Radiothread - Radiohead Discussion

[jayson]

Thom and Jonny performed at Sunday night's Grammy Award ceremony, backed by the USC marching band. Certainly a percussion-heavy take on "15 Step". I'm not altogether sure why Ed, Colin and Phil weren't onstage with Thom & Jonny, but still a very interesting approach. Playing with an orchestra backing has been done to death, but playing with a marching band, that's a twist (especially with a marching band as skilled as USC's).

Here is video of the performance...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IMiiJRwhS0"]YouTube - Radiohead - 15 Step GRAMMY AWARD PERFORMANCE[/ame]

As for the awards themselves, as meaningless as they are, they won for Best Alternative Album (whatever the hell that means) but lost to Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' Raising Sand for Album of the Year. I liked In Rainbows a little more than Raising Sand, but Raising Sand was a great album and it had Marc Ribot on guitar so I can't complain too much about RH losing out to it.

[jayson]

Jonny Greenwood proves it's more than his guitar playing that makes him my hero...

"Everything I know about pop culture I know from 'The Simpsons,' and they say the Grammys aren't very good." - Jonny Greenwood to LA Times reporter Geoff Boucher

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,6275546.story

[Heather19]

video is no longer up. Should have come in here sooner.

And sorry I know this is off topic, but I agree about the Grammy's, not a fan.

[jayson]

video is no longer up. Should have come in here sooner.

Stupid proprietary bastards at CBS.

ETA: Try this link... [ame="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5175317999285072447&hl=en"]RadioHead at the Grammys[/ame]

And sorry I know this is off topic, but I agree about the Grammy's, not a fan.

It's never off-topic to make fun of the Grammy's. I pretty much think all awards shows are a joke, but the Grammy's are the worst of the bunch.

[Heather19]

Thanks Jayson.
I have to say I actually really liked the marching band playing with them. Gave it an interesting sound, which I wasn't expecting.

[jayson]

Yeah, it was a different approach for sure. Heavy percussion works well for many RH songs.

[jayson]

I tend to think that "mash-ups" are overdone, and Radiohead is one of the most remixed bands out there right now, but this one I thought was pretty well done. It's an audio and video remix of RH's "15 Step" with Dave Brubeck's classic "Take 5". It's not quite as cool a version of "Take 5" as the dub reggae version on one of the Trojan Records boxed sets, but it's pretty good nonetheless.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYa7furgQsA"]YouTube - Radiohead vs Dave Brubeck - Five Step (mashup by Overdub)[/ame]

[Heather19]

Nice, I like it. The two work pretty well together. I'm so used to mash-ups being done with rap songs, but this is a hundred times better.

[jayson]

I agree. It works much better when the mash-up is made from two good songs, or in this case, a damn good RH song and one of the best songs ever written.

[jayson]

Here is a video of some behind the scenes footage of the grammy show collaboration between Thom, Jonny and the USC marching band. Thom seems a lot more into than Jonny does. Note that at about 3:17 or so you can see Colin Greenwood (RH's bass player and Jonny's big brother) in the bottom left corner of the screen taking some photos.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GZAKlU8VXU"]YouTube - USC Trojan Marching Band + Radiohead @ 2009 Grammys | Behind the Scenes[/ame]

[Heather19]

Thanks for posting that Jayson.

[flaggwalkstheline]

That performance was cool but I was a bit puzzled as to y the rest of radiohead wasnt there...

[jayson]

Well Phil would have been a bit superfluous as there were a dozen drummers in that marching band.

Seriously though, I would think the whole band would be a bit too much sound to blend well with a marching band so they stripped it down to just Thom's voice and Jonny's guitar. At least they didn't do that overdone "let's play with an orchestra" thing.

[jayson]

Apparently, prior to the recording of In Rainbows, Radiohead's management advised them to split up. It's a good thing the band didn't take that advice. This is why management should handle the finances and the logistics and stay out of the creative element of the music.

--------
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...245753889.html

{EXCERPT}

Prior to that decision Message says he and two of his partners had actually advised the band to split up. Two years after leaving EMI Radiohead were still no closer to recording an album. The songs were written but the band couldn’t achieve the sound they were looking for in the studio. Courtyard felt maybe it was time to call it a day. Surely professional managers shouldn’t encourage their most profitable act to split up?

“I’ve been lucky to work with some great artists and Radiohead are a once in a generation act,” says Message. “But you have to be honest if it’s not working. You have to have passion about what you do. I’m an accountant but I love music and I’m passionate about the artists I work with.”

[Seymour_Glass]

Thank the jaysus that didn't happen.

[Heather19]

I don't understand why management would even get involved in something like that. Whether or not a band stays together should be up to the individual band members and no one else. Even if they were going through a rough patch, it's their decision as to what they want to do.

[jayson]

I have a feeling that's precisely what the band told these guys. Personally, I'd have told them that if they don't think it's working they should go find a new band to manage and best of luck finding one half as successful.

[Heather19]

[devo133]

My favorite off In Rainbows

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLVA7Ap1vkQ"]YouTube - Reckoner - Radiohead live from the basement[/ame]

[fernandito]

Just came in here to say that My Iron Lung is awesome.

[jayson]

You're right Feev. That's a great song. Live it's even better...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOEFaxFhnzc"]YouTube - Radiohead My Iron Lung live (high audio quality)[/ame]

And devo133, good choice. "Reckoner" is a great song.

ETA: Feev, just saw in the other thread that this was the version you were listening to. Good call.

[Heather19]

My favorite off In Rainbows

YouTube - Reckoner - Radiohead live from the basement

I love Reckoner, my favorite as well

and that was a pretty sweet video you posted

[Melike]

I still in love with ''All I need''. It's video touches my heart so deeply. There are so many children who have to grow up so early, here in the little village I am working now.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdrCalO5BDs"]Radiohead - All I Need (Official MTV Video)[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY4APDrl66s"]Radiohead "All I Need"[/ame]

[jayson]

According to bass player Colin Greenwood, Radiohead are in the studio working on their next album with longtime producer Nigel Godrich.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/200...adiohead.shtml

Radiohead in studio
The Oxford band have started work on the follow up to In Rainbows

18 May 2009

Radiohead have started working on the follow up to their 2007 album In Rainbows.

Bassist Colin Greenwood told 6 Music the Oxford band have been busy in the studio over the last week with producer Nigel Godrich.

"It was very noisy and chaotic and really fun," he said.

"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?"

"I'm very impressed and grateful for Nigel our producer and his ability to make it all sound vaguely plausible," he added.

Greenwood, who was speaking at the Great Escape music festival in Brighton, where he was helping to launch a new music journal called Loops, gave no indication as to when the Oxford five-piece will be releasing their next record or whether they will be briging it out in a similar format to their last LP.

Last time, Radiohead offered fans the chance to choose how much they were prepared to pay for In Rainbows.

"We were just saying to people how much do you think we're worth?" he added.

"It's like a long term relationship and it was great because it kicked off lots of debate about it."

The band have just finished touring with electro pioneers Kraftwerk in South America which Greenwood described as a "brilliant experience".

"They are one of our musical heroes and it was a real privilege to share a stage with them," he enthused.

"What I like about Kraftwerk is I obviously love the beats but I love their melodies too. They seep into your brain and stay there."

The five-piece are due to headline the Reading and Leeds Festivals this summer for a headline show where they have some unfinished business.

"It was a bit frustrating when we were playing some of our own shows last year because it was light for the first half hour, 40 minutes of the show," Greenwood said.

"So we wanted to do it as it was meant to be seen – darker and louder."

[devo133]

This generation's pink floyd

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_eBqlFpnNY"]YouTube - Radiohead - There there - Live on BBC Later... Jools Holland[/ame]