Category: Radiohead

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Jonny Greenwood Radiohead

Ondes Martenot


Would you like to purchase an Ondes Martenot like Jonny Greenwood uses on tour? Fortunately, Analogue Systems has them for sale for £1050 on their site. Analogue Systems were commissioned by Radiohead to reproduce the Ondes Martenot, which they have dubbed “The French Connection.” Here’s some info about it:

The French Connection was not born out of nowhere… it was commissioned during 2000 by Jonny Greenwood of the band Radiohead. Greenwood already owned an Ondes Martenot (an instrument built in 1983 by the son of Maurice Martenot) complete with all three resonators, but was nervous about performing with it, fearing that it would be damaged on tour. So he approached Martenot to purchase a second device for live use. Unfortunately for him (but fortunately for the rest of us) his instrument was one of a production run of just 50, and these were long gone – 44 to a music school in Japan, and the remaining five to other musicians.

So Greenwood approached Bob Williams, owner of Analogue Systems, to ask whether he would be prepared to design and build a replica for use with Radiohead’s existing RS Integrators. Williams accepted the challenge, and in April 2001 demonstrated a prototype to Greenwood. Following a couple of minor modifications, production began, and the first two French Connections were delivered to Radiohead in May 2001.

Check out more here.
(thanks to karolina)

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Radiohead

Slate article

There is an article over at The Slate titled “Electronica’s Trip to the Country – The hypnotic grooves that Bjork and Radiohead are listening to.” Click here to read it.

(thanks to Zack)

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Radiohead

KROQ and K-Rock

KROQ radio recently conducted it’s “Biggest KROQ Bands of all Time” and Radiohead came in at #23.

In similar news, Radiohead came in at #41 on the “K-Rock’s 92 Greatest Bands of all Time” countdown.
(thanks to Henry C & Selma)

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Radiohead The Bends

The Bends 2

CDNow has a upcoming release date of June 11th for an item called “Bends 2 (limited edition)”. Check it out here. There is no other information that would explain what this is.

According to Barnes & Noble, it’s a Japanese import.

(thanks to Phil, Zach, Justin, & Rachel)

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Radiohead tour

Supporting band

Domino Records artist Four Tet will apparently be the opening act for the upcoming Radiohead tour in Portugal and Spain. Here’s some background info about Four Tet:

Kieran Hebden is one of those impressive young geniuses whose creative juices flow like Mount Vesuvius. At 17, he co-founded the outstanding post-rock outfit Fridge, and by the following year, had already released an acclaimed solo record as Four Tet. Since then, he’s managed to keep both projects going strong. Both acts forge a middle ground between “pure” electronic music and “post-rock,” with Fridge tending more toward post-rock and Four Tet toward electronic. Four Tet’s combination of acoustic and electronic elements sounds fresh and unique, particularly at a time when so much electronic music is conceived and produced without ever leaving the digital realm. With its extensive use of field recordings and acoustic samples, Four Tet’s music sounds truly organic and alive.

You can download Four Tet’s “No More Mosquitos” here.
(thanks to Gabi)

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Radiohead Thom Yorke

DJ Shadow and Thom

“Radiohead singer Thom Yorke was the surprise guest at DJ Shadow’s Bristol gig last night (May 19). Shadow is in the UK performing a trio of shows in support of his new album ‘The Private Press’, which is released on June 3.

At last night’s gig at the Bristol Academy, Shadow announced he had a “special guest” who would be making an appearance later in the evening.
Towards the end of his set, Yorke came on to the stage and performed the song ‘Rabbit In Your Headlights’. The track doesn’t feature on either of Shadow’s solo albums, instead on the 1998 UNKLE album ‘Psyence Fiction’, on which the pair collaborated.

Speaking recently to NME.COM, Shadow, who played with Radiohead on some dates on their ‘OK Computer’ tour, said he remains a big fan of the group.

He revealed: “That would be amazing if they did ask me to work on something. They routinely ask me to tour with them, but the timing always seems to be wrong. Hopefully they haven’t given up on me yet because I’d really like to do something with them. I’m an unequivocal fan of that group.”

Shadow concludes his tour this evening (May 20) at the London Astoria.” from NME.com.

(thanks to J, Meggie, Ciaran, John, Brian, & Aurora)