• Never have we been so excited to see a middle-aged man dancing like a rockstar. Welcome back, Thom Yorke. Your fans missed you. The song rules, too – a clear continuation of “In Rainbows”-era awesomeness. Oh yeah, the album’s out now, not tomorrow. source

• When the corporate industry dies it will be no great loss to the world. So don’t tie yourself to the sinking ship because, believe me, it’s sinking.
• Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke • Discussing the fall of music industry capitalism in a British textbook. He seems to have a good handle on this. He left his big corporate label, EMI, just a couple years before they fell into particularly dire straits. EMI is now the property of private equity firm Terra Firma, and since the 2007 acquisition, they’ve had massive debt and restructuring problems. (via Pitchfork) source

• 5,000 number of people who read Paige Williams’ story on the survivalist Dolly Freed
• 160 number of people who paid using a pay-what-you-want “Radiohead journalism” model
• $1,500amount of money she made from those 160 people – some paid $100; neat source

• » Her take?: Williams made her money back from the endeavor, but she realizes that this model might not be for everyone, and might need some work. “Institutional backing confers credibility,” she notes, “but in the wilds of the Internet, you’re on your own; trust begins and ends with you and your standards and approach.”
• » A couple thoughts from us: Where does the ethics line hit for something like this? Many bloggers in Williams’ position might set up an Amazon affiliates account and link to where you can buy the book, which would be a great source of income for her. We considered this when we first heard about it. Personally, that doesn’t bother us, but is it too direct? source

• Best of the year:

• 
  obvious
• 
  spazzy
• 
  ragged
• 
  beautiful
• 
  hypnotic
  

• Best of the decade:

• 
  balanced
• 
  literate
• 
  yes!
• 
  better
• 
  pioneer*

* – We know this choice is somewhat controversial, because people hate Ben Gibbard for no good reason. But we’re going to say it now: Without this album, you would not have the popular success of indie rock that you see today. “We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes” made it cool. At least cooler than Dashboard Confessional. Which as you might notice, is not on the list. Do you want us to put it on there? Or do you even want to remember “Screaming Infidelities”? Good. Death Cab’s album, beyond being a gateway drug for any college student, also has some pretty amazing songs on it. ‘Nuff said.

• obama said nothing though i have not seen all the speech yet. i feel very sad for all americans i know who hold so much hope for this man. still.. i guess the day isnt over. its 3pm on friday ( though it should have finished by now). and our leaders are fully aware they are in disgrace.
• Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke • In a report on the climate change conference in Copenhagen. Our boy got a press pass and got to see it all from the inside, rather than the view that protesters got from the outside. When you’ve lost the lead singer of Radiohead, you’ve lost the indie kids. source

• 1. Elliott Smith’s later period is one highly debated by fans. He went big around the time of “XO” and went even bigger around the time of 2000’s “Figure 8.” For some fans, this made the album a bit of a wash, but the single, “Son of Sam,” still holds strong nearly a decade later.
  2. It’s easy to forget, but The Mars Volta started from the split of the At the Drive-In, a band which did more to justify Thursday’s existence than it did The Mars Volta. A precursor to screamo, “One-Armed Scissor” is far less embarrassing than that descripiton sounds.
  3. What a shame. Grandaddy’s “The Sophtware Slump” is a great album best known as the answer to a trivia question. The question: “What album was Jason Lee’s son, Pilot Inspektor, named for?” A damn shame for a great album. “Jed the Humanoid” is a definite highlight for sure.
  4. Yo La Tengo will likely never break out of its cult audience, but they make great musical arguments why they should. “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out” is one of the band’s peaks, and “You Can Have it All” is a quiet triumph.
  5. For us, hearing Radiohead’s “Nude” on 2007’s “In Rainbows” gave “Motion Picture Soundtrack” context. Many superfans were spoiled by a spare acoustic version of the song that made the “Kid A” version seem overly grand. But in the context of “Nude,” you see exactly what the band was going for. Worth revisiting for sure. source

• The new song had a twisted journey online. “These Are My Twisted Words” leaked a few days ago on a torrent site with zero information to go with it, but with a sound that was VERY close to Radiohead. However, the band only confirmed they uploaded the track this morning. While they’re not the first band to use BitTorrent as a distribution mechanism (Harvey Danger comes to mind), they’re definitely the biggest. Kudos to Radiohead for being game for reaching audiences in new, interesting ways. source

• The next LP? Not right away Thom Yorke admitted this much in a recent issue of The Believer, causing thousands of hipsters to have early-onset heart attacks. “None of us want to go into that creative hoo-ha of a long-play record again,” says Yorke. “Not straight off.” Part of it is that they don’t want to do an album like “In Rainbows” again. Yorke continues: “Not that it’s not good, I just can’t… bear… that.”
• Expect one-offs instead Radiohead, however, will continue to release special one-off things, such as “Harry Patch [In Memory Of],” the memorial song they created for a World War I soldier who recently died. Orchestral work is also on the table. Despite the awesomeness of projects like this, “In Rainbows” is evidence of the LP’s greatness and it’d be a shame to see them stop. source

• It’s at the stage where we’ve got the big Lego box out and we’ve tipped it out on the floor and we’re just looking at all the bits and thinking what’s next?
• Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood • On the startings of another album from the British superstars. If it’s half as good as “In Rainbows,” we can’t wait. Also, Thom Yorke regularly says awesome things. • source

• i have been reading how the oil industry is investing millions of dollars in a PR campaign against it! how utterly dumbass is that? how do these people look their children in the eye?
• Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke • On the oil industry’s continuing campaign to stop the passage of a climate change bill in congress. Obama supports the bill, BTW. • source