According to Thom Yorke Radiohead's album releasing days are over. In today's Guardian he confessed that he just 'can't bear the idea of doing an album again'. Apparently the scale of such projects have become too much for the Oxford five-piece to cope with.

As a lifelong Radiohead disciple I'm gutted by the news - the release of a Radiohead album was always something of an event, even when it was sprung on us in the case of 'In Rainbows'. I remember being glued to my radio in the days leading up to the release of OK Computer on the promise that Dave Fanning would play a track or two ahead of the release. My fingers were primed to press 'Play/Record' at a moments notice and for days after I played those cassette recordings to the point of disintegration.  

Then there was the seemingly indefinite gap between OK Computer and Kid A. Ed O'Brien's online diary chronicled the fractious recording sessions and fears grew that there may not have been a band at the end of the process, let alone an album.

The summer of 2002 saw the band road test new material, that was to become Hail To The Thief, on an Iberian tour of small theatres. Poor quality recordings surfaced online within hours and again pulses raced at the chance to hear what this next album might sound like.

Well no more. No more limited edition releases of album picture books, road maps and fabric covered library books that never fit comfortably in a CD rack but were so beautiful you didn't care. It seems that from now on we'll have to make do with the odd EP available for digital download only. Well at least that's something.

Jan