With the roster of producers/DJs that Thom recruited for their King of Limbs remix album, you can tell that Thom is quite in the know with his contemporary electronic music. Thom is clear on his way to fulfilling his destiny as “DJ Thom”. I love that Thom finds a way to sneak in some Fela Kuti into this 44 min mix for the lovely Mary Anne Hobbs.
Atoms For Peace, the only supergroup these days that seem to make any sense and actually can surpass the original bands that each member originates from. Yes, I said it. Forget RHCP and Radiohead – Thom & Flea should just continue touring and making music with Atoms For Peace. Just watching the 2 of them onstage have a dance off with each other throughout the night showed how much fun they can really have with their music. There is a definite return to innocence for Thom and Flea as they flail around to these new arrangements of Thom’s solo album “The Eraser”. It is as if they are taken back to their days when they were just starting a band. Overall a rare treat to see such musicians of great caliber, Flea, Thom Yorke, Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker, and Mauro Refosco – all on one stage. It goes to show that musicianship is something that still shines through in this crazy industry.
Flying Lotus opened both nights, literally destroying the soundsystem with his sub-bass goodness. Highlights of his sets were him dropping Mr. Oizo “Stunt” & “Postif” and then closing with an a capella of Burial into Radiohead “Idioteque”.
If Atoms For Peace are playing in a city near you – go. Or if any of you are making your way out to Coachella, make sure to stick around for the final night.
I wish I was in LA for this epic convergence of musical minds – Thom Yorke and Flea on one stage together – two musical geniuses that are responsible for making me fall in love with music. Thom’s new band featuring Flea, Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker (Beck/R.E.M.), and Mauro Refosco (David Byrne/The Lounge Lizards) took stage on 10.2.2009 for an intimate “rehearsal” show at Echoplex – Daft Punk was in attendance. If I was at this show I would be crying – Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Daft Punk in the same room=Heaven. From what I have seen via the interwebs on youtube, the band is extremely tight and Flea adds a dubby vibe that Jah Wobble would be proud of. Also, watching Flea and Thom dance is like watching a hobbit dance off. Check out some fantastic quality videos from this performance after the jump. If you are lucky enough to be in LA tonight check out Thom & Co’s final performance at the Orpheum.
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Thom Yorke just gained some serious street cred. Kanye is jealous.
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“’In Rainbows’ is, at least in our opinion, our classic album,” he declared. “Our (Lou Reed’s) ’Transformer’, our (The Beatles’) ’Revolver’, our (David Bowie’s) ’Hunky Dory’.” -Thom Yorke
The “Reckoner” that was part of the band’s live sets sounds nothing like the “Reckoner” on the album, which includes the lyrics “in rainbows.” When the band returned from touring, it decided the song needed a second part, and then a third one; eventually it discarded the original. For “All I Need,” Mr. Greenwood said, he wanted to recapture the white noise generated by a band playing loudly in a room, when “all this chaos kicks up.” That sound never materializes in the more analytical confines of a studio. His solution was to have a string section, and his own overdubbed violas, sustaining every note of the scale, blanketing the frequencies.
“The first time we ever did ‘All I Need,’ boom! It was up on YouTube,” Mr. Yorke said. “I think it’s fantastic. The instant you finish something, you’re really excited about it, you’re really proud of it, you hope someone’s heard it, and then, by God, they have. It’s O.K. because it’s on a phone or a video recorder. It’s a bogus recording, but the spirit of the song is there, and that’s good. At that stage that’s all you need to worry about.”
Pitchfork: Speaking of the visuals, why isn’t there a DVD of this tour? Do you ever look up yourself on YouTube just to watch audience members go nuts? Thomas Bangalter: We are really excited by the idea that so many different people captured a video of their experience of the show in their own way. The thousands of clips on internet are better to us than any DVD that could have been released.
Thomas & Thom both share a love for Youtube.
I’m sure all of you have seen this but I can’t get enough of how hilarious/genius it is.
One of the goals set for ‘In Rainbows’ was to prevent the album from leaking on the internet beforehand, as had happened with the previous three albums. Colin: “It felt like a gigantic risk. Like Mission: Impossible, almost. We destroyed all CDs after every day of recording. And on the master we’d always write a name which would probably nobody would listen to if we had lost it; ‘Eagles: Greatest Hits.’ ‘Kula Shaker Demo’s.’ ‘Phil Collins’s Hip Hop Covers
Here is Thom, Colin, & Jonny spinning on the BBC Breezeblock during the Kid A days. Apparently Thom Yorke has the entire Warp Records discography. I personally love the fact they open with Louis Armstrong, St. James Infirmary.
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