Difficult Listening Hour: Beck's Harry Partch Tribute @1:05 PM
Of course NME and Pitchfork are trying to make it all about a beef with Radiohead (who, by the by, do tend to get overpraised even though, no, they don't blow) but the point is: Beck has a new song up for streaming on his website. Be patient if it takes some time to load (as it did for me). The new track isn't actually "10 and a half minutes of insanity," though "Harry Partch" is indeed a very engaging and lovely tribute to the American oddball composer of the same name. READ MORE 5
Radiohead At Reading @9:20 AM
News from England's just-concluded Reading Festival: "In a festival heavy on over-familiar or unimpressive bands, it was left to last night's closing act Radiohead to wrong-foot everyone. The odds on their angst-ridden singer Thom Yorke's first words being 'Whassup?' followed by the initial hit song they've all but disowned, 'Creep', would have been prohibitively long." And yet, those odds would have paid off handsomely. Have a look. 2
Another New Radiohead Song Hits The Web, Mysteriously @10:30 AM
So when Thom Yorke says, "I'm not very interested in the album at the moment," it apparently means that that Radiohead's music will now just appear on the internet all willy-nilly-one new song at a time, with no publicity or even any official notice. "It sure sounds like a Radiohead song," Pitchfork says of the above "These Are My Twisted Words." "We haven't received any confirmation that it actually is." That's cool. Thom is clearly an ahead-of-the-curve kind of guy. Soon enough, one would imagine, he'll be beaming tunes directly from his brain into those of his fans. (Surely, this is what "Radiohead" has meant all along.) And letting everybody choose their own method of payment. I'm already beaming him thousands in mental-money thought-dollars as I type this. (Well, hundreds, at least.) 0
New Radiohead Single "Harry Patch (In memory of)" @1:45 PM
You can listen to the new Radiohead single here. A tribute to recently deceased World War I veteran Harry Patch, the song is available for purchase, with all proceeds going to the British Foreign Legion. One early review of the song describes it as "a not unworthy addition to the moany/whiny section of their catalog." Also, there are strings. 5
