Points of Interest

1. Amazon have a pre-order slot and release date scheduled for Radiohead's 7th album. They are quoting August 6th despite the fact the band are nowhere near finished recording the as-yet untitled album and the fact that they are currently unsigned. There are some rumours that there is a 1-album deal in the pipeline with Warner Brothers, though. Update: Radiohead have since denied this.

2. Jasper TX has a limited 3" Cd-r, titled "Harrisburg", available. In fact, the 75 copies have almost sold out already.

3. The Charles Atlas/Textile Ranch split CDEP is out now via Boomkat or Static Caravan.

4. Winterpark, you may remember, featured on Aerotone's "Electronica Unplugged" compilation. Their debut CD is now available to order here.

5. Rafael Anton Irisarri, A Seattle-based composer, is definitely worth further investigation. Boomkat have given his album, "Daydreaming", album of the week accolades, calling it "...Utterly beautiful and then some". Check out the gorgeous "Lumberton" here.

Points of Interest...

1. Engine7 will be performing at Glasgow's Rio Cafe tomorrow night from 8pm. Those excellent visuals will be on show, courtesy of These Are Ideals, while a live bassist will also be added to add extra weight to the overall sound. I have heard the forthcoming album, "Me, But Perfect" and it is a scorcher. More info and a map of how to get to the venue, for those who are unfamiliar with Glasgow's West End, can be found here.


2. Rubens' forthcoming album, "Carnivalesque" (review) has a release date (Feb 10th). It will be available via digital download and CD via Herb Recordings. Pre-order it here. Furthermore, Kingbastard has a limited edition Ep available on CD form Herb too. Get the "Bastardize" Ep here now.

3. Hot on the heels of Sigur Ros' latest album new, My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields has declared that he "still intends to record" another MBV album, according to Magnet.


4. Mogwai have been asked to play at this ATP festival, with a decision expected very soon (source), while Slint will be once again dusting down those vintage guitars to play the influential "Spiderland" in its entirity at the Primavera Sound Festival.


5. The collaboration between Solipsism and Neil Carlill of Vedette, will now be going under the name shoosh. There are more new tracks for you to digest here.


6 My Formica Table, the project run by Strap The Button's Jack Hunter has posted a few of the upcoming ventures. This project is partcularly interested in the "swapping of music". Get in contact with him, if you would like to do this here

7 Some interesting news(to say the least) coming from Radiohead fansite At Ease. Korn are expected to release a cover of "Creep" on their forthcoming Unplugged album. The album will also feature The Cure's Robert Smith. Jonny Greenwood, meanwhile, will oversee his own Reggae compilation in conjunction with Trojan Records. Tracklisiting and details here.

Is 2007 Going To Be The Greatest Musical Year In History?

Possibly, if like me, you are eagerly anticipating new releases from Radiohead, Portishead, Port-Royal, Our Sleepless Forest, Epic45, Explosions In The Sky, Eluvium, Crippled Black Phoenix, Fridge, Arcade Fire, Spiritualized, Massive Attack and Do Make Say Think. Of course, there is no guarentee that both Radiohead and Portishead will release anything this year. In fact, I would be gobsmakced if they do. But, we can only hope!. And, how could I forget?, I cannot wait to hear Nick Cave's new band, Grinderman too. There will be a limited download only single coming out around February 2007, you can stream it here

What other releases are people "eagerly anticipating" this year?

Exclusive Thom Yorke Performances

Thom Yorke will play two new Radiohead compositions, for super-producer Nigel Godrich's TV show, "From The Basement". Thom will perform "Down Is The New Up" and "Videotape", with the likes of Four Tet and The White Stripes also performing on the show. The TV show will be available through podcast only, with the first video due out on Monday and can be pre-ordered here.

Finally, gradual studio progress continues for Thom, Jonny and co., with several photographs (including the one above) being posted on Dead Air Space. I really hope this album sees light of day in 2007.

Radiohead Studio Progress!

Radiohead are quite simply the greatest band on the planet right now, they are never far from my stereo, ipod or itunes. But progress on their much anticipated 7th album has been frustratingly slow.

Thom Yorke, however, has posted on the band's online diary, Dead Air Space. Yorke left an inspiring message there saying, "we had a good week in the studio last week, finally things are growing".

In other news Yorke is preparing to release an album of b-sides from his recent solo debut, "The Eraser". "Spitting Feathers" features 5 tracks plus a video and is out on 22nd of November. Elsewhere, genius guitarist Jonny Greenwood had his greatness confirmed, after been nominated the favouirte artist in British Composer Awards.

Thom Yorke : The Eraser

Well the day has finally arrived. The day that the genius that is Radiohead's Thom Yorke releases his much anticipated solo album. Ever since a small announcement was made on Radiohead's Dead Air Space by Thom in early May I have been looking forward to hearing his solo effort. And so it seems has the rest of the world.

Reviews around the web have confirmed just how influential this man is and it seems he can do no wrong. The Eraser is a 40+ minute affair that manages to delight at just about every turn. Here Yorke continues down the road he has been treading ever since Kid A was released in 2000. Glitchy beats are combined with paranoid lyrics, beautiful melodies and probably spasmodic dancing from King Thom.

Yorke has often talked of his passion for Warp Records artists such as Autechre and Aphex Twin. However, on his first solo outing he manages to bring a fresh slant to an electronica world that can be at times stale and un-inspiring. In other words, there is just no-one like Thom Yorke.

Opening track, entitled "The Eraser", starts with cut-up piano and soft drum beats, actually stolen and modified from Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood. The track picks up somewhat as Yorke layers his voice of gorgeous melodies. The track ends with fuzzed out keyboards and some ghostly chanting from Yorke.

Next up, is "Analyse", featuring sweeping drums and an off-kilter melody that is so simple it shouldn't work. It really is classic Thom Yorke stuff, and he sounds particularly inspiring here. "You travel far.....What have you found!" he sings in what could be a definite single from this album. The song reminds me of "Like Spinning Plates" from Amnesiac on occasions. But he really signals his intentions for this album towards the end of "Analyse", combining his stunning vocal range with washes of keyboards, still retaining the melody and sway of the song.

"The Clock" follows, with more jerky beats mixed in with blues-ish guitar work. This song brings to mind some of Radiohead's more experimental b-sides, and may be an angle the band will be (hopefully) keen to pursue. In an interview with Mojo magazine, Yorke stated that The Eraser was "...A lot of the basic ideas kicking around when I got all of my software on my laptop". This statement does not do the album justice, because he has a superb handling of the electronics peppered throughout.

Another contender for a single is "Black Swan", again featuring blues guitar and static beats, the song comes across like a softer version of "Go To Sleep" from Hail To The Thief. However, the album takes a slight lull over the course of the next two tracks "Skip Divided" and "Atoms For Peace". They don't particularly do anything for me. Having said that though, there have been songs Radiohead have done, such as "Let Down" from OK Computer that I didn't particularly like for years, but absolutely love now, so don't take my word for it. The track name "Atoms For Peace" is taken from the motto of the International Atomic Energy Agency, incidentally.

Much of the album continues the musical themes and directions explored in Radiohead tracks such as "Idioteque", "Backdrifts", "The Gloaming" and "Myxamotosis". Halfway through the album you realise how much you are enjoying it, and I certainly didn't want it to end.

Next up is the absolute stand-out "And It Rained All Night", about Yorke's fears of devastating flooding. A fear that may actually happen to Yorke's home town of Oxford eventually due to global warming. Is it any wonder why he campaigns relentlessly for the sake of the planet. The song contains tense keyboards, conveying his fears and those trademark paranoid lyrics.

What really grabs you about the album, though, is Yorke's vocal performance. Vocals are generally left alone and not pushed back in the mix, as in recent Radiohead efforts. This is plainly evident in the album's best track "Harrowdown Hill". In fact, this may actually be one of Thom Yorke's finest moments. The topic of the song , the lyrics, the melody, beats and vocals combine to make this an absolute stormer and it will be the first single. Harrowdown Hill is the place in Oxford where, in 2003, the body of Dr David Kelly was found after an apparent suicide. Kelly was just about to release his findings that there was no justification for Britain to invade Iraq. Many people believe he was either pushed to suicide by the sheer pressure or that he was, in fact, murdered. Here Thom sings, "Can you see me when I'm running........ Away from this......... I can't take the pressure....... No-one cares if you live or die..........". It is both haunting and sad and an obviously angry Yorke unleashes his frustration and fury at Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Labour government. He has been on record saying it is the hardest and angriest song he has ever written finishing with jagged, edgy guitars. It is also worth noting, the song contains an excerpt from "The Gloaming". Click here, if you want to know more about the death of Dr David Kelly.

Yorke has also mentioned that he may play some of the tracks during Radiohead live sets, and has been rehearsing with Jonny Greenwood. I hope one of them is album closer "Cymbal Rush". Starting with trademark blips and bleeps and a hazy keyboard melody, the song slowly develops into a classic Radiohead storm before finishing to an abrupt halt.

Overall, The Eraser is an absolute belter of an album, that does not disappoint. All the classic Thom Yorke traits are present, and even fans of the more conventional Bends-era Radiohead will find plenty to love here.