Frederick Foxtrott

Okay reader…

I don’t owe Radiohead anything. However, I am compelled to respond to the ridiculous claims made by various media publications concerning the ethics of Radiohead’s digital release of In Rainbows. This article by USA Today suggests that Radiohead was dishonest in that they did not disclose that the current release was an MP3 of lower quality than the inevitable physical copy or the “standard MP3.” At only 160 kbps for God’s sake!

People are upset because Radiohead not only gets the money from the sales of the CD and Discbox, but they also get payed for their online release. Hmmm…I am not quite sure where the dilemma is on this one. I am an avid CD shopper. When I tell people this they say, “Wow…You still have CDs,” and I mean a lot of people say this to me. The people who want to have the music now can. The people who want to wait can, or they can pay nothing now and still get the CD (legally or illegally). Look in your collection and be honest. How many burned discs do you have? How long have you gone without paying for music? People seem to have forgotten that music producers owe us nothing, and we owe them nothing.

Fred Mills of HARP online makes the astute point, “Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood essentially stated the other day that it was never Radiohead’s intention to initiate some revolutionary new model of music distribution (labels have been selling downloads for some time, duh) or even to give away its music as part of some elaborate marketing scheme, but simply to prevent it from leaking out to the public prior to the official release of the physical discbox.”

These news articles and blogs have created a false problem. It was well known that a CD was to be released after the download date and that it was of inferior quality.

This quote from American Madness is a lie:

“Next up, the January release: How do you release an album online, let people pay what they want for it and then a few days later mention that you will be selling the official album in January? Radiohead is in for a double payday with this. As I said, shady.”

If people would have been paying attention they might not be so upset.

Consider the following articles:

Pitchfork: “Readiohead Album Coming Out as Regular CD Too” 10/01/07
Pitchfork: “Radiohead’s In Rainbows Primers on XFM Radio” 10/09/07

Yeah the title “Readiohead Album Coming Out as Regular CD Too” is slightly ambiguous. If you prefer not to view the links provided, I’ll directly cite them as well:

“Okay people! Take a couple deep breaths, count to 10, switch the caps lock off, clean up the triple espresso you just spit all over the computer screen, and check this: that new Radiohead album, In Rainbows? The one that the world knew practically zilch about 24 hours ago? The one that drops digitally (DRM-free, no less!) in nine days, for a price of your own choosing? The one that’s also coming out in a deluxe “discbox” in December? Well, it’s also coming out in good, old fashioned CD format early next year.”

And that was written October 1st, 2007!

Also consider the fact that Mr. Edge’s controversial comments about the intent of the download were made the week prior to the release of In Rainbows. He said, “If we didn’t believe that when people hear the music they will want to buy the CD, then we wouldn’t do what we are doing.” This is troubling for bloggers who claim they were duped into buying a free record, only to hear that a CD was on the way after the fact. Radiohead knew their record would be leaked, burned, and distributed by November, so they stayed ahead of the game.

If you truly believe this was a scheme set to maximize profits, you are missing the point. Anyone who complains that Radiohead is getting a “double payday” has bought into a fictitious controversy.

Good luck with that people.
I’ll be listening to Reckoner.

-Frederick Foxtrott

Radiohead
In Rainbows
October 10th 2007
Unsigned

And so begins my obligatory review of Radiohead’s self-released seventh studio album In Rainbows. In a marketing move unparalleled in recent memory, Radiohead surprised the music world with their short notice release. First came the THE MOST GIGANTIC LYING HOAX OF ALL TIME (in reference to the title of their 2004 DVD The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time), then came the light hearted apology from someone in the Radiohead camp (see comment below LP7 article), and then came the digital release of In Rainbows for a price to be determined by the purchaser, buyers throwing as much or as little money at the record as they please. The series of events unfolds daily.

I of course bought the disc-box to be released on or around December 3rd for $81.50 because I am a gimmick sucker who needs the liner notes, artwork, and vinyl records. Damn the greenback’s worthlessness! All of a sudden Radiohead was on every music blog known to man, woman, and child. Even the ultra hip blogs, too cool to blog on Radiohead, blogged about how they weren’t blogging about Radiohead. I on the other hand am compelled to add to the chorus of accolades you have no doubt already read. I will say it from the git’go, In Rainbows is an incredible album.

15 Step makes the perfect transition from Hail to the Thief, incorporating a hyper dense drum intro and Yorke’s gospelesque croon. One might assume that this bridge would continue into some extension of their sixth album, but In Rainbows is not contained within such a linear trajectory. Bodysnatchers reminds us that Radiohead hasn’t lost their pre-post-postmodern charm as recorded on Pablo Honey and The Bends and then perfected on OK Computer. As a delicate and contemplative Rhythm and Blues track, Nude delivers as good as any Radiohead song has ever delivered. The song is so sensitive you can hear the guitar pick click down the chord like a washboard. This song is easily among Radiohead’s best. All I Need is a heavy, erotic, almost oppressively desirous expression. Lines like, “I’m an animal, trapped in your hot car,” spoken with resigned conviction, induce the sense of weighty heat. In some ways In Rainbows is Radiohead’s most sexual album, if not because of the lyrics then because of the soft tension and resignation emphasizing vulnerability.

How do we even begin to deconstruct Faust Arp? Faust sold his soul and Arp co-founded the Dada art movement in Europe after the First World War. Dada was a self proclaimed anti-art movement. With Radiohead’s distaste for the music industry’s standard operating procedures, perhaps the title has to do with contractual relationships with commercial entities. It was only after Radiohead came out the other end of that meat grinder that they had the clout, the authority, and cultural standing to depart from the commercial structure and operate as its antithesis with 1.2 million records sold on their own on the album’s first day. While pinning meaning to a Radiohead song is rarely productive, this song is themed with voyeurism, with being watched, with performance, with expectation, and the relationship between the audience and the artist. Faust Arp is a short and gorgeous tune laced with a poetic string arrangement and provocative lyrics.

Reckoner is the crescendo of In Rainbows. Thom Yorke’s vocal melody and solemn vibrato tear away at the heart. The urban-trap beat contrasts with the violins and the phantom vocals layered throughout this perfectly crafted song. If you listen closely at the end of the track you can even hear the song transform into an up-tempo jingle. Reckoner reminds us why Radiohead is so good. They are prolific in both their creativity and their ability to construct new spaces in which to explore the human condition and the range of our collective experience. Yes, they are that good.

And on and on and on again. So much can be said for this record. In Rainbows balances the complex and the simple challenging the listener as it awes them. The closing track Videotape is a rather straightforward dirge lamenting loss and recognizing regret, wanting moments of our past back. Not to correct them or improve them, but to live them again, keeping everything exactly the same. As the song concludes, drums build into a slow polyrhythmic snare roll, as if to count down the seconds remaining in our lives. In Rainbows is not a retreat from their more eccentric work, rather it is a reaffirmation of their exemption from a linear trajectory. I cannot wait until the disc-box gives me 8 more.

9/9

http://www.inrainbows.com
http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace

Other Albums
Pablo Honey- 1993
The Bends- 1995
Ok Computer- 1997
Kid A- 2000
Amnesiac- 2001
Hail to the Thief- 2003