Yesterday, Radiohead gave an interview to Steve Lamacq of BBC Radio 6, during which the band briefly discussed two internet-bred conspiracy theories concerning their new album, In Rainbows. First there's the "Binary Code/Tens Theory," which suggests that Radiohead were obsessed with the number ten on In Rainbows. Here's the evidence: The album was released on October 10th, or 10/10; In Rainbows is ten letters long and has ten tracks; and just before the album's release date, posts on Radiohead's website featured phrases like "March Wa X" and "Xendless Xurbia," spotlighting the roman numeral X. While the band didn't specifically refute this theory, Thom Yorke did refer to "all these mad theories on the net." Another of those "mad" theories is the Golden Section theory. "If you're really, really, really, really stuck for something to do, you could always read up about that [theory]," Yorke said. Rather than read up, we'll try to explain (with an assist by Wikipedia): The theory centers around a work of ancient mathematics called the Golden Ratio. During the Renaissance, architects and artists used the ratio — which is an actual number, or 1.618 to 1 – to proportion objects in buildings and paintings and thus make the work aesthetically pleasing. What does this have to do with In Rainbows? Well, 61.8 percent way through the album – or 1/1.618 — the strings kick in and the album title's name is sung in the background vocals. Just a coincidence? Or is Radiohead channeling Da Vinci? You decide. Also during the interview, we learned that Yorke, like most people, paid nothing to download the album ("I thought it would be silly to pay any money. I'd swap it from one pocket to the other."), and the band confirmed earlier reports that they would embark on a U.S. tour in May.
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