Author: Dylan

The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that Christopher O’Riley will participate in the second year of the Minnesota Orchestra’s Sommerfest.
An excerpt-

Radiohead and jazz? Movie music and matinees? The Minnesota Orchestra’s Sommerfest, in its second year under artistic director Andrew Litton, will feature some new forms and formats.

Appearing this year, Litton said, are a bunch of “old friends,” among them pianists Andre Watts and Christopher O’Riley. The festival’s 25th edition will start with another 24-hour “Day of Music” at Orchestra Hall on July 9.

One of Litton’s unconventional programming plans is a late-night event — 11 p.m. on July 16 — during which O’Riley will play his transcriptions of works by the rock band Radiohead, selections from a widely discussed CD that he released last year. Earlier that evening, in the regular concert, O’Riley will join the orchestra in a performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
Tickets will go on sale April 25, you can call 612-371-5656 for more information.

Oz paper The Age has this to say-
A limited number of tickets to two sold-out concerts by English art-rockers Radiohead will go on sale tomorrow. Promoter Michael Chugg said about 1500 tickets had become available after a reassessment of Rod Laver Arena and the release of tickets being held for fan club members.
Tickets to the two shows on April 26 and 27 sold out when they went on sale last November. Tickets are on sale at 9am through Ticketek (132 849).
Good luck!

CUTW has sneaked around the back alleys of the internet and discovered that the art for Com Lag has been posted on eBay. Click on one of the thumbnails below to see a larger, high-quality version.

NME, which promised a review of the “new Radiohead album”, reviewed the Com Lag EP, as expected. Quite positive for a 7 review (quotes such as “It?s probably appropriate now to break out the bubbly in celebration of a decade of great releases. Not since David Bowie has an artist had such a long run of fine albums.” and “like The Beatles, they?re driven by a sense of restless experimentation balanced with commercial success” generally indicate a better-reviewed album), the only fault the reader seems to be able to find is that the EP is, in fact, a B-sides compilation.
Here’s the track-by-track rundown, as presented in NME.
2+2=5
Recorded at London Earls Court in 2003, the opening track of ?Hail To The Thief? is the only non B-side. Starting with morbid arpeggios giving way to a blazing passion that verges on autistic in its violent repetition of phrases.
Myxomatosis (Christian Vogel Remix)
B-side of ?2+2=5?. This mix recasts the original as tom-tom heavy electronica.
I Will (1st Mix At Ocean Way)
B-side of ?2+2=5?, written in 1999. Interestingly, like ?Like Spinning Plates? from ?Amnesiac?, it has a backing track that?s basically ?I Will? played backwards.
Paperbag Writer
B-side of ?There There?. A Tiki-style backing, disjointed bass and Thom urging you to ?blow into a paper bag? make a disturbing whole.
I Am A Wicked Child
B-side of ?Go To Sleep?. A maudlin slice of introspection where Thom imagines himself as a harmful sinner while a harmonica wails. The ?I wish I could be good? lyric is heartbreaking.
I Am Citizen Insane
B-side of ?Go To Sleep?. Bearing the influence of Aphex Twin?s ?Collected Ambient Works?, it includes a couple of ?Hey?s put through the electric mincer, and what sound like the guitar effect from U2?s ?I Still Haven?t Found What I?m Looking For?.
Scatterbrain (Four Tet Remix)
B-side of ?2+2=5?. A delicate hum of bells and clicks that blossoms into the sound of the saddest Christmas ever with The Beach Boys? ?Wind Chimes? in the background.
Gagging Order
B-side of ?Go To Sleep?. First demoed in 1999 as ?Move Along?. A delicate acoustic finger-picking exercise that imagines a broken heart, pleading for the bystander/heartbreaker to ?Move along, there?s nothing left to see?.
Fog (Again)
B-side of ?Go To Sleep?. Recorded in Paris in July 2003. Originally the B-side to ?Knives Out?, it was then titled ?Alligators in New York Sewers?. Sounds like a moody personal swansong at the end of a disturbing Las Vegas show.
Where Bluebirds Fly
B-side of ?There There?. A sinister collection of jittery beats and wordless sighing from Thom. Used as the intro music for their last tour.
(Thanks to CUTW.)

The good people over at At Ease have set up a deal with Australian vendor Sound World. Although the links don’t appear to be working just yet, head on over to At Ease, click through, and you can get Com Lag for AUD $27,95 (approx. US $21) or the Australian (Region 4) MPIE DVD for AUD $29.95 (approx. US $22.50). You can preorder both for AUD $50 (approx. US$37).
Not a bad deal. Say thanks to Ade when you get a chance.

As reported earlier, the middle finger from Thom’s NME award was scooped up by a fan and sold on eBay a few weeks ago. Now, it turns out that the winning bidder was none other than NME, who are now offering said digit as a prize in a contest called, no kidding, “Get Fingered by Thom Yorke!”.
This week’s NME (print version only thus far) has the following to say-

Last week we told you how the finger that Thom Yorke broke off one of Radiohead’s NME awards had turned up for sale on internet auction site eBay.

What we didn’t mention was that we were engaged in a top secret bidding war and walked away with the six-centimetre digit for a whopping ?250.

Now, for the sake of good karma, we’re giving it away to one lucky reader. But not just any old reader (someone who might, say, put the thing back on eBay and make a dirty profit out of this unique piece of Radiohead memorabilia). So we’re setting you for a challenge.

For your chance to win we want you to complete the following sentence: “I deserve to get fingered by Thom Yorke because…”

Entries can be as long as you want, and diagrams are encouraged.

The best, funniest or most in need of certification, will become the proud owner of a piece of bronzed alloy worth a quarter of a grand.

Send your entries to: Who Are You Calling Obsessive?, NME, 25th Floor, King’s Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London, SE1 9LS
Sounds like an, ahem, interesting contest. Good luck, and let us know if you win. But seriously- are you as tired of this “finger” as we are?
(Big thanks to Roger for the scoop.)