There was this really nice radiohead video contest last year. I entered and did a video pitch that really looked more like some nice live visuals than it looked like a music video. “Work more on the narrative” was the final lesson it left me.

I was really working on leaving a serious “in rainbows” look. but failed completely due to the lack of a story.

Un dels grups que més notícies ha generat últimament a les publicacions d’actualitat musical ha estat Radiohead. La mítica banda anglesa, possiblement la més influent a la dècada dels 90, ja va escandalitzar la indústria musical l’any 2007, quan va posar el seu àlbum In Rainbows a disposició de tothom a la seua web amb la possibilitat de pagar un preu indeterminat per la descàrrega. El fet que una de les bandes més importants del planeta regalara la seua música a Internet no va agradar a molts i va causar una gran polèmica. A més, les declaracions dels seus components i, especialment, del su cantant Thom Yorke els han causat més d’un enfrontament amb els guardians de les essències de la propietat intel·lectual (paradoxalment encapçalats en aquestos últims mesos per Lily Allen, qui es va fer famosa gràcies a MySpace).

Thom Yorke, el lleig més guapo de tots els temps

Però ni els bramits d’aquells que s’aferren amb més força al vell model de distribució i consum musical (els que hi tenen més interessos) han aconseguit aturar al grup, que segueix apostant per les noves formes de fer arribar al públic la seua música. A l’agost podíem llegir a diversos mitjans que Radiohead havien penjat una nova cançó a la seu pàgina web, ‘Harry Patch (In Memory of)‘, dedicada a l’últim combatent conegut de la Primera Guerra Mundial, que havia faltat feia poc als 111 anys. Poc després, el grup regalava una altra cançó nova, ‘These Are My Twisted Words‘, amb un estil que continuava amb la línia electrònica dels temes d’In Rainbows i dels treballs en solitari de Thom Yorke. A mitjans de setembre, el cantant treia un single que incloïa dues noves cançons ‘Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses’ i ‘The Hollow Earth’, que es podien adquirir també de manera gratuïta. Tots aquestos llançaments, acompanyats d’unes declaracions del líder de la banda, van fer pensar a gran part de la premsa especialitzada que abandonaven per sempre el concepte d’àlbum com s’ha entés tradicionalment, substituint-lo per aquest model de penjar cançons soltes o EP’s de manera esporàdica.

La banda al complet

Uns dies després, el guitarrist Edd O’brien va aclarir a NME que les paraules de Thom havien estat mal interpretades i que podrem escoltar un nou disc complet de Radiohead al 2010. Tot un alleujament per a molts dels seus seguidors. El fet de proporcionar-nos xicotetes dosi de la seua música està més que bé i es fa més digerible, però encara en som molts els que pensem que el format àlbum, ja siga físic o digital, és molt més que un recull de cançons escollides a l’atzar i que té un significat per ell mateix.

(2007)

1. 15 Step

2. Bodysnatchers

3. Nude

4. Weird Fishes / Arpeggi

5. All I Need

6. Faust Arp

7. Reckoner

8. House of Cards

9. Jigsaw Falling into Place

10. Videotape

In Rainbows é um álbum de perguntas. 15 Step já dá a chave: “How come I end up where I started?”¹ É estranho como um álbum pode ser tão suspirante. Ouvir a voz do Thom Yorke por si só cantando determinado tipo de música é, já, uma experiência de outro mundo, mas o In Rainbows é muito experimental e carrega uma atmosfera mágica em seu entorno.

É uma angústia muito grande. O álbum faz você ficar nesse arremesso de lá pra cá, com angústias, catarses e suspiros alternados – ou, muitas vezes, combinados, como é o caso de 15 Step – tocando assuntos muito complicados para uma mente conturbada. Ouvi-lo requer querê-lo e estar consciente do que está fazendo, porque é uma experiência muito forte. Bodysnatchers tem aquela coisa de uma cabeça enlouquecida, uma cabeça que não suporta mais a limitação do homem no mundo absurdo; mas eis que, em determinado momento, a agonia se torna iluminação, e a guitarra absurdamente suja torna-se limpa, com um arranjo mais prolongado, e, ainda que o problema não esteja resolvido, há a infinita percepção de estar vivo (acho que estar vivo é um grande prêmio de dificuldades – sentir dor é prova de que se sente algo). E a dor se torna libertação. Rock n Roll.

Thom Yorke

Mas se Bodysnatchers é assim, Jigsaw Falling Into Place arrebata o espírito. É toda catarse de angústia. Não há recompensa, porque a dor tem aquele clima apocalíptico do riff amedrontador. Videotape na seqüência é para fechar o caixão, ainda que sejam completamente diferentes.

Mas, mesmo com todas essas questões, é um álbum muito positivo. O espírito desse álbum talvez resida em Reckoner². Reckoner é de uma iluminação, com uma harmonia humanística. Falo isto num sentido mais de altruísmo, como algo dedicado (“to all human beings”³) a todos os que respiram, mesmo (e não falo só dos vivos, pois os mortos também respiram). Com ou sem motivos, é uma mensagem muito importante, que não reside numa simples autoajuda: é o próprio mistério da vida, a recompensa máxima. Não é conformidade, insisto.

Falar do In Rainbows é muito difícil, mas é uma necessidade. Não é difícil por ser um esforço, mas sim porque fica sempre a sensação de que ele é muito maior do que qualquer coisa que eu diga. E não é por uma pretensa superioridade frente a outros álbuns, mas sim por um emaranhado de sensações surpreendentes. Cada vez que o ouço por completo, descubro coisas novíssimas.

Claro que ele possui suspiros muito bonitos, não necessariamente alegres ou felizes, mas não tristes. São suspiros, momentos em que há a contemplação: o caso de All I Need e Faust Arp. E House of cards tem aquele gostinho levemente doce, que quase faz salivar. Mas das três destaco a Faust Arp, com um final sublime, preparando para a seqüência milagrosa de Reckoner. Ouvir o álbum na ordem é uma coisa muito importante.

Sapecaram.

É um álbum triste, sim. Conheço quem diga que não, mas é impossível negar que pelo menos metade dele é triste. E a arte triste não é repulsiva, não é um culto à tristeza, não se ouve para entristecer (embora isto aconteça muitas vezes). Em primeiro lugar porque a experimentação se torna muito mais mágico-sensitiva e de autoconhecimento que de entristecimento. Em segundo lugar porque a arte que expressa coisas antes inexpressivas em nós, ajuda-nos a nos resolver. Ou ao menos a perceber que não estamos sozinhos em alguns tortuosos caminhos.

Quem lê Drummond ou Pessoa não é masoquista. Assim como não o é quem ouve Radiohead, Los Hermanos, Legião Urbana. Não necessariamente. A dor é necessária, o enfrentamento é necessário e isso não significa aumentar a tristeza. Mas talvez seja mais um álbum pesado que triste.

É uma beleza única, como sempre se pode esperar da banda. No início não gostei tanto do álbum, mas hoje em dia é o meu favorito. Talvez seja preciso mesmo ouvi-lo diversas vezes para entendê-lo. E os sons são alucinantes. O show do disco é uma loucura, com luzes gigantescas, criando psicodelias e entorpecendo qualquer um. É uma verdadeira experimentação, e talvez este seja o sentido maior da arte: experimentar o que o artista tem a oferecer, a indução de sensações no corpo aberto de seu receptor. Claro que isso exige que a entrega seja máxima por parte de quem ouve. Comedir-se não é tão recompensador.

Radiohead!

Uma outra sensação é aquela de ler Clarice Lispector: o que está sendo dito é sempre querendo dizer outra coisa. É outro lugar alcançado, e não necessariamente aquele descrito nas letras e nos sons. É como se fosse uma chave, abrindo as portas de um lugar mágico onde tudo vibra ao simples aproximar de um dedo.

E eu fico assim: boquiaberto, com olhos úmidos, a espinha arrepiada e aquela vontade louca de escrever.

Mas acho que não consegui dizer.

*: Falo aqui apenas do primeiro disco, chamado October.

¹: “Como pude terminar onde comecei?”

²: Somente depois de revisar o texto foi que lembrei que o nome do álbum é retirado de um trecho da música.

³: “A todos os seres humanos”

This is for a friend who loves butterflies. This was a reverse fit. First I had the images and then the song. The song is beautiful. Hope the images match.

Here it goes.

The car. It was black in colour. Shining under a street light, the car had a blunt front and somehow the headlights were extraordinarily large.

The girl. She had bright eyes. Twinkling even in the street light. She had small breasts. The kind that boys would notice because they are small but attractive. She was wearing a skirt. A floral skirt. Sleeveless.

When she opened the door, the guy behind the wheel did not even look at her. She apologized for being late.

He gunned the engine. And the car was on a roll. She started to relax. And the car started to accelerate. He would take side glances at her. And liked the way the dress fell down showing her plunging neckline.

There was music in the car. There was “bodysnatchers” by radiohead and the blunt sound of the lead guitar.

As the car started to move forward the road became narrower. There were no street lights. And the immense probability of hitting something increased. The car head lights were bright on the road but he drove like he was not looking ahead. As if he was in deep space.

As the song picked up speed, a bright florescent shape came and sat on the blue light of the music player. It took some time to realize it was a butterfly. But it was shining bright. Red, yellow, blue and white.

The girl tried to touch the butterfly and it moved. The guy drove on.

When the girl looked on the right side there was another one.

The butterflies started to flutter around her. She smiled. they started to get attracted to the flowers on her skirt. She looked at her skirt. The flowers had started to look real. Lots of flowers. Small ones. Looking outside. The car started to have a fragrance. Then there were more butterflies. The car was full of butterflies and all attracted to the girl.

The guy kept driving. And it suddenly started to rain. It started with a drop. Then a drizzle and then in a rage. It turned into a storm.

The car picked up speed and so did the storm. At the end of the road there was lightening. It hit the road and went into random waves of light.

Two butterflies came and sat on the girls eyes. And when they fluttered their wings it looked her eyes had started to blink. They were uneven in shape. A third one sat on her lips.

That did it. it started to send electric currents in her body. She started to move her hands around. No matter what she did, her hands could never reach her face.

She struggled hard. Very hard. She started to bang on the glass. She tried to touch the guy sitting next to her. But she could feel nothing.

There was a problem. The car had started to move up in the air.

She could feel it. and she thought she had lost all her strength. The car was heading straight in the eye of the storm.

She was getting scared but excited at the same time. It was almost like living and dying at the same time.

She wanted to roll down the window. But her fingers did not move. The car was on a rollercoaster ride. the girl had lost control. But realized that there is nothing that she can do about the situation.

Miraculously the car was avoiding the lightening.

There were millions of humming birds who were working hard to straighten the lightening so that it will not hit the car. They wanted the flowers on the girls dress. So they were making sure that the car is not hit. So everytime a lightening that was in the path of the car, the birds would dive down and move the strike to another target.

The flowers from the dress started to grow. As if they wanted to reach out of the car. The birds started to swarm the car from outside and the butterflies from inside.

(to be continued….)

Theres nothing that I love more than a good Radiohead song so it follows suit that I’m also partial to a Radiohead remix.  Radiohead provide potential re-mixers with a myriad of extremely seductive music – a side effetct of their experimental electronic style. SO it is unsurprising that the internet is littered with remixes both official and un-official, rubbish and brilliant . There is even a website dedicated to the cause

http://www.radioheadremix.com/

So that you can avoid the “cutting the shit,” process here are my top three…in no particular order – they’re all pretty damm great

1. This one I stumbled upon last night….

It’s an Unofficial remix of Packed Like Sardine in a Crushed Tin by TLP

2. This is an official one by Josh Wink (who I saw DJ in Ibiza and was awesome by the way) Every Thing in Its Right Place would make it onto my Desert Island discs so full credit to Wink for producing a worthy remix.

3.  And thirdly another unofficial one is by Micromatic of In Rainbows’ Reckoner. I can’t find this one on the internet anywhere anymore which is a travesty because it is brilliant and should be shared, so here you go….

Reckoner – Micromatic remix

PEACE and enjoy.

-sw

Usher (Texas, USA)
Confessions
LaFace, 2004

Discovery: Following on from yesterday’s post on Angel Deradoorian’s EP, Mind Raft, I thought I’d go for one of the albums from fellow Dirty Projector Dave Longstreth’s Guest List feature for Pitchfork. He chose twelve albums as his favourites from the decade: amongst the relatively unsurprising choices of In Rainbows, Vespertine and The Milk-Eyed Mender were some more unexpected picks, including Beyoncé’s B’Day and Justin Timberlake’s Justified, as well as Usher’s 2004 breakthrough album, Confessions.

History: Despite initially wanting to continue working with Jermaine Dupri, who had produced his previous two albums, Usher also contacted several other producers, “With this album I chose some new producers who I figured would definitely allow me to really articulate myself in a different way. Every album you gotta grow. You gotta look for something different.” After completing forty songs he submitted the record to his label but they were displeased, thinking there was something missing. Usher returned to the studio with Ludacris and Lil Jon – the songs ‘Yeah!’ and ‘Red Light’ were recorded in those sessions.

The final track listing was chosen by Usher, Dupri, Reid, and then-A&R rep Mark Pitts, based on the songs that “came up consistently more” on their individual lists of favourites, and the album was released in March 2004. It was re-released in October 2004, just 6 months later. The new version included ‘My Boo’ and ‘Red Light’- which had already leaked alongside other songs which did not appear on the album, a remix of ‘Confessions, Part II’ and ‘Seduction’. There was also an extended version of ‘Confessions Part I’ and a rap added by Jadakiss on ‘Throwback’. The label treated this new version of the album like a completely new release in terms of promotion.

Facts:

1. Confessions sold over 1.1 million copies in its first week, the highest first-week total ever for an R&B album.

2. He is a co-owner of the NBA team Cleveland Cavaliers.

3. He was ranked #47 on VH1’s 100 Sexiest Artists.

4. At 12.1 seconds, he holds the record on ‘Star Search’ for the longest note sung by a child.

5. He has a road named after him, the “Usher Raymond Parkway” in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Review: This is surprisingly decent. I remember when ‘Yeah!’ came out and I immediately decided Usher was my least favourite musician ever to exist, but even that song sounds fresh now. Even songs like ‘Bad Girl’ – which should really be the worst thing ever because seriously, Usher looks about as scary as a new-born puppy and he’s singing lyrics like “I’m ready to be bad / I need a bad girl (say yeah) / Get at me bad girl / What sexy lady’s comin’ home with me tonight?” – are OK. They’re OK because I know a song like ‘Throwback’ is going to come along with its incredible Dionne Warwick sample (as heard on Dilla’s ‘Stop’) and they’re OK because even the worst songs on this album have decent enough production and enough good melodies to make them tolerable backing music.

I think if he’d spent more time working with producers like Just Blaze and Jermaine Dupri, less time with Robin Thicke and less time making ballads like ‘Do It to Me’/'Truth Hurts’ then this could have been a really solid album. That and if he’d cut it down from 88 minutes, just to increase the replay value that little bit- it could have been great. That said, I’ve pretty much done a complete 180 in terms of my thoughts on Usher, so good job, Usher. Good job.

Practical information: Real talk. Usher. Just Blaze.

Radiohead

The Radiohead Model : a gift economy in music industry

Where can you find music on the Internet ? To this question, you could answer «everywhere», and first and foremost on a lot of legal or illegal downloading websites. But the Web is not only a support to replace one day the physical CD. Above all, it is a strong communication tool whose artists need to promote their music. It is also a tool with which artists can get round traditional distribution and promotion networks, and create a direct link with their public. Thereby, you can listen to (or download for free) tracks of your favorite artists on the community website Myspace, or on official websites, without going to your records shop ! But some artists have decided to take all the advantages of the Web to invent a new economic model based on the fans networks (built on websites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter or Last.fm): the gift economy.

The English group Radiohead was a precursor of this new model with the release of his last album «In Rainbows». In early October 2007, and only ten days before the digital release of the album on inrainbows.com, the group created an amazing buzz anouncing that everyone will have the possibility to download «In Rainbows» to a price chosen by the user himself. Thus, the giant of English pop revolutionizes the musical ways of consumption, using his huge fame to free oneself from the records companies and the distribution networks, and to put in his artistic activity a gift economy. By these means, Radiohead gives a new value to the DIY tradition (Do It Yourself).

Moreover, thanks to The Internet, Radiohead has opened new future prospects for the music industry, currently in complete transformation. We can underline that the «In Rainbows» experience was very salutary for the group, not only from a marketing point of view, but also from an economic point of view. In only tree days, 1,3 millions of albums were downloaded, for an average price of 6 dollars per download, even if about 30 % of the Internet users had dowloaded «In Rainbows» without paying anything.

Therefore, this model could interest in the future a lot of bands who want to use The Internet as a real alternative medium to promote and sell their music directly to their public. This gift economic model could also compete against legal downloading websites such as Itunes. Beyong, Radiohead has now opened his own downloading website, included in a full online store where you can buy albums (in digital or physical supports), clothes, books, posters and even a Radiohead water bottle! To visit this brand new store, click here !

Después del éxito de ‘In Rainbows’, el líder de la Radiohead, Thom Yorke, ha decidido darse un espacio con la agrupación para sumergirse en sus proyectos personales.

A principios de octubre el músico británico ofreció tan sólo tres tocadas en Los Ángeles, California, para presentar a un pequeño -y casi selecto- público su proyecto de solista.

En esta fase fuera de Radiohead, le acompañan Flea, bajista de Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joey Waronker, baterista que ha colaborado con R.E.M., el multi-instrumentalista Mauro Refosco y el productos Nigel Godrich.

Como recordaremos ésta no es la primera vez que Yorke trabaja independiente de Radiohead, ya que en el 2007 editó un álbum como solista titulado “The Eraser”, el cual tuvo buena aceptación.

De hecho en las presentaciones que tuvo en Los Ángeles el repertorio estuvo compuesto en su mayoría por canciones de “The Eraser”.

También aprovechó para decirle a su audiencia que el próximo año regresaría – no especificó si con un disco o más presentaciones- con este proyecto en solitario acompañado por los músicos mencionados anteriormente.

Les dejamos este video donde pueden ver un poco de lo que presentó Thom Yorke en Los Ángeles, que sin duda conserva el sello de todo lo que ha hecho con Radiohead.

.

I’ve always struggled with deciding on my favorite Radiohead album. So, being the nerd that I am, I decided to come up with an answer once and for all by quantifying it. I already had all the songs rated on iTunes, so I figured I’d total up all the stars, divide by the number of tracks, and get an average rating for the album. Here are the results:

The Bends (1995)
5 Stars: 6 Tracks
4 Stars: 5 Tracks
3 Stars: 1 Track
Album Rating: 4.42

OK Computer (1997)
5 Stars: 8 Tracks
4 Stars: 2 Tracks
3 Stars: 1 Track
2 Stars: 1 Track
Album Rating: 4.42

Pablo Honey (1993)
5 Stars: 6 Tracks
4 Stars: 5 Tracks
3 Stars: 1 Track
Album Rating: 4.42

Kid A (2000)
5 Stars: 5 Tracks
4 Stars: 2 Tracks
3 Stars: 3 Tracks
Album Rating: 4.2

In Rainbows (2007)
5 Stars: 2 Tracks
4 Stars: 4 Tracks
3 Stars: 3 Tracks
2 Stars: 1 Track
Album Rating: 3.7

Amnesiac (2001)
5 Stars: 1 Track
4 Stars: 2 Tracks
3 Stars: 6 Tracks
2 Stars: 2 Tracks
Album Rating: 3.18

Hail to the Thief (2003)
5 Stars: 1 Track
4 Stars: 3 Tracks
3 Stars: 4 Tracks
2 Stars: 6 Tracks
Album Rating: 2.93

Yes, you read that right, the exact albums that I struggled with, Pablo Honey, The Bends, and OK Computer, somehow, garnered the exact same score! Guess I didn’t accomplish much with this exercise.

Pour mon premier article, je vais vous présenter “Free!” de Chris Anderson, rédacteur en chef du magazine Wired!.

Chris Anderson dévoile dans cet ouvrage, au travers d’exemples probants, les raisons qui font que la gratuité devrait s’imposer comme modèle viable à de nombreuses entreprises.

Ce livre, sorti il y a presque un an, présente les nombreux domaines économiques où cette gratuité peut être appliquée. Et ils sont nombreux: aviation, presse écrite, logiciels et musique.

L’ouvrage montre par ailleurs que ce concept de la gratuité n’est pas si récent. En effet, la marque Gillette avait compris au début du 20ème siècle que donner des rasoirs pouvait créer une demande postérieure (les consommateurs ont besoin d’acheter les lames jetables).

Mais Chris Anderson va plus loin dans sa démarche. Selon lui, le Web, du fait des coûts quasi-nuls de reproduction du fait de la numérisation, tire les prix vers le bas. Une offre conccurentielle parfois extrêmement nombreuse accroît cette tendance. Le futur avec ce modèle? Le futur, eh bien c’est que Gillette va devoir proposer ses rasoirs ET ses lames gratuitement, en compensant le manque à gagner avec des services annexes.

Même si ce modèle économique ne semble pas encore mûr pour certains pans de l’économie numérique (site de biens marchands, par exemple), il n’en demeure pas moins intéressant pour d’autres.

En matière de musique, par exemple, le groupe Radiohead avait mis son dernier album In Rainbows à disposition des internautes, qui pouvaient s’acquitter d’un montant libre pour acquerir l’album (zéro € était possible). Le groupe a ainsi largement bénéficié des retombées en terme de buzz et d’image. Il répondait aussi concrètement au fait que la musique gratuite est clairement une attente en terme de consommation aujourd’hui, et pas seulement un simple acte de piraterie.

OHNE WORTE.

(Danke, Franzi.)

Every once in a great while a song will come along that feels as though it was written especially for you.  It’s kind of like when you were five years old and your mom made you chocolate chip cookies or apple pie. You take a big whiff and all your senses are tingling and warm; you just know that the gesture is intended to make you feel safe and loved. And in knowing it, you feel exactly that.

 When Thom Yorke of Radiohead wrote the song “Reckoner,” he made apple pie just for me. Okay not just for me- for you too!

“Reckoner” is the seventh song off Radiohead’s most recent album, 2007’s In Rainbows.  Although several other songs were released as singles previous to this particular one from the album, I have long been insisting that this is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Eventually my expert opinion was validated when “Reckoner” was released as the third and final single from the album in September of 2008.  Personally, I think this almost reaches insult status for such a marvelous arrangement- one that went on to be named #254 out of the top 500 songs in the past 10 years by Pitchfork Media.

 Lets just consider that- TOP 500?! That might seem like a big number, but seriously. Try narrowing down your top 500 songs. JEE-zus.

 The kind of silly weird thing about this song is that Yorke seems to have liked it so much he wrote it twice!  Well, okay not exactly: Radiohead first debuted a fledgling song at a concert in 2001 that they referred to as “Reckoner,” but that song seemingly never really continued on to any albums.

 Well who the hell knew what became of it? I (glances obnoxiously at you) reckoned it slowly went the way of the dinosaurs, the way half-finished songs often do.  It didn’t resurface in Radiohead’s later tours either, even when they premiered most of their In Rainbows material on tour in 2006. Yet, when the album was released, “Reckoner” popped up on there, bearing little resemblance at all to the song that was likely it’s inspiration. 

 It actually turns out the lovely product we can hear on Radiohead’s latest effort essentially was born of the ashes of it’s former namesake, though the song was deeply transformed when York and Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood added another movement, and then gradually got rid of everything except the new movement. Thus- the song we now have is a phoenix. Or a zombie- tomato tomahto.

 The intro to the song is an almost stuttering drum rhythm, pretty heavy on the cymbals and likely involving some stick action on the edge of the drum rather than the skin; the result is a sound is akin to raindrops, or an elated heartbeat.  The mellow guitar comes in a fairly slow but strangely electrifying pace, setting the stage for Yorke’s trademark vocals. Of course, he wouldn’t be Thom Yorke if he didn’t deliver that spine-tingling falsetto with the utmost grace and style. This is a song which showcases Yorke at his finest- he expertly overlays his vocals to create harmonies that can only be described as ecstatic. Radiohead fans will recall his similar expertise on tracks like “Pyramid Song” and “I Will”- vocal efforts that are truly worth some harmonic exaltaion- yet I daresay Yorke outdoes himself on “Reckoner.”

The finest moment in the song comes immediately following something of a bridge, at about 3 minutes and 18 seconds into the song. Yorke lets go of his perfect composure, and for about 5 seconds you can just (take a deep breath)

smell
apple pie.

 The intense crescendo of his voice combined with the emotional intensity- not to mention the incomparable timbre of his voice- come together to make this moment the epitome of the entire song. He only sings one word: “Reckoner,” but it sounds like he’s singing a love song only for you. He is one of those rare and few vocalists whose singing has the power to take your breath away.

 Kind of a cool thing Radiohead did for this song was to hold a contest for fans to create the official music video. Actually several videos were created for Radiohead during the same contest, and I guess cool depends on your perspective- Radiohead has been responsible for some of my favorite music videos of all time, with gems like “Just” and “Rabbit in Your Headlights.” Thus, as far as I’m concerned, they are better making their own videos. Personally I find the winner of the contest, submitted by Virtual Lasagna, a tad trite. But, since I can’t embed music files for you, I posted it here anyways for you to take a good listen. Keeping your eyes open is optional, but truly, I think you’ll appreciate it more with them closed.

El año pasado Radiohead y MTV se unieron para grabar este videoclip en el se usó la canción “All I Need”, extraída del último álbum de los británicos, In Rainbows.

El mensaje es claro y contundente y creo que no hace falta agregar nada al respecto.

MTV Exit es una campaña promovida por la fundación MTV Europa, con la que se busca alertar sobre los peligros de la explotación y el tráfico de personas.

Die Geschichte ist bekannt: Die britische Alternative-Rockband Radiohead postete am 1. Oktober 2007 auf ihrer Homepage, dass ihr neues Album In Rainbows fertig sei und in 10 Tagen erscheinen werde. Die Fans wurden instruiert, sich per Registrierung einen Code zu besorgen, mit dem das neue Album im MP3-Format herunter geladen werden konnte. Den Usern wurde es überlassen, den Preis von US$ 0,00 bis US$ 99,99 selbst zu bestimmen. Das Echo war überwältigend und in kürzester Zeit wurden mehr als 1 Mio. Downloads gezählt. 40% der Fans waren im Durchschnitt bereit US$ 6 für das Album zu zahlen, was in etwa Einnahmen in der Höhe von US$ 2,4 Mio. entspricht. Das, was wie ein revolutionäres Geschäftsmodell aussieht, ist es aber auf dem zweiten Blick nicht – oder doch?

Radiohead hatten sich seit ihrer Gründung im Jahr 1989 bereits eine weltweite Fangemeinde und einen Plattenvertrag beim Major Capitol Record, einer US-Tochtergesellschaft der EMI, erspielt. Vor In Rainbows waren bereits sechs Studioalben und ein Live-Album bei Capitol herausgebracht worden. Das Label hatte also bereits mit seinen Marketing-Millionen eine umsatzträchtige Marke aufgebaut. Bert Holman, Manager der Allman Brothers, bringt es in einem Interview für die Chicago Tribune auf den Punkt: “Radiohead’s developed a pretty good brand name over the years. There’s artistic merit, but they also had a major label doing a lot of marketing for them.”

Holman spricht auch aus, was die Zahl-was-du-willst-Aktion letztendlich war: Eine clevere Marketingmaßnahme einer Band, die den Vertrag mit Capitol Records erfüllt hatte und nun ihre Vermarktung in die eigene Hand nehmen wollte. Das eigentliche Ziel war es, PR für die zwei Monate später erscheinenden Deluxe-CD-Version zum stolzen Preis von US$ 81 zu machen. Kein Wunder, dass mit dem Erscheinungstermin der CD auch die Download-Möglichkeit beendet wurde. Der Download war ohnehin nur in einer Bitrate von 160 Kilobytes pro Sekunde ermöglicht worden –statt der üblichen 192 KB/s bzw. 256 KB/s. Wie auch immer, die Fans kauften trotz freier Download-Möglichkeit innerhalb einer Jahres rund 100.000 Stück der CD und spülten damit US$ 8 Mio. in die Kasse, die zum größten Teil der Band zugute kam. Dazu Leadsänger Thom Yorke im Wired Magazine: „In terms of digital income, we’ve made more money out of this record than out of all the other Radiohead albums put together – in terms of anything on the Net.“

Sind nun Radiohead Revolutionäre, die die Grundfesten der Musikindustrie erschüttern oder nicht? Die Antwort muss zwiespältig ausfallen. Im Sinn eines neuen Geschäftsmodells muss die Frage verneint werden. Radiohead haben lediglich ohne Unterstützung eines Major-Labels eine herkömmliche Tonträgerproduktion mit Direktvertrieb kombiniert. Die Download-Aktion sollte einfach nur den fehlenden PR- und Marketingdruck, der im traditionellen Geschäftsmodell nötig ist, ersetzen. Das ist erfolgreich gelungen. Und in diesem Sinn ist Radiohead dann doch wieder revolutionär. Sie haben bewiesen, dass die freie Downloadmöglichkeit nicht, wie immer wieder behauptet wird, das Ende der Musikverkäufe , sondern ganz im Gegenteil diese sogar zu stimulieren in der Lage ist. Es gehörte nur eine Portion Wagemut dazu, ein solches Konzept auch in die Tat umzusetzen.

Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs bestand darin, dass Radiohead die Erfahrungen mit unautorisierten Downloads via File-Sharing-Netzwerke richtig gedeutet hatten. Schon 2000 mussten Radiohead miterleben, wie noch vor der offiziellen Veröffentlichung ihres Albums Kid A die Song-Files bereits auf diversen Internetplattformen verfügbar waren. Im ersten Moment waren Radiohead wie ihre Plattenfirma darüber verärgert und befürchteten Einbrüche bei den regulären Verkäufen. Die Sorgen waren aber unbegründet, denn Kid A stürmte mit rund 210.000 Verkäufen in der ersten Woche auf Platz 1 der US-Alben-Charts. Diese Tatsache ließen Radiohead vollständig umdenken. Sie erkannten, dass das Internet und auch File-Sharing keineswegs zum Nachteil der regulären Verkäufe waren, sondern ganz im Gegenteil diese sogar beförderte. Bei Amnesiac (2001) sowie beim letzten Album für Capitol Records Hail to the Thief wiederholte sich das Szenario der vorab verfügbaren Downloads im Netz und brachte die Band zur Überzeugung, sich überhaupt von den Majors und ihrem Geschäftsmodell zu lösen. Das Ergebnis war dann eben In Rainbows.

Die Lehre, die aus Radioheads Aktion gezogen werden kann ist, dass in einem zeitgemäßen Vermarktungskonzept die Download-Möglichkeit zum Nulltarif als PR-Maßnahme in ein Gesamtpaket integriert werden sollte. Allerdings darf der Musik-Download nicht als solitäre Leistung, sondern muss im Verbund mit anderen als werthaltig erachteten Produkten und Dienstleistungen angeboten werden. Das können Tonträger in einer Spezialedition genau so sein wie qualitativ hochwertige MP3s mit höherer Bitrate, Konzerttickets, Hardwaregeräte für den Musikkonsum (Handy, MP3-Player etc.) oder überhaupt musikferne oder gar ‑fremde Produkte.

Die Zahl-was-du-willst-Aktion hat aber für sich genommen schon eine interessante Erkenntnis gebracht, nämlich dass trotz potenziell frei verfügbarer Musik, diese doch Wert geschätzt wurde und eine Zahlungsbereitschaft der Fans bestand. Diese kann also zur Preisdiskrimierung bei Selbstselektion der User (siehe Strube, Pohl und Buxmann 2008: 191-193) genutzt werden. Und schließlich erbrachte die Online-Registrierung vor dem eigentlichen Download noch eine große Datenbasis, die für spätere Releases bzw. Konzerte zielgruppenspezifisch eingesetzt werden kann.

Wie gesagt, Radiohead haben zwar am alten Geschäftsmodell der Musikindustrie festgehalten, aber mit einem revolutionären PR- und Marketingkonzept verknüpft, was sie zum Vorreiter einer Entwicklung macht, die die herkömmlichen Vermarktungsmethoden obsolet erscheinen lässt. Das sollte vor allem den Majors zu denken geben, die im Fall von Radiohead ausgeschaltet wurden, weil ihre einstige Marktmacht, die auf der Distribution und dem Marketing beruhte, nicht mehr benötigt wird. Und das wird sich auch nicht mehr ändern. 

Quellen

Strube, Jochen, Gerit Pohl und Peter Buxmann, 2008, Preisstrategien für Online-Musik in (Gensch, Stöckler und Tschmuck, Hg.) Musikrezeption, Musikdistribution und Musikproduktion. Der Wandel des Wertschöpfungsnetzwerks in der Musikwirtschaft. Wiesbaden: Gabler.

Interview mit Bert Holman in der Chicago Tribune am 5. Oktober 2007 http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2007/10/radioheads-cust.html

Interview von David Byrne mit Thom York im Wired Magazine, Issue 16-01, 2008.

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_yorke

MK 1
Down Is The New Up
Go Slowly
MK 2
Last Flowers
Up On The Ladder
Bangers And Mash
4 Minute Warning

Download

15 Step
Bodysnatchers
Nude
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
All I Need
Faust Arp
Reckoner
House of Cards
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Videotape

Download

I’ve got two copies of this blog, a WordPress, and a Blogger. The blogger definitely has gotten the shorter end of the stick, mainly because it’s not the platform I like to use. From now on, when I make a blog post, I am going to use my blog posting program to write it to both blogs.

http://rideo.wordpress.com

and

http://latinforlol.blogspot.com/

Will both have all my posts from now on. For any posts between January and September of this year, you will have to read my WordPress, as Its a pain to transfer them. I may eventually do it, but for now, they’ll be WordPress only.

Also, something cool I found a little while ago.

The Resistance, the newest release from Muse, is one of the year's most anticipated albums.

Muse’s fifth studio album, “The Resistance,” is probably one of their best yet. A follow-up to 2006’s Black Holes and Revelations, The Resistance has been named one of the most anticipated rock albums of the year. The band themselves describe “The Resistance” as a “symphonic” album.

The British trio has been popular for some time in the U.K., but more recently shot to stardom in the U.S. after “Twilight” creator Stephanie Meyer credited their music as her inspiration while writing the books.

In May of last year, Muse reportedly started writing material for the new album, but told fans not to expect a new album too soon. Almost a year and a half later, “The Resistance” is being welcomed with open arms. When the band uploaded 30-second clips of the new songs on their website three weeks ago, fans began crying for more.

“The Resistance” was produced by the band and mixed by Mark Stent. Stent comes highly recommended as one of the best in the business, having worked with the likes of Björk, Depeche Mode, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Marilyn Manson, Dave Matthews, No Doubt, Linkin Park, U2, Britney Spears and many other musical talents.

Muse wanted “The Resistance” to be “unconventional,” even considering a similar digital release to that of Radiohead’s “In Rainbows.” The album is certainly that–unconventional. It opens with the dance-worthy beats of the first single, “Uprising,” sweeping listeners into a fairytale-esque world of falsetto and vibrato.

“The Resistance” ends with one of the most notable tracks on the new album, “Exogenesis,” a three-part piece which required over 40 musicians during the recording process. Frontman Matthew Bellamy described the piece as “more of a symphony than a song” which he has worked on sporadically for many years.

A Muse album through and through, “The Resistance” pushes the limits of music. Each song is a sweet symphony of sound worthy of praise.

You might like this artist if you like Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Placebo, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys or Kaiser Chiefs.

Download this: “United States Of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)”

Track listing:
1. Uprising
2. Resistance
3. Undisclosed Desires
4. United States of Eurasia
5. Guiding Light
6. Unnatural Selection
7. MK Ultra
8. I Belong to You
9. Exogenesis: Symphony Part I (Overture)
10. Exogenesis: Symphony Part II (Cross Pollination)
11. Exogenesis: Symphony Part III (Redemption)

Quem ai ainda não tem o Ultimo CD do Radiohead ” In Rainbows” ????????

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Capa do CD "In Rainbows" do Radiohead.

Só clicar na imagem abaixo.

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Lors d’une récente conférence, Terry McBride, un américain que je ne connais ni de Dave, ni d’Adam, a évoqué une théorie intéressante (qu’on peut retrouver ici) :

Le groupe dont il était le manager vendait en moyenne, les soirs de concert, pour 300 dollars de CDs, cela après avoir mentionné une ou deux fois sur scène le bon achalandage de leur échoppe se trouvant dans le fond de la salle.

Il décida de changer leur approche et de les pousser à créer une connexion émotionnelle avec le public. A la fin du concert, juste avant de quitter la scène, le groupe faisait part aux gens de l’excellent moment qu’il venait de passer et il les invitait à prendre absolument un CD en partant. Peu importe le prix qu’ils étaient prêt à mettre.

En utilisant cette technique pendant un moment, le groupe est passé de 300$ à 1200$ de recette par date !

L’effet est même encore plus fort.

En revenant quelques mois plus tard dans un endroit où ils avaient appliqué la technique du “don de disque”, ils eurent la surprise de voir le nombre de personne venu assister à leur concert doubler ! Les gens qui avaient pris un disque (et qui ne l’auraient pas forcément fait en suivant la démarche classique) étaient devenus fans et avaient ramenés leurs amis.

L’expérience de ce groupe ne peut pas pour l’instant faire office de généralité mais elle n’est pas sans rappeler l’initiative de Radiohead qui avait distribué son album In Rainbows un peu selon ce même principe.

Le disque était disponible gratuitement sur un site Internet. Les visiteurs avait la possibilité de télécharger l’album et de payer la somme de leur choix si ils le souhaitaient.

Les résultats des ventes pour l’album de Radiohead ont été les suivants au bout d’un mois :

• 450 000 téléchargements payant à 4 euros en moyenne
• Le disque sorti en parallèle dans les magasins s’est retrouvé en tête des ventes en France, Angleterre et aux Etats-Unis
• Les 60 000 places à 55 euros de leur concert en France se sont vendues en une matinée.

Au bout d’un an :

• 3 millions d’exemplaires distribués dont 1 750 000 en CDs (à 12 euros)
• 100 000 DiscBox vendues (60 euros l’unité)
• 30 000 albums vendus sur iTunes (9,99 l’unité)
• 1 200 000 places vendues lors de la tournée mondiale 2008 (autour de 60 euros la place)
• Le cachet de Radiohead est passé à environ 400 000 euros par date…

L’idée mise en place par Radiohead en pleine campagne anti-téléchargement a alimenté les conversations et contribué à leur assurer une excellente couverture médiatique. Elle leur a également donné un statut de leader culturel qui défend les intérêts du consommateur, renforcé leur identité et leur à fait gagner une grande popularité. Les gens ont totalement occulté l’aspect économique alors même que cet album gratuit a été un de ceux qui leur à rapporté le plus d’argent.

Alors évidemment Radiohead est un groupe qui possèdait déjà une certaine notoriété et une bonne base de fans. Mais à l’echelle locale je pense que c’est une démarche intéressante qui peut développer l’audience d’un groupe et booster le bouche à oreille.

Evidemment je ne pourrais pas être tenu pour responsable si après avoir mis la technique en oeuvre, vous vous retrouviez avec votre stand dévalisé et une recette nulle. On est en France après tout.

Sources :

• L’experience de Terry McBride.
• Cette très bonne présentation sur la stratégie marketing de Radiohead

Today’s getaway is Radiohead’s ” Last Flowers.” So light that green and let Thom York take you away.

Radiohead ” Last Flowers”

Hermosisima canción