Contemporary dance has its random moments but there are few performances that stake their entire evening on a roll of the dice.

The element of chance is what drives much of Merce Cunningham's choreography, especially in "Split Sides," a work that mixes and matches two different sets of choreography, set designs, lighting, costumes and music by contemporary rock icons Radiohead and Sigur Ros.

"Split Sides" will be one of the two works performed by the world-renowned Merce Cunningham Dance Company at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on April 15-17. The performance will also mark the appearance of the 84-year-old dance legend, whose ideas about movement and music have had a far-reaching influence on the visual and performing arts in the 20th century.

In "Split Sides," for instance, the individual parts that comprise a traditional dance performance each take on lives of their own. For the music, Sigur Ros and Radiohead each recorded a 20-minute improvised set that reveal their adventurous blend of rock and electronica. Meanwhile, Cunningham choreographed two separate dances independent of either musical number. So "Dance A" could be paired up with either "Music A" or "Music B" and vice versa.

"Split Sides" also presents two lighting concepts by James Ingalls, two sets of costumes - one black and white and the other color - by James Hall, and one backdrop each from photographers Robert Heishman and Catherine Yass.

In all, "Split Sides" can produce 32 different results on any given night of performance. In the past, ceremonial rolls of the dice presented before audiences determined how "Split Sides" would be performed that evening.

There are two types of music - good music and bad music. Rameau, Brahms and Radiohead have all written good music, albeit 250 years apart.

Christopher O'Riley on his shows where he plays both classical music and Radiohead: I felt like my own lamest back-up band, he said. They were clearly just waiting for the classical music to get over with so we could get to the good stuff.

If, at the Whitaker Center Thursday, O'Riley notices kids who seem to have come specifically to hear Radiohead, O'Riley said he may be more generous in the second half of his program.

There might be a couple of 70-year-olds looking at their watches, he said. Christopher O'Riley had a chance to meet the band last year at Madison Square Garden, where Colin Greenwood told him, We're so excited about what you are doing. It was a gratifying moment, a conversation I'd been having in my head for years, O'Riley said.

Coldplay and Radiohead specifically I'd like to work with, he says. Thom Yorke is dope.

It’s probably appropriate now to break out the bubbly in celebration of a decade of great releases. Not since David Bowie has an artist had such a long run of fine albums. And however they choose to put across their music, we’re just as excited as when the needle first hit an EP called ‘My Iron Lung’.

Of course this album finds Radiohead at an odd crossroads. Their deal with EMI is up – no more albums are needed to fulfill their contract. They could do anything now: launch a label, sign to someone else’s, release the EP’s they’ve hinted about or do as George Michael has promised and put everything out on the internet.

Which means this Japanese-only release (which can be ordered online) could be their last-ever release on a major label. So even if the music comprised nothing more than a Grease medley played on Peruvian nose-flutes it could become an artefact of note. The good news is that there is not a snotty wind instrument in sight. In fact, this is a sterling set of tunes that, despite being composed entirely of B-sides from ‘Hail To The Thief’ singles (plus one live track), sums up where Radiohead are now in its mixture of blipping electronica and graceful acoustics.

What do you think about the state of music today?

I’m not really impressed with music these days. On the whole within mainstream music, I really don’t like it. I’ll jump on the bandwagon here and agree with you about Outkast. I really like Radiohead, Hail to the Thief is great, but it’s not for everybody, I can understand that. I like how Radiohead integrates politics into their music. They’re not like my favourite band, Rage Against the Machine, who beat you over the head with their politics. Radiohead are much more subtle and are very poetic about it. They’re just very soothing in a very chaotic time.

What do you think about there being a message in music?

I think that everything from The Bends to Hail to the Thief is brilliant. I think that Kid A and Amnesiac are great albums. I’m not a big fan of electronic music, but I like Kid A. I like the soundscapes that they play around with, but I think that’s from all the Pink Floyd I listen to. As for messages in music, Radiohead have gotten progressively more political on each album because you have songs like “No Surprises” and “Electioneering” on OK Computer and “You and Whose Army” and “Life in a Glass House” on Amnesiac, and Hail to the Thief has political overtones all throughout the album. I love bands who have a political message in their music.

If Radiohead isn't arty enough for you, check out the debut solo album from band guitarist Jonny Greenwood. The disk doubles as the soundtrack to the independent British movie "Bodysong." Far from just a collection of guitar noodling, Greenwood's all-instrumental effort features jazz workouts, string-driven chamber pieces, plus odd assemblages of percussive plinks and plonks. Greenwood's influences range from Miles Davis to King Crimson to John Cage. He employs more than a dozen musicians to flesh it all out.

Despite the abstraction of the pieces, many have a strange beauty, or at least a compelling sense of atmosphere. There's far more variety in sound and instrumentation than you'll hear on any Radiohead record. For the adventurous, it's well worth a spin.

Q: This idea of trying to capture the entirety of human experience in a movie, did it get you to thinking about doing the same thing with music?

I suppose subconsciously I was thinking in terms of having the scale of it matching the scale of the images. Hence the sort of string quartet, jazz band and electronic stuff. It’s weird. I was just very conscious that I could either bore people by having the music be similar for too long, or I could just wear them out and bore them in a different way by having it changing too much every minute or two minutes. So, there was that kind of balance to get right.

Q: Combining genres that already exist, that have certain unspoken rules on their own—is this the most effective way to create a new kind of music? It seems you try to do similar things with your band.

I hope it’s never too deliberate. It’s like that scene from The Player when they talk about merging Star Wars and Kramer vs. Kramer, or whatever. You could do that with music and it would just be awful. But I suppose with the music you’re passionate about, if it comes from opposite ends, then sometimes elements of it work together. I think it would be awful if I started thinking, “Let’s mix this with this, ‘cause I like them both.” But then, you know, we tend to kind of record something—with Radiohead, anyway, maybe with this as well—and one of us will say, “Oh, it would be great if this had the texture of an Alice Coltrane record,” or whatever. And so we’ll try and do that.

Q: What’s more interesting to experiment with: melody or rhythm?

Oh, that’s a good question. I think rhythms can be more satisfying in the short term—like, more immediately. It can be kind of obsessively and compulsively rewarding. But over a period of time it’s the melodic things that are in my head all day. I wouldn’t give up either.

Q: Music and images are so intertwined and always have been. Is it a strong connection for you, or do you close your eyes when you listen?

I close my eyes. I’m quite into listening to music and not doing anything else. I remember when I was in my late teens just getting rid of lots of records, realizing I only ever listened to them when I was reading, or watching TV, or doing something else. I didn’t really like them. It’s the same feeling you get when you’re doing compilation tapes for somebody and you’re actually doing it in real time and you’re listening to it and two minutes into something you think, “I don’t really like this. I don’t think this is that good.” You reappraise it in a way. So, that’s kind of how I listen to music, I suppose. It’s what the Pixies always said about music—they were writing songs and just trying not to be boring. That was their main motivation and it worked for them. I remember reading that and thinking that was the way to do it.

The varied sounds of Jonny Greenwood's score for the British documentary Bodysong will come as no surprise to hyper-attentive fans of Radiohead, whether they've devoured every interview with the multi-instrumentalist or have studied every detail of his contributions to that band. Each of these pieces was written and produced by Greenwood, with assistance from Radiohead engineer Graeme Stewart. A string quartet is present on four tracks, drums and horns factor in on two tracks filled with nervous energy, and brother/bandmate Colin Greenwood provides bass on another. Everything else — a wide assortment of instruments, including electronics — is handled by the composer. When separated from the film, the music remains a compelling listen. From track to track, the tempos and emotions jerk back and forth with unpredictable unease. Sounds dart as often as they drift, but there's a peculiar linearity at play that keeps the ears hanging on every note.

I don't have the link but earlier today I was looking at the new MTV Magazine and here is a part of the interview ...

MTV: So what have you been listening to Lately?
Avril: Radiohead and Distillers
MTV: Really? Which Radiohead Records do you own?
Avril: All of them
MTV: You really have all the Radiohead records?
Avril: Yes

It's more important that I like and am interested in the music. If I like it then I can hear how it would sound with the quartet. I'm a fan of both Pink Floyd and Radiohead, along with many other rock bands, so I'm not saying I'm refining or doing anything better than they can. That's not the goal of the Section String Quartet; we're basically presenting the music in a new way.

I try to keep so much of the original elements of the source music - the groove, some musical hook, to keep the listener, the quartet and myself interested. It's never really easy but some songs lend themselves to it more than others. It's not necessarily all down to melody; melody has a major role in it, of course, but it's also to do with structure, counter melodies, counterpoint. It's more what I feel I can leave out and not ruin the structure of the composition. With Radiohead's music that's always a challenge.

Occasionally, when I snoop around message boards in fan websites, we get called opportunists. Believe me when I say that the publishers and songwriters of the works we do are getting more money than us. Basically, I find myself working on material that I'm a fan of. I come to it from a fan's point of view. I'm genuinely not trying to cash in on someone else's work.

Jonny Greenwood has always been adept at crafting moody, cinematic music. As the lead guitarist and gadget-master of Radiohead, he’s helped to create songs like "Exit Music for a Film" and "Motion Picture Soundtrack." Now he’s indulged his filmic instincts even further with the compelling score to Bodysong, a British documentary about the cycle of life.

Regarding the scoring of the film, Greenwood explained to Billboard magazine, "A normal film tends to have two or three melodies repeated over and over. So one of the hardest parts [of this project> was knowing you couldn't have the same themes or music coming back in after half an hour, because the whole idea of this film is that there is no repetition."

And he’s succeeded. There are myriad contrasting sounds and themes on this record, yet it feels cohesive enough to be a score for one film. It’s eclectic without feeling erratic.

I was just going through treefingers and at ease for my daily dose, and while reading something about Thom's opinions on the American Government, it made me recall something I saw about a month back watching tv. A friend of mine is very politically oriented and tries to keep abreast of all the latest happenings, both in Canada (where we live) and the US.

Anyway, while they were doing their latest election thingy (I have no clue what it was, but it was when a man named Kerry and some other dudes were running for some position) what struck me was that when they pulled to commercial and had the standard flashy election logo stuff that CNN makes up for every damn thing they present, I heard - Radiohead.

They were playing a Radiohead song as the damn moving logo music! I can't remember which song, but I'm a big fan and I know it was Radiohead - I'm sure something off of Hail To The Thief. All I remember thinking was 'Jeez, Thom isn't too happy with the way the Americans are running things in Iraq, etc, I'm sure he'd be thrilled to know they're using Radiohead music during government campaigning.

Anyway, might be something to look into, although all those elections I believe are over. Too bad - I would have loved to see the look on Thom's face when he saw it - and hopefully read about the lawsuit ...

Back before TV on the Radio galvanized the indie-rock community with last year's "Young Liars" EP, the New York band self-released a collection of lo-fi demos and experiments titled "OK Calculator" (a cheeky reference to Radiohead's "OK Computer"). The disc mostly collected singer Tunde Adebimpe's home recordings, tracks he performed primarily a cappella, ingeniously using his voice to mimic drums and overdub mock guitar strums. "OK Calculator" was something of a one-man-band goof, but the impressive "Young Liars" showed what happened when Adebimpe and his friends got serious.

Kid A is this little funny thing that happened while we were making 2001's Room for Squares, John Mayer explained of his Radiohead cover. John Alagia, who was producing the record, had to go away for the weekend. So myself and Jeff Juliano, the engineer, just started messing around. I tooled up this version of Kid A because I love the song, I really do. And within an hour and a half or two hours, it was all done.

Where Radiohead's version of the title track from their 2000 album is an amalgam of looped beats and electronic tones, Mayer rendered his take acoustically, demonstrating his versatility and dexterity as a guitar player. Another fundamental difference is that on Mayer's track, the lyrics can actually be understood.

The thing about doing covers, for me, is that I don't really feel like I can cover just any song, he said. I can't particularly sing somebody's notes clearer or higher or stronger, which is why it was such a cool thing to cover this song. There's a tune there, but it was almost purposefully obscured, like a robot was singing it. It was one of the few songs I could do something with — if you're gonna do a cover, leave the song somewhere different than where you picked it up.

Well, of course, this is a very typical scene for me. I'm in a band called Radiohead and this is like after the show - the Radiohead dressing room and some of the fans come back to room to see the band, and of course the band have all gone home as early as possible. The light is very similar to that kind of thing. It's a very hard light and there's a general mess all over the floor. Of course they've made this mess - we would always clean up the mess after we've made it.

Due to Radiohead banning the cover of creep, the world war IV ep has been withdrawn. We approached Thom Yorke of the band in manchester to ask why permission was not allowed, but all he did was get angry and started shouting "do you know how hard I work?", well probably quite hard Mr Yorke, but then again so does everyone else I know, and for a fraction of the pay and satisfaction you get out of work. We genuinely believed that Radiohead would have given permission for use of their song on an anti war ep, but they work far too hard apparently. FAKE PLASTIC POP STARS. If you would like to let Radiohead themselves know what you think, the email address for their management is bryce@cyard.com.

Chicago is the first city outside of New York to host the groundbreaking digitally animated alternative music show SonicVision and it is well worth attending. The fastest and most thrilling 38 minutes you may ever spend in a planetarium theater, SonicVision blends extraordinary computer-generated visuals with some of the best in contemporary music (mixed by Moby).

Beginning with music by Radiohead, the roof of the theater appears to open revealing a starry sky and galactic activity. Colorful things float and fly above the viewers’ heads to the strains of Audioslave and U2. Giant glow-stick clutching robots dance like circuit party boys. Suddenly, we are transported to a coliseum whose columns dissolve into candles that emit colorful smoke. Giant hands with henna tattoos precede shifting drops of mercury that change shape to the strains of Goldfrapp. Carved stone windows let in light. Masks surround a giant face. Scenes from home movies accompany a David Bowie song and kaleidoscopic images illustrate a song by Coldplay. Laser-etched Spirograph designs are paired up with music by Fischerspooner and Prodigy is the soundtrack for a network of veiny wires. Other striking images include psychedelic concentric circles, giant jacks and a rotunda.

Moby himself provides the music for images of tooth-like stars, which is followed by the sounds of The Flaming Lips, and an “eye-opening” tune by Zwan.

Thom Yorke's middle finger sensationally turned up on online auction site eBay last week. Radiohead fans desperate to get hold of the digit went in a bidding frenzy until it finally sold minutes ago (March 15) for a staggering Ł248.

However, on closer inspection, this "pretty unique item of Radiohead memorabilia" seems to have startlingly metallic properties and odd bronze colouring for a piece of frontman flesh.

Measuring at just over two inches high, the finger is in fact the infamous middle digit from the singer's NME Award, which he broke off during the February 12 ceremony because it was "offensive".

Following the band winning awards for Best Album and Best Video, Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood made their way backstage to give interviews, when the singer snapped his trophy. Greenwood then followed suit.

What time of day did you actually tape 120 Minutes?

Dave: It varied-it was when they had time in the studio.

Matt: All different times-it varied. We would sometimes tape literally as early as 7 or 8 in the morning. And you know what was an amazing thing? Radiohead came to record some live songs from The Bends, and they showed up at 9AM, and did "High and Dry" and "Street Spirit." It was impeccably beautiful. I can't believe Thom Yorke sounded so amazing at 9 in the morning. It was incredible!

Speaking of Radiohead, what's your favorite Radiohead album?

Matt: The Bends was the greatest record. I remember Thom Yorke almost being in tears when he was presented with The Bends gold record here-we all got 'em. And he walked up to me and Andy (MTV) and Lewis, and said, "I know how much shit you guys got for staying behind us, and I just want to say how much it means to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart." And literally, there were almost tears coming out of Thom Yorke's eyes when he walked out. We looked at each other and said, "That was one of the most amazing fucking moments since we started working here." Just to see Thom Yorke being so affected by the love that we gave them for The Bends. Then the critics caught on, and hailed OK Computer to be the greatest album of all time. They wrote the band off after "Creep" thinking they were a one-hit-wonder, so they ignored The Bends and lost out on a great record. I love OK Computer, but The Bends is the album.

Two pieces stood out. If Smear is any guide, FuseLeeds04 has uncovered important classical leanings in Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood. This short, atmospheric piece explores his fascination for the ondes martenot: he finds gainful employment for two of these rare instruments. Emitting a subtle radiance, based on mystic, Messiaenesque meditation one moment and quasi-futuristic motifs the next, Smear reveals an ear for timbre, a gift for musical elaboration and a more sophisticated palette than anyone might have guessed. Greenwood is clearly a composer in the making.

Even though this sound experiment on two Ondes Martenot (early electronic keyboard) had its moments of atmosphere as the two instruments duetted eerily within the thin textures of the orchestration.

Smear was an ambient ripple of a piece from Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, provided glimpses of exquisitely sumptuous textures where its predecessor had been raw, and it deployed two ondes martenots (a microtonal, semi-electric instrument favoured by Messiaen) that often suggested birds trying to sing synthesiser music.

There was more brooding intensity in Smear, a new composition by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, which featured twin ondes martenot, early electronic keyboard instruments most familiar to lay listeners from 1950s' sci-fi movie soundtracks.

Both this CD and its follow-up, O.K. Computer, are among the most virtuosic, spellbinding rock releases of the last decade, blazing a path that other bands can watch from a distance. And though O.K. Computer is a better work of art, the more rock-driven The Bends has the better songs.

Each novel I've written has developed a soundtrack of sorts; a body of music that subtly but palpably helped shape the book in question. I don't imagine most people who've read any of my books could readily see their connections to particular pieces of music, but I have long been aware that... The Hours (is derived from) Schubert (particularly Death and the Maiden), Brian Eno's Music for Airports, Pete Gabriel's Mercy Street, and for reasons I can't begin to explain, Radiohead's OK Computer.

Plot: Taking the band out to the Californian desert, director Jonathan Glazer used a photosonics ultra-slow-motion camera for some woozy trickery. So, Jonny jumps into a caravan watched by the others in real time. Thom jumps slowly over a stick that another Thom is speedily waving above the ground. Gorgeous and genuinely perplexing.

Behind the scenes: Thom's backwards jump off the trailer roof was onto a craftily edited-out safety mattress.

Jonny Greenwood is known to millions as the guitarist in Radiohead, but he is enjoying a parallel life as the unlikely champion of an obscure instrument called the ondes martenot. The device, invented in 1928 by French experimenter Martenot, has featured on the past three Radiohead albums and on Greenwood's solo debut, Bodysong. It is also, he says, the source of that swirly sound like a woman's voice on the Star Trek theme.

Greenwood first heard the ghostly instrument at school, when a teacher played him a piece by French composer Messiaen. For years he didn't know what one looked like; eventually he stumbled across one in Paris and bought it immediately. It looks like a tiny piano, and it's similar to the theremin, but more precise, he says. There's a string with a ring in it that you slide up and down horizontally, and a button that controls the amount of sound. It's mono, so you can only hear one note at a time - but that is a lyrical way of playing a melody.

Now Greenwood has written Smear (being performed tonight by the London Sinfonietta at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, as part of Leeds's Fuse festival), which features not one but two ondes martenots. The sound of two of them together is really amazing, he says. In fact, he has become so obsessed with the instrument's sound that he feels guitars just aren't enough any more. The martenot has become a pivotal part of Radiohead's music: the band have even fed Thom Yorke's vocals through its speakers.

Thom Yorke:
Classic and futuristic, formal and casual at once -- throw an art-mullet on top, and you're there!

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