NEW RADIOHEAD ALBUM AAAAAAAHHH!!!

- article from Pitchfork Magazine, Oct. 1, 2007

TODAY IS A GREAT DAY! First, the Phillies clinched the NL East for the first time in 14 years! YESSSS!!!
AND NOW THIS!!!

"Hello everyone.
Well, the new album is finished, and it's coming out in 10 days;
We've called it In Rainbows.
Love from us all."
Jonny

Yup, that's right. A new Radiohead album, out October 10! Nice surprise, huh? It's called In Rainbows, duh. And it appears that Radiohead have chosen to not sign with a record label and are releasing it themselves via their website, at least for now.

And that's probably the least crazy aspect of this whole thing.

You can pre-order it from their website right now as a download or a "discbox." What's a discbox? Why, it's pretty sweet:

"THIS CONSISTS OF THE NEW ALBUM, IN RAINBOWS, ON CD AND ON 2 X 12 INCH HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL RECORDS.
A SECOND, ENHANCED CD CONTAINS MORE NEW SONGS, ALONG WITH DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTWORK.
THE DISCBOX ALSO INCLUDES ARTWORK AND LYRIC BOOKLETS.
ALL ARE ENCASED IN A HARDBACK BOOK AND SLIPCASE.
THE ALBUM DOWNLOAD AUTOMATICALLY COMES WITH THIS PACK."

Daamn, that's awesome! And even though the discbox doesn't ship until "on or before" December 3, you can get the download starting October 10.

But what's the catch? It costs £40.00 including postage-- no matter where you live in the world. Which for us Yanks means about $81.00. Of course, this is Radiohead we're talking about, so money is no object, right? Right.

And lest you think Radiohead are ripping their fans off, check this out: If you order the download only, you can pay HOWEVER MUCH MONEY YOU WANT for it. Like, there's no set price. Like, I just paid eight bucks for the new Radiohead album. Maybe you can pay zero dollars?

Check out the tracklist:

CD one and vinyl:

01 15 STEP
02 BODYSNATCHERS
03 NUDE
04 WEIRD FISHES/ARPEGGI
05 ALL I NEED
06 FAUST ARP
07 RECKONER
08 HOUSE OF CARDS
09 JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE
10 VIDEOTAPE

CD two and vinyl:

01 MK 1
02 DOWN IS THE NEW UP
03 GO SLOWLY
04 MK 2
05 LAST FLOWERS
06 UP ON THE LADDER
07 BANGERS AND MASH
08 4 MINUTE WARNING

So yeah, lots of stuff that we expected.

"Haha, the entire record industry is so fucked!"

So, let's sort this whole mess out, shall we? You will eventually have three ways to pick up the seventh Radiohead LP, the Nigel Godrich-produced In Rainbows. It all depends how much you want to pay, which goodies you'd like, and how soon you want the tunes. Observe:

1. As a DRM-free mp3 download, beginning October 10 (and available for preorder now), via www.inrainbows.com (interestingly enough, last week's RickRoll, www.radioheadlp7.com, now directs here as well). This version contains the 10 tracks that comprise In Rainbows, and you can pay whatever the hell you want for it. This is basically the band leaking the album and asking you for a donation to access it.

2. As part of a deluxe "discbox", available for preorder now and shipping in December. In addition to the 10-track In Rainbows on CD, you also get the release on LP and as a digital download, plus an enhanced bonus CD packed with eight more tracks, photos, and artwork (and an LP of the bonus tracks), plus art and lyrics booklets and some nifty looking packaging. This thing costs £40.00/$81.00.

3. As a traditional CD, available in early 2008. This will presumably cost as much as traditional CDs tend to cost.

What Radiohead's doing here is actually pretty cool. Rather than preface their new album's release with the usual three months of press ballyhoo, only to have it leak at some random time before it comes out, they've kept it completely under wraps, then essentially gone and leaked it themselves. What's more, they've turned this into a moral question of sorts, by giving us the freedom to pay actual money for what amounts to an album leak.

Only a band in Radiohead's position could pull a trick like this. Well played, gentlemen.

- article from Pitchfork Magazine, Oct. 1, 2007