New Radiohead Album:
In Rainbows
This is a day that may go down as the greatest surprise/best-kept secret in all of music history. Maybe I’m just naïve, but from the looks of things, Radiohead seemed determined to release their album in 2008. This was a total bummer as the second best band in rock (Wolf Parade) decided to push back their fall release and this year’s summer releases were a sub-par at best. Music fans were left scrapping for new material and many found themselves in the digging through the dumpsters of the most obscure and intangible of music genres just to get their fix. Many, myself included, used the time to dust off some old favorites. Others, just took a 3-month-long vacation from the world of music.
So imagine my surprise when, on Monday morning, I wake to a 6am text from a fan saying Radiohead’s new album, In Rainbows, drops in just 9 days. Of course I was skeptical, but this is no joke people: NINE DAYS! There is a catch, however. The album price is entirely your decision! You can get the fancy version (which ships no later than Dec. 3) and contains the CD, 2 pieces of Vinyl, a second enhanced CD and a whole slew of art swag (courtesy of Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood, no doubt) for about $81. Or… You can pick your price to download the album! That’s right, the album download price is completely up to you!
Conclusion? Radiohead is the only band in the world that actually matters. They are the only band that exists entirely outside the control of the music industry. They can change the entire scope of the music industry with the drop of a hat, and in a way, they just did. Don’t get me wrong, there are hundreds (maybe thousands?) of good (and great) bands in the world. They make good-to-great music and mostly survive on a mix of talent, creative, and (most importantly) a heavy dose of coolness. But in the end, Radiohead is the only band that makes art. Everyone else just plays Rock n’ Roll.
Written by Tarek.
