Heads united

Sex with Leapy Lee. Mormonism. And now, football. It's an eclectic morning of things people do that I don't really want to watch. Geoff Barrow and Phil Selway are trying to raise charity money through the medium of soccer:

Portishead's Geoff Barrow and Radiohead drummer Philip Selway have teamed up to form a charity soccer team named Heads United. A play on Manchester United and the "–head" attached to both artists' band names, Heads United will hit the pitch April 25th in Newberry, England (via Pitchfork). Barrow is hoping to raise £1,500 for the Football & Food Festival, which will donate all proceeds to the Mary Hare Foundation, a national charity that supports deaf children.

It's a good cause; they're a bit shy of their target. Go on, just one less chocolate egg and you can help out.

Thom knocks off Spotify

Thom Yorke has pulled his music from Spotify.

Relax, it's only the solo stuff and Atoms For Peace at the moment.

Why has Thom done this?

Yorke pitched in to the debate. "Make no mistake, new artists you discover on Spotify will not get paid. Meanwhile shareholders will shortly be rolling in it. Simples," he tweeted, and added as a riposte to critics that the suggestion his move was pointless missed its purpose: "'Your small meaningless rebellion is only hurting your fans ... a drop in the bucket really.' No, we're standing up for our fellow musicians."

This set-up - musicians working hard for peanuts while shareholders cream off the cash - is a totally unheard-of situation in modern music, sweeping away, as it does, the previous arrangement whereby the major labels were run as charities and bold, experimental music cascaded onto the shelves of HMV. Back in the past, the labels looked after musicians and made sure that any singer or drummer able to afford to hire a good lawyer five years in could renegotiate the initial deal in which they'd signed away everything for something close to nothing and make enough to eat at least twice a week.

It's true that you won't make much from a handful of listens on Spotify. But is there a better way for new music to be discovered?

Nigel Godrich, Yorke's producer, has an idea:

"Streaming suits [back] catalogue. But [it] cannot work as a way of supporting new artists' work. Spotify and the like either have to address that fact and change the model for new releases or else all new music producers should be bold and vote with their feet. [Streaming services] have no power without new music."

Really? This is such a schoolboy error that I can barely even look at it without feeling awful for Godrich.

He's suggesting that this is a thought process that would happen:
- I fancy listening to music. Shall I go to the service that has all the music I've enjoyed all my life, or shall I go and listen to that service that has no songs I've ever heard before?

Some people will do the latter; but they're probably the people who would be off looking for new music everywhere anyway.

What Godrich is suggesting is akin to, say, HMV only stocking records that are year old, and another shop stocking new music only.

But even the most aloof of indie stores knew they had to have some Rolling Stones or Bob Marley in the racks, if only to tempt people over the doorstep in order to ram Chvrches into their hands.

There have been numerous attempts to build new music sites on the internet - many were just as cynically motivated by 'cheap' non-major music as Spotify are motivated by paying light royalties. I think it's fair to say that none have had any real breakthrough.

Yorke is right, up to a point - you won't get rich off Spotify. You might, if you're lucky, add a few pennies to your income.

And an artist like Yorke can afford to turn his back on Spotify without disappearing.

But if you're starting out, I'd think long and hard before getting off the high street.

1993 all over again: 16 - Radiohead

16. Radiohead - Creep

Back when Radiohead's fate seemed to be defined by a large pile of cassingles marked down to 10p each, in a dumpbin under the main racks, it was Creep that sustained them. This number 16 placing was all the more remarkable as the song had made it to number four in the 1992 list, on its first, mostly overlooked, release. (I think this might make it the only single to have been in the NME SOTY list two years running.)



[Part of 1993 all over again]

Radiohead cancel after stage collapse kills Scott Johnson

Terrible news from Toronto, where drum tech Scott Johnson was killed after the Radiohead stage collapsed while it was being erected.

Johnson, who had also worked with White Lies, Keane and many others, was from Doncaster; he was one of four people unable to get out in time as wind brought down the temporary structure.

Kasabian think they're a bit like Radiohead

Tom Meighan, bless him, thinks Kasabian are a bit like Thom Yorke and friends:

We always try to reinvent ourselves in the way that a band like Radiohead would do. Or we come at things from another angle.

That's actually a little bit heartbreaking, isn't it? It's like a pacamac manufacturer revealing they're trying to be couture.

What would "coming at things from another angle" mean for Kasabian? Do they move the drums to a different part of the recording studio?

Surely the important thing about Radiohead is that they don't set out to sound like anyone else, or else make a different-sounding record for the sake of it? And isn't the failure to grasp that pretty much the reason why Kasabian will never be a band like Radiohead?

Radiohead: Can't keep touts out

Radiohead were pretty clear: they didn't want electrotouts ViaGoGo selling their tickets on at a profit. Indeed, they even did a deal with Ticket Trust to make mark-uped selling-on pointless.

It hasn't stopped ViaGoGo from grabbing tickets and whacking them on sale at a massive mark-up - you'd need about £1,600 to be able to purchase from them.

It's odd, ViaGoGo don't seem to understand why they're seen as fundamentally more evil than old-style touts who stood in the rain and would cut you a deal. They really don't understand.

[Thanks to @Pedro_Dee]

Westboro Baptist Church take on Radiohead

Having fought successive battles against gays, the Devil, gay devils, devilish gays, people who like gays, people who like devils, Devils' Food, the army, the dead, happiness and their own dignity, perpetually confused hate-geese Westboro Baptist Church have now added Radiohead to their busy schedule of trying to make everyone as miserable as they are.

The Church turned up to protest against the band playing Kansas, on the grounds that they are:

freak monkey’s with mediocre tunes

I like the idea of a church turning up to protest against mediocre tunes. If Noel Gallagher ever goes back to the US, boy, are they going to be busy.

Embed and breakfast man: Radiohead

They didn't turn up at Occupy Wall Street, but Radiohead did at least manage to swing by Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, a late-night programme with Jimmy Fallon.

Liam Gallagher: music critic

Have you ever wondered what Liam Gallagher thinks about Radiohead? No, of course not. It'd be like wondering what a shrimp thinks about lobsters, wouldn't it? But he's going to tell us anyway:

I've never even heard 'OK Computer', but anything by Radiohead doesn't make much sense to me. Everyone's going on about Radiohead pushing things forward, but the only thing they’re famous for really is songs like 'Creep' innit?

They then go off-roading for the rest of their career. I just don't get it. I mean, we've all written songs like 'Creep', y’know, them classic songs. So that’s what makes them what they are. 'Karma Police' is alright, but it's The Beatles, innit?

Yes, that's Liam Gallagher, out of Oasis, having a pop at Radiohead for sounding a bit like The Beatles.

Still, it's an interesting viewpoint: apparently everyone talks about Radiohead's avant garde side, but at the same time people only know of Radiohead's Creep. I say "interesting"; I mean incoherent.

Liam Gallagher unimpressed by King Of Limbs

Thanks to Michael M for pointing out Liam Gallagher's witty and incisive review of Radiohead's King Of Limbs:

"I heard that fucking Radiohead record ['The King Of Limbs'] and I just go, 'What?!'" he said. "I like to think that what we do, we do fucking well. Them writing a song about a fucking tree? Give me a fucking break! A thousand year old tree? Go fuck yourself!"

To be fair to Liam, it's only taken him six months to come up with "it's about a tree? what's that all about then?" At this rate, he'll be writing for Michael McIntyre within the year.

"You'd have thought he'd have written a song about a modern tree or one that was planted last week. You know what I mean?"

In pretty much the same way that you might have expected Liam to be inspired by modern music, or something created this century?

UPDATE: Thanks to the person in the comments who pointed out that the NME piece is dated March 1st. So it's just Liam being slow, but it's unfair to say he was spending six months coming up with the riposte.

Radiohead: Some amusing tit-fot-tattery

To mark Radiohead's launch of a newspaper with the King Of Limbs album, The Guardian staff have hit back by forming a band. The Radio Eds have covered Creep, featuring Tim Dowling's oft-mentioned banjo skills (his wife might be right) and - yes - Alan Rusbridger on keyboards.

So fucking special.

To help you with the pub quiz, here's the full line-up:
Lead vocals: Ed Vulliamy, Guardian and Observer writer
Keyboard: Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief, Guardian News & Media
Guitars: Jon Dennis, multimedia production manager; Mark Rice-Oxley, Guardian assistant foreign editor
Bass: Rick Peters, Guardian food and drink subeditor
Banjo: Tim Dowling, Guardian Weekend columnist
Drums: Katrina Dixon, Guardian Guide contributor and subeditor
Trombone: Pascal Wyse, multimedia producer
Vocals: Sarah Russell, Public Sector Portfolio Manager, Guardian News & Media

Bookmarks - Internet stuff: Radiohead

The Laugh-Out Loud Cats welcome the new record:

CC-BY-NC-ND licence by ApeLad

Twittergem: Radiohead

From @thisisfakediy:

Paging Razorlight: Radiohead have raised the hat based promo shot bar. http://bit.ly/hQMstB

Radiohead provide soundtrack for fan-made movie

Hello, large labels, management companies and record labels spokespeople! Can we just take as read your grumpy response to the following story will be the erroneous 'they can only afford to do that because of the investment the existing music industry put in the band'? Thank you.

Bunch of fans went to see Radiohead at Prague with handheld digital movie cameras; they got together afterwards and made it into a crowd-sourced live DVD. Radiohead found out, and rather than send a grumpy legal complaint, chipped in with the desk recordings for free.

This is what Nude looks and sounds like:



The whole thing can be downloaded from the Prague fan site.

The RIAA are offering to donate an explanation of why this can't and musn't work.

Some surprises: IFPI & RIAA issue takedowns on Radiohead's "behalf"

You'll recall last month Warners blithely issued a DCMA notice against us because we, erm, used a link to a file on a band's own website that the band's own label's PR team had invited us to link to. That seemed a little bit like people over-reaching their powers, but today the IFRI is at it again.

Takedown notices have been sent out ordering bloggers to take down In Rainbows tracks:

"These recordings are owned by one of our member companies and have not been authorised for this kind of use"

That's what the letter claims. Only... they're not, are they? In Rainbows was self-released. Sure, it might have been licensed to ATO in the states, but they don't own the tracks.

After all, the record labels have been telling us for years that just because we have a license allowing us to use tracks it doesn't mean they belong to us.

The tracks do appear to have been being used without permission, but it's clear that the RIAA had no authority whatsoever to demand they be removed.

These takedown orders are proper, legal statements. They're made under the pain of perjury. If the music industry continues to press them, they should at least get them right.

[Thanks to @jamesthegill]

Phil Selway goes solo

The solo album from the drummer. It's not, to be fair, the most eagerly-awaited contribution to any group's extra-curricular activities. Still, Phil Selway has been doing solo stuff for nine years, so he's not exactly rushed into releasing his album, Familial.

Oh, and the line-up helping out is pretty good, too:

Singer/songwriter Lisa Germano, former Soul Coughing bassist Sebastian Steinberg, Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Sansone have contributed to the music.

It always bemuses me when drummers get other drummers in to play on their solo records, though. It's a bit like watching a dog take another dog for a walk.

Every time you share a download, Ian Astbury cries

You know the thing about sharing? Sharing is selfish. Don't take my word for it, Ian Astbury says so:

"Whoever was irresponsible enough to decide that music was worth nothing and decide to give away the music, that was a very selfish move," he said.

Yes, curse you, the marketplace.

Astbury, bless him, is getting on a bit and doesn't really understand what he's talking about - confusing the value of music with the price of a recorded audio track.

But do share with us... sorry, not share, sell us your explanation of your thoughts:

"When I look at a 17-year-old kid who's starting out in a band and is hearing, 'You know what kid? Your music's worth nothing.' I think that is disgusting."

Ian, sweetheart - a seventeen year-old will have spent most of their music-consuming life living in a digital world. Most seventeen year-olds will have downloaded, ripped, shared. They come from the new musical world, and they will know how it works, its opportunities and shortcomings.

You're talking as if people in bands emerge from pods, rather than grow out of people who love music. The only way it would be news to someone starting out in a band that some files get shared, and some get shared for no immediate return would be if they were fifty and having a mid-life crisis. After returning from a island they've been stranded on.

Seventeen year-olds don't need to be told about what the digital world means. It's the world they live in, Astbury. It's the world they helped forge.

Ian isn't done, though. He rails against Radiohead, too:

"I thought it was irresponsible what Radiohead did. People watch what they do and they copy it.

How irresponsible to try and find a way of selling music that works. People might try to do the same sort of thing.

"I don't see U2 giving their music away for free. They're smart boys."

Actually, Radiohead didn't give away In Rainbows for free, they... oh, what's the point? Anyone who thinks that U2 are "smart" rather than simply "a multinational corporation who, though in decline, are still large enough to operate in a different way" doesn't really have much of a grip on what he's talking about.

In short: Ian Astbury said "waaah, waah, things have changed and I'm too conservative to operate well in a world where there's fewer big bands getting all the money at the expense of everybody else."

6Music: Ed O'Brien wants it saved

Apart from the questionable 'Herr' at the start (is nobody above deciding that someone they disagree with must be a Nazi, and then conflating being a Nazi with simply being German?), Ed O'Brien's response to the pillow being pushed over 6Music's face is spot-on:

Mark Thompson, Herr Director General of the BBC, announced yesterday that 6 music was to be closed ... which is obviously a ludicrous decision for those who actually love hearing great music on the radio ... so I've written to the BBC Trust, who apparently have the ability to reverse the decision, and if you feel this way inclined the link is https://consultations.external.bbc.co.uk/departments/bbc/bbc-strategy-review/consultation/consult_view Here's what I wrote: To whom it may concern, I am writing regarding the news today that 6 Music is going to be closed, in the hope that you reconsider this decision. To be honest I, along with a vast number of other musicians, music industry types and real music fans, are completely shocked and baffled by this news. I wonder if those who made this decision are actually aware of the hugely important role that 6 music plays in fostering and promoting new bands, as well as still playing the likes of the band that I am in. It literally is the radio lifeblood for music outside of the mainstream.

Not to denigrate Radio's 1 and 2, but it really is the only station that puts music first, and that's from a punters point of view and not some bloke in a band. Nowhere else can you hear an archived session track from T Rex juxtaposed next to Midlake's latest release.

As David Bowie, put it ... it keeps the spirit of John Peel alive. Please realise the impact and severity of closing this station down. It will be a huge blow for new bands and their labels. It's not enough to 'refocus' Radio's 1 and 2 as 6 music does a very specific thing.

What you have with 6 Music is a gem of a radio station, it is doing what no other station in the world does or can possibly do. Remember it is also still relatively young, give it time. You also finally have a fantastic and seemingly settled line up of DJ's. Please get behind it and from what I can gather about it's annual budget of £6m, it surely punches way above it's weight in terms of cultural relevance and importance.

Thank you for considering this. Ed O'Brien (Radiohead) Ed

Gordon in the morning: Butter man attacks modern world

The pointlessness of John Lydon's attack on something modern is underlined by his bemusing treating of Coldplay and Radiohead as if they were interchangeable, but let's let himtry some of the clodhopping iconoclasm that he feels we expect of him:

He said: "Coldplay and Radiohead bug the hell out of me because it's so soulless. It just seems pointless. It's nice, but it's tosh. They don't care about you. They care about lining their coffers."

Because there was nothing cynical in the sudden decision to reform Public Image just as the bottom fell out of the Florida property market, of course.

Maybe I'm being unfair. Perhaps this railing against bands shaking down their audience is heartfelt, and it's just a shame that Lydon had to wait until he had an interview to promote the slightly repackaged collection of an old album to sell into the Christmas market before he had a chance to raise the issue.

Lord, even Gordon sees through him:

This from the man who has starred in an advert for butter.

Radiohead download now

The Harry Patch track is available to download from the Radiohead website; it costs a pound, but the proceeds are going to the British Legion.

It's a bloody good track, by the way.