New Radiohead Album?

Does anyone know if radiohead are recording a new album at the moment or are they preparing to?
Ive head rumours of one coming out this summer

radiospan

Yes, there is news on this, albeit vague, on Pitchfork today: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-03/23.shtml

Tobias Greeshman

There back rehearsing together again. http://www.greenplastic.com has some info on this.

Jonny Arson

Yeah they are back in the studio but I reckon it will be late 2005/early 2006 before we hear any new material.

Ilac

There's also that rumour about Thom Yorke doing a solo album.

Did anyone like HTTT?

Sleepy

It was okay but not a patch on either the bends or OK Computer...

DerekD Goldfish

I liked HTTT
but it certinaly wasnt thier best album

John

I liked it. Anything OK Computer and later is fine with me. Before that they were just another indie band with a few good songs.

Cathy

I think Hail To The Thief is their best album, actually

Sleepy

John2 wrote:

I liked it. Anything OK Computer and later is fine with me. Before that they were just another indie band with a few good songs.

:eek: Kid A and Amnesiac had a few nice ideas on them but to rate them better than the bends

Tobias Greeshman

Hail To The Thief was okay, not their best, before it came out I think most people had an idea what it was gonna be like, not musically, but of what the songs would be about and representing, post 9/11, bush, iraq war.

As for the Bends and OK Computer, I dont think that the band will ever top them, there masterpieces in there own way, and I think they wont repeat that type of music, the bends was a rock album about dysfunctionality in society, simple musically (in comparison to later albums) and I dont think were gonna get that again.

Like the beatles never repeated Sgt. Peppers or Abbey Road, they moved on and continued to alter their sound, so it never sounded repetitive from album to album. Radiohead are doing the same, and if another brilliant album does come along, that could be in the same league as the bends or ok computer, then it'll sound completely different to anything we've heard from them before.

Goodshape

It's interesting, different people ideas of the best Radiohead. Personally it's KID A, Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief for me. Hard to choose between those three but I'd agree with John2 that before that they were just an average band with some (very) good tunes. OK Computer kicked arse obviously, but is a bit over-played.

Can't wait to see what they do next.

Sleepy

For me, the later albums Kid A and Amnesiac, were kind of like U2's 'Pop': albums with some great sketches of uncompleted songs. When they stripped some of them back down in their live shows, the quality of some of the songwriting started to show through. The 'I Might be Wrong' album showed what a great song "Like Spinning Plates' could be when the pretentious noise and digital tomfoolery was taken out of it (and to my delight they finally found a way of releasing 'True Love Waits' which they'd played live since before OK Computer was released but have yet to be happy with a studio version of).

Granted, I nearly always prefer simple arrangements and my maxim in detemining great music is that if a song can't stand up with just an acoustic guitar or a piano accompanying the singer, it's not a great song.

I just felt that Kid A and Amnesiac were a deliberate attempt by Thom Yorke to make his music less accessible instead of striving to make something beautiful. I love the man's music, but let's be honest, he's a pretentious twat (or at least he always comes across that way in interviews).

John

Sleepy wrote:

I just felt that Kid A and Amnesiac were a deliberate attempt by Thom Yorke to make his music less accessible instead of striving to make something beautiful.

Yes they were less accessible but I think they are more beautiful than any of their other albums. I own everything from the Bends and later (Pablo Honey is ****e, sorry) and nothing they do can compete with those two albums. Every track fits with all the other tracks, the lyrics are great, the music is great, the fact that they weren't afraid to change their sound is great. I'm not saying I don't enjoy the Bends or OK Computer but they were just stepping stones (well OK Computer may be more than just a stepping stone).

To me this is the best thing about Radiohead, they are one of those rare bands that appeal to different people for different reasons. Very few bands can cross over as many different fan bases as they have.

Sleepy

Where we differ is probably in what we look for in music. I'm in the Oscar Wilde school of thinking that while all art is quite useless, it's ambition is to be beautiful. OK Computer and The Bends sound beautiful (Street Spirit's melody is still spine chilling, ditto No Surprises) while Kid A and Amnesiac sound like they're trying too hard in places. Motion Picture Soundtrack on the other hand, is one of my favourite Radiohead tracks.

Maybe it's time for me to dig them out again, one of the things about listening to most of my music on my MP3 player these days means I do tend to listen to individual songs more than entire albums these days. Maybe I'm not giving albums as much of a chance as I used to.

[off-topic]
I'm so glad this forum was started, discovered Tindersticks last night after reading about them in here and starting to reconsider Radioheads more recent work now... Go Alternative/Indie forum!
[/off-topic]

Goodshape

[off-topic]
I'm so glad this forum was started, discovered Tindersticks last night after reading about them in here and starting to reconsider Radioheads more recent work now... Go Alternative/Indie forum!
[/off-topic]

Seconded. My musical taste doesn't seem to gel too well with rigid 'Electronic', 'Punk', 'Rap', 'Rock' genres... Alternative I can dig

more on topic.. entire albums - oh yes. Tracks - largely becoming a thing of the past IMHO, at least with the music I listen to these days.

deceptacon

Hail To The Thief is my favourite Radiohead album, having killed OK Computer with over-listenage and feeling that the Bends was too lightweight, and the filler on Kid Amnesiac.

The moments (y'know, the Radiohead moments) on HTTT are thicker, faster and more intense... 2+2=5 in general... raindrops in SDSU... We Suck Young Blood bit where he cracks doing the falsetto...

I dunno. New album.... seems like it could be downhill from here.

PiE

Yea they're getting ready to record again, as of last Monday.

I'm not a huge fan of the new stuff, I'm more of the thinking that the new stuff has flashes of brilliance while the older stuff (The Bends -> OK Computer) is all brilliance, each song is memorable.

Zaph

My favourite album is probably The Bends, it's just flawless, although OK Computer is a close second. I like the newer stuff, but some of it can be hard to listen to. I agree with Sleepy that where the songs from the last three albums really shine are live. I've seen them a few times since around the time Kid A was released and the songs sound far better stripped down on stage. "I Might Be Wrong" is as good a live album as I've ever heard, just a pity it's so short.

Sleepy

Good news for any Radiohead fans with a gap or two in the back catelogue, HMV have them in the current promotion (in Galway at least):

The Bends for a 9.99, Kid A and Amnesiac for 7.99 a piece and the rare (until now? Has it been reprinted?) Iron Lung EP for 5.99.

After picking up the Iron Lung EP the only thing I need now to have the full EP/Album back-catalogue is 'Drill' (which goes for absolutely silly money on ebay).

Waltons

Hmmm. I liked HTTT, but I'm more a fan of Ok Computer and The Bends. Lately though, I've been getting into Amnesiac again. I got a copy of the collector's edition from ebay and have been listening to it a good bit.
Kid A and Amnesiac are completely different albums to what they had done before then and they're totally different to listen to, so it's kinda hard to compare them. Still, I'll agree with Sleepy in that Motion Picture Soundtrack is a brilliant song by any standards.
Anyone know if they're still selling the collector's edition of Kid A in HMV in Dublin?

Chad ghostal

Radiohead are my favourite band and have been for ages,
this has resulted in me pretty much killing the bends and ok computer, i still love them, but i can only listen to them as full albums every few months..

HTTT has some of my favourite tracks but i dont think its the best album, its more of a conventional album of tracks as opposed to the OKC, KIDA and amnesiac which blend together..

KIDA is my favourite atm, but the live gigs beat all their albums, the HTTT tours are probably the best listening mateirial, they've the best of the past + the new songs, which sound exceptional live ...

and this forum rules !_!

Milkman Dan

see this is the thing:
the bends is amazing. amazing.
ok computer is almost perfect, an album that spoke directly to me and its my favourite album.
kid a - the third part of this amazing triple header.

after this amnesiac and httt are patchy but ok.
they seem to be getting more pretentious as they go on...
i dunno.
as shakira said once : "i will wait for radiohead, as long as it takes"

TheMonster

Arpeggi - a new song they played live is floating about on the internet - very bjorkish - still trying to let it grow on me.

Chad ghostal

just got arpeggi and where bluebirds fly last night..

i really like the live version of wbbf, its much less harsh than the original..

arpeggi is good, its very..uh..radiohead-ish.. :S

it'll be interesting to see if it makes it to an album..and what it'll sound like..

Waltons

I like Arpeggi! It's very relaxing.
I'll have to agree with Chad, the live version of Where Bluebirds Fly is a lot easier on the ears than the studio one. It kinda begs the question as to whether, if it makes the studio, Arpeggi will be as harsh as the studio Bluebirds?

Drum boy

I can't wait for this one! I hope its better than the last two and back to their old form!

Goodshape

Drum boy wrote:

I hope its better than the last two and back to their old form!

Ahaha.. but no. Backtracking is quite possibly the worst thing they could do. And probably the most unlikly.

Had a listen to Arpeggi last night (anyone know what the title means?). Like it a lot. Didn't bother downloading Where Blue Birds Fly though - figured I've got the Com Lag version anyway. Might grab it later on though to hear this less harsh business.

Sleepy

Arpeggi is interesting to say the least, very Sigur Ros.

Personally, I can't wait for Radiohead to do a "back to basics" album. Most of Kid A and Amnesiac sounded best when stripped back to an acoustic guitar/piano imho so I'd love to see Radiohead do an acoustic album