Radiohead is a tough act to live up to, both in its universally acclaimed albums and impact on the music industry as a whole, such as when it released 2007's In Rainbows as one of the first examples of the pay-what-you-want digital music scheme. Frontman Thom Yorke drew headlines when he dropped his solo album Tomorrow's Modern Boxes as a BitTorrent bundle, featuring eight new tracks and a music video, during the last week of September. Moon Taxi then has the right to feel good for releasing its Live In Austin EP as a BitTorrent bundle nearly a month in advance of Yorke's "revolutionary" package.
Austin features five tracks recorded from the band's South by Southwest set, along with some older singles, music videos and the "stems" for single "Morocco," which will make remixing the track a breeze for the electronically-minded. All free. Yorke offers one song on the cheap while asking $6 for the full set of tunes and a music video.
"Yeah, Thom is always a little behind the curve when compared with us," guitarist Spencer Thomson quips facetiously. "It's hard for him to get out of our shadows."
The band's collected interviews and social media feeds all reflect tongues held firmly in cheek. One interview claims the group's title was derived from a psychedelic rumination on the transportative nature of music. Another suggest it being derived from a true, ill-advised attempt at hailing a cab.
The drop was a huge success in terms of publicity for Moon Taxi—which recently passed 50,000 Facebook followers and earned the Best Local Band prize by way of Nashville Scene's reader poll—but they still understand that at some point a band has to make money, hence why Thomson's prodding at Yorke was merely playful.
Despite the Live in Austin EP's success, the guitarist hesitates to predict whether the group will roll out a similar endeavor anytime soon. The release's original purpose was as a "thank you" to fans, so the band didn't mind offering a few freebies. The remix-package offered for "Morocco" served an entertaining double purpose, highlighting how fans reimagined Moon Taxi's original work. Thomson admits he hasn't gotten to check out all the submissions to the contest affiliated with the remixes, but a few have left an impression.
"There's one from a kid, Moon Funk, that was just slick," he said. "Almost a different song."
Moon Taxi won't become a pseudo-house act anytime soon, a la Coldplay, but any act burdened with the "progressive" label tends to approach things a little differently from album to album. If anything, the band toned down its less-mainstream tendencies on 2013's Mountains Beaches Cities, although Thomson noted that "Mercury"—a track from 2012's Cabaret with an odd 7/4 time signature—remains the group's most popular offering. There's also the question of whether a banjo—such as the 1920's jazz band tenor that Thomson favors—constitutes a "progressive" sound. Maybe...maybe not. Moon Taxi's in-house plucker only knows one thing for sure.
"There will probably be a ton of banjo on Thom Yorke's next album," he says with a chuckle.
Moon Taxi will play at New York's Gramercy Theatre on October 24 as part of the CMJ Music Marathon. Tickets are available via Live Nation. The Live From Austin EP is available at BitTorrent.com.
