RAdiohead

Here we go again.

I like Radiohead -- Amnesiac was my favorite release of last year, and Kid A was high up on my 2000 list -- but I'm not really the kind of person who hunts down mp3s of unreleased tracks. I'd rather wait for the record and hear the songs in their finished versions. (Yeah, I know... "Aren't you special?")

To listen to a new song live, to experience it, to watch it unfold, to hear it change as it is reworked is a magical, wonderful thing. It's one of the joys of following unsigned bands is that they lack the fear and/or resources so they are more likely to do it in public.

But to record a live song, distribute it and critique it before the artist has had the chance to stand back from the painting and go "There, OK, that's done" seems kind of unfair. Both to the artist, who is being interrupted, and to the song, which may or may not take a completely different shape eventually.

Listening to works in progress is wonderful, but trying to pin them down and dissect them seems, well ... I'm not going to say disrespectful, but it does seem kind of ... pointless? Self defeating? What's the word I'm looking for?

That said, no I've not seen Radiohead on this tour, nor heard any of the tunes.

I would hope so I really do.

you couldn't resist it could you melissa.

''Scatterbrain: Sounds like the physical act of crying. A dischordant ballad with no way out. The aftermath of a storm.''

this is such a cliched description I don't even know where to begin. Get your head checked melissa.

''Up On The Ladder: Starts poorly, Radiohead try the whole "rocking out" thing again. Fail. But the ending is beautiful, desperate, his voice over mournful synth chords. A song about immense disappointment.''

Pushing the 'sad chords' triggers again. Mournful, desperation, dissapointment. sob, sob, sob...all the way to the bank we go.

''Where I End and You Begin: The day the earth stood still. The Ondes-Martenot keens its unearthly cry. The song is a sentinel, a prison.''

''Wolf at the Door: Each word is a knife. An impossibly hurt, fearful song.''

er...more crying then. I'm beginning to think Thom Yorke wasn't breast fed when he was a baby.

''A Punch Up At A Wedding: The most seethingly angry song I've ever heard. On the surface, it's all insistent beat, slightly rollicking piano, and bass. But it's coming apart at the seams. It's ready to rip your throat out.''

yes but angry at what. Is it like an adolescent who is just angry for no reason or is it actually anger at something specific. This is all bullshit.

''Go to Sleep: Eastern-inflected roots rock song. Dull, really.''

b-but why is it dull? don't just leave it at that.

and on it fucking goes...I avoided the golden jubilee but there's too many institutions and you can't avoid it all.

There, There - bit of a homage to Adam and the Ants circa Kings of the Wild Frontier featuring Ed and Jonny on JAMC Bobby Gillespie style stand up drums with a top acending climax - a fitting opener

Scatterbrain - needs a lot of work and doesn't really go anywhere.

Up on the ladder - pretty rocky with thom doing his 'you and whose army' unfocused anti blair schtick

We suck young blood - slow and swinging with harmonies from phil and ed (phil was wearing an amusing madonna style headset during his backing vox)

I will - an old song, briefly featured in the 'Meeting people is easy' doc with lovely harmonies from Thom and Ed

Myxamotosis - fairly fast rocky number with Ed playing a les paul (surely a first).

going for some lunch now, will post my thoughts on the rest later

melissa, thank you putting up your descriptions.

Melissa couldn't resisit it and nor could I.

''(This is why I don't post on ILM.)''

ILM isn't a radiohead list. Or a keiji haino list. Or improv or free jazz, etc. fans and non-fans of everything to do with [x] are here and when a thread is opened by soemone and I feel the need to comment I will do so.

I'm not 'pissing', I'm just adding my thoughts on your descriptions. Sorry about the 'checking your head' line though.

when you describe a song as ''The most seethingly angry song I've ever heard'' then I want to know at what as well.

irony = julio's stance as radiohead hata being JUST as cliched and as ho hum as he wants (hopes?) the new songs to be. he HASN'T EVEN HEARD THEM and yet he took time out to bash the fecking DESCRIPTIONS. and why?

its one thing to be convinced that radiohead are inauthentic or overrated; its another entirely to pounce like a wolf on anybody else who sees something in them, especially when the crux of that fan-music connection is one borne out of vulnerability.

he (or anyone else) can take the sadness, confusion, anger, fear and deride it, mock it, HATE it all he wants. me, i'll take it (as well as the songs) and celebrate it all. not because i'm a sad moany bastard (really, i'm not) but because the alternative, to deny all of that, is too ugly and dark and boring to bear.

Jules: "Get your head checked melissa" constitutes personal attack with intent. But what's this claptrap about banning the guy??? Tell me that's a fucking joke. I thought what he said was valid ranting.

And right-on Mark P - you are on the money.

yeah. I've heard everything they've done up to this and when I saw the descriptions it just reminded of the past. Irony indeed.

''its one thing to be convinced that radiohead are inauthentic or overrated; its another entirely to pounce like a wolf on anybody else who sees something in them, especially when the crux of that fan-music connection is one borne out of vulnerability.''

i did not intend to 'pounce'. I didn't know it was borne out of some 'vulnerability'.

''he (or anyone else) can take the sadness, confusion, anger, fear and deride it, mock it, HATE it all he wants.''

I love or hate a lot of music with nothing in between, which is unfortunate sometimes.

melissa- hope you accept my apologies.

''"Get your head checked melissa" constitutes personal attack with intent.''

yeah, and I apologised for that.

extremely interesting and valuable take

bet Keyes is real fun at social gatherings

I’m more or less there with Keyes, although I wouldn’t necessarily jump into a thread about it. I’m keeping and enjoying my old Radiohead but no more money for them.

I’m should revisit HTTT. It’s the only one I don’t know well.

I thought they were done after A Moon Shaped Pool, but apparently not:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/sep/03/radiohead-announce-first-tour-dates-since-2018-and-face-boycott-from-pro-palestine-campaigners

for christ's sake, if the other three are that hard up they could just start a patreon. i'd give them money to _not_ work with thom and jonny lol.

i honestly thought and still think that phil has been sacked...

Phil wrote the email and it says "all five of us."

hmm. did it say phil selway? or just 'phil'? plenty of phils out there that can drum, i know one myself

they're great on drum fills

Activists have asked fans to spurn the gigs until the band ‘convincingly distances itself’ from guitarist Jonny Greenwood performing in Tel Aviv during the Gaza war

Does this mean Jonny has to play on one side the stage and the rest of the band on the other?

map beat me to it, but I'm gonna post my joke anyway

the world is already full of great drum phils

Radiohead with Phil Rudd would rule.

"It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Hail Thieves)"

Does this mean Jonny has to play on one side the stage and the rest of the band on the other?

― Wounded Insulter (President Keyes)

efrim menuck as second guitarist

These concerts are essentially going to be Israeli flag waving conventions, aren't they? With the extreme polarization everywhere...

Except for maybe a couple of confused people buying a ticket (and supporting the band) just to go protest with a Palestinian flag they'll smuggle inside.

Expecting lots of huffiness from Thom.

Truly I think the majority of fans either don't know or don't care about the Israel stuff.

They're prob still in the Jez from Peep Show "fuck you, Bush' era.

These concerts are essentially going to be Israeli flag waving conventions, aren't they? With the extreme polarization everywhere...

― StanM, Wednesday, September 3, 2025 2:02 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I can't speak to Europe but if they do shows in America there is exactly a 0% chance of this actually happening.

yeah most people who would go to see a radiohead show in the us don't know or care about that stuff, i'd wager. they're, like. an old band for old people.

i'm kind of curious as to what sort of hell online radiohead fan communities must be like, though. i didn't like them much even back in the day...

Thom Yorke Protest Against The "Star Wars" US Missile Defense (2004) pic.twitter.com/oIZRmi8V14

— Great British Getty Images (@shitbritishpics) October 4, 2025

looking back on the very nuanced and thoughtful politics of Thom Yorke; 2004 protesting against an absolutely fucking nonsense Reagan-era cold war white elephant project during the Bush presidency.

2023 onwards - A live-streamed genocide happening in real time: MORE NUANCED POLITICAL ANALYSIS NEEDED - STOP BEING MEAN TO ME, BOO HOO

i'll trade anyone all my radiohead cds+lps for a tom petty best of that also has "mary jane's last dance." cracked jewel case? that's okay, i got extras.

disclaimer: i have the supercollider on og 12" single, so that's in there and i'm sorry to say it’s not really gonna be a good deal for you either way because of it. i know what i have.

lol so close

"I wouldn’t want to be 5,000 miles anywhere near the Netanyahu regime."

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke says he would not now perform in Israel eight years after the band defied boycott calls to play a gig in Tel Aviv.

🔴 LIVE updates: https://t.co/gTiOuNtTzU pic.twitter.com/XdedRhYH1M

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 26, 2025

Yorke hinted at some regret over the decision in the new interview, saying he was “horrified” when a “clearly connected high up” Israeli came to their hotel to thank them for playing.

Well - I guess tone-deaf and entitled people might also be able to learn.

watch Thom unlearn everything once Bibi is (redacted)

he had not been paying attention, paying attention, paying attention, paying attention, paying attention....

"It’s a purity test, low-level Arthur Miller witch-hunt"
damn those pesky leftists and their impossible to pass purity tests

have been on a bit of a binge lately, ok computer kid a and amnesiac all hold up great

I swung back towards Kid A too, but no dice... apparently I don't really get on board 'til Hail to the Thief and The Eraser.

But on the other hand, Cutthroat is one of my favorites!

Don't worry Israel, you still have Jonny (archived interview here: https://archive.is/gLTJb)

“It’s the embodiment of the left,” Greenwood says. “The left look for traitors, the right for converts and it’s depressing that we are the closest they can get.” He sighs. He is already working on another record with Israeli and Middle Eastern musicians. “And it’s nuts I feel frightened to admit that. Yet that feels progressive to me — booing at a concert does not strike me as brave or progressive.”

“But you are whitewashing genocide, mate,” Yorke deadpans. “And so am I, apparently, by sitting next to you on this sofa.”

...

So would he play Israel now? (I ask this question before the ceasefire was agreed.) “Absolutely not. I wouldn’t want to be 5,000 miles anywhere near the Netanyahu regime but Jonny has roots there. So I get it.”

“I would also politely disagree with Thom,” Greenwood says. “I would argue that the government is more likely to use a boycott and say, ‘Everyone hates us — we should do exactly what we want.’ Which is far more dangerous.”

by all appearances Thom isn't the sad bastard he used to be... until Israel is mentioned and he's moaning like it's 1997 again... fk sakes

meanwhile Ed is posting "free Palestine" and admits the gang don't chat as much as they used to.

How to Disappear Up Your Own Ass Completely

"They are five very different men, like a box of Quality Street"

“But you are whitewashing genocide, mate,” Yorke deadpans. “And so am I, apparently, by sitting next to you on this sofa.”

Look guys this is impossible.

Selway sums up the turmoil: “What BDS are asking of us is impossible. They want us to distance ourselves from Jonny, but that would mean the end of the band and Jonny is coming from a very principled place. But it’s odd to be ostracised by artists we generally felt quite aligned to.”

lol BDS never asked them to distance themselves from Jonny, is Radiohead illiterate in addition to being assholes, pick a struggle

Thom sounds dumb whenever he talks about this, but I do somewhat relate to profoundly disagreeing with a friend/bandmate on moral grounds, without being prepared to end the friendship/band over it.

In this case there isn't much of a band, its just some shitty reunion for cash.

Surprised at the lack of varnish in that Times piece; they don't speak much anymore, separate dressing rooms for the first time, etc.

So, leaving moral/political issues aside, are they playing together again? I thought the two front guys canned everyone else a couple of years ago?!?!?

phil was sacked in the late 2010s - they tried to sneak in a body double with the portishead drummer but made the mistake of having them both onstage at the same time. but as of now it is a "phil" again, by all appearances

CR78 could not be reached for comment

People who use the phrase "purity test" are exhausting

As always with this band, when I listen to the music I love most of it, but if I make the mistake of reading interviews I end up disliking them, even aside from the objectionable politics.

Surprised at the lack of varnish in that Times piece; they don't speak much anymore, separate dressing rooms for the first time, etc.

I remember reading an interview with McCartney once, where he (or maybe it was George, actually?) confessed that the extent of their communication in the '70s and beyond was largely to confirm that they would not be in the same place at the same time, lest they prompt a deluge of "The Beatles are back together!!!!!" rumors. But even on a smaller scale, I don't think this is too uncommon. Not too long ago someone asked Springsteen about hanging out with the guys in the band and he basically said most of their interactions these days were on stage, and that was plenty of time together, if not key to their relationship (as such). Pete Townshend has talked about this as well, saying how surreal it is to meet some more or less random people when you're at a kid at school and then be forever associated with them as a collective unit.

This Radiohead thing is of course at least at this stage something of a cash grab, but I see where Yorke is coming from, recognizing that it was easy enough for everyone to step away from the band that he sensed that playing again was probably a now or never proposition.

lol at thom realising bds had a point but being too stubborn to directly say so

i missed that bunch of previously unheard ok computer sessions recordings leaked last year: https://archive.org/details/ok-outtakes/

i have zero expectations that there'll ever be a new album & wouldn't expect it to be much good even if it happens. hopefully they'll dig into the in rainbows sessions for the anniversary in 2027 though

the piece did a lot to temper my assumption there would be another record. oh well. Thanks for the link, ufo! leaks beyond the minidiscs... this passed me by too.

They were really good last night in Copenhagen. Seemed like they mostly wanted to groove and dance, they seemed most excited about playing things from Hail To The Thief and In Rainbows, while some of the older stuff fell a bit flat. Bloom was an immense attack of afrobeat-drumming and spiraling juju-guitars slowly crescendoing. Still doesn't have a chorus, but was probably the coolest thing they played all night. They sounded like they could still make a good and inventive new album if they wanted to, though I doubt they will.

Oh, and they played Kid A!!! Hadn't seen that on any setlist, clear highlight of the night :)