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Radiohead’s Thom Yorke Reveals Side Project Name, Along With Tour Dates

Sam Rashid — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:32:54 +0000

Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead, has finally given a name for his new side project: “Atoms for Peace”, reports MTV News.

The super-group consists of Flea, bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joey Waronker, drummer for R.E.M., Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco of Forro in the Dark, and finally, Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich.

“It has been decided that we call ourselves Atoms for Peace,” Yorke said on the Radiohead web site. “Hope you like the name. It seemed bleedin’ obvious.”

In April, Atoms for Peace will begin a brief tour starting with two nights at New York’s Roseland Ballroom. The tour will come to a close on April 18, with a performance at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California.

Tickets are currently available for the Coachella Festival, while tickets for the remaining dates go on sale next week.

Atoms for Peace first assembled in October for a two night concert event at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. The intention of the all-star musician line up was to perform tracks from Yorke’s debut solo album, The Eraser, which was released in 2006.

The fans are not the only one’s who are excited about the upcoming tour of Atoms for Peace.

“We had too much fun to just leave it there,” Yorke said.

Radiohead Makes A Bundle At Small Haiti Benefit Show

Sara Harowitz — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:55:52 +0000

If you want a true testament to the power of music, look no further than Radiohead.

On Sunday (Jan. 24), the hugely popular alternative band took a break from recording their next album to perform a show at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood and raise money for Haiti earthquake relief, reports rollingstone.com.

“This is how much money we made,” said singer-guitarist Thom Yorke as he was handed the final tally late into the two-hour concert. “Gross: Fuck me! $572,774 [U.S.]!”

Tickets for the night’s “Radiohead for Haiti” performance were sold over the weekend through an online auction, with a top price paid by one fan for a single pair hitting $4,000 (U.S.). “What did you do to get a ticket?” Yorke asked the crowd. “Get money from your dad? Or blackmail your boss?” The star-studded audience included Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, Drew Barrymore, and Anna Paquin.

Radiohead’s performance was simple, with none of the visual effects and bright lights of their 2008 performance at the nearby Hollywood Bowl. The room’s smaller capacity of 1,300 allowed for the band’s subtleties to be heard, even though Yorke kept insisting they were still in recording mode for their new album and were a little out of practise onstage. “Feel free, man, to sing along,” he said. “Chances are, we’ll forget the words.”

The band performed without any attempt at saying something profound about the ongoing devastation in Haiti, allowing the emotion of their performance to speak for them. Ticket proceeds were to be directed to Oxfam International, and additional money was raised from the sale of a limited edition show poster at $25 (U.S.) each, plus spare cash was dropped into green buckets run by volunteers.

During the band’s encore, the audience kept shouting out song suggestions. “Yes, we’ll get to that,” Yorke said to the front rows. “You’re not in a hurry, are you?”

Here was the set list:

“Faust Arp”
“Fake Plastic Trees”
“Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”
“The National Anthem”
“Nude”
“Karma Police”
“Kid A”
“Morning Bell”
“How To Disappear Completely”
“A Wolf at the Door”
“The Bends”
“Reckoner”
“Lucky”
“Bodysnatchers”
“Dollars & Cents”
“Airbag”
“Exit Music”
“Everything In Its Right Place”
“You And Whose Army?”
“Pyramid Song”
“All I Need”
“Lotus Flower”
“Paranoid Android”
“Street Spirit (Fade Out)”

Thom Yorke and Flea Join Forces

Emma Renda — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:51:13 +0000

Simply uttering Thom Yorke’s name in a news release is often enough to make music bloggers and listeners the world over froth a little with excitement. But this latest news from the prolific Radiohead frontman is enough to incite hysterics.

Yorke has announced a supergroup side-project with Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which seems to be enough talent and spunk as is. But where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so where there’s Yorke, there’s Radiohead’s long-time producer Nigel Godrich. And heck, why not throw in Beck and R.E.M.’s drummer Joey Waronker? After all.

The project is yet unnamed, but the group took the stage this weekend in what Yorke called a “public rehearsal” at Los Angeles’ Echoplex for a blistering set of showmanship to a very lucky exclusive audience. The set was packed with the entirety of Yorke’s first solo effort, 2006’s The Eraser, flourishing under the care of his new backing band, according to Pitchfork’s Ian Cohen (lucky bastard). Yorke played four new songs solo, “Open the Floodgates”, “Lotus Flower”, “Skirting on the Surface”, and “Judge, Jury, Executioner” and then brought the band back for a few hits off Radiohead’s Com Lag EP as well as their new song, “Super Collider”.

The more drool-worthy material came when the ensemble dished out a serving of the tracks they’ve been working on. Tracks like “Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses” and “The Hollow Earth” (which is featured on the New Moon soundtrack) were given a more full treatment than any early MP3s can attest to, resulting in a sound Cohen called “Yorke’s typically melismatic melodies surrounded by scrapyard percussion.” Yum.

If you’re anything like the rest of the world and were unable to attend the show, you can still check out the videos from both nights on YouTube.

Thom Yorke’s New Crew

Stephen Baldwin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:30:02 +0000

The Radiohead frontman has put together a band to tour for his 2006 solo project “The Eraser” and his newer solo tracks, Muchmusic.com reports.
Yorke’s band will include Red Hot Chilli Peppers bass guitarist Flea, former Smashing Pumpkins and Beck drummer Joey Waronker, Forro in the Dark musican Mauro Refosco, and Beck, Travis and Radiohead producer Nigel Godbrich.

On Radiohead’s website, Thom Yorke said the nameless super group will play two shows on October 4th and 5th at the Orpheum theatre in Los Angeles. “the set will not be very long cuz ..well …we haven’t got that much material yet!”, said Yorke in his post on the site. Radiohead announced in August that they will no longer making albums as a group, but they may continue to make individual songs and he will continue to pursue his solo projects. His latest solo track, “Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses”, has all the rhythm and temp that Radiohead songs usually pack, along with the distinctly soft yet strong vocals of Thom Yorke. The song was even placed on Kanye West’s blog and Facebook page, even after the Radiohead frontman reportedly snuffed West at the Grammys when the rapper – an admirer of Yorke – requested to meet him.

A TMZ employee yesterday labelled Yorke the biggest rock star in the world and received little criticism to the claim. The artist was spotted coming out of an LA restaurant paying no attention to reporters and photographers. Whether or not Yorke will decide to pursue an enduring solo career remains to be seen, but what is always certain with this innovative artist is that he has, and will continue to remain, all about the music.

Thom Yorke, Arctic Monkeys Make Mercury Shortlist

andPOP Staff — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 17:21:16 +0000

The U.K.’s prestigious Mercury Prize has announced its shortlist of 12 nominees for the 2006 award.

The list includes Radiohead front-man Thom Yorke’s “The Eraser,” Muse’s “Black Holes & Revelations,” and Arctic Monkeys’ “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” — the fastest-selling debut album ever in Britain.

The award has been given out annually since 1992, and is presented by a committee of industry representatives. The winner of this year’s prize will be announced at a gala on September 5.

“Above all, this year’s shortlist is about the art of the songwriter,” said Simon Frith, panel chairman for Mercury. “If you want to know what life is like in Britain today, listen to the country’s musicians.”

Previous winners of the prize include “Different Class” by Pulp, “The Hour of Bewilderbeast” by Badly Drawn Boy” and last year’s recipient, “I am a Bird Now” by Antony and the Johnsons.

Here’s the full shortlist for the 2006 Mercury Prize, according to Reuters:

Arctic Monkeys — “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not”
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan — “Ballad of the Broken Seas”
Editors — “The Back Room”
Guillemots — “Through the Windowpane”
Richard Hawley — “Coles Corner”
Hot Chip — “The Warning”
Muse — “Black Holes & Revelations”
Zoe Rahman — “Melting Pot”
Lou Rhodes — “Beloved One”
Scritti Politti — “White Bread Black Beer”
Sway — “This is My Demo”
Thom Yorke — “The Eraser”

Thom Yorke Record Leaked Online

andPOP Staff — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 16:37:57 +0000

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke’s upcoming album, “The Eraser,” has been leaked onto the internet. Message board posts on the unofficial Radiohead site, Atease.com, indicated that the record had reached downloaders. The album is now widely available on file-sharing websites and programs.

The record, which was written and recorded in full by Yorke, is scheduled for official release on July 10. It was produced by longtime Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich.

“Eraser” is reminiscent of Radiohead’s past few releases, including heavy reliance on electronic sound. However, the guitar work of Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien is noticeably absent.

The album’s tracklisting is as follows:
1. “The Eraser”
2. “Analyse”
3. “The Clock”
4. “Black Swan”
5. “Skip Divided”
6. “Atoms For Peace”
7. “And It Rained All Night”
8. “Harrowdown Hill”
9. “Cymbal Rush”

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke to Release Solo Record

andPOP Staff — Mon, 15 May 2006 15:54:20 +0000

Radiohead lead singer and guitarist Thom Yorke will release a solo album (just don?t call it that) on XL Recordings in July.

?It?s called ?The Eraser,?? Yorke announced in a message sent to the band?s W.A.S.T.E. fan club. ?Nigel [Godrich] produced and arranged it. I wrote and played it. The elements have been kicking round now for a few years and needed to be finished and I have been itching to do something like this for ages.?

The notoriously eccentric performer also quashed any rumours that the release might spell doom for Radiohead as a band.

?This was all done with their blessing,? he added. ?And I don’t wanna hear that word solo. Doesn?t sound right.?

Yorke is currently on tour with Radiohead. The band will make ridiculously sold-out stops in two Canadian cities: June 7-8 at Toronto?s Hummingbird Centre, and June 10-11 at Montreal?s Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts.