What’s Radiohead Building in There?

Remember in that Will Smith blockbuster Independence Day when Jeff Goldblum’s character discovers a secret alien algorithm counting down the seconds until the total destruction of the human race? Well, when it comes to music news, last night’s mysterious Radiohead leak took over the airwaves about as fast as a spaceship hovering over the White House did in that film and so have similar
conspiracy theories
. Let’s take a look at what’s surfaced thus far and find out if we need to warn the president.

The popular theory of the moment is that Radiohead are unveiling a new EP called Wall of Ice. This idea stems from analysis of the leaked “These Are My Twisted Words” MP3 file information and accompanied ASCII text file. The MP3’s title, “01-radiohead-these_are_my_twisted_words-(advance)-2009-woi.mp3,”
suggests the track is part of an album coming out this year and the “woi” is allegedly explained in the ASCII’s cryptic poem, which contains multiple references to a “wall of ice.” Not to mention, the file says that the release date is on this coming Monday.

As CNET’s Harrison Hoffman points out in his analysis of this theory, there is also a popular anti-RIAA cartoon (seen here), which could be providing the inspiration for the possible EP’s title. And that leads us to another theory:

If Radiohead are slowly rolling out songs for a new release, is it all just to spite EMI’s recently announced Kid A, Hail to the Thief, and Amnesiac reissues? Take a look at the cartoon’s caption and decide for yourself:

Dear Sony, Microsoft, the MPAA, the RIAA, and Apple: Let’s make a deal. You stop trying to tell me, where, when, and how I play my movies and music, and I won’t crush your homes under my inexorably advancing wall of ice.


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