...::news::...

Radiohead have joined thousands of protesters in a mass lobby of parliament to help mobilise "people power" against global trade laws.

Their presence boosted the profile of the event, which was expected to see 10,000 people descend on Westminster.
The group said they would "hopefully" get to meet their local MP - Liberal Democrat Dr Evan Harris, who represents Oxford West - to urge him to sign a House of Commons motion to support the campaign.
Singer Thom Yorke said he was there because trade laws were "completely outmoded and exploitative towards poor countries".
The band were taking a break from preparations for a string of concerts in Spain and Portugal in July and August, at which new material is expected to make its debut.

Mexican wave

The rally was organised by the Trade Justice Movement, a new pressure group comprising charities including Christian Aid, Oxfam and Save the Children.
The band's campaigning follows the high-profile support they gave to the "drop the debt" Jubilee 2000 cause, which has now ended.
"For me personally, it was a real sense of frustration when it ended," Thom Yorke told BBC News Online.
"I find that the Trade Justice Movement, in a way, is bringing back all those issues."
The trade laws are "pretending to be in the interests of the poorest, but are really highly exploitative," he said.
The group were due to take part in a mass "mexican vave" of noise that passed down the line of protestors waiting to meet their MPs that stretched across the Thames.
Guitarist Ed O'Brien said they felt like they could make a difference.
"You meet a lot of people who are similar to you and who feel the same way and ultimately it does make a difference," he said. "We are the people."
He said it was "fantastic" to see so many people of all ages at the rally.
"And it's not just in Britain, it's around the world, and that's really encouraging, that's really exciting," he said.

Fair trade

He had been to May Day anti-globalisation protests in London for the last three years, he said.
"I feel very strongly about how trade is done throughout the world, how unfair it is, and how it places burdens that can never be removed on developing countries.
"They are complicit in being the main source of poverty and environmental damage to the planet."
The band tries to buy fair trade products as well as raising awareness, he said.
Yorke said he was not tying to send a message to the band's fans - but they could join the crusade if they wanted to.
"It's something that we're well into, and hopefully we don't have the sort of fans who just follow us around like that," he said.
"I don't think we do, actually."
"We put addresses on our website, but we do not tell people to go there. It's like, if you're interested, whatever."
He has previously condemned those in charge of free trade rules as "a bunch of lunatic economic zealots waving stupid little flags".
Yorke is one of the highest-profile rock stars to take up charity issues, and has also spoken out in favour of CND and the War on Want.
He sent a Christmas message to his fans, saying President George W Bush had "his hands covered in oil and military hardware" and said the world needed "love, understanding and tolerance and good laws that apply to everyone".

Radiohead are reportedly already at work on the follow-up to last year's Amnesiac, scheduling studio time in May and publishing some teasing lyric fragments on their official website. Rather than sequestering themselves in the studio as on the mammoth sessions that begat Kid A and Amnesiac, Radiohead hope to use the sessions to bang out some demos before roadtesting the new material on select live dates later this summer. Sources told Pitchfork the sessions will likely be engineered by Graeme Stewart, who lent a hand on both Kid A and Amnesiac, as well as producing the highly experimental Amnesiac b-sides. The band is likely to reteam with Nigel Godrich for more recording further down the road.

While little is known about the new material aside from a handful of tunes sporadically previewed on the Amnesiac tour, one need only examine the band's current listening diet to deduce the future direction of Radiohead. Or not: "We're listening to a lot of guitar music at the moment," guitarist Ed O'Brien told Worldpop. "I like a lot of the new bands like Electric Soft Parade." Of course, Ed also dropped the names of the White Stripes and the Strokes, and he's been saying the next Radiohead album is going to have a big guitar sound since, well, since 1997. Thom Yorke, meanwhile, has been listening to equal doses of Tim Buckley and glitch. Guitarist/keyboardist Jonny Greenwood has been learning both accordian and trumpet. In fact, the guys have been stocking up on all manner of "software, strange instruments, and synths" for the new recordings, according to our sources.

Among the new-ish material performed on the Amnesiac tour were the anthemic "Reckoner" (a hooky riff-rocker in its sole performance last year-- who knows how it'll turn out once Yorke sics his ProTools on it), "Follow Me Around," a holdover from the post-OK Computer period, and "Wicked Child," performed exactly once on a webcast, only to disappear, erm... completely. The official Radiohead site recently posted several lyrics and lyric fragments from the works in progress, with bits of "Reckoner," "Bring on the New Blood," "Keep the Wolf from the Door," and "Up on the Ladder" among other, untitled snippets of Yorkespeak.

A wasted radiohead new album
from the NME
RADIOHEAD's "self-assured" new album is a culmination of the best aspects of their last four records.

The record, the group's sixth, is due for mid-June, with working titles '2+2=5' and 'Are You Listening'. Recording is now complete, although sessions on the record are expected to continue until at least mid-February.

O'Brien revealed that the atmosphere in the band is "fucking brilliant" compared to the frosty recording sessions for their last two albums 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac, and that the new songs contain "space and sunshine and energy".

He commented: "You know that time when bands begin to swagger, like when the Stones got in a grove from '68 to '73? In the last two years, I think we've done that. To me, this record feels like the culmination of the best bits of 'The Bends', 'OK Computer', 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac'.

Speaking to Q, drummer Phil Selway added: "I don't think we've ever felt so self assured in the studio. This time no shit hit the fan. And Thom's voice has been incredible. That's the stand out element for me. He's reminded us that he's in a league of his own."

A wasted radiohead 2003 summer festival

******Dublin - olympia - 17th may sold out
******Dublin - olympia - 18th may sold out
******Belfast - waterfront - 19th may sold out
******Edinburgh corn exchange - 21st may sold out
******Manchester - apollo - 22nd may sold out
******London - shephers bush empire - 24th may sold out
******London - shephers bush empire - 25th may sold out
**Hultsfred Festival - Sweden - 13th June                      www.rockparty.se
**Southside Festival - Germany - Fri 20th June               www.southside.de
**Hurricane Festival - Germany - Sun 22nd June            www.hurricane.de
**Werchter Festival - Belgium - 26th June                       www.rockwerchter.be
**Glastonbury (do I really need to tell you where it is?!!?) - 28th June 2003
**Les eurock�ennes de Belfort - France - 4th July         www.eurockeennes.fr
******Ar�nes de N�mes - France - 14 Juillet (!!!!!) 34 Euros   www.fnac.com