In the news

Since Radiohead announced the upcoming self-release of their new album In Rainbows, there has been a flurry of speculation and commentary about the ‘Net. Obviously. Here’s some of the more cogent, informative pieces I’ve found:

Stereogum offered up this tidbit from Radiohead’s PR firm:

There will be no advances, promotional copies, digital streams, media sites, etc. of RADIOHEAD’s In Rainbows.

Everyone in the world will be getting the music at the same time: Oct. 10. That includes us. We don’t have anything to play anyone in the nine days until the record is available. Everyone at nasty has put his or her order in and just to clarify: you are not being asked to pay for a promo (as some have inquired). you can pay nothing or as much or as little as you want.

There will be no promotional copies of the discbox either, as each discbox is being made to order. Sorry.

NME has saved you some time by compiling an album preview of sorts, consisting of YouTube videos of live performances of the tracks from In Rainbows.

Across the pond, Rolling Stone has put together an almost identical feature. They have also included some higher quality audio streams of the songs, in addition to the YouTube videos.

The New York Times weighs in on what In Rainbows means for the digital music marketplace:

The biggest buzz, though, came from the band’s digital pricing plan, which represents a break from the industry standard established by Apple’s iTunes service, the leading digital-music retailer, which generally sells individual songs for 99 cents apiece, and complete albums for $10 to $12. Though the band had been an early adopter of online marketing, it didn’t sell its recordings on iTunes, a stance that arose from its desire to sell its albums in their entirety.

In Radiohead’s plan, fans will choose their own price for the digital version of the 10-song “In Rainbows,” which it said would be sold as a download without copy restriction software, known as digital-rights management. In effect, the band is asking fans to establish a monetary value for music, even when widespread piracy means that it would be available free.

Early reaction suggested that listeners would pay, but less than they would for a CD in stores. The blog Idolator.com carried a poll in which the plurality of voters — almost 40 percent — said they would pay from $2.05 to $10.12.

Radiohead is making a subtle dig at the iTunes pricing model, a move that drew plaudits from some record executives, who have pressed Apple to offer a mix of prices. Radiohead is introducing “variable pricing to the extreme,” said one executive, who requested anonymity because he had not been authorized to speak about the band’s plans.

Tiny Mix Tapes says, maybe this isn’t so revolutionary after all:

But Radiohead may not have fully exited the incestuous, pornographic circus that is the music industry after all. According to a spokesperson, “Radiohead are currently planning a traditional CD release of In Rainbows for early 2008.” No label (if any) or specifics have been announced — Billboard reports that EMI are believed to be still “in the running” — but if a “traditional release” of In Rainbows means using a “traditional” distribution method and/or using a label to release it, then perhaps Radiohead are not necessarily trying to fuck with the music industry so much as provide options for their fans, who by now are so richly varied that it takes multiple formats and marketing approaches to cater to them all.

That’s really just the tip of the iceberg. And just wait until the album is actually released.

An Ill-Conceived Manifesto

Unlike the Plains Indians, who enjoyed mobility and open spaces and sunny skies, the Northwest coastal tribes were caught between the dark waters to the west, the heavily forested foothills and towering Cascade peaks to the east; forced by the lavish rains to spend weeks on end confined to their longhouses. Consequently, they turned inward, evolving religious and mythological patterns that are startling in their complexity and intensity, developing an artistic idiom that for aesthetic weight and psychological depth was unequaled among all primitive races. Even today, after the intrusion of neon signs and supermarkets and aircraft industries and sports cars, a hushed but heavy force hangs in the Northwest air; it defies flamboyance, deflates extroversion and muffles the most exultant cry. –Tom Robbins, Another Roadside Attraction.

Robbins’ observation that “Culture depends on climate” rings true for me as a fellow resident of the Northwest; there is an undeniable cultural richness here that does seem due, at least in part, to the weather. What to do during the nine months of the year when we’re trapped indoors by a constant drizzle? For me, books and music have always been the answer. Reading, writing, listening to records, falling in love with new bands and new authors–these are the ways I’ve passed my winters. And I’m far from the only one. While I’m sitting at home with a novel, they’re practicing with their bands, cutting albums, playing shows, drafting plays, novels, and poems. I’m thankful for the small fraction of this vast creative output I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy–the work of the local musicians, writers, actors, and other artists I’ve experienced over the years.

Fort Blackberry is a chronicle of my journey through the local cultural scene. It will be limited by my own narrow interests and expertise. It will mostly be me writing about concerts and other events I attend, movies I see, books I read; about bands and authors, some local, some visiting; in short, about my experience of our rich Northwest culture. It’s one of those inwardly-focused activities the rainy climate has conditioned me to pursue, even now at the height of our brief window of summer.

Stay tuned for more exercises in amateurish writing.