Radiohead Frustration

A reader writes in...

OK, fuck the hype. This is crap.

1. The Radiohead site has been inaccessible all day. I've tried several times and each time it's a different fuck up. Earlier it was just way slow. Like 5 minutes per page load. Now it seems their server has crashed and is defaulting to some secure interface that requires a login and password. Yes, I'm sure the traffic is overwhelming, but they should have been prepared. Every potential buyer who can't log in will log in later and use that disappointment as rationale to not pay.
2. 160kb is lame. Yes, it's higher quality than most of what iTunes sells, but it's not CD quality. Yes, I'm holding them to a higher standard than almost every other web retailer, but they want to be judged by a higher standard. And you know what? Amazon sells their downloads at 256kb which i would consider close enough to CD quality to please everybody but the stodgiest audiophile.
3. A CD is being released next year? Or in time for the holidays? In addition to the box set? Essentially the band is leaking the new album with a tip jar button.

At the end of the day this is a genius publicity move and not much more. They're not giving away the "crown jewels." they're giving away something that would have been readily available for free to any young computer user with the time and inclination to get it. And, they ARE putting out a traditional CD with traditional distro.

So, 4 stars for the concept. 1 star for execution. Let's see if Trent gets it right.