Radiohead announces "newspaper album"

Somewhere in L.A., Muse and Arcade Fire were still spraying Champagne into the air when their big brother stole their thunder. It's only fair, as both acts liberally borrow ideas from Radiohead. But it is rather comical how Arcade Fire had its huge, career-defining moment, only to have the internet move on and hyperventilate hours later at the news that an eighth Radiohead album, The King of Limbs, would exist in five days. The Radiohead fansite ateaseweb.com crashed due to the influx of traffic.

So what do know about the new record? It will be available from Radiohead's website on February 19. Abandoning the "pay what you want" model from the last release, Thom Yorke and co. offer an MP3 download at a standard 1200 yen (a CD-quality WAV version can be purchased for 1500 yen). Yet, it's not a new Radiohead album without some sort of marketing twist, right? Well, the Oxford quintet is dubbing this a "Newspaper Album." Why? Does it come with a "Family Circus"? Because no media is healthier these days than newspapers. According to the press release, Radiohead is just refering to the packaging, as the deluxe bundle, available for preorder at thekingoflimbs.jp, includes:

"Many large sheets of artwork, 625 tiny pieces of artwork and a full-colour piece of oxo-degradeable plastic to hold it all together."

No tracklist was announced. So what can we expect musically?

On Thom Yorke's 2010 solo tour, the Radiohead frontman premiered new tunes, which can all be found on YouTube. The unreleased material was mellow and piano based, but mostly due to the nature of the setting and the tour. After fiddling in the studio, they could come out sounding like Flying Lotus. But I'm still expecting something even more romantic and song based than In Rainbows. They did announce the record on Valentine's Day, after all.

"Mouse Dog Bird," despite having a title that sounds like the charming doofus' band from Parks & Recreation, is a good example:

Another Radiohead tune woodshedded on stage in recent years is "Super Collider":

Other potential songs include "I Froze Up," "Open the Floodgates" and "Skirting on the Surface." But I'd recommend just waiting until Saturday instead of watching YouTube bootlegs.

To follow the news of the Radiohead appearance in Shibuya, Tokyo, click here