Since Friday, when Radiohead's new album, "The King of Limbs," was unleashed worldwide with an accompanying video of lead singer Thom Yorke dancing to the song "Lotus Flower," a few things have become apparent: First, the band has cemented itself as one of the most visionary and inspired music-business entities on the planet. Second, the band continues to explore and expand on all the nooks and crannies of its music to create new sounds and structures.

And finally: The man can dance and has, over the course of a single weekend, managed to single-handedly make bowler hats hip again (there were, no doubt, many Yorke moves on dance floors all over the world last night). Want evidence that Yorke can dance to anything? See below the video mash-ups concocted to show the versatility and all-around joyousness of a music and a moment.

Thom Yorke dances to Beyonce, and the single ladies go wild.

Thom Yorke jerks around in the video for "Lotus Flower," the first single from Radiohead's just-released eighth studio album, "The King of Limbs," like someone only just discovering that the body's job is to move. In the clip, choreographed by the British kinesthesis expert Wayne McGregor, Yorke shakes, wobbles and nearly drools to the song's needling dance beat, sometimes elegantly loosening up, only to shake back into awkwardness.

The singer's moves and his bowler hat recall the physical comedians of the silent film era, when onscreen human motion still seemed artificial, almost surreal. It's a typical Radiohead moment in some ways, a visceral expression of the struggle to stay fully human in a world that's been both enhanced and corrupted by technology. Yet it's new, too, mostly because of the music behind Yorke, and specifically the sound coming out of him: his falsetto has never sounded this relaxed before as he sings about the release of dancing, the joy of releasing energy, "just to see what gives." In some dark imagined disco, this song is getting people on the floor. Radiohead, it seems, has become a dance band.

Well, not entirely. "The King of Limbs," which was abruptly made available for download via the band's website Friday, can be heard from several different angles. Fans and critics have already been registering wildly divergent reactions: Some think it's one of the band's best efforts; others find it too low-key or similar to previous work; a few consider it awfully doomy, and a few others wish it were less abstract. The stature and skill of this band allows for so many interpretations that even a decisively unpretentious work like this one sends listeners wide to find its headwaters.

On Monday, Radiohead did music writers the world over a favor, announcing that a new album would be released in days, and therefore bringing to an abrupt halt numerous day-after-Grammys so-called "think-pieces," as the globe rushed Radiohead stories/items to the Web.

"The King of Limbs," the band announced, would be released on Saturday, available in digital formats and what the band dubbed a "newspaper format," which included vinyl pressings, a compact disc and 625 "tiny pieces" of artwork, to be shipped in May. 

Yet those who had planned to spend Saturday morning with "The King of Limbs" can now devote the final business day of the week to the album instead. "With everything ready on their website, the band decided to bring forward the release rather than wait until the previously announced date of Saturday, Feb. 19  to deliver the music," read a statement from the act's publicity firm, Nasty Little Man.

It's not uncommon for an act to rush an album out once it has leaked, but simply posting it because everything is "ready" is still something of a rarity. The band, of course, had a slightly more cryptic reasoning: "It's Friday... It's almost the weekend... It's a full moon...."

It took this writer three tries to load the Radiohead site without a Web timeout message, but "The King of Limbs" was downloaded safely and quickly within five minutes of first visiting the site this A.M. While you wait for the download, Radiohead also posted a video for the glitchy-rhythmic track "Lotus Flower," which had been a regular in the band's sets for some time now. It is embedded above.

Pop & Hiss will, of course, be reviewing "The King of Limbs," in the near future.

-- Todd Martens

And then, out of the blue, a new Radiohead album arrives. It's called "The King of Limbs," and the band has launched a website of the same name to feed its hungry fans the music and the information. Details, according to the site:

Newspaper Album - PRESALE
Radiohead's new record, The King Of Limbs, is presented here as the world's first* Newspaper Album, comprising:

* Two clear 10" vinyl records in a purpose-built record sleeve.
* A compact disc.
* Many large sheets of artwork, 625 tiny pieces of artwork and a full-colour piece of oxo-degradeable plastic to hold it all together.
* The Newspaper Album comes with a digital download that is compatible with all good digital media players.
* The Newspaper Album will be shipped on Monday 9th May 2011 you can, however, enjoy the download on Saturday 19th February 2011.
* Shipping is included in the prices shown.
* One lucky owner of the digital version of The King Of Limbs, purchased from this website, will receive a signed 2 track 12" vinyl.

*perhaps

The price? $48 for the newspaper album and MP3 files; and $53 for the album and .wav files. Brace yourself for a new round of "Radiohead continues to transform the music business" stories.

[Updated: As a few commenters so kindly pointed out, we neglected to mention that a $9 MP3 version and a $14 .wav file of "The King of Limbs" will be available for download on Saturday for those who preorder.]

-- Randall Roberts

On Jan. 24, Radiohead did a surprise benefit gig at the Music Box @ Fonda in Hollywood to raise funds for relief efforts in Haiti following a  devastating earthquake. The band, which was in town recording, performed to a sold-out house, and in true Radiohead fashion, allowed concertgoers free reign to video the gig. Inevitably, much of that footage ended up on YouTube, where it's drawn hundreds of thousands of views.

A trio of fans compiled the best of the footage to re-create the entire concert, and posted it. They explain the project on formengr's YouTube page:

this was a benefit for Oxfam America's Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. we who assembled this multicam video received approval and support from both Radiohead and Oxfam. on our combined behalf, we kindly request a donation to the beneficiary fund for which Oxfam graciously created the following dedicated link: www.oxfamamerica.org/radiohead

Nigel Godrich has had no problem working with what some would consider the best artists ever. The real challenge is the acts that never were.

Paul McCartney, U2, Radiohead, R.E.M., Air, Beck and Pavement are just a few of the artists that grace his resume. But the name that was perhaps far more intimidating? Sex Bob-Omb, a pretend group concocted for "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."

"It's always terrible," Godrich said of movies that contain an artificial group. Action-romance "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" has four of them. 

Godrich was entrusted by director Edgar Wright to oversee what would ultimately become the backbone of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World": The film's original music. There were moments when Godrich couldn't help but wonder whether he was setting himself up for failure. On one visit to the Toronto set of the film, Godrich caught the Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line" on a plane. It only made him feel more out of his element. 

"I was just thinking about how terrible it looked," Godrich said. "It just didn’t look like they were playing. This can so easily be awful. My benchmark was 'This Is Spinal Tap.' That’s the best ever realized band in a film. They’re playing, they look like they’re playing and the songs work. That’s something very difficult to do. So is this as good as 'Spinal Tap'? That was my internal discussion."

In other words, does the rock in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" break the scale and go to 11? 

One will certainly have a hard time claiming that Wright's adaption of Bryan Lee O'Malley's six-part comic series doesn't take its music seriously. Silver Lake's genre-hopper Beck and Canadian indie-pop act Broken Social Scene were among those tapped to contribute original music, and acclaimed electro-rock act Metric donated an unreleased cut.

Wright's attention to rock detail extends beyond its roster of artists. In this 99-cent-single-obsessed download era, the inhabitants of "Scott Pilgrim" geek out over albums. When Michael Cera's namesake character takes a girl on a date, they go to an old-fashioned, bricks-and-mortar record store to thumb through CD racks.

Capturing the look was comparatively easy. Cera's lovelorn Pilgrim struts his musical knowledge at Toronto's famed indie store Sonic Boom, one of the many real-life locales used in the film. But when the fictional band Sex Bob-Omb takes the stage at dingy dive bars -- Pilgrim is the act's bassist -- the actor knew that any sense of rock authenticity could be lost the moment he struck his instrument.  

"It can be such a miss when bands are supposed to be good," said Cera, whose Pilgrim must battle the seven "evil" exes of the object of his obsession, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). "Whenever you see a band in a movie, the music is barely passable."

The songs of Sex Bob-Omb, six of which are on the ABKCO soundtrack, to be released today, anchor the film. The sloppy, fuzz-laden anthem "We Are Sex Bob-Omb" opens the movie, playing over an extended credit sequence. The sludgy, self-depricating "Garbage Truck" scores one the film's most pivotal early scenes, when Pilgrim is introduced to the first evil ex. Godrich turned to longtime friend and collaborator Beck to knock out the songs that would ultimately be branded Sex Bob-Omb.

"The problem you see in films about garage bands or fledgling bands is that you can tell how pro the music is," Beck said. "It doesn’t feel genuine. All I had to go on was the comic book. When I was writing the songs, I was looking at frames from the comic book."

 
"Sing along," Thom Yorke told the audience at the Henry Fonda Theater on Sunday night, in case "I forget the words." He didn't, and he and Radiohead proceeded to give the crowd an incandescent version of "Fake Plastic Trees," the rousing second song in a show that was the hottest ticket in town -- and a noble one at the same time.

One of the most esteemed bands in the world has been in Los Angeles recording new music (their presence has been one of the worst kept "secrets" in recent music history), and after the staggering calamity in Haiti, the band was inspired to stage an impromptu benefit show.

"You'll be catching us on the fly," read a post late-Thursday on the band's website announcing the show, a performance that offered fans the rare opportunity to see Radiohead in an intimate club. Sunday's tickets could be bought by auction-only, and the closing minimum bid was $475, with the band pledging to donate all proceeds to Oxfam. 

The spare stage and unvarnished show (Visual effects? Well, the band did have purple lights) fit the occasion, and the band was mostly crisp and chipper -- not that this is a review. That would be rude amid the motivation and spirit.

"It's for charity," Yorke said after a mid-show false start, and right he was. At one point he also answered a fan's bellow with a decidely British aside. "Luck yeah, as you say," he muttered, although that first word was a different word that just sounds lucky. 

Radiohead will play Sunday night at Hollywood's Henry Fonda Theatre, a last-minute show added to benefit relief efforts in Haiti. Tickets will be sold only via auction, and bidding starts at 8 p.m. Thursday (TONIGHT!). The band writes on its official website that all proceeds will benefit Oxfam.

The auction is open until 11 a.m. Saturday. The word on Radiohead's official site:

We're doing a show this Sunday (24th January) to raise funds for the relief effort in Haiti. The venue is The Music Box Theatre at The Fonda in Los Angeles, doors at 7pm. All proceeds are going to the Oxfam Haiti relief fund. We're trying to raise as much money as possible, so tickets will be sold by auction at this site from 8pm tonight until 11am Saturday (PST):

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09004434FC1C86AC

We're in the middle of recording at the moment, so you'll be catching us on the fly.... but if you're up for it, then we are too.

See you then
x

Members of Radiohead have been spotted around town this week. LA Weekly caught the band checking out the Hotrats at Spaceland, and a bunch of VIPs saw Thom Yorke play a DJ set at Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel. Happy bidding, and let us know if winning bidders have to pay a Ticketmaster service fee.

With a capacity of around 1,300, the Fonda offers fans a rather intimate view of Radiohead. The band typically fills multiple nights at the Hollywood Bowl, which tops off at just under 18,000.

-- Todd Martens

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Sometimes Twitter can cause an unnecessary panic. Late Wednesday night, scattered reports of an exclusive Thom Yorke and Beck show started making their way online. Details were scant, but it was pretty much a given that much of the universe was missing what would surely be one of the live music highlights of 2010.

But Radiohead obsessees and Beck geeks can breathe a sigh of relief. Turns out the Radiohead frontman did indeed make another appearance at a velvet-roped nightspot -- Yorke has DJ-ed for the pretty people before -- but there was no Yorke & Beck pairing Wednesday. Yorke was on hand to DJ at a last-minute fundraiser for Haiti at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. A spokeswoman for the Roosevelt notes that the night raised $20,000 for relief efforts.

Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich also spent time at the turntable, and members of Maroon 5 were there, or so we're told, and played a short set. There's video evidence above, as at one point "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane joined Maroon 5 leader Adam Levine for a rendition of the standard "The Way You Look Tonight." A similar event with Mark Ronson and Jus Ske at Manhattan's Thomson LES Hotel raised $35,000.

-- Todd Martens

A new film in the "Twilight" franchise is more than just a cinematic event. Since the soundtrack to "Twilight" sold a stunning 2.2 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the vampire brand means serious business to the music industry as well.

The soundtrack to "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is released off-cycle today, rather than the typical music industry release day of Tuesday. It's out a month ahead of the film, which hits theaters nationwide on Nov. 20, and whether or not it will have the same retail impact as the music companion to the first film remains to be seen.

But this is much is certain: The "New Moon" soundtrack is definitely much more of a piece than the soundtrack to "Twilight." It's moody, music-to-get-sad-to, definitely, but music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas has put together a collection of songs that captures the drama of young love without drowning in it. Released once again on Patsavas' Chop Shop label, which is associated with Warner Music Group imprint Atlantic, "New Moon" is, on a whole, more inventive than the scattered radio-ready rock that permeated its predecessor.

Track-by-track reactions below.

1. "Meet Me on the Equinox," Death Cab for Cutie. There was reason for skepticism when it was announced that Death Cab would be composing the lead single for "New Moon." Patsavas was keeping things in the family, tapping an Atlantic act she'd worked with before (see "The O.C."). It all seemed a bit predictable, but "Meet Me on the Equinox" packs a few surprises. If the chorus of "everything ends" leaves little to the imagination, the rhythm skips an anxious beat, all while the harmonies and golden guitars lead a path out of the darkness.

2. "Friends," Band of Skulls. Despite the Death Cab opener, it's clear from Track No. 2 that this is not going to be a completely melancholic album. "Friends" launches with some fiery bursts of guitar fuzz, and comes loaded with start-and-stop stomping riffs. "My friends, they are so beautiful," sings Russell Marsden, but he delivers the line with such garage rock swagger that the lyrical cheesiness is completely forgotten. The song swings too, giving "New Moon" a combo rock 'n' roll anthem, make-out song. 

3. "Hearing Damage," Thom Yorke. When the Radiohead frontman unveiled a handful of new songs in Los Angeles, they came off as electro-dance rock 'n' roll for the art-house set. Yorke's "New Moon" tune is a little warmer than those glitchy, yet funky, rock 'n' roll cuts. The stereo buzz that permeates much of the song creates a rather warm sound, and Yorke's vocals threaten to disintegrate into a hum, which is exactly what they do in the final moments. "They say you're getting better, but you don't feel any better," Yorke sings, not exactly the reassuring lover, but not exactly distant, either. Love at its most tension-filled.

4. "Possibility," Lykke Li. Tension gives way to heartache here, and Sweden's Lykke Li could melt the coldest of hearts with this sparse tearjerker. A slight scratch in her vocals cuts through the song's intimately innocent feel. "Tell me when you hear my heart stop," she sings, while a backing choir inflects the sparse piano with gospel undertones -- a brief, largely a cappella prayer.

Thom Yorke is a great dancer. This talent doesn't come up too often in his day job fronting the transcendently dispirited quintet Radiohead, where long, simmering songs tend to cover topics like wolves at one's door, impending ice ages and God being unamused by a videotape of your life.

But at Friday night's debut of his still-unnamed solo-project/ensemble at the Echoplex, he moved like Busby Berkeley at the end of days -- jerky robot twitches, stoned head-rolls, teenage sock-hop bouncing. For a man who leads what's likely to be the last rock band considered the best and best-selling at the same time, there was a sense of a previously untapped emotion in the onstage performance: Joy. For the few hundred vigilant souls at the Echoplex who managed to sneak onto Ticketweb before it exploded Friday, the feeling was absolutely mutual.

 

Well that was expectantly fast.

Thom Yorke's last-minute show tonight at the Echoplex went on sale today via Ticketweb, and the site reported the gig was sold out by the time Pop & Hiss was even able to access the show listing.

For those keeping score at home, it took about seven minutes to crack through to the site, with every regular concertgoer's worst nightmare -- the dreaded "processing" page instructing users not to touch their Web browsers -- creating a virtual moat between us and the opportunity to see Radiohead's frontman in cramped quarters.

Worse, some of our office comrades who actually fought their way through Internet traffic jams and found an on-sale screen were still waiting for Ticketweb to process their requests at 12:28 p.m. -- almost 30 minutes after the on-sale time (we're good at math, to boot). Of course, with a capacity of well under 1,000, we expected as much. 

Tickets soon hit Craigslist and eBay. As of the time of this posting, Craigslist seemed to be the better bargain, with tickets selling for around $750. On auction site eBay, expect to shell out a couple months' rent for a pair, as tickets are listed for about $3,500 -- buyer beware, of course.Yorke will also appear at downtown's Orpheum Theatre Sunday and Monday, and those tix are more of a bargain -- a seat looks like it can be snagged for about $150 on Craigslist.

Anyone who had success getting tickets, we invite your stories of ticket-purchasing heroism in the comments section below. Those who failed, we want your horror stories as well.

--Todd Martens

Screenshot: Ticketweb