Radiohead prides itself in being different that other U.K. groups. They are open in their resentment of greedy capitalists, don’t conform to typical venues for typical fees, hate George Bush, won’t perform their first hit single (”Creep”) and have never been a big fan of music labels and other constrictive entities.

So one can’t be surprised that they’re planning to release new tracks on an individual basis digitally in the upcoming future. Read on…

In interviews prior to Hail to the Thief, the group talked about wanting to create a complete album that’s meant to be listened to all the way through. They dismissed the artists who create one or two radio-ready singles and fill the rest of an LP out with filler crap. But in interviews after Thief, the group started talking about writing songs one at a time - the power of the single and had teased that they may just release 1-3 song EPs for a few years. They’ve also been at the forefront of music and Internet, debuting Radiohead TV on their ever-changing Web site (where various members regularly post blog-like updates, and of course, promoting Stanley Donwood projects.

On Monday, Thom Yorke posted:

think we’ve always worked best when we arent bothered
about making mistakes. theres a lot of baggage about the old way of doing things that is hard to get over…all the ‘album’ crap..just this level of pressure that is ridiculous..we’re just going to do what feels right at the time. quite into the idea of singles at the moment(that dont get on the radio)

So today’s news might just be a continuation of that. From Digital Music News today:

Radiohead has just revealed details on its upcoming tour, and hinted at plans to exclusively release new songs in a digital format. While details of the latter plan remain sketchy, a recent statement from the band offers hints. “To keep things more fun and spontaneous, we will be playing new songs that are work in progress,” the group said. “We will also be releasing music to download when we are excited about it, rather than wait twelve months for a full blown album release.”

The move to embrace digital distribution is significant, especially given the group’s reluctance to license material to stores like iTunes. Whether a licensed, digital download deal is on the way is unknown, though more big-name acts are taking the plunge.

Currently the Radiohead tour covers only Europe (and Bonnaroo in June), but there’s a North American tour slated for June, although the group is having trouble securing a date in Chicago.