I love how Radiohead recently released their new album as basically a free download. For a band that is as innovative as they are, and outspoken towards record companies, it was an easy, and great way to get music. The whole process took me about 4 minutes, from typing in www.radiohead.com to dragging the songs into iTunes. And, like the rest of music consumers, and people in the music business, I wonder what this will do to the business. Record label? Who needs one? Distribute yourself through the Internet. Radio play? Who needs radio when there are podcasts? A couple of years ago, it's how the Arctic Monkey's found success. They were selling out shows all over England without a label. Maybe it's a good time to be a musician, and technologically savvy.

But back to Radiohead. One of the reasons I've always loved them was, on top of being great musicians and song writers (I started looking at the guitar differently thanks to Johnny Greenwood), was that they were always changing. But I've finally listened to In Rainbows a bunch of times now. And for a band that's so innovative, I can hear their old guitar lines, tricks, I can even hear the likeness of DJ Shadow beats (with whom Thom Yorke collaborated before) like this was a melting pot of things passed trying to be worked into new, and I feel a bit disappointed. I understand why it happens. I see it in my writing both for the paper and with songs. But what I always loved about Radiohead was that it was always different. Even with Kid A and Amnesiac when it was a completely different path. But at the same time, it's completely different than anything else out there. And I like that.