09 May 2011

But is it a ...

Is two CDs in a cover a book? If it comes with, or becomes, an art newspaper, does that change anything? This is King of Limbs (new to me!), seen here. Art is by Stanley Donwood, based on northern European fairy tales and their association with forests and woods.

Of the limited newspaper edition of the album, Donwood said: "What I like about newspaper is its ephemeral nature, I like the way the paper goes yellow and brittle when you leave it out in the sunlight. I wanted to do this thing like a really annoying Sunday paper, you know when you buy the paper and all this crap falls out? I wanted to do something really annoying with all these crappy bits of floppy, glossy paper."

To promote the CD and vinyl release of The King of Limbs, Radiohead distributed a free single-issue newspaper, The Universal Sigh, at record shops across the world on 28 March 2011. It is separate from the Newspaper Album version of The King of Limbs. This 12-page tabloid was printed using offset lithography on newsprint paper; it features artwork, poetry, lyrics, and short stories.

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