Earlier Alisse posted Beck’s new video. Well, not to be outdone, I’ve decided to putt the infamous In Rainbows card and bring you Radiohead’s newest release ‘House of Cards’. The video was shot with lasers, because apparently you can do that. I’m a firm believer that Thom Yorke has invented all viral marketing campaigns and all relevant new technology in the last 20 years, but that’s just me.

The video for Radiohead’s “House of Cards,” made without the use of conventional cameras, finally debuted today. Zoo Films, who directed the clip, used two different camera-less technologies to create the video. If you ask us, the whole thing looks like The Lawnmower ManRoboCop 2, but it’s still pretty cool. To make matters even cooler, the band will make all the data compiled to create the images available to fans, allowing Radiohead die-hards who know how to manipulate such information to make their own versions of the In Rainbows song. “I always like the idea of using technology in a way that it wasn’t meant to be used, the struggle to get your head round what you can do with it. I liked the idea of making a video of human beings and real life and time without using any cameras, just lasers, so there are just mathematical points — and how strangely emotional it ended up being,” Thom Yorke said.

Eschewing traditional cameras, the video for Radiohead’s “House of Cards” has been made with frickin’ laser beams. Next week, you can check that shit out here. I read the press release about it, and in lieu of understanding what the fuck they’re talking about, focused on the word “laser.” Blog award, right here.

From Nasty Little Man:

RADIOHEAD MAKES CAMERA-FREE VIDEO
“House Of Cards” Clip Created Exclusively Using Geometric Informatics and Velodyne Lidar Technology
World Premiere Early Next Week at Google
Data Made Available To Enable Fans To Create Their Own Short Clips

In keeping with their decision not to make conventional promotional music videos for any of the tracks on In Rainbows, Radiohead used absolutely no cameras in the making of its new  “House Of Cards” clip, which can be viewed at Google.com

Instead, “House Of Cards”, directed by James Frost of Zoo Films, was created utilizing two technologies: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne Lidar.  The Geometric Informatics scanning system employs structured light to capture detailed 3D images at close proximity, and was used to render the performances of Radiohead’s  Thom Yorke, the female lead and several partygoers.  The Velodyne Lidar system uses multiple lasers to capture large environments in 3D, in this case 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute, capturing all of the exterior scenes and wide party shots. Geometric processed their own data while 510 Systems processed the Velodyne Lidar data. The data was then manipulated by Union Editorial and the Syndicate to create the final result.

Google will premiere the video early next week at http://code.google.com/radiohead Additionally,  the band will be making available the data used to create the video for fans to manipulate into their own unique short clips. A short documentary detailing the unique process used to create the video will also be available via this link, as will 3D renderings of selected scenes.

Of Radiohead’s decision to eschew cameras for the “video,” Thom Yorke commented, “I always like the idea of using technology in a way that it wasn’t meant to be used, the struggle to get your head round what you can do with it. I liked the idea of making a video of human beings and real life and time without using any cameras, just lasers, so there are just mathematical points–and how strangely emotional it ended up being.”

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v330/Insomnomaniac/dr_evil_laser.jpg

England “rock” band, Oasis, is in the works of dropping a new FULLY PRICED album, Dig Out Your Soul. Emphasis on the FULLY PRICED part. The band is making it their sole responsibility that no songs leak out on the net for free and that fans are paying for their tracks. Gallagher is attempting to make his money back for all his hard work and dedication to his craft.  He comments on the “honest-box” policy that Radiohead used to sell albums as, “a great way of getting a load of free marketing.”  He further states,

 ”That’s not our bag. I didn’t spend a year in the most expensive studio in England, with the most expensive producer in America and the most expensive graphic designer in London, to then give it away. F*** that.”

Personally, I wouldn’t even waste my energy and computer’s memory even attempting to download their new album. The only way I would listen to it is if I was being paid to.  Sounds like they are all in it for the money. Isn’t that what art is all about? Making as much cash from as many suckers as you can. Oasis hasn’t come out with some cool shit since I was in the 4th grade, and at that age, I am sure I was just too naive to know better.

Available exclusively on iTunes, you can scope Radiohead’s live video releases from the band’s longtime producer Nigel Godrich’s “From the Basement” show.

The full track listing of video performances is:

Bodysnatchers
House of Cards
Nude
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
15 Step
Reckoner
Go Slowly
Videotape
Bangers & Mash
All I Need

Captured in a day, with direction by David Barnard and sound by Nigel Godrich, the videos represent the best recorded representation of Radiohead’s live performance to date.

My first experience with Spiritualized was shortly after they released “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space,” a beautifully plodding collection of altitude dementia and psychedelic landscapes. Great album to listen to while sitting around, stoned out of your brain while watching candles drip, by the way.

My second experience with Spiritualized happened when they opened for Radiohead at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Easily the most boring set I had witnessed up to that point. While the music was decent, it was less than lively, and the lack of a visual element made it even less engaging.

I guess to truly enjoy Spiritualized you also need something neat to look at. With that, J-Spaceman has launched SpiritualizedHarmonies, a website that links a visual component to Spiritualized’s vividly textural music. Check it out.

I’ll let you know if it works stoned later on.

San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival recently announced single-day tickets are now available. This is great news if you’re tight on cash and can’t afford the $225 plus fees for the 3-day pass. General admission 1-day tickets cost $85 and a percentage of this will go towards SF Parks and local chartiable organizations. Now the hardest part - picking a day. Radiohead will headline Friday August 22nd, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers on Saturday and Jack Johnson on Sunday. Other artists recently added include: The Coup, Lupe Fiasco, Steel Pulse and ALO. For the full line-up & any new artists added to it check: http://www.sfoutsidelands.com/artists/.