Thom Yorke covered in blood for Oxfam campaign

Pretty soon you can see Thom Yorke covered in blood from head to toe for the Make Trade Fair poster campaign. However, he refused to be covered in real blood because of his vegetarian beliefs, so the organisers had to use a realistic substitute.

A source revealed: "He didn't want to have real blood poured over him. We had to concoct a real realistic-looking blood replacement using chocolate."Other artists will appear in similar shots for a new Oxfam campaign to be unveiled next month.

Thom will be joined by Michael Stipe, Chris Martin, Jamelia and a number of Hollywood actors for the series of posters. Coldplay frontman Chris has been photographed under a mountain of rice, while REM singer Stipe is covered in milk and Jamelia appear with her modesty concealed by nothing more than feathers. [from female first, thanks Cristina]

Toronto show on Canadian radio

CBC (Canada) Radio 1's program, DNTO, will broadcast a commercial free, full hour of Radiohead recorded in concert October 2003 at Toronto's Skydome (the infamous postponed show due to the blackout). The concert will air tomorrow (Saturday), 4pm-5pm local time. Visit their site to listen online. [thanks Cris]

O'Riley's second tribute album update

Acclaimed classical pianist Christopher O'Riley will be releasing his second album of instrumental interpretations of Radiohead songs early next year, and the record will feature his versions of track from the band’s last album ‘Hail To The Thief’. Christopher O'Riley's first Radiohead tribute ‘True Love Waits’ was a massive success, proving hugely popular with the band’s fans and ‘serious’ music critics alike, peaking at No. 3 on Billboard's Top Classical Crossover chart.

The new 14-track album ‘Hold Me to This: Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead’ is expected to be released in February next year on Harmonia Mundi/World Village, alongside a companion book of sheet music featuring transcriptions of his versions of the songs.

"I've listened to everything I could get my hands on, including B-sides and rare live tracks," O'Riley explained, "Transcribing music is not my usual area of expertise as an interpreter, yet on occasion throughout my concert career I have made piano versions of music I especially covet … it was not until my obsessions with Radiohead that I felt compelled to tackle dozens of songs as a single project."

The record will feature recent Radiohead tracks from ‘Hail To The Thief’ such as ‘2+2=5’, ‘There There’ and ‘Sail To The Moon’ alongside older albums tracks from ‘The Bends’ like ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’ and ‘Nice Dream’ plus O'Riley's recordings of rare tracks like ‘How I Made My Millions’, ‘Cuttooth’ and ‘Gagging Order’. [from XFM]

Thom & Jonny to collaborate with sinfonietta

The official London Sinfonietta website reports on a new collaboration with Jonny Greenwood. 'Following the phenomenal success of its sold-out concerts in 2003 and 2004, the London Sinfonietta returns to Ether 2005 for an evening of experimentation and collaboration. In a new departure for Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, the Royal Festival Hall is filled with traditional Arabic song and the eerie sound of multiple ondes martenots.' A press release from the London Sinfonietta states: 'The ensemble will be returning to the South Bank Centre's Ether 2005 festival in March for an evening of experimentation and collaboration, featuring the latest music by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke'. There is no date set yet and tickets are not on sale. The London Sinfonietta performed Jonny Greenwood's 'Smear' in Leeds and Bruges earlier this year. [thanks Natalia]

Idioteque remix at UNKLE release party

UNKLE had their 'Never Never Land' release party Tuesday night in New York City. During the show, they spun a remixed version of Idioteque. Also, they had a screen behind the turntables and they played videos and computer graphics. They showed Rabbit In Your Headlights even though the song wasn't played at all. The song was a collaboration between UNKLE and Thom Yorke. [thanks Justin]

Vote for the 100 Greatest Albums

Vote for Radiohead at MTV2's 100 Greatest Albums. You can vote for 'The Bends', 'OK Computer', 'Kid A', 'Amnesiac' and 'Hail to the Thief'. Click here and pick your favourite album from the list. Not only will your vote help compile the 'MTV2 100 Greatest Albums' but you could win yourself the entire top 100 CDs.

Radiohead.tv shirt at w.a.s.t.e

W.a.s.t.e have a new Radiohead shirt available in their store. The red shirt has a print of a bear and cross bones on front of the shirt with the words RADIOHEAD.TV and THE MOST GIGANTIC LYING MOUTH OF ALL TIME WRITTEN UNDERNEATH. It can be yours for £18.00 [thanks Jan & James]

Thom Yorke pays tribute to John Peel

Following the sad news that John Peel, legendary BBC Radio 1 presenter, died last night (Monday), many of the bands that he'd both influenced and championed on air have been calling in to give their tributes. On BBC Radio 4 Thom Yorke said: "Who am I going to listen to now? He's been my inspiration since I was 14. I'm thinking about you. Thanks John Peel." [from bbc, thanks Andy, Adam, Clovis & Patrick]

Bjork cuts "Skatterbrain" from BBC playlist

More Bjork news... Bjork was on BBC1's Breezeblock show to play an hour long mix of some of her favorite songs. Minutes ago, the Breezeblock site just put up her handwritten setlist. You can see Radiohead's "Skatterbrain" was on the list and was probably going to be played on the show, but she crossed it off for some reason... [thanks Alex]

Bjork on Radiohead

Bjork was interviewed by Mojo magazine. In the November issue Bjork talks about Radiohead when asked 'What was the last concert you truly loved?

Bjork: "Peaches is pretty hot, right? I was lucky enough to have Peaches and Will Oldham tour with me last time so I saw them both. I saw Radiohead for the first time last year, I'd never been in the right country before. They were spectacular. But I keep wanting (starts laughing) to throw the guitars away! There are always these dank guitarists doing the last, "No, one more solo, please!" It's morbid necrophilia to me. I still think they're the best band in the world. And they're the last people I should be criticising, at least they're trying. But for me, it's mostly Thom. I don't know anybody like him, maybe Joni Mitchell, when there's this depth. It's like forever. Maybe he needs those guitars to struggle against. To keep those corpses alive!"

Thom seems to share your quest to keep progressing.

Bjork: "Totally. It's a sonic thing, I listen to Massive Attack too, but I don't understand that wall of sound they're after. People say to me, "Hey, Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound", but to me, it sounds like a bad mistake in equipment. I really like spaces. And silences...."

[thanks Chris]

Thom in Oxford Student?

From today's copy of the Oxford Student:

Dear Sirs, There are many urgent environmental issues that need to be seriously addressed in Oxford's city centre, and in my opinion the Green Party candidate for today's October by-election, Sushila Dhall, is the person who can address them most effectively. Of course that's just my opinion which you can take with a pinch of salt, or if you like, a wiff of carbon monoxide.

Thom Yorke
Lead Singer, Radiohead and Carfax Ward Resident

He got star letter and has won 2 return tickets from Oxford to London on a coach. [thanks Joe]

Hail to the Pumpkin II

"Revenge of the Zombie Pumpkins" offers original pumpkin carving patterns, including a 'Thom Yorke pattern'. The site tell us: "These aren't the typical color-reduced photographs you find elsewhere. Each design is drawn by hand and stylized to work perfectly with traditional carving techniques. No advanced sculpting skills needed here. If you follow the steps illustrated on the tips page, Zombie Pumpkins stencils are simple to carve, for beginners and veterans alike!" And some of you might remember this.[Thanks Orange Brat]

At Ease runner-up at Digital Music Awards

As reported earlier, At Ease did not win at this years Digital Music Awards. Today, the organisers posted a Top 500 of sites and it turns out that ateaseweb.com is the runner-up in the unofficial sites category. On the overall list, the site ended up at the number 10 spot (3rd last year). So thank you all again for voting. 2nd place isn't so bad... :)

RESFEST - Jonathan Glazer Retrospective

At the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow, Scotland you can attend the Jonathan Glazer retrospective on October 23rd (6.00pm). This year's director retrospective program surveys the exceptional work of British director Jonathan Glazer, whose work spans music videos, commercials and feature films; in each category, Glazer efforts invariably stand out. Stand-outs include "Street Spirit" & "Karma Police" for Radiohead and "Rabbit in Your Headlights" for UNKLE (feat. Thom Yorke), as well as a long list of award-winning commercials. [thanks Sarah & Mandy]

Midge Ure wants Radiohead in Band Aid III

The days when you could deflate the egos of the country's top pop stars so they could all squeeze into one studio to sing a song for charity seemed consigned to rock history. But Midge Ure and Bob Geldof are rolling back the years by assembling a new generation of stars to remake Band Aid's Do They Know it's Christmas? for the victims of famine in Africa.

Twenty years after the original topped the charts, Coldplay, Jamelia, the Darkness and Travis are set to appear on a remixed version of the song penned by Ure and Geldof.

"My dream line-up has acts like Radiohead, the Darkness, Noel Gallagher, Robbie Williams, Keane and Coldplay," said Ure, who hopes to assemble "real musicians in proper bands". [from the Guardian, thanks Mandy]

Update: Already on board as a producer is Nigel Godrich, known for his brilliance on Radiohead's albums.

At Ease shortlisted for Digital Music Awards

Last night, The People’s Choice Award for best unofficial music website went to Madonnalicious.com. Ateaseweb.com was shortlisted for the Digital Music Awards after winning the prize last year. I'd like to thank you all again for voting. It's much appreciated.

Shortlist:
At Ease Web – Radiohead fansite
At U2 – U2 fansite
Beyoncé World – Beyoncé fansite
Madonnalicious – Madonna fansite
Muse Live – Muse fansite

Winner: Madonnalicious - www.madonnalicious.com

Radiohead in Macca's fantasy festival line-up

In a Q & A with NME Readers, Paul McCartney said he would like to have Radiohead in his fantasy festival line-up:

What eight bands (both here and gone) would make up your ultimate festival line-up? (Gareth Morgan, UK)

PM: "The Beatles, The Who, Rolling Stones, Queen, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Radiohead and Sex Pistols (to name but a few)."

[thanks Cristina, Rob & Matt]

Radiohead 2005 Calendar

A new Radiohead every month! Radiohead on your wall that is. W.a.s.t.e have a brand spanking new calendar available for pre-order. A calendar for 2005 containing phases of the moon and art some of which is as yet unseen. Pre-order for £7.50 at w.a.s.t.e [thanks James]

Radiohead on the Beeb

Radiohead's 'Street Spirit [Fade Out]' has just been played on the Paralympic Rugby part of a review programme on BBC1 (UK). Also on the BBC, 'High & Dry' was used in Eastenders this week, the music faded in as the camera zoomed in on Zoe and some other characters. [thanks Ben & Shaun]

Creep performed on X-Factor

A group auditioning on the British talent show X-Factor just performed Radiohead's 'Creep'. The song was done in the style of classical operatic singing. [thanks Ben]

'No Star Wars' t-shirts at CND

As you all know, Thom recently attended and spoke at the Fylingdales Rally with regard to the No Star Wars campaign. This is to let you know that the Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament have tee shirts available for sale with the NO STAR WARS slogan here.

Cullum to release 'High and Dry' single & video

Jamie Cullum, whose "All at Sea" has broken the British jazz singer and pianist into the mainstream, is about to break a little further. For the follow-up and second single from Twentysomething, the self-taught musician is releasing his version of Radiohead's 1995 single "High and Dry."

"As well as writing songs, jazz musicians are always trying to take material and do new things with it," Cullum said. "The notion of a standard is something that is 50 years old to most people. I only discovered [what are considered] old songs about three years ago. An old song to me is 'High and Dry,' which is a song I grew up with. I was 14. If you could play it on the guitar, you could kiss all the girls."

Cullum plans to shoot a video for "High and Dry" later this month. "We've got a very strong idea, very mysterious, very different, so I wouldn't want to give it away," he said.

The singer will work with a director on the clip, although he hopes to direct his own videos soon and eventually get into movies. [from MTV]

Radiohead videos online at vapourbrothers.com

At VapourBrothers.com you can watch several videos, webcasts, blips and more. According to the Vapour Brothers these videos will NOT appear on the upcoming DVD release 'The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth Of All Time'

TMGLMOAT DVD now available for pre-order

The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth Of All Time DVD is now available exclusively at the W.A.S.T.E. shop. Both the PAL and NTSC version are available for 12 UK Pounds.

Please note that this a pre-order and DVD's are due for despatch on or before the 1st December 2004. E-mail confirmation will be sent on despatch to all customers.

The DVD contains twenty-four short films with music by Radiohead. This was originally meant to be 4 episodes shown on our very own television channel.
It was just before Hail to the thief was released. Everyone was working themselves into a froth. They told us they could get us our own station.
Somewhere here, somewhere there, you know. It was very exciting. We were going to take over the airwaves. So we set about puxing together some
television. We got lots of tapes from a request we put on our website. Lots. Lots and lots. We also generated some television of our own to avoid going sir crazy in the sudio.
It was saved by the dedication of Dilly Gent who diligently went through all the tapes and Chris Bran who edited them together. In the end I think i only got beamed from our website.

The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of all Time
Something about money, cutbacks, too weird, might scare the children, staV layoVs, shareholders.. you know.. fair enough. It was a shame considering there is a lot of people's hard work here.
It sort of got forgoxen about. Until now. So we apologize to everybody who sent us their work.....
SORRY IT'S LATE.
But now you can watch i when you want, and maybe actually see i properly as well. It contains music from Hail to the chief etc., and all sorts of other suff from us... videos you may not have seen, and unreleased music that isn't out anywhere else.
A
Thom Yorke, 2nd September 2004.
The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time

Go to Radiohead.tv to see a trailer for the DVD.

[thanks Jordan]

Vote Radiohead into 90's hall of fame

Radiohead are included in a shortlist of acts priming to be entered into the newly founded UK music hall of fame for the nineties. The TV show was broadcast on Channel 4 (UK) tonight and featured a Radiohead documentary. You can vote for Radiohead by ringing 09011 33 11 33.

UK digital viewers can vote by pressing the red button. You can also check the Channel 4 site for more info. [thanks emptythreats & Jonathan]

VH2: Radiohead tenth greatest R&R band

Today on UK's VH2 channel, Radiohead were placed number 10 on the countdown of the 50 greatest Rock and Roll bands. The video for 'street spirit (fade out)' was played. [thanks Fatal Robot]

BBC Radio 2 airs REM show with Thom Yorke

BBC Radio 2 will broadcast the September 15th REM show where Thom Yorke did the vocals one on of the songs. The earlier reported REM show in London was a suprise for the audience when Thom joined Michael Stipe on E-bow the letter.

The concert will be broadcast by Radio 2 on October 23rd, and it will be available via the BBC Radio Player for seven days thereafter.

Air Guitar Eddy

Author and broadcaster Desmond Morris was on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. For one of his choices he said when his son was young he used to have his friends round at the weekend and one called Eddy used to love playing air guitar which he thought was unusual for a 7 or 8 year old - but he said 'he's now Ed O'Brien and he's in one of the most successful pop groups in excistence, so I'd love to hear Eddy play guitar please' - cue Paranoid Android! [thanks Keir]

News in brief

Times Leader reviewed the new 'Ok Computer' book in the 33 1/3 series.

IFilm have an episode of the 'The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth Of All Time' online.

The Eurosport channel had a snooker advert with Radiohead's 'The National Anthem' in the background. [Thanks Jonne & Jordan]

Happy Birthday Thom!

Just a note to let you know that it's Thom Yorke's birthday today. Thom is celeberating his 36th birthday. Have a great one!

Michelle sent this photo in of the Birthday cake, which is already gone by now.

102.1 The Edge (Toronto) had their daily segment of trivia segment "Bookie's College of Musical Knowledge". His question for the day was in honor of Thom's Birthday. He asked what age he would be turning, although neither of the first two callers knew. The third one guessed correctly, and won tickets to see Billy Talent & Metric. Bookie said something about Oxford and played Creep. [thanks Stuart]

Metrotunes offers Radiohead downloads

Metro has launched a new music download service catering for the tastes of its 'urbanite' readers. Unlike Itunes and the MSN Music Store, Metrotunes does offer original Radiohead tracks. The full 'Amnesiac' album is available for download. Metro said that metrotunes.co.uk is the first permanent music download service offered by a national newspaper in the UK. Individual tracks will cost 99p per download- 20p more than market leader iTunes- while albums will start from £6.99. The service, developed in association with Affinity Music, is compatible with both Macs and PCs and does not require any software downloads. Tracks can be purchased using a mobile phone via SMS as well as credit card. [full story]

The Bends nr. 8 in Metro Top 10 Albums

Metro Newspaper (UK) published their Urbanite Top 10 album today. Radiohead's 'The Bends' was number 8. Here's the full list:

1.The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
2.U2 The Joshua Tree
3.Meatloaf - Bat out of hell
4.Michael Jackson - Thriller
5.Abba - Abba Gold
6.Nirvana - Nevermind
7.Queen - Greatest Hits
8.Radiohead - The Bends
9.Pink Floyd - Dark side of The Moon
10.REM - Automatic For The People
[thanks Joseph]

B-sides and remix album withdrawn

Eil.com currently lists a 4 track CD-R Acetate for a B-Sides and Remix album that was pulled after the wide range of tracks was considered to be disjointed and lacked cohesion for an official release. Tracks include Scatterbrain - Fourtet Remix, Mixamatosis - Christian Vogel Remix, Unreleased Thom Yorke Remix of We Suck Young Blood and 33.33333. The disc is housed in Abbey Road Studio Mastering Sleeve with tracklisting & timings. It can be yours for £245.00. [thanks Joeri]

Chieftan Mews wants his money

The Chieftan Mews mystery continues. Radiohead.tv is back to to fullscreen mode. VapourBrothers.com shows a Google search page with the search results with the keywords 'Lying Mouth'. All pages link to ChieftanMews.com, where you will see Radiohead.com with 'I want my money' written all over it. Keep your eye on Radiohead.tv, cause this is not over yet.

At Ease Project 01 | Results

The first At Ease Project has come to an end. Over 50 entries in only a couple of days for the first project 'OK Photoshop'. Thank you all for participating! As mentioned earlier, there will be no prize, no winner, no money and therefore no bribes and kidnapping. Er... right. Have a look at most of those entries here. Discuss them on the mb. A new project will be announced soon.

The Chieftan Mews mystery

Radiohead.tv has been updated again. Today it reads:

WHERE IS CHIEFTAN MEWS?

Last seen presenting 'The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of all Time' on Radiohead.tv, Chieftan Mews is known to be seeking 'other avenues' for his considerable talents. Known to be in discussion with W.A.S.T.E., Mews was last heard muttering something about 'a DVD', 'more respect', and 'my large fee'.

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS 'MAN'?

Stanley Donwood made an appearance on the official board as well:
"Has Chieftan Mews been here? He is extremely dangerous and must NOT be approached. Mews is somewhere in Switzerland. There are difficulties with him. He wants more respect. He wants his own show. He wants... well, there's no end to his demands. He was last heard complaining about what he calls 'his profile', and how he's dissatisfied with 'just being seen as a figure of fun'. The man is crazy.If I know anything, I know he'll be here sooner or later. Tonto, that's what he is. He's got the bastard tape!"

Brad Mehldau video of Exit Music online

On Brad Mehldau's new website you can find a video of his version of Exit Music (for a film). [thanks Eric]

Tory David Cameron & 'miserable' Radiohead

Senior Tories gathering in Bournemouth for their annual conference have spoken of their secret passion for pop music.

Perhaps the most surprising revelation was David Cameron's penchant for
"miserable" music by Radiohead, Pulp and The Smiths - all well-known critics of the Conservatives. Smiths singer Morrissey once recorded a song about Margaret Thatcher called "Margaret on the Guillotine". Mr Cameron said he found music by these bands "strangely uplifting". "The more depressing the better," he added, describing his music tastes." [thanks pissy Cristina]

Radiohead miss out on Q Award

As reported earlier Radiohead were nominated again at the Q Awards. The band have won the 'Best Act in the World Today' award three times in a row, but this year the prize went to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. For a full list of award winners, check Q's website.

At Ease Project 01 | Update

Just another update for At Ease Project 01 (OK Photoshop). Due to the overwhelming response I've decided to set a deadline for the competition. You can enter until October 5th (which is tomorrow for those without a calendar). FYI, a winner won't be announced and there's no prize either. But that can change for future competitions (any sponsors out there?;)).

Saul Williams on 'Optimistic'

Saul Williams, who has covered Radiohead's 'Lucky' in the past, was interviewed at B&N.com, where he talked about Radiohead when B&N.com asked: "What are your favorite anthems?

SW: "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy and "Optimistic" by Radiohead.

B&N.com: Those songs are mantra-like.

SW: Mantras and anthems go hand-in-hand. The most beautiful part in that Radiohead song is the chorus of, where it's just open-air screaming. It's almost beyond the power of a mantra, because the Tao says, that which can be told is not the eternal Tao -- it's almost beyond words. [thanks DCarine]

OK Computer on MMM's top 40 albums

Radiohead's OK Computer was listed at number 5 in MuchMoreMusic's top 40 albums of the past 25 years. The Canadian music channel will be repeating the episode for those in on October 4 at 8:00AM, October 5 at 6:00PM and 9:00PM, October 6 at 12:00PM, and on October 9 at 9:00AM for those who are interested in checking that out. [thanks Eryn]

Where is The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time?

What happened? Why was Episode Four never shown? Where is Chieftan Mews? Will he be getting his own chat show? Who has pulled the plug? Where was the plug?
Is this a plug?

Well Maybe it is.

Apparently Radiohead.tv is now dead [thanks Marjorie]

Michael Stipe on Radiohead

REM's Michael Stipe was on the OrangePlaylist show on ITV last night, where he picked his favourite video. It was a tough choice, but Radiohead, renowned for their spectacular and epic music videos win the top spot. 'Pyramid Song' is Michael Stipe's all time favourite. "It’s a very sad song that leaves you optimism and hope. A beautiful thing." He also said the most overwhelming moment in his life was the when the Radiohead crowd were singing along to the line 'bring down the government' in 'No Surprises' at the Hollywood Bowl last year. [thanks Kiran]

At Ease Project 01 | OK Photoshop

In these times when Radiohead are more or less doing nothing, we need to entertain ourselves. So, here's a series called 'At Ease Project' for all you creatives out there. First one will be a Photoshop contest. You've probably seen it done before on news (or newsrelated) sites and I thought it would be a nice idea to start one on ateaseweb.com as well.

For those who missed all that, here's what it's all about. Your assignment is to edit a photo in Photoshop (or any other image editing software). You can only use the given photo, but you can do whatever you want with it. Copy, paste, mix it with other pics, use every filter you can... as long as the result worth sending in. I can make a list of guidelines, but I guess you can all imagine what can be done and what not. So, keep it nice and civil, use your talent and sense of humour. Link it to current events or whatever you think is appropriate.

First photo to work with is made by Rick of Thom Yorke at the Fylingdales demo. Click on the image for a larger version. Please keep in mind that the result will be resized to fit (width: 375 pixels) on the site, so the best ones can be posted on ateaseweb.com. Send them over to adriaan@ateaseweb.com with 'At Ease Project 01' in the subject line. Good luck!

Why Slash loves Radiohead

In the NME you can find an interview with Slash from Velvet Revolver entitled 'WHY I LOVE RADIOHEAD':

“I’m sort of a new fan of Radiohead. I wasn’t hip to them when they first came on the scene, but I discovered them later. So I went out and bought all their fucking records and now love them all. I probably didn’t get turned onto them until 2001- I guess it had to be Kid A that got me first.

They have the best guitar sounds, regardless of how much techno sonic stuff they have going on around them. I’ve haven’t heard guitar sounds like that in god knows how long. And Thom Yorke has an amazing voice. He has such depth of character and emotional strain. The drummer’s great, the guitar players are great, their ideas are great- they have a wonderful fucking imagination.

Some of the stuff that sounds like straight-form rock’n’roll, they put a twist in it you’d never expect. They are one of those bands who are really prolific. I know they get compared to U2 and Yes, but they really do have a unique thing onto themselves.

There was a point in time where they came out with ‘Hail to the Thief’ which was when this band of mine, Velvet Revolver, were first starting- Hail to the Thief is one of the few records that has come out in the last few years that I’ve bought. There is a mood that goes along with listening to those guys and sometimes it can be a little draining, but I remember driving around in my car with that record on and that led to me to their other records. So for a couple of months I listened to nothing but Radiohead every day. I thought their music was so compelling.

I wouldn’t try to sound like them. I get influenced by people and I try to pick up whatever positive tiny nuance that might be added into my repertoire, I do it subconsciously. I appreciate bands doing something different to what I do, and leave it at that. So I become more of a fan that someone who is trying to alter his life so he can be like them.

Would I work with them? No, no way. I’m too introverted to actually go seek these people out. The closet I came was when I was trying to get to a concert they were playing at the Hollywood Bowl. I’ve never seen them live, only on TV. But the concert on TV was great. I like anything that has sincerity and originality and integrity and some fucking balls. And Radiohead have all those things.” [thanks Mandy]

Thom on message board

Thom posted on the official message board last night where talked about the Fylingdales demo ('it was highly radioactive'), Bono's speech ('very brave') and other tidbits like when some asked about the new album, Thom answered with 'pffffft'. Mandy made a little compilation.

Leeds Today on Fylingdales demo

Leeds Today have another story on Thom Yorke attending the Fylingdales demo last Satuday:

Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke was at the head of the marchers who had found a moorland footpath on an Ordnance Survey map that led to the perimeter fence of RAF Fylingdales, the early warning station.
Mr Yorke said: "Since 9/11, the US and Britain can now hide this system under the concept of defence against rogue states. The legacy for our children if this Star Wars system is allowed to happen is absolutely terrifying.
Retaliation
"I don't know how Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, who has authorised this work, can sleep at night. Apparently, there may be some jobs in it, so that's all right then."
Dave Knight, of the Global Network Against Weapons, praised Mr Yorke for making a stand. "So many celebs don't put their head over the parapet because they are worried it will affect their careers. So congratulations, Thom." [thanks Mandy]

Wayne Coyne on Radiohead

Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne was interviewed in the Independent: "The Flaming Lips don't really go out of our way to be commercial or to get on the bottom rung of mainstream music. People think of us in this realm of progressive rock, the way maybe Radiohead is, and I try and remind people: the difference between us and Radiohead is I believe Radiohead could make a record that was more mainstream. They could get played on the radio and they could be on MTV but they purposely go the other way."

Manics mention Radiohead

Manic Street Preachers talk about their new single 'The Love of Richard Nixon' in the Guardian:
"There's a sample on the record where Nixon says, 'I have never been a quitter.' I feel a bit of empathy with that. It's the idea of the ugly duckling. Radiohead are Kennedy, Manic Street Preachers are Nixon." He laughs, unfurling his mile-wide grin". Further on "Radiohead and Blur and Oasis are a group of individuals," says Bradfield. "Even to Middle England, Thom Yorke is recognisable. But I've heard so many times, 'There's that bloke from the Manic Street Preachers.'" [thanks Marjorie]