Radiohead’s decision to self-release its new album, “In Rainbows,” online via a “name your own price” model was the music business story of 2007. Now, “In Rainbows” is hitting retail on a good old-fashioned CD via TBD/ATO Recordings, giving retailers something to smile about during a period usually devoid of major releases.
The music itself: many of the songs are sonically modest compared with such labrynthine productions as “Kid A,” but this more concise approach underscores the gripping finish to “All I Need,” the rush of Kraut-y guitar lines on “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” the falsetto-ed Northern soul of “Nude” and the excitable grooves supporting “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” and “Bodysnatchers,” the latter two of which are garnering significant airplay on triple A and modern rock radio, respectively.
“I’d be crazy not to follow/follow where you lead,” Thom Yorke sings on “Weird Fishes.” Thousands of artists are now looking at Radiohead and thinking the exact same thing.
“We really don’t know how things will develop in the future,” group manager Bryce Edge recently told Billboard.com. “The market is changing rapidly, and we hope to be smart enough to react to it when we have music to release.”
