The rampant online chatter has hit its apex; Radiohead‘s seventh LP to date, In Rainbows,is now available as a DRM-free download via the band’s website, for theprice of, yep, still whatever you feel like paying. But as tunes like”15 Step,” “House of Cards,” and “Nude” blare from speakers andheadphones hitting the ears of curious fans and bystanders seeking ataste of the music industry’s future, some taste an accompanying bitterto Radiohead’s monetarily sweet deal: the sound quality. As manydiscovered in a download confirmation email yesterday (Oct. 9) evening,In Rainbows arrives as a 160 KBPS MP3, a quality which has a fewfans crying foul, criticizing Radiohead’s choice as a way to deterpeer-to-peer trading on sites such as BitTorrent, which only acceptsMP3 files encoded at 192 KBPS. But still, contrary to initial pre-ordering web glitches, many found downloading the record was quick and simple (we did!), and the minimal post-OK Computer tunes characteristic, yet pleasing (again, we did!).
Hives Drop ‘Singles Collection’ to iTunes
As a few iTunes trollers and devout Hives fans may have discovered yesterday, the Swede fivesome have sneakily dispatched the Singles Collection, a set of five songs from the band’s forthcoming record, The Black & White Album,plus “Fall is Just Something Grownups Invented,” a bonus track recordedfor the Cartoon Network’s fall season. While you sink your teeth into Singles Collection in preparation for the Nov. 13 release of The Black & White Album, don’t forget to catch a raucous live set from the Hives’ fall tour alongside your mom’s favorite band, Maroon 5, or during one of frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist and crew’s handful of solo gigs.
Singles Collection tracklisting:
1. “Tick Tick Boom”
2. “Try It Again”
3. “You Got It All…Wrong”
4. “Won’t Be Long”
5. “Well All Right!”
6. “Fall is Just Something Grownups Invented”
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Death Cab, Shins, Spoon, Bright Eyes Join Waxploitation Benefit Comp.
Similar to yesterday’s announcement, yet far more indie-approved, musicians have again come to the rescue; Death Cab for Cutie, the Shins, Spoon, the Cure, and Bright Eyes, among others, will contribute rare and exclusive tracks to Causes 1,a compilation spearheaded by label Waxploitation to benefit the humanrights crisis in Darfur. Arriving as a 90-day exclusive iTunes downloadNov. 27, and also as a conventional CD via Waxploitation’s web site, Causes 1‘sproceeds will be donated to three non-profit organizations aidingDarfur; Doctors Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam America.Artists such as the Black Keys, Animal Collective, and (International)Noise Conspiracy also contribute to the collection.
Causes 1 tracklisting:
1. “Safer” – Animal Collective
2. “Stay All Night” – The Black Keys
3. “Rhododendrons” – Bloc Party
4. “Coat Check Dream Song” – Bright Eyes
5. “Wataridori” – Cornelius
6. “Late Night Shopping” – David Sylvian
7. “World Shut Your Mouth” – Death Cab For Cutie
8. “Washington Bullets” – (International) Noise Conspiracy
9. “The Walk” – The Cure
10. “Turn on Me” – The Shins
11. “Rhthm & Soul” – Spoon
12. “One Day Across the Valley” – Teargas & Plateglass
13. “Passing the Stars” – Thievery Corporation
14. “Gimmie Some Truth” – Travis
Cat Power Titles Covers Album ‘Jukebox’
While Covers II would have been an apt title for the second set of song interpretations courtesy of Cat Power, a.k.a. Chan Marshall, the frontwoman’s forthcoming LP, which will also feature her Dirty Delta Blues Band, will, as confirmed by a label spokesperson, instead be titled Jukebox — fair enough. Though a tracklisting has yet-to-be finalized, a release date has; Jukeboxwill drop Jan. 22 via Matador. What’s more is that Marshall’scollection of covers will be accompanied by a few selections of herown; a revamping of “Metal Heart” from 1998’s Moon Pix, as well as “Song for Bobby,” a fresh studio effort and homage to, you guessed, it Robert Zimmerman, a.k.a. Mr. Bob Dylan.
