At the end of last month, Thom Yorke debuted a new playlist on his Sonos Radio station, In the Absence Of”. A week later, the Radiohead frontman is kicking off February by hopping over to BBC Radio 6 Music for another mix, this time as a guest contributor to Mary Anne Hobbs’ show.
The predictably eclectic mix stretches 10 songs over 30 minutes. Featured artists include The Fall (“Oh! Brother”), Q-Tip (“Breathe and Stop”), Mark Pritchard (“J Is For —-“), Moor Mother & Billy Woods (“Maroons” featuring Imani Robinson and Amritha Kidambi), Maalem Mahmoud Guinia & Floating Points (“Mimoum Marhaba”), and more.
To fill in the gaps, Yorke also played some pirate radio advertisements pulled from UK label Death Is Not the End’s recent compilation release London Pirate Radio Adverts 1984-1993, Vol. 1.Hearing old ad drops for local video retailers and record shops between tracks from Reece Coz and Rhythm for Reasons is certainly a fun if not heady mix.
Take a listen to Yorke’s full Radio 6 Music mix at the BBC website.
Last year, the Radiohead singer released a pair of collaborative singles with Burial and Four Tet, and also held a charity auction for his famed “Lotus Flower” hat. More important than all that, however, is the fact that he married his partner of three years, Italian actress Dajana Roncione.
It’s not all positive news though. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, Yorke has been forced to cancel the US run of dates for his “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes Tour”.
