k-os T-Shirt Design Contest

I know, it’s hard to believe that there are t-shirt design contests for musicians that are nor done by Design by Humans but it seems that k-os has decided to leave out the middle man. Perhaps they really want the designs to be created by fans rather than just by people who like designing t-shirts. Who knows. Anyway, prizes are pretty cool as you can see below.

Deadlines: Contest Starts June 29, 2009
Contest Ends July 13, 2009

Prizing
valued at approx. $800 (first prize), $400 (second prize), $75 (runner ups)

* 1 (one) T-shirt of the winning design, autographed by k-os
* The T-shirt of the winning design featured on tour and online for sale around the world.
* 2 (two) tickets to one concert of the winner’s choice on k-os’ tour and a chance to meet and hang with k-os (*tickets only, travel NOT provided)

See k-os website for more details.

Free Coldplay Single

Coldplay are not going quite as far as Radiohead with this idea but free is free. For one week, you will be able to download the new Coldplay single from their web site. On their website it says:

from Tuesday, 12:15pm UK time
for one week only
you can come here to download
a free copy of a new song
called Violet Hill.

Below are some t-shirts from Allposters.

Radiohead Greatest Hits Album

I have to admit that I was a very big Radiohead fan. I had all their albums and several imports too. Some of their stuff was only released in Japan but I got my hands on them. When OK Computer came out it was not only a huge critical success but also a huge commercial success and everybody thought that it would keep getting better and better. I guess our expectations were too high. I know there are some people out there who think that Kid A, Amnesiac and the newer albums are great but I disagree. I think they are a mess. I honestly tried to give Kid A a chance but I just couldn’t get into it.

I remember reading an interview with one of the lead singers of the Dandy Warhols which said that their warm-ups sound better than Kid A. That’s not a direct quote but it was something like that. At the time I was annoyed by such a comment, thinking that Thom Yorke had more talent in his little finger than that entire band but that comment stuck with me.

I couldn’t get into Amnesiac or Hail to the Thief but when Radiohead came to Japan I really wanted to see them. My friends said that Radiohead’s concerts are amazing. I figured what the hell. Even if don’t really know the music from their latest three albums I can enjoy the old songs. What a mistake! They did not play one song from their old album and I remember at one point the band members spent about 20 minutes lying on the floor playing with the guitar pedals. I was extremely bored. It was the worst concert I have ever been to.

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Today I came across an article that says that EMI will be a releasing a Radiohead greatest hits collection in several forms – double CD, single CD and quadruple vinyl formats. I won’t be buying it because I have the original albums and I don’t think there will be any new material I want to hear.

One thing that can be said about Radiohead though is that they have a unique vision and this can be seen not only in their music but also in the way they promote themselves. For example, they recently had a “pay as much as you like” pricing system for their new downloadable album. Their t-shirts are also not the usual band t-shirt fare and in many cases, if you are not a Radiohead fan you wouldn’t know that they are Radiohead T-Shirts. Below are some Radiohead Tee Shirts available at Jiggy.com.