I've ordered the "Dick in a box" thing because I know they won't be able to fulfill all the orders and it will be worth something for a sad collector like me. It also looks pretty fucking good as a package.

I think the "Name your price" thing will suprise them and us how painfully honest a lot of people are. I already know of a few people who have put 10 quid as the price as they can afford it and love Radiohead.

I'll just wait until the box gets here and try not to download it in the meantime. I miss holding something i've just got in the post on vinyl that i've never heard before. Listening to it whilst poring over the packaging.

It's a good move for established bands with a loyal fanbase to release their own stuff. It's just near impossible for new bands to do this. Seen Myspace lately?

I just think the actual pressing and distribution will be a nightmare for them as they will be answerable to the mistakes that (will) happen with outsourcing something on such a huge scale.

It will no doubt be released commercially at some point after they have beaten down EMI with a shitty stick for a better deal.

Minotaur029 wrote:Still...they are corporate rockers bitching about the system that they agreed to take part in...this annoys me (to say the least).

No, they are taking the money they earned and writing their own rules. Prince ultimately did it too. They have enough cash, don't feel like they need to make money to be a successful band, and seem to be making music because, you know, they like to. They are fortunate enough to be able to make that decision. I wish I were.

I'm sure none of them would argue that they get to make this decision because they went through the machine, but I think it's pretty cool that now that they have the right to give away their music, they are (potentially) going to. Some people will buy the $75 box set because it's a great relic, others will take the download for free.

To spin this any other way than these guys are cool is just hipster style griping. We all like to talk about how WE wouldn't change if we woke up to find millions in our bank account one day. Radiohead has done about the closest thing possible to that.

-A

alex maiolo wrote:

Minotaur029 wrote:Still...they are corporate rockers bitching about the system that they agreed to take part in...this annoys me (to say the least).

No, they are taking the money they earned and writing their own rules. Prince ultimately did it too. They have enough cash, don't feel like they need to make money to be a successful band, and seem to be making music because, you know, they like to. They are fortunate enough to be able to make that decision. I wish I were.

I'm sure none of them would argue that they get to make this decision because they went through the machine, but I think it's pretty cool that now that they have the right to give away their music, they are (potentially) going to. Some people will buy the $75 box set because it's a great relic, others will take the download for free.

To spin this any other way than these guys are cool is just hipster style griping. We all like to talk about how WE wouldn't change if we woke up to find millions in our bank account one day. Radiohead has done about the closest thing possible to that.

-A

Ding dong, you are the man. put so eloquently.

as i said...an enviable position to be sure.

alex maiolo wrote:

Minotaur029 wrote:Still...they are corporate rockers bitching about the system that they agreed to take part in...this annoys me (to say the least).

No, they are taking the money they earned and writing their own rules. Prince ultimately did it too. They have enough cash, don't feel like they need to make money to be a successful band, and seem to be making music because, you know, they like to. They are fortunate enough to be able to make that decision. I wish I were.

I'm sure none of them would argue that they get to make this decision because they went through the machine, but I think it's pretty cool that now that they have the right to give away their music, they are (potentially) going to. Some people will buy the $75 box set because it's a great relic, others will take the download for free.

To spin this any other way than these guys are cool is just hipster style griping. We all like to talk about how WE wouldn't change if we woke up to find millions in our bank account one day. Radiohead has done about the closest thing possible to that.

-A

Radiohead is doing a good thing here, but fuck all this rationalizing of the motives of major label bands!

Here's the difference between me and Radiohead: I would never get involved with a major label in the first place...hence, no millions in my bank account.

Why did they decide to go through the machine circa 1993? To potentially get famous as fuck, right? Thom Yorke had a hard-on for Kurt Cobain...followed his example for a while even to the point of getting the "same" blonde haircut, and through the '90s he just bitched a lot. Ever seen Meeting People Is Easy?

Even as of late, he decides not to talk to Tony Blair or whatever because he wants to be the anti-Bono (unless he did end up talking to that guy...either way, whoop-dee-shit). Congratulations, anything you do either way is of little consequence, rock star.

Radiohead got to create their own world and create their own rules in 2007 by selling their souls to get there. Great. People like Albini got to create their own worlds and their own rules by holding fast to their ideals (well, approximately somewhere around...virtually always). Throwing your hat in with the moneymakers...how is that not always a transparent act for a critically thinking person to make??

Maiolo wrote:hipster griping

Maybe this was hipster griping twenty years ago...if so, call me the reincarnated Ian Mackaye.




He got hit by a car, right?*

(See Electrical Forum for joke).




Also, good to see you, Alex. Where you bin?

Minotaur029 wrote: People like Albini got to create their own worlds and their own rules by holding fast to their ideals

Erm.

Who says Radiohead and Albini ever had the same ideals?

Who says Radiohead didn't hold fast to theirs?

DrAwkward wrote:

Minotaur029 wrote: People like Albini got to create their own worlds and their own rules by holding fast to their ideals

Erm.

Who says Radiohead and Albini ever had the same ideals?

Who says Radiohead didn't hold fast to theirs?

Hmmm.

I'm too tired to put up much of a fight here.

The man (Yorke) is constantly bitching about corporate culture and those in power...irresponsible human behavior. He's at the top. He benefits (or if he hates being a rich celebrity now, benefited) from those who would otherwise fuck over the little guy. The rich have made Radiohead rich.

Mostly, I just reject the idea of cashing in on your art through corporate patronage. I am completely uncomfortable with that idea. It's an idea (combining art with the financial interests of usually unrelated parties) that goes back pretty far too...Toulouse-Lautrec comes to my weary mind.


Ultimately, I guess Radiohead doing a good deed here...and (Yorke) bitching about the unfair balance of power in our world...is comparable to Michael Moore getting his fat ass flown around by a Fox helicopter. Just doesn't seem entirely on the level, no?

alex maiolo wrote:

Minotaur029 wrote:Still...they are corporate rockers bitching about the system that they agreed to take part in...this annoys me (to say the least).

Also, when I say "system" here, I mean the wider "system" of our world...from GWB to Rupert Murdoch...from RR's power bankers and shadow governments to our wider corporate culture (right down to Capitol Records).

One of the things I love about seeing punk rock shows, is that the participants are rejecting that McDonalds sponsored world for a world of our own...where people help each other in order to make all of our lives richer. The participants say no to money (sometimes entirely), and say yes to art and expression in and of itself.

Radiohead can do what they want, and they did what they did...and they make a lot of people happy...but there is another, more inclusive, more interactive, more ethical/visceral way of sharing your art and yourself that kicked open a door in my brain a long time ago. It just seems more real and more correct to me than anything the Radiohead "rock star experience" has to offer.


As usual, I digress.

I'm going to pay £1.45 to hear this.

Almost nothing makes me happier than driving with the windows closed, singing the falsetto part to "I Will" at the top of my lungs. Radiohead rarely disappoints me. I'll give them the $15 I would have paid at the local brick-and-mortar and probably buy the CD in '08.

i think all this arguing is kinda dense. have any of you ever changed your mind about anything? like, you think you're gonna get a chocolate shake, but leave with a malt? and me- i never wanted kids but then i changed my mind, and now i think i've got the cutest daughter known to man.

maybe more pertinent to these "discussions" would be something like buying a car. most of us buy what we can afford, and kinda "make due" with driving a saab or something, but when we get older we can afford a prius or a towncar or whatever the devil people like to ride in.

radiohead did what they had to back in the day. they wanted music out there, and they thought the best way was to get signed. EMI owned their asses for a contract period- they were driving the saab. and now that period is up, and they realize they don't have to do that anymore. they have the means with which to do something different, and can afford it- so now they drive the towncar.

another way to look at it might be that they started out making a decision that carried them in one direction, and now that they are older (have have the means to do something different) they realize that that initial decision they made might have not been the best way to go.

could spout another analogy about marriage and divorce here, but i think the point is out there.

i don't think it's a "they used the corporate machine to get rich" kinda thing, and i kinda think there's some jealousy in that statement. i'll admit i'm jealous- i'd love to have made actual tangible money with my music so that i could turn around and revolutionize the way artists distribute their music. all indications point to the fact that they were tied to their label, and "hail to the theif" was the last one to fulfill the contract. now, they can change the rules, and i think they are brilliant for doing it. i hope it literally turns the whole industry on it's head.