Fog is a collection of liquid water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface.^[1] While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated locally (such as from a nearby body of water, like a lake or the ocean, or from nearby moist ground or marshes).^[2] Fog is distinguished from mist only by its density, as expressed in the resulting decrease in visibility: Fog reduces visibility to less than 1 km (5/8 statute mile), whereas mist reduces visibility to no less than 1 km .^[3] For aviation purposes in the UK, a visibility of less than 5 km but greater than 999 m is considered to be mist if the relative humidity is 70% or greater – below 70% haze is reported;but is between 5000 m to zero m^[4].^{[citation needed]}.

The foggiest place in the world is the Grand Banks off the island of Newfoundland, the meeting place of the cold Labrador Current from the north and the much warmer Gulf Stream from the south. Some of the foggiest land areas in the world include Argentia, Newfoundland and Point Reyes, California, each with over 200 foggy days per year. Even in generally warmer southern Europe, thick fog and localized fog is often found in lowlands and valleys, such as the lower part of the Po Valley and the Arno and Tiber valleys in Italy or Ebro Valley in northeastern Iberia, as well as on the Swiss plateau, especially in the Seeland area, in late autumn and winter.^{[citation needed]} Other notably foggy areas include coastal Chile (in the south), coastal Namibia, and the Severnaya Zemlya islands.^[5]

Characteristics[link]

Fog forms when the difference between temperature and dew point is generally less than 2.5 °C or 4 °F.^[6]

Forming process of light fog above a ditch, where there is a relative humidity near 100%.

Fog begins to form when water vapor condenses into tiny liquid water droplets in the air. The main ways water vapor is added to the air: wind convergence into areas of upward motion,^[7] precipitation or virga falling from above,^[8] daytime heating evaporating water from the surface of oceans, water bodies or wet land,^[9] transpiration from plants,^[10] cool or dry air moving over warmer water,^[11] and lifting air over mountains.^[12] Water vapor normally begins to condense on condensation nuclei such as dust, ice, and salt in order to form clouds.^[13][14] Fog, like its slightly elevated cousin stratus, is a stable cloud deck which tends to form when a cool, stable air mass is trapped underneath a warm air mass.^[15]

Fog normally occurs at a relative humidity near 100%.^[16] This can be achieved by either adding moisture to the air or dropping the ambient air temperature.^[16] Fog can form at lower humidities, and fog can sometimes not form with relative humidity at 100%. A reading of 100% relative humidity means that the air can hold no additional moisture; the air will become supersaturated if additional moisture is added.

Fog can form suddenly, and can dissipate just as rapidly, depending what side of the dew point the temperature is on. This phenomenon is known as flash fog.^[17]

Another common type of formation is associated with sea fog (also known as haar or fret). This is due to the peculiar effect of salt. Clouds of all types require minute hygroscopic particles upon which water vapor can condense. Over the ocean surface, the most common particles are salt from salt spray produced by breaking waves. Except in areas of storminess, the most common areas of breaking waves are located near coastlines, hence the greatest densities of airborne salt particles are there. Condensation on salt particles has been observed to occur at humidities as low as 70%, thus fog can occur even in relatively dry air in suitable locations such as the California coast. Typically, such lower humidity fog is preceded by a transparent mistiness along the coastline as condensation competes with evaporation, a phenomenon that is typically noticeable by beachgoers in the afternoon. Another recently-discovered source of condensation nuclei for coastal fog is kelp. Researchers have found that under stress (intense sunlight, strong evaporation, etc.), kelp release particles of iodine which in turn become nuclei for condensation of water vapor.^[18]

Fog commonly produces precipitation in the form of drizzle or very light snow. Drizzle occurs when the humidity of fog attains 100% and the minute cloud droplets begin to coalesce into larger droplets.^[19] This can occur when the fog layer is lifted and cooled sufficiently, or when it is forcibly compressed from above. Drizzle becomes freezing drizzle when the temperature at the surface drops below the freezing point.

The thickness of fog is largely determined by the altitude of the inversion boundary, which in coastal or oceanic locales is also the top of the marine layer, above which the airmass is warmer and drier. The inversion boundary varies its altitude primarily in response to the weight of the air above it which is measured in terms of atmospheric pressure. The marine layer and any fogbank it may contain will be "squashed" when the pressure is high, and conversely, may expand upwards when the pressure above it is lowering.

Visibility hazard[link]

Light fog reducing visibility on a suburban street. The cyclist is very hazy at about 200m (219 yards). The limit of visibility is about 400m (437 yards), which is before the end of the street.

Shadows[link]

Shadows are cast through fog in three dimensions. The fog is dense enough to be illuminated by light that passes through gaps in a structure or tree, but thin enough to let a large quantity of that light pass through to illuminate points further on. As a result, object shadows appear as "beams" oriented in a direction parallel to the light source. These voluminous shadows are due to the same cause as crepuscular rays, which are the shadows of clouds, but in this case, they are the shadows of solid objects.

[edit] Types

Fog can form in a number of ways, depending on how the cooling that caused the condensation occurred:

Radiation fog is formed by the cooling of land after sunset by thermal radiation in calm conditions with clear sky.

The cool ground produces condensation in the nearby air by heat conduction. In perfect calm the fog layer can be less than a meter deep but turbulence can promote a thicker layer. Radiation fogs occur at night, and usually do not last long after sunrise, though can persist all day in the winter months especially in areas bounded by high ground such as the Vale of York in England. Radiation fog is most common in autumn and early winter. Examples of this phenomenon include the Tule fog.^[20]

Ground fog is fog that obscures less than 60% of the sky and does not extend to the base of any overhead clouds.^[21] However, the term is sometimes used to refer to radiation fog.

Advection fog occurs when moist air passes over a cool surface by advection (wind) and is cooled.^[22] It is common as a warm front passes over an area with significant snowpack. It is most common at sea when tropical air encounters cooler waters, including areas of cold water upwelling, such as along the California coast. The advection of fog along the California coastline is propelled onto land by one of several processes. A cold front can push the marine layer coastward, an occurrence most typical in the spring or late fall. During the summer months, a low pressure trough produced by intense heating inland creates a strong pressure gradient, drawing in the dense marine layer. Also during the summer, strong high pressure aloft over the desert southwest, usually in connection with the summer monsoon, produces a south to southeasterly flow which can drive the offshore marine layer up the coastline; a phenomenon known as a "southerly surge", typically following a coastal heat spell. However, if the monsoonal flow is sufficiently turbulent, it might instead break up the marine layer and any fog it may contain. Moderate turbulence will typically transform a fog bank, lifting it and breaking it up into shallow convective clouds called stratocumulus.

Sea smoke, also called steam fog or evaporation fog, is the most localized form and is created by cold air passing over warmer water or moist land.^[23] It often causes freezing fog, or sometimes hoar frost.

Arctic sea smoke is similar to sea smoke, but occurs when the air is very cold. Instead of condensing into water droplets, the evaporating water sublimates into ice crystals.

Precipitation fog (or frontal fog) forms as precipitation falls into drier air below the cloud, the liquid droplets evaporate into water vapor. The water vapor cools and at the dewpoint it condenses and fog forms.

Upslope fog or hill fog forms when winds blow air up a slope (called orographic lift), adiabatically cooling it as it rises, and causing the moisture in it to condense. This often causes freezing fog on mountaintops, where the cloud ceiling would not otherwise be low enough.

Valley fog forms in mountain valleys, often during winter. It is the result of a temperature inversion caused by heavier cold air settling into a valley, with warmer air passing over the mountains above. It is essentially radiation fog confined by local topography, and can last for several days in calm conditions. In California's Central Valley, valley fog is often referred to as Tule fog.

Freezing fog occurs when liquid fog droplets freeze to surfaces, forming white soft or hard rime.^[23] This is very common on mountain tops which are exposed to low clouds. It is equivalent to freezing rain, and essentially the same as the ice that forms inside a freezer which is not of the "frostless" or "frost-free" type. The term "freezing fog" may also refer to fog where water vapor is super-cooled, filling the air with small ice crystals similar to very light snow. It seems to make the fog "tangible", as if one could "grab a handful".

Frozen fog (also known as ice fog) is any kind of fog where the droplets have frozen into extremely tiny crystals of ice in midair. Generally this requires temperatures at or below −35 °C (−30 °F), making it common only in and near the Arctic and Antarctic regions.^[24] It is most often seen in urban areas where it is created by the freezing of water vapor present in automobile exhaust and combustion products from heating and power generation. Urban ice fog can become extremely dense and will persist day and night until the temperature rises. Extremely small amounts of ice fog falling from the sky form a type of precipitation called ice crystals, often reported in Barrow, Alaska. Ice fog often leads to the visual phenomenon of light pillars.

The phenomenon is also extremely common in the inland areas of the Pacific Northwest that, with temperatures in the 10 to 30 °F (−1 °C) range. The Columbia Plateau experiences this phenomenon most years due to temperature inversions, sometimes lasting for as long as three weeks. The fog typically begins forming around the area of the Columbia River and expands, sometimes covering the land to distances as far away as LaPine, Oregon, almost 150 miles due south of the River and into south central Washington.

Artificial fog is artificially generated fog that is usually created by vaporizing a water and glycol-based or glycerine-based fluid. The fluid is injected into a heated block, and evaporates quickly. The resulting pressure forces the vapor out of the exit. Upon coming into contact with cool outside air the vapor condenses and appears as fog.^[25]

Garua fog is a type of fog which happens to occur by the coast of Chile and Peru.^[26] The normal fog produced by the sea travels inland, but suddenly meets an area of hot air. This causes the water particles of fog to shrink by evaporation, producing a transparent mist. Garua fog is nearly invisible, yet it still forces drivers to use windshield wipers.

Hail fog sometimes occurs in the vicinity of significant hail accumulations due to decreased temperature and increased moisture leading to saturation in a very shallow layer near the surface. It most often occurs when there is a warm, humid layer atop the hail and when wind is light. This ground fog tends to be localized but can be extremely dense and abrupt. It may form shortly after the hail falls; when the hail has had time to cool the air and as it absorbs heat when melting and evaporating.^[27]

Biological and human uses[link]

Redwood forests in California receive approximately 30 to 40 percent of their moisture from coastal fog. Change in climate patterns could result in relative drought in these areas.^[28] Some coastal communities use fog nets to extract moisture from the atmosphere where groundwater pumping and rainwater collection are insufficient.

Other pictures[link]

• Lakeontario steamfog wikipedia.JPG

  −25 °C (−13 °F) air temperature produces immense steam fog over Lake Ontario which is still above freezing.

• Granville Island Marina.JPG

  Low lying fog over the more cool ocean surface in Vancouver, Canada during the 2010 Winter Olympics, which featured warmer temperatures mixed with high humidity.

• 

  Fog over San Francisco Bay is a famous San Francisco fog.

• 

  Fog shadow of the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge

• 

  Fog shadow of Sutro Tower

• 

  In this view, only downtown San Francisco and Sutro tower are free from fog.

• 

  Road signs are hard to see in the fog on Golden Gate Bridge.

See also[link]

• Thank You, Fog: last poems by W. H. Auden

Technology[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fog

• Anti-fog
• Automotive lighting
• Decontamination foam
• FIDO
• Fog machine
• Fogging (photography)
• Fog lamp
• Runway visual range
• Transmissometer

Weather[link]

• Fog season
• Haboob (sandstorm)
• Mist
• Smog
• Whiteout (weather)

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Ahrens, C. (1991). Meteorology today: an introduction to weather, climate, and the environment. West Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0-314-80905-6.
• Allred, Lance (2009). Enchanted Rock: A Natural and Human History. University of Texas Press.
• Cowling, R. M., Richardson, D. M., Pierce, S. M. (2004). Vegetation of Southern Africa. Cambridge University Press.
• Filonczuk, Maria K., Cayan, Daniel R., Riddle, Laurence G. (1995). Variability of marine fog along the California coast. SIO-Reference, No 95-2, Climate Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.
• Frost, H. (2004). Fog. Capstone Press. ISBN 978-0-7368-2093-6.
• Gleissman, Stephe (2007). Agroecology: the ecology of sustainable food systems. CRC Press.
• Karukstis, K. K., Van Hecke, G. R. (2003). Chemistry connections: the basis of everyday phonemena. Academic Press.
• Marshall, T., Hoadley, D. (1995). Storm Talk. Tim Marshall.

External links[link]

• Map of the United States showing days of heavy fog in each location
• United States' current dense fog advisories from NOAA
• Current Western US fog satellite pictures from NOAA
• Lake Ontario Evaporative-Steam Fog Video
• Social & Economic Costs of Fog from "NOAA Socioeconomics" website initiative

Nosaj Thing (born Jason Chung) is an American electronic musician based in Los Angeles, California.

History[link]

Nosaj Thing was involved in music at a young age and hip hop has had a profound influence on his music. At the age of 12, he learned the basics of turntables and began to produce on the computer shortly after. Nosaj Thing has since played at various shows and festivals including Sónar Festival^[1] and Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.

He self-released the first EP Views/Octopus in 2006. He released the debut album Drift on Alpha Pup Records in 2009.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} In 2011, rapper Kendrick Lamar released a single titled "Cloud 10," produced by Nosaj Thing. The song was recorded for Windows Phone promotion.^[7]

Legacy[link]

The track "Aquarium" from the EP Views/Octopus was used by rapper Kid Cudi in "Man on the Moon (The Anthem)" from the mixtape A Kid Named Cudi.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Drift (2009)
• Drift Remixed (2010)^[8]

EPs[link]

• Views/Octopus (2006)

Productions[link]

• "Split Seconds" by Busdriver on Jhelli Beam (2009)
• "Head Static" by Nocando on Jimmy the Lock (2010)
• "Beat My Bitch" by Flash Bang Grenada on 10 Haters (2011)

Remixes[link]

• "More Tongue Less Teeth" by Plastic Little (2007)
• "Tabloid Sores" by Health (2008)
• "Camel" by Flying Lotus (2008)
• "It's Madness" by Daedelus (2008)
• "Eyes Closed" by Blank Blue (2009)
• "Flatlands" by Nalepa (2009)
• "Empires" by STS9 (2009)
• "Nice Tights" by Jogger (2009)
• "Heaven Can Wait" by Charlotte Gainsbourg featuring Beck (2009)
• "Reckoner" by Radiohead (2009)
• "Forever" by Drake (2009)
• "Rock On" by Adam Freeland (2009)
• "Buzz In" by Boris (2009)
• "I Get Money" by 50 Cent (2009)
• "Islands" by The xx (2010)
• "Wandering Star/Coat of Arms" by Portishead (2010)
• "Let 'Em Fall" by Malachai (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Nosaj Thing on Alpha Pup Records
• Nosaj Thing on Myspace

This article on an American electronic musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Thom Yorke
Yorke at the Latitude Festival, Suffolk, 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Thomas Edward Yorke
Also known as	Tchock,[1] Tchocky,[2][3] Dr. Tchock,[4][5] Thom E. Yorke,[6] Zachariah Wildwood[citation needed]
Born	(1968-10-07) 7 October 1968 (age 43) Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England
Genres	Alternative rock, electronic music
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards
Years active	1985—present
Labels	XL
Associated acts	Radiohead, Atoms for Peace

Thomas "Thom" Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but has also played drums and bass guitar (notably during the Kid A and Amnesiac sessions). In July 2006, he released his debut solo album, The Eraser.

Yorke has been cited among the most influential figures in the music industry; in 2002, Q Magazine named Yorke the 6th most powerful figure in music,^[7] and Radiohead were ranked #73 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" in 2005. Yorke has also been cited among the greatest singers in popular music; in 2005, a poll organised by Blender and MTV2 saw Yorke voted the 18th greatest singer of all time,^[8] and in 2008, he was ranked 66th in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" list.^[9]

Early life[link]

Yorke was born on 7 October 1968, in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. At birth, his left eye was fixed shut; the doctors determined that the eye was paralyzed and that the condition was permanent. Yorke's parents took him to an eye specialist, who suggested a muscle graft. Yorke underwent five eye operations before he was six years old.^[10] Yorke's father, a chemical equipment salesman, was hired by a firm in Scotland shortly after his son's birth and the family lived there until Yorke was seven. During this time Yorke had to wear a patch over his eye.^[11] He has stated that the last surgery was "botched", giving him a drooping eyelid.^[12]

Yorke's family moved frequently; Yorke would move from school to school, where classmates teased him because of his eye.^[13] The family finally settled in Oxfordshire in 1978.^[13] Yorke received his first guitar when he was seven, inspired by guitarist Brian May in a live performance with his band Queen.^[12] By 11, he had joined his first band and written his first song.^[14] He attended the all boys public school Abingdon where he met future band members Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway, Colin Greenwood and Colin's younger brother, Jonny Greenwood.^[15] Yorke and his friends formed a band named On A Friday, as Friday was the only day on which the members were allowed to rehearse.^[12] Yorke, in this early line up, played guitar and provided vocals, and was already developing his songwriting and lyrical skills. Yorke, speaking about music's influence on him as a schoolboy, said, "School was bearable for me because the music department was separate from the rest of the school. It had pianos in tiny booths, and I used to spend a lot of time hanging around there after school."^[16]

After leaving school, Yorke postponed going to university for a year. During that time he worked in a few jobs and was involved in a car accident that made him wary of any kind of mechanized transport.^[17] Yorke left Oxford to study at the University of Exeter in late 1988, which as a result put On a Friday on hiatus aside from holiday break rehearsals.^[18] While at Exeter, Yorke worked as a DJ at Guild nights in the Lemon Grove and played briefly with the band Headless Chickens.^[19] Yorke also met Rachel Owen, whom he began dating.^[20]

Career[link]

Radiohead[link]

On A Friday resumed activity in 1991 as the members were finishing their degree courses. Now relocated to Oxford, they signed to Parlophone and changed their name to Radiohead. Around this time, Yorke said he "hit the self-destruct button pretty quickly"; he would drink heavily, which resulted in him randomly cutting his hair off and being too drunk to perform onstage.^[21]

Radiohead first gained notice with the worldwide hit single "Creep", which later appeared on the band's 1993 debut album Pablo Honey. Yorke admitted later that the success had enlarged his ego; he tried to project himself as a rock star, which included bleaching his hair and wearing extensions. He said, "When I got back to Oxford I was unbearable . . . [A]s soon as you get any success you disappear up your own arse and lost it forever."^[22]

By the time of their second album, The Bends (1995), the band, through frequent touring and greater attention to detail in the recording studio, had picked up a large cult fan base and had begun to receive wider critical acclaim. After the album's release, the American group R.E.M. picked Radiohead as its opening act for the European leg of their tour.^[23] Whilst on tour Yorke and R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe became close friends; in particular, Stipe gave him advice on how to deal with the demands of being in a rock band.^[24] During the production of the band's third album, OK Computer (1997), all five members had differing opinions and equal production roles, with Yorke having "the loudest voice", according to guitarist Ed O'Brien.^[25] After the album was finished, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood contributed to the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack along with other musicians under the moniker Venus in Furs.^[26] Upon release, OK Computer was heralded as a landmark album by nearly every publication that reviewed it, establishing Radiohead as one of the leading alternative rock acts of the 1990s. But Yorke was ambivalent about this success. Some of these concerns were voiced in the documentary film Meeting People Is Easy, which focused on the period. Yorke has explained in various interviews that he dislikes the "mythology" within the rock genre, and hates the media's obsession with celebrities.^[27]

Yorke and the band adopted a more radical approach on 2000's Kid A and 2001's Amnesiac, processing vocals, obscuring lyrics, and departing from rock for a more varied musical landscape including electronic, jazz and avant-garde classical influences. Expanding Radiohead's sales whilst earning acclaim for experimentation, the albums also divided fans and critics. In 2003, Radiohead released their sixth album, Hail to the Thief, a blend of rock and electronica that Yorke described as a reaction to the events of the early 2000s and newfound fears for his children's future, though he denied political intent. The band has continued to tour, and in 2005 they undertook recording sessions for a seventh album, In Rainbows, released as a digital DRM-free download in October 2007. In 2011, The King of Limbs, the 8th studio album by Radiohead, was released.

Solo work[link]

Yorke released his solo album The Eraser in 2006. Produced by Nigel Godrich and featuring cover art by Stanley Donwood, it was released on the independent label XL Recordings. Yorke described the album as "more beats and electronics" and denied that it meant he was leaving Radiohead, saying, "I want no crap about me being a traitor or whatever splitting up blah blah... this was all done with their blessing."^[28] The Eraser reached number 3 in the UK in its first week and number 2 in the United States, Canada and Australia, as well as number 9 on the Irish charts. The album was on the prestigious Mercury Prize shortlist and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.

Yorke rarely plays as a solo act, having never embarked on a solo tour. He has sometimes played short acoustic sets of Radiohead songs in the band's webcasts and television appearances, and occasionally on his own at rallies. In 2006, he performed stripped-down versions of several songs from The Eraser ("Analyse", "The Clock", "Skip Divided" and "Cymbal Rush") on radio and TV programmes, and since then he has played and sung "Cymbal Rush" as an encore at some Radiohead concerts. In July 2009, Yorke played a rare solo performance at the Latitude Festival in England.^[29]

On September 21, 2009, Yorke released a new double-A side single, "Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses / The Hollow Earth".^[30] It was later announced that he has established an unnamed band with Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joey Waronker of R.E.M., Mauro Refosco of Forro in the Dark and producer Nigel Godrich.^[31] They played two sold out shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on October 4 and 5, 2009.^[32] Two days before, Yorke also played a "warm-up" show at the Echoplex in Los Angeles.^[33] On February 25, 2010, Yorke officially gave the band the name Atoms for Peace^[34]

Collaborations[link]

Apart from his own solo work, Yorke has collaborated with several artists. He sang backing vocals on PJ Harvey's Mercury Prize-winning 2000 album Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea and duetted with Harvey on one of its songs, "This Mess We're In". In the same year, he also appeared on Björk's soundtrack album Selmasongs, singing "I've Seen It All" with her. The Oscar-nominated song was written for Dancer in the Dark, a film starring Björk, and Yorke's part is sung in the film by an actor; due to time constraints Björk performed it alone at the 2001 Oscars. The two worked together again in 2008 on a charity single named "Náttúra".

Yorke also sang covers of the Roxy Music songs "2HB", "Ladytron" and "Bitter-Sweet" for the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine, as part of Venus in Furs. The band existed solely for the film's soundtrack and also consisted of Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, Suede's Bernard Butler, and Roxy Music's Andy Mackay. Yorke was duplicating the original vocals of Bryan Ferry. Two other cover songs were performed by Venus in Furs, with vocals by an actor in the film. Yorke never appeared on screen.

Yorke's other collaborations include the 1998 single "Rabbit in Your Headlights", which he sang and co-wrote with DJ Shadow and which closes Psyence Fiction, the debut album by the group UNKLE; "El President", a 1998 duet with Isabel Monteiro of the band Drugstore, which was also released as a single, and vocals on the 2010 track "...And The World Laughs with You" by experimental musician and producer Flying Lotus of Warp Records. Thom paired up with his brother Andy in 2009 to record the track "All for the Best" for inclusion on the 2009 compilation CD Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy. He has also collaborated on several tracks with the electronic music group Modeselektor, providing vocals on the 2007 track "The White Flash" from the album Happy Birthday, as well as 2011 tracks "Shipwreck" and "This" from the album Monkeytown, in addition to production contributions on the album's b-side "Dull Hull". Yorke has also contributed music and remix/production skills in collaboration with various electronic artists including Burial, Four Tet, as well as hip-hop artists such as MF DOOM.

Yorke has also collaborated with Stanley Donwood on a picture book titled Dead Children Playing.

Atoms for Peace[link]

On February 25, 2010 Yorke revealed the name of his new band: "Atoms for Peace", and announced a series of U.S. tour dates. Yorke first introduced the band late in 2009, with a series of concerts in Los Angeles. It includes Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on bass, Beck, R.E.M., all-round session drummer Joey Waronker, percussionist Mauro Refosco of the musical collective Forro in the Dark and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich on keyboards and treatments. When the band officially debuted in Los Angeles last October, it was billed with question marks due to it being unnamed. In a note on Radiohead's web site, Yorke wrote; "It has been decided that we call ourselves Atoms For Peace. hope you like the name. it seemed bleedin' obvious." Atoms for Peace is a track on Yorke's 2006 solo album, The Eraser, its title taken in turn by the Eisenhower speech of the same name. The band toured briefly, playing eight dates across the USA including the three-day Coachella music festival in Indio, California on April 18, 2010.^[35] Thom Yorke has also confirmed rumours that the band were recording material together, and has announced that an album is nearing completion, tentatively scheduled for release in 2012.

Personal life[link]

Yorke currently lives in Oxford with his girlfriend, Rachel Owen. They have two children, son Noah, born in 2001, and daughter Agnes, born 2004. Owen studied fine art printmaking at Exeter and painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Florence. She completed a PhD at the University of London researching the illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy.^[36]

His only brother, Andy, is ex-vocalist of the band Unbelievable Truth.

Yorke is very active in creating public awareness for cultural and political issues. In 2005, Yorke became a spokesman for Friends of the Earth and their campaign to reduce carbon emissions, The Big Ask. He often pays tribute to his children whilst performing live; during songs at the 2003 Glastonbury Festival, he played with a photo of Noah resting on the top of the piano and at the 2006 Bonnaroo Music Festival, he used guitar picks that were marked with Agnes' fingerprints.

Musical approach[link]

Vocal characteristics[link]

Thom Yorke in 2006

As a singer, Yorke is recognisable by his distinctive tenor voice, vibrato, frequent use of falsetto and ability to reach, and sustain notes over a wide vocal range. In 1994, the band watched Jeff Buckley in concert; Yorke later said the concert had a direct effect on his vocal delivery on "Fake Plastic Trees".^[37] However, Yorke has said, "It annoys me how pretty my voice is... how polite it can sound when perhaps what I'm singing is deeply acidic."^[38] He has often adopted other styles of singing, such as an aggressive shouting style in the middle section of "Paranoid Android" and a semi-spoken style for 2003's "Myxomatosis" and "A Wolf at the Door".

Musicianship[link]

Aside from vocal duties and writing lyrics, Yorke's musical contributions to Radiohead include guitar, both acoustic and electric (usually rhythm parts, with band member Jonny Greenwood handling lead), and piano (including Rhodes piano, especially on Kid A). He also plays bass guitar on occasion (the bass line for "The National Anthem" was recorded by him) as well as drums; during the 2006 and 2008 tours he performed percussion on stage in tandem with drummer Phil Selway on the track "Bangers + Mash".

Yorke, unlike the other members of Radiohead, has never learned how to read music.^[39] He said, "If someone lays the notes on a page in front of me, it's meaningless... because to me you can't express the rhythms properly like that. It's a very ineffective way of doing it, so I've never really bothered picking it up."^[38]

Since Kid A, Radiohead, and in particular Yorke, have incorporated many elements of electronic music into their work. As a result, Yorke has taken an increased role in programming beats and samples and has been credited with playing "laptop" on recent albums. On a radio show in 2003 to publicise the release of Hail to the Thief, Yorke remarked that he would rather make a record just with a computer than with only an acoustic guitar.^[40] His solo effort The Eraser featured piano, bass and guitar, but was built primarily around electronics.

In interviews Yorke has cited a variety of personal musical heroes and influences, including jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus, Neil Young, Miracle Legion, singer Scott Walker, electronic acts Aphex Twin and Autechre, and Krautrock band Can. Talking Heads, Queen, Joy Division, Magazine, Elvis Costello, The Smiths and Sonic Youth were early influences on Radiohead and Yorke. In 2004, at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Yorke mentioned to the crowd, "When I was in college, the Pixies and R.E.M. changed my life",^[41] and he has often mentioned both bands as influential examples.

Activism[link]

Yorke has been outspoken on various contemporary political and social issues. Radiohead had read No Logo by Naomi Klein during the Kid A sessions ("No Logo" was also briefly considered as the album title) and all the members were reportedly heavily influenced by it, though Yorke said it "didn't teach him anything he didn't already know".^[42] Yorke's activism in support of fair trade practices, with an anti-WTO and anti-globalisation stance, garnered significant attention in the early 2000s.^[43] Yorke had previously referenced maquiladoras in the title of a Radiohead B-side in 1995, and decried the International Monetary Fund in 1997's "Electioneering". Yorke is also a professed fan of Noam Chomsky's political writings,^[44] and is a vegan.^[45]

Yorke is also notable as a political activist on behalf of other causes, including human rights and anti-war movements such as Jubilee 2000, Amnesty International and CND, and Friends of the Earth's Big Ask campaign.^[46] Radiohead played at the Free Tibet concert in both 1998 and 1999, and at an Amnesty International concert in 1998.^[47] In 2005, Yorke performed at an all-night vigil for the Trade Justice Movement.^[48] In 2006, Jonny Greenwood and Yorke performed a special benefit concert for Friends of the Earth. Yorke made headlines the same year for refusing Prime Minister Tony Blair's request to meet with him to discuss climate change, declaring Blair had "no environmental credentials".^[49] Yorke has subsequently been critical of his own energy use. He has said the music industry's use of air transport is dangerous and unsustainable, and that he would consider not touring if new carbon emissions standards do not force the situation to improve.^[50] Radiohead commissioned a study by the group Best Foot Forward which the band claims helped them choose venues and transport methods that will greatly reduce the carbon expended on their 2008 tour. The band also made use of a new low-energy LED lighting system and encouraged festivals to offer reusable plastics.^[51]

In December 2009, Yorke gained access to the COP 15 climate change talks in Copenhagen, posing as a member of the media.^[52] In the same year he lent his support to the 10:10 project, a movement encouraging people to take positive action on climate change by reducing their carbon emissions.^[53]

Relationship with celebrities and the media[link]

Yorke has had an uneasy relationship with other celebrities and the media. Following Radiohead's 1993 Pablo Honey tour of America, Yorke became disenchanted at being "right at the sharp end of the sexy, sassy, MTV eye-candy lifestyle" he felt he was helping to sell to the world.^[54] The 1998 documentary film Meeting People is Easy portrays Yorke's disaffection with the music industry and press during the 1997-8 "Against Demons" world tour.^[55]

A number of celebrities have been upset by Yorke's alleged rudeness. In 2001, Kelly Jones, the lead singer of the Welsh band Stereophonics, referred to Thom Yorke as a "miserable twat"^[56] (a comment he later retracted).^[57] In 2002, Jack Black claimed to have approached Yorke to congratulate him on his solo show at the Bridge School benefit concert in San Francisco, only for Yorke to ignore him and walk away. Referring to the incident, Black stated in an interview: "I heard later that he's famously cold, and it wasn't just me that he despises, but the whole world."^[58] After completing a trek of Kilimanjaro in 2009, Ronan Keating was asked by an interviewer which celebrity he would most like to throw off a mountain. Keating named Yorke, and referred to him as a "muppet", stating that Yorke was once rude to him.^[59] In the same year, Miley Cyrus and Kanye West also complained about Yorke's alleged rudeness.^[60] In 2010, it was reported that Yorke would be covering Peter Gabriel's song "Wallflower", from Gabriel's fourth solo album Peter Gabriel 4 (Security), with Gabriel claiming, "Thom wanted to do a version of Wallflower, which I'm very curious to hear. I think that was an important track for him when he was 14."^[61] However, it was subsequently reported that Yorke had withdrawn from the project and hadn't informed Gabriel why.^[62]

Discography[link]

• The Eraser (2006)

References[link]

• Randall, Mac. Exit Music: The Radiohead Story. Delta, 2000. ISBN 0-385-33393-5

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Media related to Thom Yorke at Wikimedia Commons
• Quotations related to Thom Yorke at Wikiquote
• The Eraser: Official website for Yorke's solo album release
• Thom Yorke, Going Solo: Interview with Yorke, from NPR's "Fresh Air" radio program—July 2006