radiohead in rainbows

[Update: my liveblogging review of the album is here]

I realise that everyone is talking about this already, so the adding of my tuppence really adds very little value to this here internet - nevertheless, I think it's very interesting that Radiohead (perhaps typically) have decided to sidestep convention and release their brand new album, with very little fuss, on their own website, without any record company back up - and rather charmingly are not even dictating how much people have to pay to get it. You can have it for free, in other words, or you can work out how much you'd like to pay and pay just that. Great stuff.

Annoyingly, I don't like Radiohead that much, so I can't really join in the fun. But I hope the scheme is successful and that it sets some sort of precedent. It's a very brave move for a band as big as Radiohead and it's impossible not to respect them for it.

Ironically, thinking about it, my favourite thing about the band is ordinarily their wonderful artwork, so if I were to show an interest, it'd probably manifest itself in buying the diskbox - a beautiful, expensive package comprising heavyweight vinyl, CD and MP3 - lovingly rendered and about a thousand times more interesting than a bunch of MP3s. Still, fascinating stuff.

Here's some more via BoingBoing.