After Technical Difficulties, Radiohead Captivate Web Audience With Bjork Cover

After cursing our Quicktimes for roughly two hours, the failed Radiohead testcast finally aired late last night at www2.radiohead.tv. After sitting through a monkey puppet DJing in silence and Thom Yorke spinning a remixed version of his own solo "Harrowdown Hill," the band made the thousand times we hit "Reload" well worth it. Thom Yorke last year admitted his desire to convince his bandmates to cover his "favourite song ever," Bjork's "Unravel." Last night, he got his wish, manning the piano for a simple, melancholy version of the Homogenic standout, while the rest of Radiohead (minus drummer Phil Selway) added gentle ambience. The test broadcast concluded with a soundless video of RH artist Stanley Donwood writing "To Whom It May Concern" and then "I Give Up" in chalk on a mini-blackboard. While the testcast ended up being a success content-wise, we're hoping the technological lapses are repaired by the time the band's rumored webcast airs at some point this early evening, EST.

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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