attention w.a.s.t.e. readers!
thankyou for the last year and a half two years since the bends came out. the response from everyone has opened us up. at the moment there seems to be a lot of building going on around us, we're building our own studio, rebuilding our lives, 'building' our sight on the net, building w.a.s.t.e. into our own merchandise production thing, building, building, building, building. like misguided gold diggers.
in my case i think it is a particularly male response to the panic of seeing it all disappear and change (student semiotics), but i like to worry and over analyse.
change is absolutely a good thing.
i've absolutely no idea what is going on.
this leads to sleepless nights with new songs going round my head, being convinced we've lost it having briefly been pulled into the bosom of popularity, to wanting to give it all up, to wanting to experiment with the sound of fridges. music is the most powerful thing in my life, and i have no wish to be chicken shit. we are not an industry, we are not an industry.
hmmm.
maybe we want the next record to be like opening the curtains after a hangover to a quite nice tuesday morning. yes. these are my favourite records at the moment!
Donald Byrd Electric Byrd (on Blue Note)...Phil Spector A christmas gift for you (on Phil Spector records/Emi)...Stereolab Emporer Tomato Ketchup (D uhf disks/rtm)...The Ennio Morricone Anthology (BMG)

hope this finds you well
lots and lots of love ThOmxxx
p.s. thankyou Nina for all the acidic letters to radio one.


hello dear readers. Firstly, many apologies for the delay in writing, it's been a surprisingly busy first half of 1996. We took January off to recover from the intensive touring at the end of last year. If you saw us, thanks for coming, and I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't well, apart from the festivals we're doing in the summer, and some Alanis Morrisette dates in the U.S in August, you'll have to wait until next year.
We spent February at home getting our new rehearsal space together and working on the new songs, some of which we played on the recent U.S dates. It was a fun tour, marred only by flu which swept the bus and sadly caused the cancellation of the Denver show, which we were very sorry about. There seems to be a jinx between us and Denver over the last few months...
Now we're home again, we're concentrating on building our own studio, which is close to home, and obviously very important after spending nearly nine months away from friends and loved ones last year. We're going to try producing ourselves, working with the same engineer who did 'The Bends' in 1994.
For those of you who have internet access, we're well aware of the paucity of information on the official site. Several unofficial ones have sprung up, which we're very happy about, and we're planning to launch a thoroughly updated service this summer, with the help of Apple and Stanley Donwood, who worked with Thom on the last record's artwork. The unofficial mailing list has had some very strange stories about us flying around, and we'll be able to provide more up to date, accurate information later in the summer. Until then, take care and have a great summer, love colinxxx.


I have a friend who wishes that they had a job like mine, in which they were applauded every time they did something right. I must admit that a healthy dose of over-blown praise from time to time (preferably on a daily basis) is quite welcome. Consequently, the feedback we've had from audiences over the past twelve months, and from people we've met after gigs has really buoyed us up, especially when we're being feeble and tired. So thankyou. For this installment, you join me at home listening to recordings of new songs from our recent stateside tour. This does not reflect an advanced form of egomania – honest. Rather, it is preparation for the next few months' worth of rehearsing and recording. We're producing the third album ourselves, so feelings ranging from extreme excitement to bowel-shattering terror are stomping round my head.
My only other worry for the immediate future is possible adulation starvation, resulting from not touring. As such, I'm currently working on a prototype for canned applause, which will punctuate my little domestic triumphs and provide me with my appreciation fix in the studio. Sad? Me? Never.
Love Philip xxx


Just back from probably the best U.S tour yet – although you get the feeling that they're still playing 'catch-up' while the rest of the world resides comfortably in the 'four-zone'.
Well, what am I? relieved to be back in Oxford for one thing – my ear bled and rang for the last week of the tour, but I still made it home with my usual Tesco bag full of mystery records. A tip for you music-hungry waifs... DON'T buy the soundtrack to the 1969 swedish film "Fanny Hill" featuring the band "Oven" with Frank Stevens on guitar (formally with popular combo "Good Grief"). It may only cost $2 but will sound very very awful. Indeed. History has forgotten these bands for good reasons, most of them musical.
To stop the same thing happening to us, we've been throwing chords together for your future incredulous contempt/pleasure. till then, any suggestions for NEW chords (there's only 'A' to 'G', remember) are welcome.
Hope you see us play soon, we're thinking of you.
love jonny


Dear W.A.S.T.E.R.
The temptation is huge, what with United up for the double again, to write all things football, but I shall resist the urge. And anyway aren't you sick of all these publications, politicians and so-called personalities airing their views on the game in all the media outlets? I know I am – this 'nineties man' stuff is just a load of boring old crap. Magazines like 'Loaded' should be consigned to the recycling depot. I mean a passion for football has always and will continue to exist, but why the need to market it alongside photos of semi-nude women? Sounds too close to the eighties for my liking.
So what news to tell you? Well it looks as though we're finished touring 'The Bends', and that time to grow our beards and hair long has finally arrived. Time for a new record. A lot of people ask us how soon the new album will be out and our response is always however long it takes. We have to be as satisfied with it as possible, there is no way we are consciously going to release shit.
Despite illness, the U.S tour just finished was fantastic, the other notable event of the year for us, the Brits, was not. I only have one thing to add to the Jarvis Vs Jacko controversy (which I missed because I had drunk too much red wine): People in the music industry have described Jacko's messianic dance routines as distasteful and disrespectful. But since when has the music business or rock 'n roll been the guardians and purveyors of taste and decency? We should expect little else of Jacko; the bloke is mad, he thinks he's Christ, and hasn't got a clue nowadays. Anyway I'm convinced it was all pre-organised for one big publicity stunt, as I'm sure I bumped into the two of them toasting one another with the finest champagne in the toilets. A hideous evening.
Thankyou, thankyou again to everyone who has come to see us over the last year, the audience responses have at times been overwhelming.
Bye, Ed.
P.S. essential recent listening: Latin Playboys...The Daisies: If I was Barry White (single)..The Pixies: Doolittle...Marvin Gaye: What's Going On ...Nusrat Fatch Ali Khan & Michael Brook: Nightsong...Finn Brothers: Finn
PPS: TOOTRG: predictably to Eric Cantona for his genius on the ball


RADIOHEAD NEWS IN BRIEF...
As well as recording, Radiohead have a few shows over the Summer

MAY - 26th: Paris Bataclan ... 27th: Pinkpop Festival, Holland
JULY - 6th: Tourhout Festival, Belguim ... 7th: Werchter Festival, Belguim... 11th: Manchester Apollo... 13th: Glasgow, T In The Park ... 27th: Galway Arts Festival
AUGUST - 12th - 29th USA east coast tour with Alanis Morrisette