News: Idlewild. Radiohead.

Idlewild's singer, Roddy Woomble, is set to release his debut solo album in July. The music will be of a folk-orientation, apparently, which will suit his voice since in the past few albums the melodies have been particularly soft/poppy/nice/pleasant. For factphiles, the album will be produced by John McCusker, and all recording will be done in his studio. More facts? The album will be released by Pure Records, home of the folk songstress Kate Rusby. Is she good? I've never heard anything by her.



You should note that this solo effort does not mean the end of the band, who are currently labelless after parting company with their label Parlophone/EMI after eight years and four albums. I'm a big fan of their music, especially 100 Broken Windows, mainly because it has Wooden Ideals, silly lyrics, and Roseability [the best, most fun, live song, ever].



Thom Yorke has suggested that e-bay users [makes it sound like a drug. in a way it is I guess. 'tis addictive, apparently. perhaps detrimental?] should... well, here's exactly what he said on the official Radiohead blog, Dead Air Space:

might i suggest that those selling their koko tickets on e bay for stupid money gives a contribution...
say 30 percent of their proceeds,
back to friends of the earth, for whose benefit we are all doing this show.
seems only fair, unless you're a shallow____, dont you think?

Might I take this opportunity to say that the blanked out word is probably [omitted due to censorship].

Anyways, things are now coming along better for the lead singer of Radiohead, as he is starting to see progress in their music and looking forward to writing/rehearsing furiously in order to get ready for their tour. Tickets on sale today [for w.a.s.t.e. members] for Edinburgh and Dublin... no wonder the Radiohead website is broke!



Regarding the progression of the new album and tour; besides commenting on a desire to release singles, and not worry about "all the 'album' crap", the singer has also said that there will be "no grand design... wherever we are at. some of the random stuff we have at the moment could be the most exciting... trying to figure out how on earth we will be able to play some of it. anyway it is not important. there is more to life than freaking out about petty bullshit like this. there are more important things to think about".

Precisely. Like turning down a meeting with Tony Blair due to his not having any environmental credentials, and also because the idea of meeting Labour Party spin doctors makes you feel ill. The meeting would've been in aid of Friends of the Earth's Big Ask campaign, which Thom Yorke is currently supporting... [that gig at the Koko is in aid of raising awareness. Hence his bitter remark regarding e-bay ticket touts]. Read the full story here. I love Radiohead - the first decent [decent. decent. decent? the first absolutely bloody amazing band I ever liked... ]