Radiohead

Radiohead is a five-piece English band from Oxford, Oxfordshire. Though often classified as alternative rock, they have been influenced by a variety of genres.Fricke, David. Interview with Thom Yorke, May 2006. Rolling Stone website.[1]Playlist for Radiohead's third webcast to fans, March 2000. archived on at ease newsRadiohead are often praised as one of the most creative bands of their era, known for their multilayered songs and artistic evolution from album to album.Ross, Alex. "The Searchers: Radiohead's unquiet revolution." The New Yorker, August 20 and 27, 2001.[2] They are seen by some to have maintained a spirit of musical and political independenceBurton, Sarah. "Art and Politics" (interview with Howard Zinn and Thom Yorke). Resonance Magazine, November 22, 2003. archived at alternetWhittington-Hill, Lisa. "Let's Rant and Roll." This Magazine, November-December 2004.[3] despite recording for EMI, a major label. The band is currently operating without a record deal, successfully touring the world this summer and previewing new songs that they may release via the Internet only.

Formed by school friends in 1986, Radiohead did not release their first single until 1992. "Creep", from their debut album Pablo Honey (1993), became a worldwide hit as the grunge genre achieved its greatest popularity. While initially branded as a one-hit wonder in the US, Radiohead caught on at home in the UK with their second album The Bends (1995), earning fans with their dense guitar atmospheres and frontman Thom Yorke's expressive singing. The band's third album OK Computer (1997) propelled them to greater attention, receiving acclaim from rock critics for its expansive sound and theme of modern alienation. It is widely seen as a landmark recording of the 1990s. With Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), Radiohead reached their peak global popularity even as their music became more experimental. The band's early post-punk and alternative idols like R.E.M., Pixies, The Smiths, Magazine and Joy Division were joined in the current decade with wider-ranging influences such as Charles Mingus, Can, Autechre and Olivier Messiaen, among others, as well as the distinct styles of Detroit Techno & the Warp Records labelGross, Terry. Interview with Thom Yorke, July 2006. NPR - Fresh Air website.[4] as the band drew increasingly from electronic music, jazz and 20th century classical music, though continuing to find inspiration in Neil Young and the late Beatles on their latest record, Hail to the Thief (2003).

Although the band's recent albums have polarised listenersBBC News. "Amnesiac: Your Views," 4 June, 2001.[5] and failed to spin off major radio hits, Radiohead continues to be seen as a figurehead in the music industry,Pareles, Jon. New York Times article, July 2, 2006.[6]Abramovich, Alex. "The Anti-Christs: Radiohead defies rock's own, personal Jesus myth." Slate, June 8, 2001.[7] drawing adoring crowds to their live concerts, influencing artists in many genres and enjoying surprising commercial success for a band of "outsiders".

See also: Radiohead overview and influence

Overview

Radiohead are:
* Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, electronic programming)
* Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboard, ondes martenot, electronic programming, string arrangements, various)
* Ed O'Brien (guitar, harmony vocals, special effects, percussion)
* Colin Greenwood (bass, keyboards)
* Phil Selway (drums and percussion)

Radiohead's style, notable for its variety and versatility, can be largely explained by the eclectic musical tastes and accomplishments of its members. Lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood is currently the BBC's Composer in Residence, a multi-instrumentalist, and the only classically trained member of the band, playing (aside from the guitar) such instruments as the Ondes Martenot, banjo, viola and harmonica. Lead singer Thom Yorke, as well as writing most of the lyrics, plays several different instruments, and has also focused in recent years on the digital manipulation of sound. He and Jonny are both credited with playing "laptop" on the band's most recent album.

Though Yorke and Greenwood are often seen as the main creative influences within the band, songwriting is chiefly a collaborative effort, and all members are cited equally by the band in their album credits. For example, Ed O'Brien, though usually employed as a guitarist and backing vocalist, is responsible for creating many of the noises and effects heard in songs (such as the end of "Karma Police"), and is also a skilled drummer; and bassist Colin Greenwood and drummer Phil Selway are known to have played an influential role in shaping several of Radiohead's recent pieces. Since the Kid A and Amnesiac recording sessions, band members have felt less constrained to always play "their" instrument, often switching off depending on what the song requires, although in live shows the roles are usually more consistent.

This spirit of creative collaboration is also shown in the band's close relationship with their producers, in particular Nigel Godrich, who worked with the band as coproducer on OK Computer and the following three albums after serving as an engineer on the recording of The Bends. Godrich has often been dubbed the "sixth member" of Radiohead in an allusion to George Martin's work with the Beatles, but this association has been at least temporarily broken following the band's decision to work with Mark "Spike" Stent during current recording sessions.

Graphic artist Stanley Donwood is another long-term associate of the group, having produced together with Yorke (who is often listed under the pseudonym "Tchock","Tchocky", "Dr. Tchock", or "The White Chocolate Farm") all of Radiohead's visual artwork (excepting music videos) since their My Iron Lung EP. For Radiohead, Donwood has produced art ranging from oil paintings to computer generated imagery to collages and antique style posters, and prefers to work in the same place the band is recording so as to find a visual equivalent for their sound. Donwood thus projects significant influence over the public image of the band, and the issues addressed in his artwork have been seen to act as a catalyst to themes within Yorke's lyrics. Together with Yorke, he won a Grammy in 2002 for a special edition of Amnesiac packaged as a library book.

History

Formation and first years (1986-1991)

Radiohead were formed in the mid-Eighties at Abingdon School, a public (in American English: private) boys-only school located just outside the city of Oxford, which drummer Phil Selway, guitarist Ed O'Brien, guitarist/vocalist Thom Yorke, bassist Colin Greenwood and Colin's multi-instrumentalist brother Jonny all attended. They began practicing in the school's music room, which led to the formation of their first band On a Friday, so named because of their customary rehearsal date. Among On a Friday's earliest influences were The Smiths, Joy Division, Magazine, Queen, R.E.M. and Elvis Costello. The band played their first gig in September 1986, at Oxford's Jericho Tavern. Jonny was the youngest member, and played only harmonica until he could persuade the others to allow him on guitar, but he soon developed into the band's lead player. At one point early in the band's history, On a Friday also had several girls in the lineup playing saxophone.

When the five band members left school to attend university they temporarily put aside On a Friday, but continued to practice on holiday breaks, always planning to return to the band. After four years of dormancy, On a Friday began releasing demos (such as the Manic Hedgehog Demo) and performing live again in Oxford in 1991, becoming popular in the region and also appearing on the cover of local magazine Curfew. Though Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley had an active independent music scene in the late 80s and early 90s centred around shoegazing bands like Ride and Slowdive, Radiohead was not seen to fit into this trend, and commented that they had "missed" it by the time they returned from university.

Pablo Honey and The Bends (1992-1995)

Jonny Greenwood

As On a Friday's live bookings increased, various record labels began to show an interest. Eventually the group signed a six-album recording contract with EMI. The band also changed their name to Radiohead at the behest of the label, the title of a song on Talking Heads' True Stories album. The band's debut EP was produced by their managers Chris Hufford and Bryce Edge, of the local Courtyard Studios. Both remain Radiohead's managers to this day. However, shortly after releasing Drill in March 1992, the band hired Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade, known for their work with the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr., to produce their first full-length studio album. Radiohead's first album was finished in three weeks in an Oxford studio.

With the limited release of single "Creep" in 1992, the band began to receive interest from the British music press, not all of it favourable. One journalist called them "a lily livered excuse for a rock band," and after a few plays the single was blacklisted from BBC Radio 1 for being too depressing. The band subsequently released its debut album Pablo Honey in 1993. They began touring America, issued the irreverent stand-alone single "Pop Is Dead" (which they soon came to regret), and then nearly broke up over the pressure of sudden success when "Creep" unexpectedly became a smash hit. Although representing a style from which the band would later move, songs like "Anyone Can Play Guitar," "Stop Whispering," "Thinking About You," and "You" also gained considerable popularity for their heart-on-sleeve songwriting, causing Radiohead to be seen as a "British Nirvana." The Pablo Honey supporting tour moved into its second year as the album continued to break internationally, fueled by "Creep," which remains the band's largest worldwide hit.

Radiohead set to work on their second album. The hiring of veteran producer John Leckie contributed significantly to the sound of the album. "The best part about working with John Leckie," Jonny recalls, "was that he didn't dictate anything to us. He allowed us to figure out what we wanted to do ourselves." Nevertheless, tensions were high as the band felt smothered by "Creep's" success and the pressures of creating a superior follow-up mounted. Recalling these sessions, Leckie recounted: "It was either going to be 'Sulk', 'The Bends', 'Nice Dream', or 'Just'. We had to give those absolute attention, make them amazing, instant smash hits number 1 in America. Everyone was pulling their hair and saying, 'It's not good enough!' We were trying too hard!" The band responded by seeking a change of scenery, quitting the studio and touring Australasia and the Far East in an attempt to relax the atmosphere.

The EP My Iron Lung (1994), featuring the single of the same title, was released while the band were touring and marked a transitional stage between the pop-rock of Pablo Honey and the musical depth of their second album. Having developed the remainder of the songs on the road, they returned to Britain and completed the album in a fortnight in late 1994, mixing and releasing The Bends in May (1995). The band finally earned British success (amid a sea of Britpop) and won new fans with the album's densely layered guitar atmospheres and Thom Yorke's expressive, often falsetto, singing. Singles included "Fake Plastic Trees," "Just," and "High and Dry," but major success for the album did not come until the release of final single "Street Spirit (Fade Out)", which hit the Top 5 in the UK.

In summer 1995, Radiohead toured with R.E.M.- one of their strongest influences and by then one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Introducing his opening act, Michael Stipe said "Radiohead are so good, they're scary," and the two bands continued their close relationship since, with Stipe often acting as a mentor to his friend Yorke. The buzz generated by such famous fans, along with a series of distinctive music videos such as "Just," helped to expand Radiohead's name outside the UK.

According to Phil Selway, "When The Bends came out everyone went on about how uncommercial that was. Twelve months later it was being hailed as a pop classic. The record company were worried there wasn't a single on it- and we ended up with five top 30 hits from it!" However, while critically acclaimed, in the rest of the world the album failed to match the commercial success of "Creep."

OK Computer (1996-1998)

Thom Yorke said that The Bends succeeded because "we had to put ourselves into an environment where we felt free to work. And that's why we want to produce the next one ourselves, because the times we most got off on making the last record were when we were just completely communicating with ourselves, and John Leckie wasn't really saying much, and it was just all happening".

The band didn't know it at the time, but one new song was already recorded for the album: "Lucky", which was recorded in September 1995 for the War Child charity's The Help Album. Radiohead also contributed two songs to Baz Luhrmann's 1996 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, "Talk Show Host" and "Exit Music (For a Film)." The former was a remix of one of the b-sides to "Street Spirit (Fade Out)," a single from The Bends. The latter was a new song, to be included eventually on the band's next album.

With the assistance of engineer Nigel Godrich, Radiohead did produce their next album themselves, buying their own recording gear and beginning work in early 1996. By July they had recorded four songs with producer Godrich at their rehearsal studio, Canned Applause, a converted apple shed near Didcot, Oxfordshire. Their plan was to stay away from traditional recording studios and the bad vibes they'd previously set off in the band. Having learnt from The Bends, they decided to perform and perfect the songs live, briefly touring as opening act for Alanis Morissette, before completing the record. The rest was recorded in actress Jane Seymour's 15th-century mansion in St. Catherine's Court near Bath. The recording sessions were relaxed, with the band playing at all hours of the day, recording songs in different rooms, and blasting DJ Shadow, Ennio Morricone and the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus" through the house for inspiration. Unfortunately, some of the same tension present during The Bends sessions appeared once again during the track selection for OK Computer. By the end of the year the album was finished and in February and March it was mixed and mastered.

Thom Yorke

Radiohead released OK Computer in the summer of 1997, to great critical acclaim. A melodic rock album, OK Computer found Radiohead introducing uncommon musical elements, experimenting with ambience and noise to create a set of songs that many consider a high point of twentieth-century rock music. It is among the pop albums that have consistently appeared in top lists. OK Computer included the singles "Paranoid Android," "Karma Police," and "No Surprises" (as well as "Let Down," a fan favorite whose planned single release was canceled). It received a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album, and a nomination for Album of the Year.

OK Computer was followed by a world tour, nicknamed "Against Demons," the band's biggest yet. Grant Gee, the director of the "No Surprises" video, accompanied the band on their tour and filmed it, which resulted in the "fly on the wall" documentary Meeting People Is Easy (released in 1999). Rather than stereotypical rock n' roll behavior, the film depicted the band's disaffection from the music industry and showed their burnout as they progressed from their first concert dates in mid-1997 to mid-1998, nearly a year later. The band also released a compilation of their music videos (7 Television Commercials), and two EPs No Surprises/Running From Demons (1997) and Airbag/How Am I Driving? (1998) during this time. The more notable is the second, which has songs that could be described as a bridge between the progressive alternative rock of OK Computer and their subsequent more atmospheric work.

Kid A and Amnesiac (1999-2001)

Exhausted by fame and on the verge of burning out following their 1997-1998 world tour, the band spent the next year in relative quiet. Thom Yorke later admitted that during that period the band were close to splitting up, and that he himself had developed mild depression. Radiohead's only appearance later that year was at an Amnesty International concert in Paris (10 December, 1998). In 1999 Thom and Jonny performed alone at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in Amsterdam, debuting a new work, "Egyptian Song" (later known as "Pyramid Song"), and the band's only public performance was in an Internet webcast to their fans, introducing the new song "Knives Out."

In early 1999 Radiohead began work on a follow-up to OK Computer, but in a less organised fashion than with their previous albums. Although there was no longer any pressure or even a deadline from their record label, tension during this period was high. Different members had different visions for the band's future, and Yorke, who made the tie-breaking decisions, was experiencing writer's block. Eventually all members got behind the new musical direction, redefining their roles in the band. For the first time the band recorded without considering live performance, secluding themselves with producer Nigel Godrich in a series of different studios from Paris to Copenhagen to Gloucester to their own studio, newly complete in Oxford, in the process paring down about 40 new songs to the 30 which ultimately made their subsequent two records and accompanying b-sides.O'Brien, Ed. Studio diary from Kid A and Amnesiac recording sessions, 1999-2000. archived at green plastic Radiohead refused to create a stylistic sequel to OK Computer. The result was a more minimalist and textured style featuring less overt guitar and more diverse instrumentation (such as the ondes martenot, electronic beats, strings, and jazz horns), but one which retained some of the lyrical and musical hooks of their earlier records. "The trick is to try and carry on doing things that interest you, but not turn into some art-rock nonsense just for its own sake," Colin Greenwood said of the recording sessions,Eccleston, Danny. Q magazine feature and interview, October 2000. archived at follow me around which were completed in late spring of 2000, after nearly 18 months.

Radiohead's "modified bear" icon

Kid A, released on October 2, 2000, was the first of two albums taken from these recording sessions. Synthesised, claustrophobic, alternately lush and abrasive, with ever more cryptic lyrics, the album stunned both the music industry and Radiohead's fan base for its departures from their past work and from pop conventions. The band declined to release any singles from Kid A, apparently suggesting the album should be listened to as a whole (however, a promo of "Optimistic" received some radio play). Instead, a series of "video blips" or "antivideos" were created by video directors Chris Bran and Shynola; these 30-second largely animated videos were seen to tie in with the album's anti-consumerist themes.Tate, Joseph. "Radiohead's Antivideos: Works of Art in the Age of Electronic Reproduction." Postmodern Culture, May 2002. Volume 12, Number 3. also reprinted in The Music and Art of Radiohead, edited by Tate, 2005.[8]

Yet the "difficult" Kid A achieved Radiohead's highest worldwide chart placement to date, debuting at number 1 in many countries, including the United States. Its top position on the Billboard album chart (where OK Computer had reached a peak of #22) marked a first for the band, identifying them as one of the few modern British pop artists to penetrate the American market,BBC News. "US success for Radiohead." 14 June, 2001.[9]Jenkins, Mark. "The End of the British Invasion." Slate, May 3, 2002.[10] though the album fell off soon after. Kid A's success has been attributed both to massive hype and to the early availability of all the songs on the Internet file-sharing network Napster, accustoming fans to the new musical style,Menta, Richard. "Did Napster Take Radiohead's New Album to Number 1?" MP3 Newswire, October 28, 2000.[11] but it was also a clear result of anticipation after OK Computer.Oldham, James. "Radiohead - Their Stupendous Return." NME, 24 June, 2000. archived at follow me around

Ed O'Brien singing backup

Like its predecessor, Kid A ultimately received a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album and a nomination for Album of the Year, and also appeared on many best-of-year lists. But while the previous album had branded Radiohead one of the world's most "important" rock bands and inspired near-universal praise. "I think a lot of writers expected us to come back with a combination of OK Computer and The Bends. The fact that we didn't do that means people who got their guitars out have had to put them back into the wardrobe," said Jonny Greenwood.BBC Music. Interview with Jonny Greenwood, 2000. audio However, the record also cemented Radiohead's enigmatic image, gaining them plaudits for courage and innovation. While some fans were mystified or appalled, many others now see it as the band's best work.

Inspired by Naomi Klein's anti-globalization manifesto No Logo, the band mounted a tour of Europe during this period in a big top tent free of corporate logos, but performed only three small theatre dates in North America. These concerts sold out instantly and attracted many celebrities. Along with songs from Kid A (which had been reworked for live performance after the album was finished) the band performed songs that had been recorded, but not yet released. Having rejected the possibility of a double album before Kid A, they now considered a series of EPs or singles, before settling on another album to contain the remaining material. In the meantime, a "special edition" version of Kid A was released, packaged as a children's book and featuring additional art by Stanley Donwood and Tchock (Yorke's pseudonym).

Radiohead's next album, Amnesiac, was released in June 2001, and comprised further tracks from the same recording sessions. Conceived as complementary but distinct sequences of songs, the two albums are similar in style and influence, a connection made explicit in the selection of different versions of the song "Morning Bell" appearing on both records. Amnesiac saw the band's sound coalesce into an even more genre-blurring hybrid of electronic music, avant garde jazz and art rock, though in contrast to Kid A, it did feature slightly more accessible songs, notably the piano ballad "Pyramid Song" (Radiohead's first single since 1997), and the guitar single "Knives Out." Amnesiac is often viewed by critics as the less accomplished of the two works and has been criticised for a lack of cohesion. However, without quite matching its predecessor's sales, it was critically acclaimed and a moderate commercial success.After Amnesiac's release, the band embarked on a months-long world tour, concentrating on large outdoor venues and visiting North America, Europe and Japan, though the tour was much smaller than that for OK Computer four years earlier. Radiohead also staged their own summer mini-festival in Oxford's South Park, featuring Beck, Sigur Rós, Supergrass, and Humphrey Lyttelton (who played trumpet on Amnesiac's closing track, "Life in a Glass House"). "I Might Be Wrong," initially planned as a third single release from Amnesiac, eventually expanded into the band's first and thus far only live record. Released in fall 2001, I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings featured performances of Kid A and Amnesiac material from concerts in Berlin, Paris and London, among others. The "mini" album's live versions of "The National Anthem," "I Might Be Wrong," and "Like Spinning Plates" were notably different from the studio recordings, and it also contained a song previously unreleased on an album, the long-time fan favourite "True Love Waits".

Hail to the Thief (2002-2004)

Radiohead testing new material live in Portugal

On the heels of the Amnesiac tour the band took new material on the road in Portugal and Spain during July and August 2002. Using this opportunity to flesh out and finalise the songs before an audience of their fans, the band subsequently completed the album in only two weeks in a Los Angeles studio with Nigel Godrich, with a few additional recordings done later in Oxford. According to interviews, the band was seeking to lessen their perfectionist tendencies and find more of a "swaggering" live sound in the studio.

The band released their sixth album Hail to the Thief in June 2003. The record is considered as an attempt to distill the more electronic and experimental influences of the previous two albums, and fuse them with the guitar-based rock music of Radiohead's early albums. At 14 tracks and nearly an hour long, the album is the longest the band has released. Hail to the Thief garnered broadly positive reviews, tempered by the opinion in some quarters that the band were treading water rather than continuing the 'genre-redefining' trend that OK Computer and Kid A had begun. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album, the band's fifth straight nomination in that category (including the Airbag EP).

Hail to the Thief's title was widely assumed in the media to be a comment on the controversial U.S. presidential election of 2000, but Thom Yorke denied this, saying the title had a wider meaning: "If the motivation for naming our album had been based solely on the [current] U.S. election, I'd find that to be pretty shallow." The band has commented that they feared a backlash in America for the title and slightly more direct politics of the lyrics, as had recently befallen the Dixie Chicks when they spoke against President George W. Bush, and were pleasantly surprised when this did not occur.

However, Hail to the Thief did not have as large a commercial profile, debuting at number 3 on the US Billboard chart, though it was Radiohead's fourth consecutive UK number 1 album. The lead single "There There" peaked at number 4 in the British charts, with subsequent singles "Go to Sleep" and "2+2=5" charting at #12 and #15 respectively. But "There There" was a #1 hit in Canada, and returned the band to U.S. modern rock radio favour, after several years without a song on playlists.

After the release of Hail to the Thief, Radiohead embarked on an extensive international tour, which lasted about a year but was punctuated by long breaks; by this time, most members of Radiohead had families and children at home. To many the band appeared more relaxed than on earlier tours, laughing at meetings with the press, and dancing on stage. In June 2003 Radiohead again headlined the main (Pyramid) stage on the Saturday of the Glastonbury Festival. In late 2003 Radiohead contributed original music to Split Sides, a project of Merce Cunningham's dance company which also involved their former touring partners Sigur Rós. The band finished the Hail to the Thief tour in mid-2004 with a performance at the Coachella Festival.

After the tour, the band began writing and rehearsing for a possible follow up album in their Oxford based studio, then went on hiatus as Ed had just had a son Salvador born in January 2004 and Colin was awaiting the birth of his firstborn Jesse. Free of any contractual obligations, the members of Radiohead spent the remainder of 2004 resting and devoting themselves to solo projects, only recording as a group sporadically. They released the DVD version of their webcast television show, The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth Of All Time, in December 2004. Jonny and Thom collaborated with many other artists for the Band Aid 20 project, playing guitar and piano, respectively.

Current recording sessions (2005-present)

Radiohead began work again in January 2005, with Thom playing a selection of new songs to the other members, who in turn began adding their own parts. The recording process has been described by the band as "unorganised", and very different to the way Radiohead has recorded before. By early autumn, the band returned to more regular recording sessions, posting intermittently in their Dead Air Space blog on their progress.

Perhaps the biggest change is the choice of producer for the record: for the first time in more than a decade, Nigel Godrich won't oversee the making of the album, although he collaborated on Thom's 2006 solo album (see The Eraser) and may record some material with the band. According to Ed O'Brien, Radiohead wanted to challenge themselves again and felt too "comfortable" with Godrich as sole coproducer. Instead, the band is working with Mark "Spike" Stent (who has previously engineered, mixed or produced albums by Björk, Massive Attack, U2 and Madonna).

It appears unlikely that the band will re-sign with EMI. Its management has also dismissed rumours that Warner Music was lining up to sign the band, stating: "The band (is) not looking for a record company in any way, shape or form. They are out of a contract, but they're not actively looking for another one. They're getting on with doing what they do". In an interview in April for NME, Thom revealed that they do plan to sign a record deal eventually, but on their own terms, and not until the album is finished. This was confirmed in a June interview with The Observer: "'Will we re-sign to EMI?' he mused. 'I don't know. I don't think we'd sign sign to anybody. Give someone a record when it's done if we feel that they can do it justice. That's it.'"McLean, Craig. "All Messed Up." The Observer, June 18, 2006.[12]

In March 2005, Thom and Jonny performed at the Ether Festival in London, with the London Sinfonietta, the Arab Orchestra of Nazareth, and others. The song "Arpeggi", which will likely be included on Radiohead's next release, was debuted in this performance. Greenwood also debuted two of his own classical pieces, one written for the Ondes Martenot. Later that summer, Yorke performed an acoustic set for the Trade Justice Rally, performing "Nude" (aka "Big Ideas"), debuting the new song "House of Cards," reviving the unreleased "Reckoner," and introducing "Last Flowers [to the Hospital]," apparently a remnant of the OK Computer period. All are considered possible candidates for Radiohead's next recordings, though only "Nude" and "House of Cards" have been performed since by the full band.

In early September 2005 the band recorded a new piano and vocal-based song, "I Want None of This", for the War Child charity album Help: A Day in the Life, a sequel to the 1995 compilation for which the band had written "Lucky." In contrast with that song, "I Want None of This" was not released as a single.

The new album's release date and title are still unconfirmed. Radiohead has begun debuting some of its new material during its present tour of smaller venues in Europe and North America. The band is also headlining several concert festivals for the first time, including Bonnaroo in Tennessee and the UK's V Festival. After the tour is over the band is expected to return to recording, releasing their seventh album sometime in 2007 (which would make it the longest gap between any Radiohead albums).Pitchfork Media. Music news, May 12, 2006.[13]

Thom and Jonny began Radiohead's 2006 summer tour with an acoustic benefit show for environmental organisation Friends of the Earth at London's Koko club, for an audience including representatives of major British political parties (among the fans, controversially, was Tory leader David Cameron).At Ease news. May 28, 2006, sourced from The Independent.[14]ok During the full band's current tour, in addition to playing re-arranged versions of "Arpeggi," "Nude" and "House of Cards," Radiohead has so far premiered ten new tracks: "Bangers 'n' Mash", "Open Pick", "15 Step", "4 Minute Warning", "Spooks", "Bodysnatchers", "Go Slowly", "Videotape", "Down Is The New Up", "All I Need".

Apparently these tracks represent only a part of the new material, and the band has said more songs may still be premiered at upcoming concerts. Tracks that have been "announced" by the band on their weblog and have yet to be debuted in full band arrangements include "Last Flowers", "Burn the Witch", and "5ths", although the latter may have evolved into "All I Need". Thom Yorke also confirmed in an interview that "Reckoner" will be included on the 7th album.

Discography

See Radiohead discography

Solo work

Main articles: Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien and Thom Yorke

In the late 1990s, Ed O'Brien composed parts of the soundtrack for Eureka Street, a British television show. The soundtrack was released on CD by the BBC. O'Brien also contributed guitar to several tracks on Enemy of the Enemy, an album by Asian Dub Foundation, also featuring Sinead O'Connor.

In 2003, Jonny Greenwood released Bodysong, an instrumental soundtrack he wrote for the documentary of the same name, directed by Simon Pummell. The soundtrack includes diverse orchestration, much of it processed electronically, ranging from string quartets to piano to soprano sax to ondes martenot. It was the first solo album credited to a member of Radiohead, although Colin Greenwood contributes bass. Jonny has also composed the pieces "Smear," "Popcorn Superhet Receiver" and "Piano for Children" in his capacity as BBC's resident composer. He appeared on Pavement's album Terror Twilight in 1999, playing harmonica and guitar on several tracks.

Thom Yorke's first solo album, entitled The Eraser, was released July 10 2006 on XL Records in the UK and July 11 in North America. Initially planned as a low key instrumental electronica record created by Thom on his laptop, it grew into full songs under the guidance of producer Nigel Godrich. Yorke himself has shied away from describing the album as a "solo" effort, declaring that "doesn't sound right".[15] Of these Eraser songs, only Cymbal Rush and The Clock have been played live by the band, though they have expressed interest in the idea of playing others, having each made cameo appearances on Thom's album. A song from The Eraser, "Black Swan", features in the end credits of Richard Linklater's 2006 film A Scanner Darkly, along with several previously released Radiohead songs heard briefly in the soundtrack.

Trivia

*Having played over 800 concerts, Radiohead have rarely, if ever, repeated a setlist exactly. Ed O'Brien says, "one of the worst things in music is when bands play the same set every night."Mathis-Lilley, Ben. "Secrets of the Radiohead Set List." New York magazine, June 26, 2006.[16]

Notes

External links

*Radiohead.com: The official Radiohead website. The Messageboard has gathered a cult following; members of the band occasionally post there. Since beginning new recording sessions in 2005, Radiohead members have also posted intermittently on their blog called Dead Air Space, hosted here.
*At Ease: The largest fansite with frequent news updates and detailed information on the band. Has an extremely popular message board.
*Green Plastic: Another large Radiohead fan and news site, also hosts the Mortigi Tempo message board. Very reliable source for Radiohead lyrics and guitar tabs.
*RHDiscog.com - Radiohead Discography: The most comprehensive Radiohead discography on the internet.
*Radiohead Track Resource: A catalogue of every officially released version of every Radiohead song and where to find them. Includes scans of the released media.
*58Hours:An in-depth database of nearly all of Radiohead's Live performances, with accompanying information and statistics on the live performance history of each (Radiohead) song.

Radiohead: Encyclopedia BETA

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