It’s that time again…let’s check in on what Radiohead is up to! We do love Radiohead around these parts, and quite often the band will chime in on different social issues near and dear to our hearts. And let’s see what the topic du jour is today…ah, yes, nuclear power.

Pitchfork draws our attention to a blog posting from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, which he has titled, simply, “nuclear power no thanks”.

Now, we can obviously get the gist of how he feels about nuclear power, but let’s see what he has to say. Here’s his post, in its entirety. Read the rest of this entry >>

We absolutely do love us some Radiohead here at TakePart (by last count, I personally had written 8,000 posts about the band), what with their amazing music, Thom Yorke’s vegetarianism, and their eco-friendly tours, so any time they do something awesome, we like to keep you up to date about it. That’s why we didn’t bring you the downer news Radiohead won’t be releasing a new album soon, but we are telling you the great news that Radiohead is offering the download of their new song “These Are My Twisted Words” free of charge on their website, right now! Guitarist Jonny Greenwood has this to say about it:

We’ve been recording for a while, and this was one of the first we finished.
We’re pretty proud of it.

Keeping it short and sweet. Like it. The download also comes with a printable booklet of artwork which they suggest you print on tracing paper and arrange in any order you’d like. Oh, and the song? It’s damn good. Of course. It’s Radiohead. So run over to the site and download the song while it lasts. And have a good day…every day with new Radiohead should be a good day.

Let’s catch up with former awesome vegetarian of awesomeness Thom Yorke of Radiohead, shall we? I think this is a good idea mainly because Yorke popped up on Radiohead’s blog on Friday to discuss a topic very near and dear to TakePart’s heart, global warming. Apparently, he’s against it, too! Small world. In a post titled “for US citizens (mostly),” Yorke requests that you sign a petition to stop global warming. He writes:

an online petition with over a million names.. including President Obama.
currently there is talk of a climate change bill in the US similair to the one we have passed in the UK.
thats a BIG deal.
but i have been reading how the oil industry is investing millions of dollars in a PR campaign against it!
how utterly dumbass is that? how do these people look their children in the eye?

He then tells us he’s done with his soapboxing for the day. So, in case you happen to think global warming is a bad thing, you can sign the petition right here, right now! Read the rest of this entry >>

Billboard magazine released its Green Issue this week which takes you behind the scenes of Live Earth’s birth, fills you in on how the music industry is taking “green” issues to heart and honors the top 10 green artists making a difference with environmental causes. The artists were ranked according to tour innovations, packaging, charity efforts, political organizing and media appearances. The artists who made the list included John Legend, Radiohead, Feist, Pharrell Williams, and the interesting pairing of Ludacris and Tommy Lee. The hip hop/heavy metal duo hosted the “Battleground Earth” series on Discovery’s Planet and shot this promo for Discovery’s Planet Green:
takepart check out the full Billboard Top Green Artists list, read some great green music articles, and learn more about Live Earth by clicking here.

When I read Giulia’s great post about Esquire’s 75 albums every man should own, I decided I had to check out the list and see how I felt about it, and how my record collection compares. Based on my quick count, I own 18 of the 75 albums, and am well aware that yes, as a man, I should own Appetite for Destruction, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Now, while the magazine itself admitted the list to be incomplete, I’m pretty sure they’re flat out wrong picking the essential albums from Wilco and The Clash. I have other issues, to be sure, with the list, but picking Being There and Combat Rock, respectively? That can’t be right. I have to go with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and London Calling. I actually don’t own Combat Rock because no one REALLY likes “Rock the Casbah.”

But excitingly about the list, no fewer than SEVEN former awesome Sunday vegetarians make the list! Yes, David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, Ian MacKaye’s band Minor Threat, Thom Yorke’s Radiohead (surprisingly with The Bends, but I guess it kinda makes sense), Rubber Soul with Sir Paul McCartney’s Beatles, Nico and Velvet Underground’s Velvet Underground, Talking Heads’ True Stories (again a choice I might not agree with for album selection (frontman David Byrne was also one of the vegetarian posts I kinda fudged)), and This Is Hardcore by Jarvis Cocker’s Pulp all made the top 75! Read the rest of this entry >>

The National Coalition for the Homeless is an amazing network of organizations committed to ending homelessness, and their latest video, featuring music from Radiohead, is a stark reminder that anyone can become homeless:

Read the rest of this entry >>

Your Sunday Morning Extremely Awesome Vegetarian Post is another one I probably should have written about, oh, fifteen years ago, because it’s Thom Yorke, of Radiohead.  I mean…Radiohead.  It’s good stuff.  Where to begin…where to begin…how about “How to Disappear Completely,” off Kid A?  It might be my favorite song of theirs, but that’s kind of like picking your favorite child, or so I’m told.  But the resolve of dissonance we get around the 5:15 mark wins.

I had the chance to see Radiohead live, once, about two years ago, and it’s even more amazing then that clip shows.  I probably don’t need to go over the history of Radiohead - you know who they are, you know what they play, so let’s see what else we can find to keep you interested.  How about this little youtube gem: previous Awesome Vegetarian Michael Stipe singing lead on “Lucky,” which comes from OK Computer (after the jump). Read the rest of this entry >>

So as we announced some time ago, Radiohead decided to document the issues surrounding being an eco-conscious band touring the world. Well, yesterday marked the end of the tour, in Santa Barbara (technically, they have some dates in Japan in October, but we’re not counting those), so I thought it might be interesting to catch up with the band’s blog and see how the whole “green tour” thing worked out.

As it turns out, the blog ended up being incredibly technical in describing the actions taken to help green the tour. The gist of it all, as far as I can tell, is that the band looked for little ways to make a big difference. These included:

1) Having truck drivers plug their trucks into venue power sources so the drivers didn’t have to idle all night as they slept in their cabs with the A/C on.

2) Asking fans to carpool, and providing venue-specific public transportation information on the Radiohead site. Read the rest of this entry >>

The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

TakePart Gang:

35 Million Tons of Toxic Stew by Wendy Cohen

“Waterboard Thrill Ride” Opens At Coney Island by Blair Golson

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Nicole Hughes:

Green Summer Music Tours Not To Be Missed

Eat Your Veggies: Quit Composting in the Fridge

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Andy Kondrat:

Almost Half of Earth’s Primates In Danger of Extinction

Beijing’s Pollution Not Gone, Just Moved Outside of Town

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Jon Popham:

GOP: Drill More Oil Or We’ll Shut Down the Government

Global Warming’s “Sausage Fest” Effect

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Gina Telaroli:

Olympic Flag Bearer for the US: A Champion of  Darfur

Time to Act: Sexual Assault and Women in the Military

Don’t miss out on these green summer music tours featuring some excellent musicians with an sustainable and responsible environmental message. A more complete eco-friendly musical lineup for summer can be found on The Daily Green, but these were just a few that caught our eye:

Radiohead is at the forefront of greening the music industry. They’re active with environmental groups like The Big Ask, and even refused to fly to the US and insisted on performing via satellite on Late Night with Conan O’Brien because of the carbon toll the air travel would take on the planet. This summer, Radiohead is insisting that everyone on the tour use their own water flasks.   They’re also using bio-fuel in their buses, and are even refusing to use any airfreight. Look out for Radiohead tour dates in August. Read the rest of this entry >>