So, most folks have probably heard about the new Radiohead release, In Rainbows, simply because the method is so cool. However, some have not, so I will indulge.
Radiohead are not currently signed to a record label. This has not stopped them from making their album available online. This is not new, though certainly not the norm, what’s most interesting about the release of In Rainbows is that you choose how much to pay for the download. Personally, this makes me want to pay more. Really, pay anything instead of getting it for free elsewhere.
For those of you, like me, who still enjoy having some physical evidence of music that you’ve paid for, there is a Discobox package that contains two CDs, two LPs, and a download. There is more music, and having the vinyl is excellent, the drawback to that is that the Discbox costs £40. It is an excellent thing to get to prove you’re a bigger fan than everybody else, if you still visit message boards and such. Also, Chris Hufford, one of the band’s managers, told BBC Radio 4 that, “Ultimately, the band feel that this record, which they are incredibly proud of, deserves to be brought into the mass marketplace.” The CD should be available sometime in 2008.
In the mean time, since the album is available for free, if you want it to be, I don’t wanna be a jerk and post an MP3 from the album. That’s low. What I’ve arranged instead, is an MP3 from the 2006 summer tour, which debuted a lot of the songs that appear on In Rainbows. This song, “Down is the New Up” didn’t make the download, but it is on the second disc of the Discbox. It was one of my favourites of the live bootlegs, judging by what I’ve heard from In Rainbows the studio stuff has been improved and rounded out.
Enjoy!

Radiohead // Buy In Rainbows

 Radiohead - Down is the New Up [live] [5:19m]: Play in Popup | Download