radiohead have made a record

There is a new Radiohead album. I know, I am the last one to know and the last one to hear it, but it's still news to me.

Thom, Jonny, Ed, Colin and Phil have taken the edginess that they are known for to a whole new level. The album itself is solid, solid, solid. I can't wait to hear it again as soon as it's finished. Song #8, House of Cards, is my favorite. The other edgy part, however is how they have distributed their music this time around.

They basically fired their record label, recorded it themselves, and sell it only through their own website. You can't get it on iTunes. You can't buy it at Sam Goody in the mall. Or even Sonic Boom on Capitol Hill. You go onto the website, which is comically simplistic, enter the price which you want to pay, and then download it. You get it in a Zip file as MP3s (the original, and for me, only way to buy, store and listen to digital music). If you want a record, CD, etc, they sell a box full of those things too.

Genius. Not only are they making a statement by giving the record label the kibosh, but you pay what you want for it. There is so much controversy right now about file sharing and music stealing. The record labels think we don't want to pay for art anymore. Since Radiohead doesn't need any more money, they are just charging people what they want to pay for it. And people are paying! I could have downloaded it for free, but I paid £4.45, or $10. Apparently they have had 1.3 million downloads already. Genius.

I am a little sad about not having a new CD to unwrap and look at, but it's time to get with the times. My CD rack is full anyway. I think my most favorite part about all of this silliness is what's happening with the cover art. Normally there is a cover made and it comes up on your music player or lives in your CD case. In this situation, there is nothing. So people are making them! I found a whole blog with people's own cover art. People are taking their own interpretations of the music and the title and making cool art. This picture is the one made by the guy who runs the blog, and is coincidentally my favorite. I think I'll print it up for the CD case I made for my burned copy of the album. So dope. Cheers to Radiohead. Your album is really, really nice.