ALBUM: Radiohead – The King of Limbs

After months of speculation, Radiohead have finally announced the release of their eighth full-length album, The King of Limbs, “the world’s first Newspaper album… perhaps.” The new LP 
will be made available digitally this SaturdayFebruary 19
 was madeavailable today if you pre-ordered the album. The physicalNewspaper album will be released May 9.

The “name your price” business model Radiohead famously adopted for 2007′s In Rainbows, has been set aside this time around and — Pitchfork’s Scott Plagenhoef put it best — “have retained that album’s more important business aspects: Packaging their music as a high-end collectable and controlling and monetizing its leak, which has the effect of creating what these days is a rare, worldwide, collective listening experience. Once again, we all know exactly when we’re first able to hear a new Radiohead record and therefore will largely all experience it together, something almost completely lost in today’s pop music landscape.”

There is no tracklist available yet. Find the pre-saleinformation below:

“Radiohead’s new record, The King of Limbs, is presented here as the world’s first Newspaper Album, comprising:

• Two clear 10″ vinyl records in a purpose-built record sleeve.
• A compact disc.
• Many large sheets of artwork, 625 tiny pieces of artwork and a full-colour piece of oxo-degradeable plastic to hold it all together.
• The Newspaper Album comes with a digital download that is compatible with all good digital media players.
• The Newspaper Album will be shipped on Monday 9th May 2011 you can, however, enjoy the download on Saturday 19th February 2011.
• Shipping is included in the prices shown.
• One lucky owner of the digital version of The King of Limbs, purchased from this website, will receive a signed 2 track 12″ vinyl.
• *”perhaps”

In the U.S., the mp3 version of the newspaper album is $48 and the WAV version is $53. In the UK, the two sets are £30 and £33; in Europe, €36 and €39; and in the rest of the world.

A digital-only presale version is also available:

“Radiohead’s new record, The King of Limbs, is presented here with a choice of two digital formats:

• MP3 version is a 320K constant bit rate file.
• WAV version is a full CD quality uncompressed digital audio file.
• One lucky owner of the digital version of The King of Limbs, purchased from this website, will receive a signed 2 track 12″ vinyl.

The King of Limbs can be pre-ordered now and downloaded on Saturday 19th February 2011.”

In the U.S., this version is $9 for mp3s and $14 for a WAV version. In the UK, £6 and £9; in Europe, €7 and €11 [via]

Just for fun, here is (perhaps) my favorite cut from Radiohead’s last album, In Rainbows — “Reckoner”