Still riding the high of being released from Roadrunner Records, Amanda Palmer is using her new found freedom to the best of her ability and is releasing a Radiohead cover album with each song being performed on her ukulele with accompaniment from a toy piano which will be released on July 17th. The album will be called Amanda Palmer Performs The Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele and will be on a donation basis with a minimum price of $0.84 per song with $0.54 going back to Radiohead for the legal use of the song and the rest going to paypal for the transaction fee. The album will be a 5-track EP featuring the most well known Radiohead songs that have been covered by every bar band over the past 15 years. In addition to the download option the album will also be released in a limited 1,000 only vinyl edition that will be packaged with special extras like ukuleles hand-painted by Amanda (inspired by the various songs she’s covered), as well as a personal phone call from Amanda, during which she’ll take song requests (limited, obviously, to her narrow repertoire of Radiohead-via-ukulele covers). There’s no price on that yet but I’ll bet you it won’t be cheap.
Hearing Palmer perform “Creep” is nothing new. She’s been performing the song since 2008 when she took up the instrument as a joke for a friend’s benefit concert for Iranian punk musicians. There are numerous videos on YouTube of her performing the song live but they are all fan recorded videos and the sound is pretty crap. The video below is still image but it’s the best recording that I was able to find.
The first single from the album is “Idioteque”, which can be listened to and purchased for $0.40 at Palmer’s website.
From the press release Palmer had this to say.
I’m slaphappy with freedom…and this is the perfect project to celebrate with. I’m really proud of the way this record wound up sounding…it’s actually a lot more emotional than I expected. Radiohead songs almost play themselves because the songwriting is so genius, and the ukulele is perfect for laying that genius bare. I tried to strip the songs down as far as possible without destroying them.
“Idioteque”
“Creep”
“No Suprises”
“High and Dry”
“Fake Plastic Trees”
Exit Music (For a Film) (feat. Zoë Keating and Lyndon Chester)
Never listened to Amanda Palmer before joining up with tMiM … and I wasn’t sure what to think about a Radiohead cover album. I’m sold now. Thanks for the AP share(s)!