventive; at one point, Greenwood devises a buzzing barrage of “Bartók pizzicato”—sharply plucked sounds from violins cradled like ukuleles. The one structurally shaky moment comes in the transition back to the opening material; the switch feels abrupt, as if a tempo-changing gesture has gone missing.
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2008/02/04/080204crmu_music_ross
Monday, January 28, 2008
Just a week after their intimate East London triumph,
Radiohead are already planning some more special events.
Speaking with the BBC, Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood stated that a series of special live events were being lined up in conjunction with the corporation. He said:
“We only started talking about it [the BBC event] yesterday in the meeting, so we are getting some plans together to play a show and play some songs from the record for the BBC.”
Of last week's cosy gig at 93 Feet East - which was moved from original venue Rough Trade East thanks to the crowds that turned up - Greenwood expressed his enthusiasm:
“It was a surprise all round. It got moved but it was one of those things where everything went right for the wrong reasons.
"It was like playing a little club, standing next to each other; we played 'The Bends' and seeing my brother Jonny slashing the chords through that song was just brilliant.”
Speaking with the BBC, Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood stated that a series of special live events were being lined up in conjunction with the corporation. He said:
“We only started talking about it [the BBC event] yesterday in the meeting, so we are getting some plans together to play a show and play some songs from the record for the BBC.”
Of last week's cosy gig at 93 Feet East - which was moved from original venue Rough Trade East thanks to the crowds that turned up - Greenwood expressed his enthusiasm:
“It was a surprise all round. It got moved but it was one of those things where everything went right for the wrong reasons.
"It was like playing a little club, standing next to each other; we played 'The Bends' and seeing my brother Jonny slashing the chords through that song was just brilliant.”
http://www.xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=558341
Friday, January 25, 2008
Jonny Greenwood’s score for the Oscar-nominated film “There Will Be Blood” has missed out on its own nomination after being deemed ineligible.
Only a minority of the score was written specifically for the film, leading to its automatic disqualification from nomination.
The original score lasts for around 35 minutes, but another 46 minutes of Greenwood's music is also used in the film, including excerpts from his BBC-commissioned 2006 piece “Popcorn Superhet Receiver”.
The film scores that received Oscar nomination are as follows:
“Atonement”
“The Kite Runner”
“Michael Clayton”
“Ratatouille”
“3:10 To Yuma”
Classical pianist Christopher O'Riley has toured with renowned orchestras, collaborated with popular conductors Leonard Slatkin and John Williams and recorded French repertoire with James Galway.
He's also a huge fan of Radiohead.
Some of the English alt-rock band's songs will be part of the program during the Riverside County Philharmonic and O'Riley concert, "Radiohead, Ravel and Beethoven."
O'Riley, a Chicago native, first learned of Radiohead in 1997 after all the praise heaped upon the album "OK Computer."
Since then, he has purchased all the band's CDs, attended concerts and regularly comments on authoritative Radiohead Internet site, ateaseweb.com.
He's also a huge fan of Radiohead.
Some of the English alt-rock band's songs will be part of the program during the Riverside County Philharmonic and O'Riley concert, "Radiohead, Ravel and Beethoven."
O'Riley, a Chicago native, first learned of Radiohead in 1997 after all the praise heaped upon the album "OK Computer."
Since then, he has purchased all the band's CDs, attended concerts and regularly comments on authoritative Radiohead Internet site, ateaseweb.com.
More importantly, the pianist has put out two popular classical CDs of Radiohead interpretations, "True Love Waits" (2003) and "Hold Me to This" (2005).
The former is reportedly the only classical recording to garner a four-star review in Rolling Stone magazine.
Those CDs were followed by tributes to Elliott Smith, "Home to Oblivion" (2006) and Nick Drake, "Second Grace" (2007).
We caught up with O'Riley, 51, via phone from his home in Ohio to discuss the music as well as hosting duties for NPR's classical radio show (and PBS-TV counterpart) "From the Top."
Q: Can you tell me about the pieces you'll be performing at Riverside Municipal Auditorium?
A: With the orchestra, I'll be performing Maurice Ravel's "Concerto for the Left
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Hand in D," one of few pieces for left hand alone and orchestra, dating from the early 20th century ... Ravel's music has a lot of color and harmony. It's very palpable. That sort of sensual aspect appeals to me when I'm looking at piano music. I find all of his music very compelling.
Q: Doesn't it have a jazzy feel too?
A: It has jazz elements with darker undercurrents. It's not happy-go-lucky. I think it's sort of chaotic or verging on it and has many shades; some of which have to do with gamelan music - an exotic quality ... It's a piece I always look forward to because it's beautiful in terms of melody and harmony and a great interactive piece between piano and orchestra. I'm not just out there on my own. It's a showpiece (about) what you can do with one hand. It's really kind of amazing.
Q: Then there's your Radiohead transcriptions.
A: Riverside is the first orchestra that's been kind enough to say, "Look, we're going to carve out a little piece of the program so you can do this." I think it's very courteous and courageous of them.
Q: I was surprised that you'll be performing "Videotape" from the new Radiohead album "In Rainbows" besides older faves "Paranoid Android" and "Let Down."
A: They toured a version of "Videotape" on tour, and it was rather grand. As the last song on the album, it became vestigial and disembodied ... the version I play is based solely on the first performance they did on tour. That's sort of an interesting take on Radiohead's music: It cannot only accommodate them rethinking it constantly, but somebody else's take. There's a lot of life in that song.
Q: You used to do short Radiohead numbers during station breaks on "From the Top," the National Public Radio program you host. What led to your doing entire CDs?
A: I was listening to a lot of Radiohead. I had done other arrangements ... tangos or Stravinsky ballets. I had that bug in me where if it doesn't exist for piano, and I really love the piece, I want to find a way to make it work. Here was this opportunity to play these pieces unannounced on national radio. After the host would say, "That's Christopher O'Riley playing Radiohead," we'd get mail into the program saying, "Who is this Mr. Head and where can we find more of his beautiful music?" That seemed to be a (sign) to do something.
Q: Have young people told you they got into classical music after hearing your Radiohead, Smith and Drake interpretations?
A: They're no dummies. They're not going to just fall over. They'll write in and say, "I really love your Radiohead CDs, and I see you're playing a Mozart concerto (locally). I've always wanted to check (his music) out." If they associate me with a sound they like, maybe it'll be the way for them into Mozart. That's pretty gratifying.
The former is reportedly the only classical recording to garner a four-star review in Rolling Stone magazine.
Those CDs were followed by tributes to Elliott Smith, "Home to Oblivion" (2006) and Nick Drake, "Second Grace" (2007).
We caught up with O'Riley, 51, via phone from his home in Ohio to discuss the music as well as hosting duties for NPR's classical radio show (and PBS-TV counterpart) "From the Top."
Q: Can you tell me about the pieces you'll be performing at Riverside Municipal Auditorium?
A: With the orchestra, I'll be performing Maurice Ravel's "Concerto for the Left
Advertisement
Hand in D," one of few pieces for left hand alone and orchestra, dating from the early 20th century ... Ravel's music has a lot of color and harmony. It's very palpable. That sort of sensual aspect appeals to me when I'm looking at piano music. I find all of his music very compelling.
Q: Doesn't it have a jazzy feel too?
A: It has jazz elements with darker undercurrents. It's not happy-go-lucky. I think it's sort of chaotic or verging on it and has many shades; some of which have to do with gamelan music - an exotic quality ... It's a piece I always look forward to because it's beautiful in terms of melody and harmony and a great interactive piece between piano and orchestra. I'm not just out there on my own. It's a showpiece (about) what you can do with one hand. It's really kind of amazing.
Q: Then there's your Radiohead transcriptions.
A: Riverside is the first orchestra that's been kind enough to say, "Look, we're going to carve out a little piece of the program so you can do this." I think it's very courteous and courageous of them.
Q: I was surprised that you'll be performing "Videotape" from the new Radiohead album "In Rainbows" besides older faves "Paranoid Android" and "Let Down."
A: They toured a version of "Videotape" on tour, and it was rather grand. As the last song on the album, it became vestigial and disembodied ... the version I play is based solely on the first performance they did on tour. That's sort of an interesting take on Radiohead's music: It cannot only accommodate them rethinking it constantly, but somebody else's take. There's a lot of life in that song.
Q: You used to do short Radiohead numbers during station breaks on "From the Top," the National Public Radio program you host. What led to your doing entire CDs?
A: I was listening to a lot of Radiohead. I had done other arrangements ... tangos or Stravinsky ballets. I had that bug in me where if it doesn't exist for piano, and I really love the piece, I want to find a way to make it work. Here was this opportunity to play these pieces unannounced on national radio. After the host would say, "That's Christopher O'Riley playing Radiohead," we'd get mail into the program saying, "Who is this Mr. Head and where can we find more of his beautiful music?" That seemed to be a (sign) to do something.
Q: Have young people told you they got into classical music after hearing your Radiohead, Smith and Drake interpretations?
A: They're no dummies. They're not going to just fall over. They'll write in and say, "I really love your Radiohead CDs, and I see you're playing a Mozart concerto (locally). I've always wanted to check (his music) out." If they associate me with a sound they like, maybe it'll be the way for them into Mozart. That's pretty gratifying.
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