Radiohead - In Rainbows

Probably the most blogged about, buzzed about, spoken about event in the world of music over the past month has been the pay-what-you-want digital release of Radiohead's new CD "In Rainbows." It's already been talked about, blogged about, reviewed about an awful stinking lot so I'll keep my review relatively brief. I think it's an excellent album, in many way possibly their best since "OK Computer." It's at least their most accessible, since it is definitely more song based as opposed to sound based. Most of my friends either love them or hate them, although I'll have to say that the haters generally consist of people who have been listening to the same music for the last 20 years. Radiohead has always been for those who appreciate change and expansion in music, as opposed to cranking out essentially the same release every time you put out a new album. Radiohead is once again, the most original band out there, and for an ADD'er like myself, I thrive on their surprises. One thing that I really appreciate about it is something that seems to be a sore spot for others. It's the simple fact that it's only 42 minutes long. That, my friends, is the perfect length for an album. I felt that even "OK Computer," as great as it is, was probably a song or two too long. But anyhoo, there's my brief review; let's get to the real topic at hand.

The band's choosing to release the album digitally, essentially for free, has been quite the source of controversy among fans and all sorts of industry types. (Interesting discussions can be found here and here, for example.) Some feel that this is all a bit hypocritical for a couple of reasons. It's been said that it's easy for Radiohead to stick it to the man, simply because they've been relying on the man to make them as big as they are. A valid point perhaps, although I feel that putting the music industry in its place has to start somewhere, and it has to be somewhere big for people to take notice. Other artists have done this, (I remember Harvey Danger doing so a few years ago) but none of them were arguably the biggest band in the world. Some also feel that this is nothing but a big publicity stunt. Of course it is! But how is something going to make a difference if it isn't being publicized? There's also the argument that if something is offered with the option of obtaining it for free, people will always choose the free route. I personally don't think that's true, especially since music has always been something that people are very passionate about. Statistically, the average band only makes a few cents per CD sold, so even if you toss them a toonie (for my other parts of the world readers, that's Canadian talk for 2 bucks) the band still comes out ahead. Finally, there also seems to be a bit of an uproar over the fact that the bitrate is less than the highest bitrate possible, and that the alternative of purchasing the boxset at 80 bucks is ridiculous. These two things don't really concern me since I go to way too many concerts, therefore I'm deaf, therefore a bit rate of 160 kbps sounds fine to me. As far as the the boxset goes, I won't be buying it, but from what I see at the stores, 80 dollars isn't too bad concerning all that you get. I also said early on that I'm pretty sure a standard release will be made available soon enough, and now from what I hear, we'll be getting one in January. It'll be interesting to see how much those go for.

One thing that I'll definitely be interested in seeing is how much a ticket to their show is going to cost. As of yet, I have never seen Radiohead in concert. Chances are, I never will, due to the simple fact that I can't afford it! Will they be going the usual ticketmaster route, or is there some way to get around that? I predict that this download venture will actually see them at the end of the day with more money in their pockets than usual, so does this mean that they can tame down the ticket costs? Are they in a position where they can do special "free" shows at intimate venues? I personally don't see how it would even be possible to do such things, but Radiohead has always had that admirable (or irritating, depending on how you look at it) twinkle of controversy in their eyes, so it will be interesting to see if I actually post a concert review of their show on this goofy little blog sometime next year. Until then, I'll just keep enjoying the new album in my ipod while I walk over to the shows that I can afford to go to. It looks like there's going to be ton of them in November, so stay tuned.

You probably already know this, but "In Rainbows" can be downloaded here, at their website, for whatever you want.