RAdiohead

Did you sign up here just to

23 years ago.

i will defend part time posters

matt, first learn what bullying is (hint: it involves power dynamics) and then we can talk

Of course, maybe not the dictionary definition of bullying but there is something intimidating in "If you don't do X then you are Y" that I recognise that bullies have used against my kids, provoking someone then filming and broadcasting it on social media. It just feels so sad that with the rise of the fascists and the Right at the moment that it's the musicians and artists singing peaceful protest songs that we are trying our best to tear to pieces because they're the easiest targets. Of course I expect nobody to agree it just all feels so hopeless.

That's also just not true tho, there are regular gigantic protests around the world, good work is being done in pushing companies to divest, direct action against arms manufacturers, etc. The Radiohead concert incident is barely a blip on the radar of the larger struggle, ofc if you're a fan you're gonna hear about it more than the other stuff.

As for disrupting cultural events, it's not like that's some new social media thing, this has been a protest strategy for many many decades. Having been present at events that got disrupted in this manner, I can tell you that the immediate reaction from the rest of the audience is immediate animosity, and physical violence as a reaction is not unheard of. So it really rubs me the wrong way to describe it as bullying, it's a very brave thing to do, you are exposing yourself to the disapproval of the majority and I don't think some likes on social media assuage how terrifying that is.

matt, I'm sure Thom Yorke felt intimidated when he said "come onstage and say it" and then proceeded to storm offstage in a cowardly huff

fuck off already seriously

like, "peaceful protest songs", give me a fucking break!!! have you ever heard the expression "actions speak louder than words"

surely thom suffered no harm and heckling can be a fine way of getting your point across, but these are interesting times when not supporting BDS makes you a genocide supporter! Of course you can make a solid, logical argument for that, but as matt h reasonably states you're surely not in good faith suggesting that thom yorke believes it's a good idea to ethnically cleanse palestine (just as you wouldn't believe that paul simon was a white supremacist for breaking the cultural boycott against apartheid in south africa)

I mean, if you're not a vegan do you support animal cruelty? Not really, very few people, if any, do. People just fail to act in accordance with their beliefs

(just as you wouldn't believe that paul simon was a white supremacist for breaking the cultural boycott against apartheid in south africa)

If somebody at the time had interrupted a Paul Simon concert to confront him with that question I think that would have been 100% legitimate, even moreso than with the Radiohead thing. The very act of confronting an artist w/ that presupposes the target DOESN'T identify with the accusation, it's a rhetorical move to make the target live up to that denial.

But also, as I stated in another thread, the action is really far less about whatever the person onstage thinks and far more about confronting everyone else in the space about the issue.

matt h reasonably states you're surely not in good faith suggesting that thom yorke believes it's a good idea to ethnically cleanse palestine

I think Thom Yorke doesn’t much care.

Actually think yelling at someone about dead children in the middle of their show isn't the right way to solve the horror of the situation

― matt h

honestly, matt, i think you raise a really good point... i'd like to rephrase that in the form of a question:

Why on earth is somebody getting up in the middle of a Thom Yorke concert and yelling at him about how he's responsible for the deaths of children?

I do think that's a good, good-faith question, and it is one I'd like to answer. Unfortunately this will sort of be in the form of a lecture - academic, not disciplinary - because it's the best way I know to answer that question.

I think there are deeper questions inside that question. For instance: How do we react to atrocity? Thom Yorke has, historically had a very clear answer: He speaks out against it, in word and deed. I'm not gonna give cites - I'm gonna assume that you know his work and that this has historically been a strong part of his beliefs, speaking out against injustice.

So here's an injustice happening - Palestinian children are dying, and again, there is this question: How do we react to atrocity? There are all kinds of ways to react - words and actions. For instance, there is the boycott-divest-sanction movement, saying that people should not support the Israeli government, the government that is perpetrating these atrocities. Historically, this is the kind of action Yorke has supported. This time, though, he's not. This time, while so many other musicians, so many other people, are refusing to play in Israel as a form of protest, Yorke is very conspicuously playing there. Why? Surely there's no financial necessity for him to play there. Why would he refrain from doing something that would, be, well, so easy for him to do?

I'd say the same thing applies to speaking out. I, for instance, will very strongly stand up and say "What the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinian people is genocide." I mean, that's not much. I'm not doing much. Yorke has spoken out very loudly, very strongly against similar atrocities in the past. Yet here, he remains silent.

And it's really frustrating. It's really frustrating watching people you care about suffer and knowing that someone you love and respect _could be doing something about it_. Terrible things happen and so many people... Sometimes they just look away. Sometimes they just pretend that what's happening isn't happening. Minimize other people's suffering. Hide it away. Make it invisible.

And like I say, I'm not doing much. There's not much I can do. I can't get up in front of the Knesset and decry what the government is doing. Even if I could, you know, who'd listen?

Thom Yorke... I mean, if not Yorke himself, his fans! I was a fan of Radiohead in large part _because_ of how he spoke up. And here he is pretending like he hasn't change, like nothing's changed, and he _has_. He has, and most people don't know it, because he doesn't talk about it. That is why I talk about it, about what Greenwood and Yorke are saying and doing. If people don't listen to me, well, I can't make anybody listen to me, you know? Any more than that person standing up and yelling at Yorke about dead children in the middle of a concert can make people listen to him. People have the right to _know_, though. More than that - people _need_ to know. It's really important that we know not just who's standing against genocide, but who is conspicuously remaining silent. That's what I believe.

I just assume anyone whose default position is that protestors are ridiculous, childish, “not going about it the right way”, whatever, would absolutely have been saying the same about Rosa Parks, the suffragettes, supporters of the cultural boycott against apartheid (another thorn in the side of crybaby millionaire rockstars) &c &c

It's never truly about the methods, it's usually the message

I just assume anyone whose default position is that protestors are ridiculous, childish, “not going about it the right way”, whatever, would absolutely have been saying the same about Rosa Parks, the suffragettes, supporters of the cultural boycott against apartheid (another thorn in the side of crybaby millionaire rockstars) &c &c

― Heartbreaking: the worst novel you’ve finished has a staggering genius (wins)

it's a reasonable assumption! i'm just trying to not drink myself to sleep every night in despair :)

Well I did deliberately pick cases where enough of those ppl did come around (& no doubt pretended they were onside the whole time) because the protestors kept doing their thing regardless

I saw a screenshot of someone asking Thom Yorke's wife if she supported Palestine and she said "Of course I support Palestine". That may not reflect his views, I dunno.

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fdajana-roncione-thoms-wife-on-palestine-v0-46xyoc7w8nzd1.png%3Fwidth%3D1080%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D7b255a9ea010eeda29ebbd54fa0ddea2e8b0adac

I don’t think my assessment of an artist’s worth should depend on their politics mapping onto mine

Sure. Trickier when an artist has made their politics a part of their artistic brand tho.

Did it? I'm not a fan so can't claim deep knowledge but he seemed to hate the right wing of labour when Blair was in charge.

According to The Globe and Mail, "Harrowdown Hill" resembles a love song with a sense of "menace" and "grim political showdown". The lyrics are about David Kelly, a British weapons expert who allegedly killed himself in 2003 after telling a reporter that the British government had falsely identified weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Kelly's body was found in the woods of Harrowdown Hill, near Yorke's former school in Oxfordshire. The 1990 poll tax riots were also an inspiration.Yorke felt "Harrowdown Hill" was a "poetic" name that sounded like the site of a historic battle.

Yorke was uncomfortable about the subject matter and conscious of Kelly's grieving family, but felt that "not to write it would perhaps have been worse". He told The Globe and Mail: "The government and the Ministry of Defence were implicated in his death. They were directly responsible for outing him and that put him in a position of unbearable pressure that he couldn't deal with, and they knew they were doing it and what it would do to him."Yorke said "Harrowdown Hill" was the angriest song he had written.

so this turned into a reddit thread

Radiohead's (well Thom's) incursion into politics has always been very shallow and vague tbh. He's good at tapping into certain generational anxieties and alienation but that's it. He is good at lighting the spark of how deep in the shit we are in but not good in showing a way out.

Even their "revolutionary" way of releasing albums like doing "kid a" with no singles or doing "in rainbows" a pay-what-you-want album feel in retrospective as performative gestures of possibilities and not really an answer to fight the monolithic structures they feed on.

I still value Kid A (and OKC to a lesser extent) as a formative album in my life but I don't expect much from them actually walking the talk. They've always seemed rather cynical and uninterested in it, and yet they think of themselves as being a political band. It's very hypocritical They've said they are also performing in the US despite being against the Bush and Trump administrations as a defense and in a simplified way it makes sense: if you're not performing in a country because the government is helping push evil agendas they'd have very few countries to perform in. But saying they do so because art is important is very naive and frankly gross when there's active genocides happening.

They've trapped themselves by being so overtly political while being very passive about their stance.

otm. I thought that was made very clear in the reissue campaigns for OK Computer and Kid A. Thom talking about how angry he used to be, and weirdly accepting compliments for presaging this miserable century. Stanley Donwood going on about the Kid A snow motifs being inspired by photography from "the ongoing conflict in the former Yugoslavia" (them not speaking about these things directly is nothing new). It's a relief that reissues and nostalgia didn't become their entire deal.

i don't see that this lad's politics are much different or more explicit than, say, Bono's tbh

pretty much. it was just cooler on account of being more full of dread

A version of The Bends without compression and dynamic ranges hitting DR10-12 across the album is out there. Haven't heard it yet, but will check it out and report back.

It is from this CDr

https://www.discogs.com/release/10464566-Radiohead-The-Bends

Just compared the first two tracks and yeah there's a very distinct difference! Crisper sound, vocals more evenly layered in the mix and immediate, drums don't bulge out in parts on the title track - the dynamics are cleanly layered with everything else, definitely a better overall sound. Sounds fantastic on good headphones or a stereo, especially when played loud. This should get a proper release, alas.

Intriguing! Any possible link to this or is it more the usual channels?

Looking for the no compression tracks led me to a Reddit thread and found this amusing one https://www.reddit.com/r/radiohead/comments/1gjdhdn/describe_a_radiohead_song_using_only_emojis_and/?chainedPosts=t3_17a2f2g

I'd love to hear it, but, ftr, I love the production on The Bends.

A wider range does sound interesting, a YSI or... if it's on slsk, suggested search keywords?

Dynamic range is for nerds

xp The folder name included "Blair" fwiw. Did not get this on slsk but a similar underground source.

thanks octobeard, i did find it, same tags as you mention

this is definitely one for nerds, but since i'm a nerd, well... i'm surprised as how much different it sounded! not necessarily _better_. just _different_. i don't know if there are mix differences either, my ears aren't that good. phil's drums sound _way_ punchier on the released version of "planet telex" - is that a difference that could result from just different mastering?

OK, did a quick A/B - definitely the same mixes. Like, I'm not exactly an audiophile, but this _does_ sound a lot different simply because of the greater dynamic range. Didn't realize how much of a difference it could make! A song like Sulk ... and I gotta be clear about my bias, I actually love Sulk. I'm a huge fan of the song. Can't tell you why. But damn, it just _shines_ on this master. It's the same album, but the Blair master has are a lot of small touches that get flattened out in the commercial release. God, I guess now I need to hear the OKNOTOK mastering of OK Computer.

Was "Planet Zerox" the original title for "Planet Telex"?

Yep. “Planet Xerox” was the first name and it was conceived by fooling around with a drum loop of “killer cars (mogadon version)”.

https://citizeninsane.eu/music/bends/planettelex.html

Can't find it on slsk :(

found it on t0rrent sites, have a look there maybe

Yep. “Planet Xerox” was the first name and it was conceived by fooling around with a drum loop of “killer cars (mogadon version)”.

https://citizeninsane.eu/music/bends/planettelex.html

― ✖✖✖ (Moka)

Seeing Thom talking about knocking off _Tago Mago_... I guess the song does owe a bit to "Halleluwah", doesn't it? Wonder how a mash-up of the two would work.

select people have the Blaaaaair
they swear it sounds like it has more AIIIIIIIIIR

this is definitely one for nerds, but since i'm a nerd, well... i'm surprised as how much different it sounded! not necessarily _better_. just _different_. i don't know if there are mix differences either, my ears aren't that good. phil's drums sound _way_ punchier on the released version of "planet telex" - is that a difference that could result from just different mastering?

― Kate (rushomancy), Tuesday, December 3, 2024 10:13 PM (two days ago)

That would be the compression. This mix seemingly lacks compression and 2 channel limiting, giving a more dynamic, yet less "punchy" feel. The drums pop if you play it loud enough, but that increases the volume of everything else. The way certain drum hits "take over" the mix, reducing the volume of the vocals and guitars in the process on the official release is the compression and limiting doing its job.

This is showing up on slsk now if anyone is still looking.

Excellent one from Marcello Carlin about OKC on Then Play Long:

https://nobilliards.blogspot.com/2025/03/radiohead-ok-computer.html

That's an interesting visual essay, though I don't suppose anyone but him can identify all of the pictures of (Oxford?) street corners. Also he's yet to explain why he apparently regards The Prisoner as the central text in modern culture.

I relistened to this last week! First time in years. It’s always interesting to me when an artist claims, regarding a roundly well-received album, that “they cut the best track on it at the last minute for a dumb reason” (Tori Amos “Honey”, now Radiohead with “I Promise”)

I was more impressed than I remembered by Jonny’s guitar playing, it’s really amazing on this album

Strong possibility that Thom Yorke is just straight up dumb. pic.twitter.com/kCBRCEtQxU

— Mr. Thank You (@c0mmunicants) May 30, 2025

yes. article is here for non twitter people

https://pitchfork.com/news/radiohead-thom-yorke-releases-statement-on-israel-and-gaza/

i was wondering what folks here thought about his statement

Seems pretty indistinguishable from the current western govt/media consensus, imo? Israel has GONE TOO FAR but also Hamas Hamas Hamas and the ppl protesting it are just making themselves feel good.

his statement is eh fine bit self-serving until you get to "but WHY won't Hamas just release the hostages!?! I'll tell you why!" and from that point onwards he can fuck off.

love the part where he mentions his mental health

classic liberal Zionist victim bullshit, fuck him