NEWS: Reckoner Gets Animated

The indisputable highlight of Radiohead’s In Rainbows has finally been given the visual treatment.

The video for ‘Reckoner’, the latest single to be lifted from the Oxford’s algorithm Kings seventh studio album, was created by competition winner Clement Picon from France.

A budding Spike Jonze, Picon was selected from the four winners who entered the In Rainbows Animated Video Contest. The winner was picked by the members of the band themselves.

In an unexpected turn of events following the band’s rejection of music industry traditions and traits and self-release of the LP, the much anticipated video appeared first on MySpace Music.

In addition the site will also feature the three runners-up in the coming weeks.

This just goes to emphasise that fact that no-one really knows where and wehn Rdaiohead are going to pop up again with more new and exciting material and content.

Fortunately though the band have also posted it on their official website.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: photobucket

NEWS: Watch: Björk & Antony 'Dull Flame Of Desire'

The video for Björk’s next single, 'Dull Flame Of Desire' is now online

Taken from Volta (reviewed) and out on the 22th September the song is a collaboration with Antony & The Johnsons front man Antony Hegarty.

As with everything associated with Iceland’s pop pixie, the video is pretty conceptual.

Three amateur directors were picked from hundreds of competition entrants and given the responsibility of producing a video worthy of the Björk’s prestigious music video library.

The two singers performed against green screen in New York then each director was sent the raw footage to edit and create their piece. The directors were each given their own section of the film to develop how they saw fit. The three parts were then edited together here in the UK to create the final piece.

Watch the video right here, right now:

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: hejhejmusic.com

FEATURE: How great is the BBC?

This feature was posted on Drowned in Sound:

DiS was surprised and excited to hear news that the BBC are working on a project to make all their glorious audio and video music content available to download.

The download service being developed by BBC Worldwide will offer streamed and paid download material from it's vast music archives.

This is a very exciting prospect. All the Peel sessions, Led Zeppelin's performance on the Old Grey Whistle Test, grunge hammered out on Top Of The Pops direct to your computer's video library.

With potential to be bigger than the iPlayer, DiS is naturally gagging with excitement. Details of the launch date have not yet been made available but that's not gonna stop us celebrating the news of this new music download service.

So in anticipation we thought we'd raid the YouTube archives and bring you some BBC music highlights that have inspired, awe struck and left DiS generally motived to keep pushing the good musical word.

Have a look below and see what you think of our selection. If you have any better ideas post them below and we'll soon let you know if you're right or wrong.

1. At The Drive 'One Armed Scissor' (Jools Holland 2000)

No-one was expecting At The Drive-In (pictured above) to incorporate a piece of seating furniture so creatively into the performance. This one track set was ground-breaking and sent jazz-grunge shockwaves far beyond television centre. Watching it back again it hasn't lost any of it's aggression and appeal.

2. Blur 'Universal' (Glastonbury 1998)

One of many Glastonbury performances you could pick from the Beeb's extensive annual coverage of the festival. The song's explicit optimism struck a cord with everyone in the audience both in the field and the armchair. This track especially seems to marry the message of every Glasto undeniably well.

3. Nirvana 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' (Top Of The Pops 1991)

Probably one of the funniest clips you'll see in the list. Kurt can already be seen giving fame the cold shoulder here as he refuses to tow the TOTP party live and perform conservatively. He deliberately puts on a Morrissey-esque low voice to either poke fun or entertain. Either way his efforts to fail failed as The Observer newspaper listed the performance as the third greatest in the programme's history. Amazing!

4. David Bowie 'Fame' (Bowie at the Beeb 2000)

The thin white Duke returned to his old stomping ground just days after his incomparable headlining set at Glastonbury 2000. The exclusively recorded intimate gig would be the blueprint for other, more contemporary performances from The Streets and Coldplay's outdoor show at Television Centre (youtube). This was easily the best time to see the most influential man in rock do a unbelievable greatest hits set.

5. The Maccabees 'First Love' & 'Latchmere' (BBC Collective 2007)

Bringing us bang up-to-date and coincidentally with a bunch of lads much loved by DiS are The Maccabees. The band performed in 2007 as part of the BBC Collective Sessions, a culture magazine that was available on the website (bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/). Unfortunately closed now but that doesn't mean we still cannot adore the amazing sound and visual quality of the magazines extensive archives. This is what live music should sound like.

This news story can be found on Drowned in Sound with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: Google

Videos: YouTube

NEWS: Radiohead Get Laser Treatment

Ever innovative Oxfordians Radiohead are about to release a music video for In Rainbows track ‘House of Cards’.

This isn’t the story though. Staying true to their word and continuing to do away with traditional filmmaking techniques for the videos for their new album the band have produced the groundbreaking short film using the latest laser technology.

Developed by Velodyne's Lidar as an improvement on radar, the laser uses structured light to give detail of objects within a close proximity.

The result: a warbling Thom Yorke highlighted in neon light instead of human skin pigmentation.

The techy stuff goes a bit like this. Using light pulses to portray environments in three dimensions, for the music video Velodyne took 64 lasers, shot 900 times per minute in a 360-degree radius. This way both landscapes and rooms were given a haunting hyper-futuristic aspect.

In a statement Yorke said: “I always like the idea of using technology in a way that it wasn't meant to be used, the struggle to get your head around what you can do with it. I liked the idea of making a video of human beings and real life and time without using any cameras, just lasers, so there are just mathematical points - and how strangely emotional it ended up being.”

ASAD can reveal the video will be hosted here Accompanying the video will be a ‘making of’ documentary and a selection of renders lifted from the film for your delectation.

Radiohead have posted a gallery of laser shots, visit the Radiohead website to see them.

Have a look below now for the amazing video:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus