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Barack Obama wasn’t just America’s choice to be the next President, as the rest of the world is celebrating the victory of our new Commander-in-Chief. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke was especially happy with the end of the Bush era, so to celebrate, he posted a free remix of “Harrowdown Hill,” a song off his solo album The Eraser. “I humbly donate a remix of ‘Harrowdown Hill’ that was finished ages ago during the band webcasts,” Yorke wrote. (more…)

A year after its release sent shock waves through the music industry, the publisher of Radiohead’s In Rainbows has finally revealed some details about the success of the “pay-what-you-want” experiment. While exact figures have not yet been released, Warner Chappell confirmed that “Radiohead made more money before In Rainbows was physically released than they made in total on the previous album Hail To the Thief,” Music Ally reports. In all, there have been three million purchases of In Rainbows (including CDs, vinyls, box sets and digital sales) since the band began selling the album officially on New Year’s Day 2008. (more…)

Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at aniBoom

Radiohead have announced the winners of their long-running Aniboom animation contest. Initially, the contest was only supposed to have one winning video, selected by Radiohead from a pool of five viewer-voted finalists. But we all know Radiohead doesn’t like playing by the rules, so instead of choosing one video, the band picked four grand prize winners because of “the high caliber and creative visions of the submissions.” The winning filmmaker was to receive $10,000 to make a full-length animated video. With four grand prize winners, Radiohead will fork over the additional $30,000 in prize money so that al four filmmakers can make full-length vids, which Radiohead may use in promoting In Rainbows. Among the champs was Clement Picon’s chiaroscuro landscape for “Reckoner,” which was our personal favorite from the onset and can be seen in the video above. Also getting $10k of Thom Yorke’s money is Kota Totori’s “15 Step,” Tobias Stretch’s stop-motion mastery for “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” and Wolfgang Jaiser and Claus Winter’s “Videotape.”

Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at aniBoom

The top five finalists of the Radiohead/Aniboom animation contest have been revealed. After fan voting narrowed down the 13 semi-finalists to the final five, the judging is now in the hands of the band, with Thom Yorke saying, all Yoda-like, “…The Aniboom video competition. Totally blown me away it has. How the hell you pick a winner?” The finals include two videos for In Rainbows‘ “Reckoner” (including our personal favorite, above) and one each for “Videotape,” “Weird Fishes/Arpeggio” and “15 Step.” In a handwritten note signed by the band, the group said “We are proud that In Rainbows songs are the source of inspiration for so many amazing creations and we’re genuinely impressed by the quality of your videos.” At stake for the winner is $10,000 and the opportunity to make a full-length video for the band, which will be given web-wide distribution and marketing support from Aniboom.

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The video for Radiohead’s “House of Cards,” made without the use of conventional cameras, finally debuted today. Zoo Films, who directed the clip, used two different camera-less technologies to create the video. If you ask us, the whole thing looks like The Lawnmower Man or the bad guy in RoboCop 2, but it’s still pretty cool. To make matters even cooler, the band will make all the data compiled to create the images available to fans, allowing Radiohead die-hards who know how to manipulate such information to make their own versions of the In Rainbows song. “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 round 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,” Thom Yorke said. To see more in-depth of how “House of Cards” was created, check out the Making-Of video here.

Bono has called Radiohead’s pay-what-you-want experiment for In Rainbows “courageous and imaginative in trying to figure out some new relationship with their audience,” the U2 frontman says in a letter to be printed in the NME. The comments are in stark contrast to those made recently by U2’s manager Paul McGuinness, who said that Radiohead’s experiment “backfired.” “[Radiohead are] a sacred talent, and we feel blessed to be around at the same time,” Bono said. Despite Bono’s praises, U2 will not follow a similar path as In Rainbows when they release their new album. In other Radiohead news, the band’s From the Basement performance that aired on VH1 in May is now available on iTunes. The “video album” was recorded in producer Nigel Godrich’s basement and features performances of the songs from In Rainbows.

[Photo: Getty]

Radiohead kicked off the European leg of their In Rainbows tour this weekend with a two-night stop in Dublin, bringing with them a new song “Super Collider.” The song had previously been sound-checked by the band, and Thom Yorkeused the encore portion of both Dublin shows to try the song out on a live audience with a solo performance. Check out the video above. Also performed during sound-checks, and posted in a video on Radiohead social network waste.central, is Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood attempting Portishead’s “The Rip,” from that group’s new album Third. The video, which was posted by Colin Greenwood, shows the duo covering the song backstage at the band’s show last month in St. Louis, Missouri.

Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at aniBoom

After whittling the field down to over sixty videos, the semi-finalists in the Aniboom/Radiohead animation contest were announced today. All ten of the semi-finalists will receive $1,000 to construct a minute-long animation. Seven of In Rainbows‘ tens tracks are represented this round. Among the finalists are Anthony Catania’s storyboarding of Zoo soundtracked by “Nude,” Hideyuki Kota’s anime-inspired clip for “15 Step” and Clement Picon’s video for “Reckoner” which draws upon Radiohead’s “Xendless Xuburbia” motif (embedded above.) To see all the semi-finalists (all the videos are pretty awesome), click here. Viewing and voting for this round will take place until June 9th, the finals will take place June 23rd and the winning animation will be announced June 30th.

Click here for photos from this show.

West Palm Beach, Florida — with its disposable income, constant sunshine and skin-stretching breast implants — is either the most ridiculous place for Radiohead to kick off their latest tour of the U.S., or just the most ridiculously appropriate.

Radiohead clearly reveled in their surroundings, as Thom Yorke strolled onstage wearing a Don Johnson-styled white blazer while wryly crooning “All I Need” like a Miami lounge lizard to open last night’s show, the first on the band’s U.S. tour for In Rainbows. The impersonation only made the music seem more menacing; not just a simmering come-on, but a song about obsession and grotesquerie. Those sleights of hand are what Radiohead shows are all about: The jacket came off promptly, video screens crackled monstrously to life, and Radiohead ripped into a snarling take on “Bodysnatchers.” Just as Yorke had stripped himself back down to a non-descript rocker, his band had suddenly mutated into a hulking arena monster.

Radiohead must have made some serious cash with In Rainbows, and by the looks of it they’ve spent a good part of that money on an incredible new live set-up. (more…)

With Radiohead less than a week away from embarking on the first leg of the U.S. tour, there’s plenty going on in their world. This Saturday, VH1 will air the band’s complete live performance of In Rainbows and other songs from Nigel Godrich’s basement studio in the special Radiohead_In Rainbows_From the Basement, airing on the network Saturday, May 3rd, at midnight. Speaking about the band’s “pay-what-you-want” scheme the ushered the arrival of In Rainbows, Thom Yorke admitted Radiohead would likely not repeat the experiment, saying “I don’t think it would have the same significance now anyway, if we chose to give something away again.” Finally, the band also contributed a video to MTV’s Exit campaign, which seeks to raise awareness about human trafficking. You can watch the new video for the In Rainbows track “All I Need” here. The band will play the first U.S. show of 2008 on Cinco de Mayo in West Palm Beach, Florida.

[Photo: Getty]

“It’s been a very long day” Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke told the 312 very lucky fans inside the legendary BBC Radio Theatre last night. The boys from Oxford spent the entire day promoting their recent album In Rainbows and playing a pair of warm-up concerts for their upcoming tours of Europe and North America. For those not fortunate enough to win free tickets drawn from a massive lottery pool, the day’s events were broadcast live on the BBC’s Radio Two.

Radiohead opened the matinee show with the first two tracks from In Rainbows, “15 Step” and “Bodysnatchers.” The band sounded sharp, only missing a beat near the end when they dipped into Kid A for “Morning Bell” and “Optimistic.” Not pleased with the latter’s sound, Radiohead recut the tune as an encore. “We were getting off on playing it — and then we weren’t getting off on playing it,” explained Yorke to a crowd that was more than up for hearing another take.

The evening show — heavy on material from In Rainbows and OK Computer — will likely be what fans see on the upcoming tours. (more…)

Radiohead is marking the release of “Nude,” their second single off In Rainbows, with a remix contest. Fans are given the opportunity to buy the isolated tracks (vocals, drums, etc.) from “Nude” and create a remix of their own, which can then be uploaded onto Radioheadremix.com. The stems are available on iTunes now. After uploading your remix, listeners and users of Facebook and MySpace will vote on the remixes they like the most. There’s no prizes involved, but “Radiohead will listen to the best remixes.” There is a rub, however: The five “Nude” stems cost ninety-nine cents each on iTunes. This new contest comes two weeks after the band announced they would also host a video competition.

[Photo: Getty]

Radiohead will perform another free concert on April 1st, this time within the more spacious confines of London’s BBC Radio Theatre. Unlike the band’s last first-come/first-served show in January — when thousands of fans mobbed the streets trying to get wristbands that would grant them access to a venue that was ultimately deemed too tiny by police, forcing it to a larger location — the BBC will give out tickets either by applying by phone or winning them over the airwaves. “You’d be a fool to miss the concert,” said Radio 2 head of music Jeff Smith, making reference to the concert’s scheduling on April Fools Day. The gig will serve as a warm-up for Radiohead before they begin the first leg of their U.S. tour in May.

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• Radiohead, Petty, Johnson Set to Headline New Outside Lands Fest

[Photo: Getty]

Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails are set to headline this year’s Lollapalooza, according to the Chicago Tribune. Although the festival’s lineup won’t be announced for several more weeks, “industry sources” state that both bands have been booked for the fourth annual Chicago fest, to be held August 1-3 in the city’s Grant Park. The Lolla gig would add to Radiohead’s 2008 festival resume, having already confirmed headlining slots at New York’s All Points West and San Francisco’s Outside Lands.

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• All Points West Announces Lineup, Radiohead Confirmed for Two Nights
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The rumors are true: Radiohead will headline the first two nights of the All Points West Festival, to be held August 8-10th at New Jersey’s Liberty State Park. Jack Johnson is scheduled to headline the fest’s closing night. Also performing: The New Pornographers, Cat Power, The Roots, Kings of Leon and lots more indie rock goodness. Tickets for the event, which range from the $89 single-day variety to the $258 for the whole shebang, go on sale February 29th at noon. Check after the jump for the (as-of-now) entire lists of bands performing.
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