Radiohead has released a major website update this morning that gives fans another peak behind their creative curtain and finally gives some fans access to some rarities not available elsewhere.
In the press release for the change, the band seemingly has stumbled into what makes the web a horrible experience nowadays — Google’s Search Results.
The overall effect has been “Radiohead” search results that yield random and/or abbreviated shards: songs and album titles unaccompanied by detailed artwork or any additional context, low quality videos preceded by advertisements and shuffled via algorithms, and so on…
Thus, their unveiling of the Radiohead Public Library as a fan service.
You can now head to Radiohead.com and create you own library card and membership number. From there, you’ll have access to a “highly curated and organized archive of the band’s catalogue and corresponding visuals and various artifacts associated with each album: Detailed artwork, official videos, and ad-free HD live and TV performances, B-Sides and compilation tracks, previously out-of-print merchandise to be custom made on demand, band members’ “office chart” playlists from around the time of In Rainbows, The King of Limbs and A Moon Shaped Pool recording sessions, and more.”
This week the band will be serving as social media librarians with both Colin and Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, Philip Selway and even Thom Yorke each taking a turn presenting a curated selection of material on the band’s social media channels (as well as their own Radiohead Public Library cards).
For the collectors in the room, you now have access to a set of previously unavailable Radiohead rarities that you can stream and download, including the band’s 1992 debut, the Drill EP, “I Want None of This” from the 2005 charity compilation Help!: A Day in the Life, and the 2011 TKOL RMX 8 remix EP.
Go check it out here.
