Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Radiohead will stream oddities, give away swag worldwide on Friday

By Parker Hall June 16, 2016

radiohead 20th anniversary ok computer oknotok

You may have caught wind that world-famous art rockers Radiohead have a special event scheduled for Friday in celebration of the physical release of A Moon Shaped Pool, their ninth studio album, but it’s not just that the record will finally be available to Spotify subscribers. In fact, the band will pipe themselves into record stores worldwide, presenting a day of curated playlists, as well as a two-hour set of performances from their most recent tour.

But that’s not all: The band will also give away some extremely special free swag to attendees, including claymation figurines from Chris Hopewell’s Burn The Witch music video, screen prints by visual artist Stanley Donwood, and even a 35mm celluloid print of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Daydreaming video — though most fans would have no way to play it.

Related Videos

In terms of music, it will be a mishmash of sounds throughout the day from the enigmatic British band. But the website associated with the event, which lists participating locations by country, also provides insight into at least some of what fans can expect: Guitarist Jonny Greenwood will play the two hours of live tracks from the band’s recent performances at London’s Roundhouse, keyboardist Colin Greenwood and guitarist Ed O’Brien will play some of their favorite tunes, and frontman Thom Yorke will play a long playlist based on something he calls his “office charts.”

In addition to musical contributions from the band, Donwood has created an, “Inconsequential Pamphlet” — presumably available at many participating locations — about the experience he had crafting the group’s latest album cover.

All this pomp and circumstance is likely to fuel the fervor surrounding Radiohead’s latest release, which is a spiritual follow-up to 2005’s smash success In Rainbows, and is considered by many critics — ourselves included — to be among the best albums of the year so far.

For more information about the live streaming event, we recommend taking a gander at Radiohead’s website.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Music

Radiohead to present mysterious new album in first tour since 2012 (Update)

thom yorke to compose score for broadway play radiohead

Beloved experimental rock icons Radiohead have announced their first string of live shows since 2012. The tour will come in support of their expected ninth studio album, which has yet to get a set release date or title.

So far, the list of shows only entails three specific dates: Spain’s Primavera Sound, Portugal’s Nos Alive, and Switzerland’s St. Gallen music fests. Radiohead have developed a flourishing global fanbase across multiple musical spectrums, and have self-released their past two albums to massive critical acclaim -- and mostly financial success, as well.

Music

Radiohead delights fans by gifting unused ‘Spectre’ Bond theme song

thom yorke to compose score for broadway play radiohead

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke delighted fans on Christmas Day with the gift of a new track. The freebie comes with an interesting back story, too, as Yorke revealed it'd been written and recorded as the theme song for Spectre, the latest Bond movie.

Of course, Sam Smith's Writing's On The Wall ended up as the film's prestigious opener, so what happened to Radiohead's effort? Yorke said only that "it didn't work out," suggesting that Bond producers weren't particularly keen on the deliciously dark orchestral piece. But then what did they expect with Radiohead?

Music

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke scores Broadway play

thom yorke to compose score for broadway play radiohead

Thom Yorke can add Broadway composer to his long list of musical accomplishments. The Radiohead frontman will write new music for the revival of Harold Pinter's Old Times starring Clive Owen, which debuts in October.
Yorke's music will be featured at the beginning and end of the show as well as during the play's transitions, said the director Douglas Hodge to The New York Times. Yorke wrote the score in collaboration with Hodge, who made his mark as an actor (La Cage aux Folles) and is now trying his hand at directing.

"I'd say something like, 'It describes a ribbon of light on the horizon. Can you do that?'" explained Hodge to the Times when describing his method for shaping Yorke's music for the play's score. "He'd send me an email of some music he'd written, and it would be some primeval, unusual thing. The sort of neurosis within his music certainly has elucidated elements of the compulsive repetition of the play."
Yorke took the project amidst quite a busy schedule: he'll be in the studio this fall recording Radiohead's ninth record and he'll also be performing in support of his solo album, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes, in Japan this month.
"The music Thom has written for Old Times gives an immediacy and a 'now-ness' to the show," said Hodge. "The play itself is about memory and love — Thom's music works backwards and forward and plays with time and repetition in the same way Pinter does. In true Thom Yorke-style, the music is epic, heartbreaking, irresistible, and complex."
The update to the 1971 Pinter play, which will be Owen's Broadway debut, will also star Eve Best (Nurse Jackie, The Homecoming) and Kelly Reilly (True Detective).
Old Times will premiere on October 6th at the American Airlines Theatre in Manhattan and will remain on Broadway until November 29th.