Welp, here’s another artist where there have been so many cool things around an anniversary and re-release that we can’t even keep track. Radiohead celebrated the 21st and 22nd anniversaries, respectively of their legendary Kid A Mnesia and Amnesiac albums with a re-issue of the iconic three-disc (or cassette or vinyl) box set which includes a full extra album called Amnesiae. Sound familiar?
Re-issues are pretty common at the end of the year but the epicness of Radiohead or Bowie releases really can’t be ignored. Like the Bowie anniversaries and almost as iconic, Radiohead’s reissue was heavily anticipated before it dropped, especially the album full of cutting room b-sides, aptly named Amnesiae. Check out the first single from the b-side album below.
In addition, just after the tens of thousands of pre-orders were shipping in early November, the band announced the unveiling of Kid A Mnesia Exhibition, a video game the band developed with Namethemachine, Arbitrary Good Productions and Matthey Smith. Similar to Amnesiae, the game is comprised of and inspired by album artwork by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and the band’s long-time cover artist, Stanley Donwood. Set up as a room-to-room tour similar to the old Gorillaz Kong Studios platform, and with music from all three albums, the realism of the work is stunning and the game’s impact is just as “unsettling and beautiful” (Jay Peters, The Verge) as the album itself. Info and download link here. But that’s old news already.
Being cryptic and subversive as ever, a lot of these releases are missed by the general public as there’s not a whole lot promoted by Radiohead themselves. Instagram is usually the best place to find new news. That said, the most recent development, that the band members’ and Sons of Kemet‘s Tom Skinner brand new punky side project The Smile will be livestreaming their performances from London was only caught by fans for a second as it was on an Instagram story. The full information is on The Smile’s Insta, however, with multiple times available to watch the livestream for each show. Info and tickets here.
It’s anyone’s guess what Radiohead will come up with next, but the Kid A/Amnesiac/Amnesiae box set, the beautiful game and the The Smile livestream should keep us fans busy – at least through the weekend.
The box set of Kid A/Amnesiac/Amnesiae is out not and available on all the above-mentioned formats. Best places to order are Amazon, the Rough Trade website or store-us.kida-mnesia.com.
Read more trending music news.
