Printer-friendly version

Send to a friend

This Issue 10/18/2007

Also in this issue

• Dispatches
• Mediocre Rendition
• Easy as wahid, ithnain, thalatha
• Street Beats

Radiohead, the critically acclaimed, genre-bending rock act, is homeless. Not literally, of course - you won't find Thom Yorke begging for pocket pence outside the Tube. But after six albums in the cozy company of EMI, the Oxford quintet finds itself without a record label. With the release of their latest record, In Rainbows, they're out to prove they don't need one.

In a marketing maneuver as unexpected and provocative as anything they've put on record, the band stunned the record industry by suddenly releasing their seventh album online on October 10th. The price? "It's up to you."

With early reports claiming upwards of 1.2 million copies downloaded, Street brought our music writers together to discuss the forward-thinking concept and the highly

anticipated album that's making all this fuss.

WHAT YOU PAID

Grace: I paid three pounds, so like six dollars.

Joe: As of now, I've paid zilch. The day of the announcement I was so completely bemused and skeptical of this "name-your-price" talk, I had ordered at 0.00 pounds before the shock had even worn off.

Alex: Around 50 pence. On a side note - ever consider donating to Friends Of The Earth, the environmental N.G.O. affiliated with Yorke, instead of paying for the album? Isn't that what he would want us to do?

AJ: I ordered the 40-pound discbox. so $80? I figure it's a collector's item - just don't tell my parents.

THE ALBUM

Grace: "All I Need" is my favorite so far. I also really love "Bodysnatchers." I think that as a whole, this is a more song-centered album than their previous work. It wouldn't have killed them to write a riff or a hook or even really a chorus in there somewhere. At this point in my time with it, In Rainbows isn't nearly as compelling as their earlier work. That being said, it is better than 98% of the stuff released this year.

Joe: I was initially disappointed by the album. But after a few more listens, however, I've almost completely changed my mind. They definitely delivered on their promise of a "more organic" album. Overall I think it's is an effective fusion of past efforts with plenty of development.

Alex: Kind of an eclectic mix of their former stuff, definitely paying homage to what they have done, but also moving beyond on a couple of songs. The lack of cohesion people have been talking about can be attributed to how the album was drawn together. Scattered brilliance.