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Radiohead's virtual 'Kid A Mnesia' exhibit is available November 18th
Radiohead's virtual 'Kid A Mnesia' exhibition will be available November 18th on your PS5, PC or Mac.
Radiohead and Epic Games team up for a virtual 'Kid A Mnesia' exhibit
Radiohead and Epic Games are teaming up to produce a new digital exhibit dubbed, 'Kid A Mnesia' slated for release in November.
Radiohead is uploading concert films to YouTube for isolated fans
If you're a Radiohead fan, you have something to look forward to with the band now uploading weekly concerts to its YouTube channel.
Radiohead's online 'library' hosts rarities, art and merch
It's been difficult to track down all things Radiohead on the web for a while. Even though the group recently posted its entire catalog to YouTube, you've still had to search fan sites and other sources for every last little bit of art, video or merch. Now, however, you effectively have a one-stop shop. Radiohead has launched a Public Library that serves as a curated archive of the band's music (including B-sides and compilation tunes), artwork, music videos, ad-free live and TV performances, era-specific "office" playlists and even on-demand prints of merch that hasn't been available for years. If you want a Radiohead shirt from the days when Thom still dyed his hair blonde, you can make it happen.
Radiohead bypasses hackers to publish its 'OK Computer' demos
Radiohead has turned the tables on a hacker after a hacker breached Thom Yorke's computer to get hold of demos the band recorded between 1995 and 1998. "We got hacked last week," writes the band's Jonny Greenwood on Radiohead's oblique official blog, Dead Air Space. "Someone stole Thom's minidisk archive from around the time of OK Computer," demanding "$150,000 on threat of releasing it." But, rather than acquiesce to the demand, the group have simply put all 18 hours' worth of material up for sale.
Radiohead album hides an app that only runs on an '80s computer
In the age of the hipster, dust-covered and irrelevant mediums like the vinyl and cassette tape have slowly been given a new lease of life. Now, thanks to Radiohead, it looks like popular British computer the ZX Spectrum might be the next '80s relic to come back into fashion. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the band's genre-bending opus, OK Computer, Radiohead has released a £100 commemorative special edition of the album, entitled OKNOTOK.
Stream Coachella live on YouTube without the dusty sweatfest
Spring has sprung in the US and that means it's time for music festival season. Coachella is typically the first major event of the year and the 2017 installment is set to kick off April 14th. Just like previous years, you'll be able to watch performances live from the comforts of home on YouTube. There will be three channels of music from the festival's various stages and the handy scheduling tool returns so you don't miss the artists you really want to see.
Recommended Reading: Radiohead's 'OK Computer' predicted the future
The Radiohead Prophesies: How 'OK Computer' Predicted the Future Stuart Berman, Pitchfork Pitchfork is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Radiohead's OK Computer this week, including a pretty interesting look at how Thom Yorke imagined the future in 1997. Released at a time when the internet was still a new thing, the album's content ties in directly to 2017. As Berman notes, "OK Computer is really more like the first draft for a never-filmed pilot episode of Black Mirror."
Radiohead released a 'Spectre' theme tune for Christmas
It's the season for giving, and Radiohead just gave us a real treat. The British band was apparently invited to write a theme tune for the Bond movie Spectre last year. Ultimately, "it didn't work out," and Sam Smith ended up recording "Writing's On The Wall" for the film. Radiohead's track became something the band "love very much," though, so much so that it's just released it to the world via SoundCloud.
Thom Yorke's BitTorrent release had over a million downloads in six days
So, how did Thom Yorke's latest music-distribution venture go? Pretty well, it seems. The Radiohead-frontman's second solo album, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes, achieved over a million downloads in six days via BitTorrent Bundle, according to the peer-to-peer network's blog. Exactly how the numbers break down is a bit nebulous, though. BitTorrent says that those million downloads also include the freebie single and video as well as the $6 album, noting to Consequence of Sound that precise sales numbers were being withheld at Yorke's request. Still, it's a little exciting to see that Bundles could be a viable way for musicians to earn a living -- especially when streaming services are well-known for less-than-favorable pay-outs and business practices. Let's just hope this success isn't limited to acts with Yorke's inherent star-power. After all, even Trent Reznor went back to a traditional record label after toying with total independence. [Image credit: Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP]
Radiohead releases new music through PolyFauna app
This past February, Radiohead released their first iOS app, an experimental music and art project called PolyFauna. Using music from their King of Limbs recording session as the background for abstract and evolving visuals, the app was equal parts musical performance and art piece. Now Radiohead has released an update for Polyfauna, featuring brand new music and visual landscapes from the band. The app's "Whats New in Version 2.0" description simply reads "Entirely new" and they're not lying. Version 2.0 features an entirely new soundtrack by the band, one that will easily remind longtime fans of their ambient-minded album Kid A. The alien forests of the original app have been replaced with blossoming expanses of outer space, stars, and light. Players -- if you can call this app a game -- navigate the worlds by tilting their iOS device in various directions. The title intentionally leaves out any tutorials, so plug in your headphones for ideal sound quality and get ready to explore. You can listen to four previews of the new Radiohead music found within the app below, then head over to iTunes to download it for free.
PolyFauna for iOS is a trip into another dimension from Radiohead
We mentioned PolyFauna last week, and now I've had a chance to look and listen. This free app from the rock band Radiohead is a trippy portal to another dimension. You start up with a dark screen that gradually lightens and you see a sort of alien environment. Is that snow falling, or stars? Am I under water? What are those strange skeletal creatures floating by? You navigate by moving your screen in any direction. Every so often, a red orb appears. Intersect it, and you'll be transported elsewhere. You can draw on the screen and create some of your own "life forms." What's it all for? The app is an experimental collaboration between Radiohead and Universal Everything, a very creative U.K.-based design studio. The imagery and the sounds come from the song Bloom. You'll have to take it from there. I found the app compelling to explore, although I did get some people wondering what I was doing when tested it at lunch. The app is best with headphones, with directional effects and immersive sounds to go with the visuals. It's fun to explore, and the app fully utilizes the directional sensors provided by iOS hardware. PolyFauna is a universal app. It requires iOS 7.0 or later, and it's optimized for the iPhone 5. I've put some screen grabs in the gallery, but you will see different things as you explore more and more deeply into the bizarre world PolyFauna creates.
Radiohead release free experimental iOS app called PolyFauna
Radiohead has released a free, universal app for iOS, and no it's not called Ok Cell Phone. The app is an interactive experimental art project called PolyFauna, born out of the sessions from the band's latest record, King of Limbs. Using imagery and audio inspired by the song "Bloom," the app is more of a meditative experience than a game. Vocalist Thom Yorke wrote the following on the band's blog: We have made an app called PolyFauna. PolyFauna is an experimental collaboration between us (Radiohead) & Universal Everything, born out of The King of Limbs sessions and using the imagery and the sounds from the song Bloom. It comes from an interest in early computer life-experiments and the imagined creatures of our subconscious. Your screen is the window into an evolving world. Move around to look around. You can follow the red dot. You can wear headphones. The app's iTunes description credits Radiohead, Nigel Godrich, Stanley Donwood and Universal Everything with contributing to the creative process. You can download PolyFauna for free here.
Radiohead launches experimental interactive app PolyFauna
English music group Radiohead launched its own interactive app on iOS and Android today called PolyFauna. The app is an "experimental collaboration" with design studio Universal Everything, and is free to download. While it's not a game in the traditional sense of the word, PolyFauna presents users with an abstract, evolving world viewed from a first-person perspective. Viewers float through the world, turning their devices to view the artistic environment around them and follow a floating red dot to seemingly "warp" to a new area. The app uses imagery and sounds from Radiohead's song "Bloom." The band described its inspiration for PolyFauna as coming from "an interest in early computer life-experiments and the imagined creatures of our subconscious." [Image: Radiohead]
Radiohead's PolyFauna app will make you feel like a subterranean homesick alien
Radiohead has a new app for iOS and Android. It's called PolyFauna, and here's how Thom Yorke describes it: Your screen is the window into an evolving world. Move around to look around. You can follow the red dot. You can wear headphones.
Thom Yorke pulls recent tracks from Spotify in protest against low pay for new artists
The artist famed for fronting Radiohead, and not so much for toeing the line, has withdrawn his solo tracks from Spotify and some smaller streaming services in order to highlight the low payments given to new musicians. Thom Yorke explained the decision by re-tweeting his producer, Nigel Godrich, who had complained that "new artists get paid f^@k all," and that the current streaming model only suits those with an existing back catalog. Yorke added that Spotify shareholders "will shortly be rolling in it," implying that the distribution of wealth is unfair. Some followers reacted badly to his decision, accusing him of "hurting his fans" with a "small [and] meaningless rebellion," but others spoke out in support -- including electronic artist Four Tet (aka Kieran Hebden) who said he'd pulled his music off Spotify for the same reason. Spotify responded to the criticism this morning in a statement provided to TechCrunch, saying that it is "still in the early stages of a long-term project," and adding that "we've already paid $500 million to rightsholders so far and by the end of 2013 this number will reach $1 billion." The spokesperson further went on to say that "we're 100% committed to making Spotify the most artist-friendly music service possible, and are constantly talking to artists and managers about how Spotify can help build their careers." Yorke is hardly the first star to make a stand, but unlike Coldplay, Adele and the rest, his specific focus on industry newcomers (rather than himself) is -- we've gotta say -- quite refreshing.
Rocksmith adds Radiohead, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Black Keys; more DLC coming Nov. 15
Fret not, ye who have mastered all of the licks and diddies found in Ubisoft's Rocksmith: DLC is incoming. Today, Ubisoft has announced that select Radiohead, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Black Keys jams are available for download today. It's mostly what you'd expect -- well, in the case of Lynyrd Skynyrd, anyway: "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Body Snatchers" by Radiohead and "Tighten Up" by The Black Keys are available for 240 MS Points ($3) or $2.99 on PlayStation Network each. On November 15, the Rock Hits 1970's Pack makes available Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water," Boston's "More Than a Feeling" and The Allman Brothers Band's "Jessica," all of which will follow the same pricing scheme. Ubisoft promises "new music packs will be released on a regular basis." So, every two weeks then?
LaCie ships Little Big Disk Thunderbolt, promises 240GB SSD variant in mid-October
It's taken its sweet time, but folks who weren't exactly keen on the Promise Pegasus finally have a compact option for putting their Thunderbolt port to good use. LaCie has just announced that it's Little Big Disk Thunderbolt external drive -- a first for the outfit -- is available to purchase. For those keeping count, it's only the second overall T-bolt drive to hit the scene, with this 1.4-pounder boasting a pair of 2.5-inch drives, support for JBOD / RAID 1 / RAID 0 and a typically metallic chassis that measures 1.6- x 5.5- x 3.3-inches. We're promised speeds as high as 480MB/sec (for SSD arrangements) and 190MB/sec (for HDD models), and users can daisy chain several of 'em to hit transfer rates of around 800MB/sec. These guys should be available starting today (though Apple's online shop currently has a "one to two week" wait), with the 1TB 7200RPM edition retailing for $399, and the 2TB 5400RPM model listing for $499. We're still awaiting word on the specifics surrounding the October-bound 240GB SSD variant, but those who'd rather press their luck for a free one can enter the ongoing contest in the More Coverage link below. %Gallery-134418%
Radiohead releasing new downloadable album, MC Hammer releases new iPad single
You may remember, about four years ago, Radiohead raising a stink over the digital release of its album In Rainbows. The band decided to "sell" the album on its website, asking fans to pay whatever they wanted, while at the same time shunning Apple's iTunes service, claiming they wanted to sell the album rather than individual songs. Back then, Radiohead's statement was pretty amazing, if only because there weren't a lot of other digital channels besides Apple's store. Now, of course, there are a few more ways to buy your music online. Radiohead's gone iTunes anyway, and more artists have decided to sell music themselves. But Radiohead is back at it -- they've announced that a new album will be sold a little more traditionally, but at a US$9 download for an MP3 version, as well as physically starting at $48. I doubt it'll be quite as disruptive a model as In Rainbows was, but figured it was worth a mention. And speaking of releasing new music, MC Hammer released a brand new single on the Flipboard iPad app this month. You'll know Flipboard as a social aggregator, but apparently the company took a musical turn the other week when it premiered the brand new single "See Her Face" on the pages of its app alone. There's no word on how the release went over, but you can listen to the song itself, even if you don't have the iPad app, on Flipboard's site.
Blood Sport: Patch 3.3, part I
Ahh, lovely Radiohead. The entirety of Scotch Mist (which is In Rainbows played live) will be our listening music, as I expect today's article to be somewhat...lengthy. Starting out with "Weird Fishes" is a nice touch -- you gotta love Radiohead's set order diversity. By the way, I'm going to continue supporting the Blood Sport column with listening music, due to overwhelming positive response. If you have any suggestions for songs, please let me know in the comments below! Instead of talking about minor changes, I'm going to try to only hit the major ones here, as this is a giant patch. If you think I skipped something important, please let me know via the comments below and I'll reply. Today, we'll be covering pet resilience, the Will of the Forsaken nerf, death knight, and druid changes, and what they hold for arena combatants. Expect the other classes and item/glyph changes soon! You can find all about Patch 3.3 here. Check out what the last major patch of WotLK has for gladiators and challengers alike after the break!
