A lot of this week was spent setting up. The right environment to work is crucial if your going to attempt to do anything vaguely different, then your surroundings have to reflect that. Equally so, what has become increasingly evident is the need to change our approach to recording on a lot of the songs. The approach or setup is crucial. For instance the way we worked the on the last record was to rehearse everything to such a standard, where most of the parts have been so finely tuned, that recording was largely a matter of capturing the best performance. And that’s fine, but recording in this way tends to mean that the songs have a certain way of sounding. i.e. – Pretty good in a live/band context.

Well that’s not enough now, and I think there is a feeling that unless we change our approach often were just going to become (?) of ourselves and even dull. There was a wonderful moment this week when we were all crowded around the TV watching this programme documenting the story of hip hop and it was the classic years from ’88 until ’92 with RUN DMC, Public Enemy and NWA – etc. Some of the greatest records ever made, and they interviewed Hank Shoucler – he was the fella who produced Public Enemy in the early days – and made the great “it takes a nation of millions…” album. And he was explaining their methodology – the way they recorded. Basically they all set up with samplers, Devo, drum machines. In the same room and recorded. Now most of it we said sounded like a mess, but apparently there were great moments, that were then cut up and from that the basic track was constructed. The effect of hearing this was like “well why the fuck can’t we do this” – it could be so exciting. We have the means to make a communal racket so why not harness some of this technology and use it within our own sphere. I mean we’re not going to make a hip-hop record, much as we’d like to, but what was exciting was the idea that kind of approach, or something similar offered us a necessary alternative to the way that we have largely worked until now.

Once we have done this then we might really get somewhere.

“this week we have been mostly working on optimistic”

“it would be ideal to finish optimistic”

“lets just do the end and edit onto the original take”

“the drums for Rachael’s songs sound like nothing else”

“Jonny, how the fuck did you manage to get them sounding like that?”

“oh yeah”

“I’ve been doing this all afternoon and need to get out”

“I can’t play that on this guitar”

“gorgeous smell in here, Nigel”

“Eddy and I like the mach 3”

“I really like the late roll, the long one”

“It’s not as sleazy as the one before”

It’s Friday yet Tuesday feels like yesterday – have we finished optimistic? No. And it could be tempting to abandon it in favour of starting something new. But then we know we aren’t to far away. We must see this thing through if for no other reason that it’s needed confidence.

i’ve also included a couple of bits from the last six weeks.

if you haven’t heard ‘hunky dory’ in a while i suggest you give it a spin – sounds pure genius to me in the bath.

-i’ve tried to write something about what we’ve been doing in the last five weeks – there have been the day-by-day accounts which have been of the ‘we did this and then we did that’ variety……….all incredibly boring to read. then there have been a couple of ‘essays’ written whilst stoned late at night, only to be re-read the next morning. pretensious old tosh. all have been discarded. it’s easy to get extremely self-conscious doing this. we’re in london at present and nigel is mixing; he has been for three days. which means that we have actually finished six or so tracks. this has been our life for the last five weeks – we had a list of about ten songs which was then further narrowed down to six. they are definitely different………………..there’s an eight piece brass ensemble in a charles mingus style on one – eight ‘jazzers’ came down for the day and blew their stuff all over ‘everyone – the national anthem’. they were fantastic…………thom and jonny conducted. what a day. there’s ‘optimistic’, there’s another which started off as a thom doodle on the 505……..there’s also the paris version of ‘lost at sea’………the batsford ‘morning bell’.it is different. but that’s what we do. what has also become evident is that the summer panic that led to two months rehearsal may have been a little premature…..or at the very least a little on the hysterical side.there was some good stuff recorded in paris, copenhagen and batsford. i’ve been listening to alot of the copenhagen tracks and out-takes and the overall sound is great. pretty dark but then that session was hardly a chuckle-trousered affair.

this diary is long overdue – sorry – i’m not sure why it’s been so hard to post something. alot of it probably has something to do with the way that we have been working over the last six or so weeks.tracks have had to be completed and approached in new ways so that up until last week we hadn’t actually played together in a room since thom’s b/day in early october. so at times the process has felt quite disparate but then that’s part of being in the studio.

so hopefully this is now going to be a daily update.

hope you have a relaxing xmas and new year………and if it is bollocks, be assured that you are not the only one having a shitty time. it’s the time when most families break up………..xmas after all is for the high street…………….if it was to celebrate the birth of christ they got it wrong. xmas was an old pagan festival and christ was supposed to have been born around september time. here endeth the lesson. bah humbug.

i have just had a thought……..still excited by last thursdays live webcast .and thinking about ways it could be developed……i think it could be very cool to play new stuff by unsigned bands, musicians, collectives (ie bands not on major labels – small indie is fine).if any of you are making music, have mates that are or you just think that this music that you are in to deserves to be heard then send it into me at our po box address, which is po box 322, oxford, ox4 1ey. i like all kinds of shit so please don’t just send in guitar band stuff. anything. spread the word. alright that’s enough for now. happy xmas… and a very merry millenium…..

i think we all arrived at the studio with that same dread of starting where we left off.to plough back into the old tracks seemed like a daunting task. nigel suggested a different plan of action to ease us back into it over the next couple of weeks. the idea was to spend this time working in a completely different way; no acoustic instruments ie any guitars,drums or vocals……everything has to be electronically generated. it means that we can’t fall back on what we’ve done before and forces us to work this equipment. it’s actually an incredible amount of fun – which is not something we’ve had in abundance over the last year or in studios in general. we’ve been working on four ‘bits’ and because they are fairly abstract it will be interesting to review it in a few weeks. the important thing is that you are constantly learning even if something doesn’t necessarily work out. and actually it’s something we’ve been meaning to do for a while. again it’s the need to change the methodology in how you actually make the music – only by doing this will we actually produce stuff that sounds any different. and conversely by finding another approach to recording, it enthuses us in the way that we’ve worked together as a ‘live’ band. the rehearsals last week were fantastic precisely because we had not picked up those instruments and recorded them.

this week we have cast the experimental net further afield to include material like ‘true love waits’ and ‘feeling pulled apart by horses’. the former has been kicking around for about four years now and each time we approached it we seemed to be going down the same old paths………it actually sounds like the start of something exciting now.

did an interesting band version of ‘bombers’ which thom has attached to what i used to call ‘the neil young’ song…we may play it some time later this evening.

thankyou to everyone who sent in their demos……maybe i was a little naive to assume that a handful of people would send in theirs’ or others’ offerings……what i realise has happened is that various publications and radio stations have visited this diary and announced that radiohead are embarking on a fucking talent search or something. bastards. it’s probably pay-back time for being miserable and contrary on our last round of interviews…..anyway i’ve started going through it and will listen to it all, eventually. it’s actually very interesting as it strikes me from what i’ve listened to so far that there are alot of really good musicians out there, but what distinguishes the good from the not so good is having taste. ie for instance you could be simply red (apologies for the easy target) and send in a demo and i’m always going to think it’s totally shit in spite of its technical ‘proficiency’. having said that there’s little that sounds like that. but what i’m saying in an around-about way is that it doesn’t matter if i don’t think something’s that good; if you really love what you’re doing then that is all that matters……..there is absolutely no point in making music that you think will help you to get signed……….second-guessing what people want to hear is a completely fruitless exercise as it is almost completely impossible to predict what people want to hear; by the time people actually get to hear that music it’s more than likely that it’s old-hat and most importantly you will never stumble upon something that is truly fresh and exciting.

today however has been a quite different affair. still on the same song. jonny found the one chord thing; it’s to be played by the strings(to be recorded soon)…..in fact jonny has spent much of the last two weeks scoring and arranging strings in his room; which is a huge undertaking as 24 string players are going to be playing precisely what he has scored and these people are professionals….thom has this evening just done a wonderful vocal and the song is beginning to go another way. bad day, good day, good cop, bad cop.

nigel was sidetracked last week by ‘cuttooth’ so he really really wants to do some mixing this week. ‘egyptian song’ then……….thom plays bass and it sounds pretty much finished. i haven’t really been involved in this song so when i hear it i think i’m able to be fairly objective about it………it has the feel of one of the tracks on the last mark hollis album and it is definitely one of the highlights so far. meanwhile downstairs……………….jonny and i are let loose on fucking up phil’s drum sound. hours of fun as coz might say. starts off by phil doing some drums on ‘kinetic’……………….keep getting that ground hogday sensation writing this diary. can’t help feeling that this must be an exceptionally boring read except to maybe the diehard muso…………

good work on ‘up on the ladder’ today…good drums and a much better arrangement. will return tomorrow to things i am ‘qualified’ to write about.

so what i’m actually saying is that the recording part of this record will be finished in a couple of days……but you know if we’re consistent in our behavioural patterns, then you might finally hear something in the autumn of ’01…………after arguments over track-listing, running orders, etc………who’ll be the first to suggest the quadruple album mixed in surroud sound? ………………..might throw it in there myself to stir things up a bit…..the running order for an album is so important…… i don’t think you have any idea how vital it is until you actually fuck it up which we did big time on the first record…..for ‘ok computer’ it was a nightmare, agendas had been set and at one time it was like bloody horse-trading…………. “if you want ‘let down’ on the record then it only makes sense if ‘electioneering’ is on there too”……maybe it won’t be such a torrid experience this time……..somehow i don’t think so and that’s probably right anyway.

there’s been a couple of articles recently in the press speculating what’s up with us….the one in melody maker sent a journo down to oxford to snoop around……he or she was apparently outside each of our houses on a kind of indie ‘stakeout’…. and the piece ultimately was very flattering, but you know this is a non-story…………yes we go food shopping and fucking hell would you believe it we actually walk down the street in broad daylight……..and what’s more we’ve been known to sometimes break into a smile……the other was in the grauniad on friday, entitled ‘why are we waiting?’ again very nice and for the record, you won’t have to wait too long now. but please don’t waste column inches on mere speculation about when and what the album will be like………all we’ve ever claimed is that the records will be different…… anyway if the truth be told we don’t actually know. i’ve gone on way too long in this stream of alcohol induced consciousness and i must end before i write something even more stupid like offering that melody maker journo a handbags at dawn duel – see you at shotover a week on monday with your best louis vuitton..6am be there.

viva la lucha and good luck and respect to all the anti-imf and world bank protesters in washington this w/end, in fact go to thom’s page and there are a couple of links to some relevant sites about what’s going down. June 8, 2000 well, well, well….it’s been a while …….so here’s a short one to ease us all back into it….i’ve written quite a bit but never sent anything………………………it feels a bit like that letter you never dared send ….the one you’ve just written but you don’t entirely trust it’s very words……so no point inflicting those words on anyone else…….i’m sure we’ve all been there……of course i realise that that conflicts with the very nature of this ‘diary’, but it’s all about confidence…some days are better than others. actually the truth is that at such a crucial time of the album……..tracklisting, rehearsals, titles, arguments and full on fist fights……i probably haven’t been at my most objective……..there is however one cert in my mind….i fucking love this record now……..and that’s not me attempting to whip others into a kind of mass marketing aren’t we great type frenzy………..it’s the god’s honest truth, governor……….but before i can write anymore i’m going to conflab with the others so that we can get our story straight………here’s an idea…………… it looks as though alastair campbell has made a few errors in judgement over the handling of his pm’s media engagements recently and might want to seek further employment elsewhere in an effort to save some of his rapidly dwindling credibilty……and maybe, just maybe he could add some ‘spin’ to us radiohead fellas………..that would be ace to see ‘al’ doing interviews for us…………tight-lipped, stern and fending off the press …………..”listen sonny if you ask this lot another question about why they always seem such a miserable bunch of bastards i will personally make sure you never hear another record of theirs again………..and for the record meeting people IS easy………………” ……………….. ah yes that would be just fine……….no more questions as to how you got the name of the band, or what you thought of creep now some 7 years after its release….actually to be honest the interviews done so far seem to be of a different calibre compared to last time round……..so consequently they’re not or at least have not been so far too much of an effort ………..but that might also have something to do with us and our new-found spirit of glasnost.prost.

will write something more at the w/end. we’re off on tour on monday………………. June 11, 2000 apologies for the last entry and the half-arsed attempt at some humour…….very embarassed re-reading it. that’s what comes from having listened to the album twice in succession at half three in the morning……. and deciding to post something up……………so we leave tomorrow for france and the first show in arles on tuesday……..very nice….will write some more from a tour bus in europe. June 14, 2000 we had to cancel the vaison show…………so firstly apologies to everyone who had tickets and were looking forward to the gig……we’d even got the set list done with different new songs from last night and soundchecked them……….and what an amazing place…..a roman theatre like last night in arles. the freak rain was of course to blame…….the stage had a good three inches of the stuff from a twenty minute downpour and with another storm forecast for 9.30pm and alot of the equipment still damaged from last night’s storm in arles the decision was made to pull the show………somehow we got away with it last night but today just seemed as if it wasn’t meant to be…….sorry again to those in vaison ….. so we’re now en route to barcelona for the first show with a roof which may prove to be a fortunate thing judging by the lightning storms we’re presently driving through….in spite of all this strange weather i have to say that it is so good to be on tour in southern europe…..quote of the tour so far from coz who said yesterday whilst dining amongst the roman ruins……..”this is the best holiday i’ve ever been on!”…….which may not sound very unusual… but within the context of radiohead touring again is something close to extraordinary…..see you in barcelona. June 18, 2000 it’s sunday so it must be milan and the royal palace – the king of italy once lived here in this monza palace……….. in fact we’ve just been shown the theatre where he reputedly threw huge orgies. it’s quite a place. barcelona and last night’s show in frejus were immense……barca started a little weirdly with us and the audience getting used to the teatro tivoli, the most un-rock’n roll of venues(extremely ornate however)…….eveyone stayed pinned to their seats until we returned for an encore. our day off in barca consisted of eating and drinking vast amounts, broken up by a two hour siesta…ideal…..the only downer to the frejus gig was when i announced on stage that england had beaten germany in the football through a shearer goal…..bad move this was zidane country and very partisan to boot…..nevertheless a great audience. i picked italy in our euro 2000 sweepstake so as far as i’m concerned we’re playing on home turf tonight….it’s very warm. June 26, 2000 athens, greece arrived this morning to play the first of two gigs in the lycabetus theatre, which is apparently near the parthenon. no site of any greek antiquities as of yet, even from the top floor of the hotel………this city seems huge and apparently we’re situated in what a local described as a kind of no-man’s land……lots of traffic outside the window……and parked cars everywhere which is explained by the fact that they operate a system here whereby car licences are issued for different days of the week in order to alleviate the serious traffic congestion ie you have a car and you’re only allowed to drive that car on mondays, wednesdays, fridays and sundays………..what happens of course is that if you’ve got the dosh you then buy another car that you can drive on tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays……………….mmmm………….we had an amazing time in florence……….played open-air, right in the heart of the old town at the piazza san croce……….it doesn’t get better than this….went on and played in thessaloniki last night at the earth theatre….. a beautiful modern amphitheatre which had actually been dug out of the hill that overlooks that city…..a brilliant audience who exhibited great patience at hearing a set with nine new songs and a band which ignored repeated requets for creep(….understandable on their part, the requests that is, as this was our first visit) and pop is dead (….. cheeky bastards….)

getting a little worried about how easy it is to drink vast amounts of alcohol on tour…kick-started by the lovely laika people who apart from playing some great shows with us also happen to make the greatest margaritas outside of mexico itself……they are dangerous touring partners..

the new songs are working pretty well now in the set….’in limbo’s still a little tricky but it’s more than made up by the way ‘the national anthem’ and ‘everything in its right place’ is going ……….our crew by the way are doing an immense job working outside in incredible heats while we swan around like popstars……….