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March 25, 2011

Radiohead are set to dish out their own free newspaper, The Universal Sigh, later this month around the world.

The band are giving out the newspapers to tie in with the physical release of their new album, The King of Limbs.

Radiohead's eighth studio album was released as a download last month. The physical installment is available from March 28 in the UK on XL Records and March 29 in North America.

"To commemorate this momentous occasion, Radiohead have produced a newspaper which will be given away, free, gratis, without cost to the consumer by accredited vendors from a multitude of locations WORLDWIDE!" a statement on the Universal Sigh website read.

"Our dedicated teams of newspaper delivery people will be handing out copies of THE UNIVERSAL SIGH to anyone who wants one, until we run out!"

The website, Theuniversalsigh.com, featuring a list of some of the countries it will be available in and a guide to where fans can pick up a copy.

The band haven't said what content the newspaper will boast.

Link

[Edited 3/30/11 18:37pm]

Seems odd... I wonder what will be in it!

^

Leftover copies of Prince's 20ten giveaways perhaps?

I can't be certain but I'm going to grab one.

[Edited 3/28/11 5:26am]

Interesting. It's great they're doing their OWN newspaper.

And you can get one here in Hamburg just 15 min from me.

Prince gives his albums away in a newsaper.

Radiohead give a newspaper away with an album.

I get the feeling Radiohead are number 1 at the bank.

Phishanga said:

And you can get one here in Hamburg just 15 min from me.

I'm going to travel over 20 miles for a copy, but it will be well worth it.

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Thom Yorke distributing copies of The Universal Sigh outside Rough Trade East in London on March 28. (Credit: Consequence of Sound)

Identity said:

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Thom Yorke distributing copies of The Universal Sigh outside Rough Trade East in London on March 28. (Credit: Consequence of Sound)

I was so expecting him to be in Hamburg...

BTW, does anyone know what to do with the littel note that came with it? Seems to have some sort of code on it?

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Another photo of Yorke in East London.

Phishanga said:

BTW, does anyone know what to do with the littel note that came with it? Seems to have some sort of code on it?

I don't know as the newspaper won't be distributed in North America until Tues.

Identity said:

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Another photo of Yorke in East London.

Ah bollocks man, turns out that I just missed Thom Yorke's shift on the newspaper stand in London today. Although I did get my copy of the 'Sigh' from a bloke who I later found out was Stanley Donwood (Radiohead's artwork guy for the past 15 years or so), which is cool, I guess...

And any ideas on what to do with the code will be gratefully recieved -there seems to be no place to enter on the official Radiohead sites.

Speaking of which, isn't it a bit odd that a band that's made such a big deal of their eco-credentilas are handing out loads of free papers? Just a thought...

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Radiohead Newspaper Writer Reveals Themes of 'The Universal Sigh'

March 30

On Monday (March 28) Radiohead's Thom Yorke appeared in London's east end to distribute copies of a free newspaper, 'The Universal Sigh', a companion piece to the band's The King Of Limbs album.

The newspaper features essays and short stories on the theme of wildness. We chatted to Jay Griffiths, author of 'Forests Of The Mind' (from the newspaper), as well as 'Wild: An Elemental Journey'.

What do you make of Radiohead's newspaper?

"I live in the heart of Wales so I haven’t properly seen it! I’ve been sent a file of it, but I’ve been tied up because a book of mine was just published yesterday."

Who approached you to be involved in The Universal Sigh?

"I got approached to be involved in because various people in Radiohead had read Wild: An Elemental Journey."

Had you any previous involvement with the band?

"I met Ed O’Brien through KT Tunstall after he’d read my book. I know he really liked it and he’d asked me to write a piece for the paper."

Did they give you a brief?

"No they didn’t and that was really lovely. All they said was that it was going to be a free newspaper given out internationally about woods, trees and forests. That really was about it, which was fantastic because that meant we could take it wherever we wanted to."

That’s quite general - did you feel overwhelmed?

"Well no actually, because I’ve written loads about The Amazon, the forests in West Papua and the importance of trees and woodlands in general and so it wasn’t an unfamiliar topic to me."

What did you think of the band’s mode of distribution for The Universal Sigh?

"Human beings have always had strong relationships with nature and forests, and to take that right into the heart of the city like Radiohead have done is tremendous. They dropped off the paper in big urban cities and that was like bringing the forests into the heart of the city. To me these things matter, partly because of the physical deforestation. But also in places like West Papua and The Amazon, you are deforesting the human mind. You are robbing people of their history, their culture, their myth."

In your piece you make the link between the spirit of the forest and your re-finding your spirit. How do you mean?

"I would say that wherever there are trees, people can find healing. That’s why if you have children, if you have half a chance you want to get them near forests. A friends of mine’s child lives in the centre of the city but has a particular relationship to a tree, it means an awful lot to him. I know other adults who would see trees being cut down and they would cry. It’s a very well rooted - excuse the pun - love."

How about you?

"I had a reading tree when I was a kid, I used to climb it and read."

How did your interest develop?

"I don’t know how to answer that. Partly with my book Wild: An Elemental Journey, it began with the terrible depression I wrote about in the newspaper. Nature is absolutely essential to the human condition."

If you had to sum up your philosophy in one line what would it be?

"Trees are friends to humanity."

In the paper there’s lots of references to the historical, mythological role of trees.

"Yes, it's also interesting to note things like the language of trees, that the word ‘tree’, ‘truth’ and ‘trust’ are related. I mean, that’s beautiful isn’t it? Because it’s like, here’s something that’s so solid that you can trust, like a tree. There’s nothing complex about that. It’s simple and profound one go."

What do you think of a band like Radiohead bringing these things into popular culture?

"I think it’s magnificent. And what they’re doing has such intelligence and awareness. Such thoughtfulness and deep down such kindness. The quality of kindness is not something that modernity likes that much, but it’s one of the most important qualities in the world. Very deep down that’s what they're thinking and that’s what their music represents."

Link