photo by Taylor Hill
Last week, Radiohead were victims of a hacker, who stole 18 separate minidiscs from frontman Thom Yorke. The content of the stolen discs is around 18 hours of unreleased recordings from the studio sessions that birthed the band’s iconic 1997 album, OK Computer, and today Radiohead announced they are offering the entire collection after the hacker reportedly asked for $150,000 ransom to not share the recordings.
“Instead of complaining—much—or ignoring it, we’re releasing all 18 hours on Bandcamp in aid of Extinction Rebellion,” Radiohead write in a social media statement, naming the environmental activist group as the beneficiary. The group later adds, “Never intended for public consumption (though some clips did reach the cassette in the OK Computer reissue) it’s only tangentially interesting. And very, very long. Not a phone download. Rainy out, isn’t it though?”
Fan can purchase the minidisc collection via Radiohead’s Bandcamp page (note: It’s only for 18 days, and the mp3 download is a hefty 1.8GB in size). Those interested can also check out this Google Doc, made by a group of Radiohead fans on Reddit, which meticulously notes all of the song versions that appear throughout the minidiscs.
8 Comments comments associated with this post
zd
June 13, 2019 at 1:38 pmi’d say a bit more than tangentially interesting, i find the process of writing fascinating, love the insight
Shrc
June 12, 2019 at 12:57 amHey STFU, if they “used to be good”, then sounds like it IS true.
Shrc
June 11, 2019 at 5:55 pmRadiohead, Phish, String Cheese, Umphrey’s…seems like one personality archetype really likes these, and the other, let’s say, doesn’t… Maybe it’s like tattoos… you’re either all for them, or meh…
STFU
June 11, 2019 at 6:20 pmNot true, while Radiohead is boring and Umph’s is meh, Phish and Cheese used to be really good…body graffiti (not just for sailors and felons anymore) has always been trashy.
Art Glick
June 12, 2019 at 5:25 pmCheese still is, man. The rest of what you say is spot on. Radiohead’s move is a brilliant one, but let’s face it. Offering it for free is offering it for what it’s worth.
Fds
June 11, 2019 at 5:49 pmComputer, not OK then….Should’ve recorded on DAT. Minidiscs were always a poser medium
Doug
June 11, 2019 at 12:05 pmTheir show at Bonnaroo, like 2005’ish, was the longest 2 hours of my life. I can’t imagine sitting through 18 hours of their droning garbage. But, good for them for screwing the hacker.
phuckdat
June 11, 2019 at 1:28 pmIt was 06, and it melted my face. For the record, everything was melting that night 😉