This is wrong on so many levels. Someone correct this or ramifications will be distributed: http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/chieftan

Apr 1, 2012

@ChieftanMews: This is wrong on so many levels. Someone correct this or ramifications will be distributed: http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/chieftan

Chieftan Mews interrupted his Q&A with a link to Websters Online Dictionary (Not to be mistaken with the official Merriam-Webster Website ) where they provided the following definition of ‘Chieftan’

“Chieftan” is a common misspelling or typo for: chieftain, chieftains, chief tan.

Common Expressions: chieftan

Expressions : Definition
Chieftan Mews : Chieftan Mews is an english actor employed by Radiohead to present The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time. He is currently on the run and believed to be hiding out in Tunisia. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Common Expressions: chieftan
Expressions : Definition
Chieftan Mews : Chieftan Mews is an english actor employed by Radiohead to present The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time. He is currently on the run and believed to be hiding out in Tunisia. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.
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The entry for Chieftan was added by Philip M. Parker the editor and creator of the Websters Online Dictionary, and while no references are linked it’s possible he had been reading AtEase which had a news item on the 15th of December 2004 stating:

A recent report indicated that Chieftan may have been spotted in Tunisia….

The report refers to http://www.ChieftanMews.com which in 2004 was owned by the band and appeared to have contained various messages from Chieftan Mews before redirecting to http://www.Radiohead.tv

Since 2009 ChieftanMews.com is again an active URL but doesn’t appear to be owned by Radiohead or anyone associated with them.

While no correction has been made in the past 10 years to update the fact that Chieftan Mews is not a actor nor employed by Radiohead the nature of the web means that those ‘facts’ have now been cited widely online with QWika and tvwiki where someone has added:

Chieftan Mews is an english actor employed by Radiohead to present The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time. While talking, his mouth often moves and rolls in unnatural ways, leading some to believe he is not human. He is currently on the run and believed to be hiding out in Tunisia.

Throughout the filming of “Radiohead.tv”, Singer Thom Yorke and presenter Chieftan Mews apparently got in a fist fight of sorts. According to Yorke, “Mews (Chieftan) just grabbed me during teatime and proceeded to scream into my face about paying him his damn money”. At this point, York responded by kicking Mews in the face, resulting in a broken nose. The flurry of punches that ensued by both men had to be broken up by Producer Nigel Godrich.

While Mew’s instructs someone to correct the errors unlike Wikipedia the Websters Online Dictionary is not editable by just anyone, instead edits are made by emailing the editor. Being a Hotmail address it’s possible the email no longer works today.

In December 2010 Tunisia hit headlines around the world due to massive protests helped in part by social networking bringing about a democratic revolution inspiring neighboring countries including Egypt and Libya in what came to be known as the Arab Spring movement. On the 8th of February 2011 Ed O’Brien posted his own feelings towards The Dignity Revolution (as the Tunisian revolution had come to be called) on Dead Air Space adding:

What have twitter and facebook ever done for us?

Obviously, keeping in touch with everyone but I have to say I have become increasingly excited over the last 3 months about the possibilities of this form of communication.Yes I am very slow out of the blocks. It’s in the arena of public protest that it seems twitter and facebook are increasingly the means by which popular movements throughout the world are able to come together and mobilise.

I have been so moved by the peaceful Jasmine revolution in Tunisia; The anti-Government demonstrations centred on Tahrir Square in Cairo.. Social networking has helped facilitate the freedom to assemble peacefully and express oneself. Equally in Britain it seems to be having a similar effect in helping essential protests being organised by students and groups such as UK Uncut against the Government’s ill thought out cuts … Well done those people!
Ed

“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncmg3bxtTB0

May 15, 2011:

@ChieftanMews “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncmg3bxtTB0

One of two links to Youtube Chieftan Mews sent out on the same day both linked Youtube videos of BBC Test Card F titled ‘BBC Test Card F (1978)’.

“The time now very nearly 3 o clock, the next program on bbc1 Songs of Praise follows at 3.15 after a trade test transmission…”

A Youtube commenter names the piece of music as ‘Finally, swing-time’ by Pit Fontana’s New Sound. According to TestcardCircle.uk that song was used during the 2nd half of 1978 to early 1979.

Mew’s tweeted a 2nd Testcard after this one ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6SmOBxP9-g ; Test 2 ), however the second tweet was not deleted until the 20th of March 2012. You can read more about it, and the history of Test Card F here.

Songs of Praise is a weekly religious program first broadcast in 1961 early on Sunday mornings. Consisting of church hymn’s it still runs today and is broadcast in a number of countries.

In 2007 Adam Buxton uploaded a parody of Songs of Praise providing his own subtitles to the program with amusing results:

Adam Buxton is British DJ and Comedian who in 2007 helped Radiohead with their Thumbs_Down webcast to celebrate the release of In Rainbows.

A fan of the band he wrote a nice long detailed blog post about the whole thing here on his website, and later in 2008 entered his own (rather hilarious) remix for the Reckoner remix competition:

Adam Buxton Reckoner Remix

On the 29th of November 2011 Adam Buxton ran a live BUG Music Video’s special evening focusing on Radiohead’s career, during which he screened some behind the scenes footage of the recording of Thumbs_Down, Previous video clips from the band and a interview with Jonny and Colin. Described as a ‘one off’ Adam repeated the event in Los Angeles on February 2nd 2012.

( Source : Yelp.com )

A Silly Blog carries a nice review and description of the event Here.

One of the most interesting bits of trivia from the program refers to a In Rainbows Scrapbook mentioned in the Bug Program notes as a ‘proposed but ultimately unreleased DVD ‘scrapbook’ from the In Rainbows period’.

(Source: Attributed to Ian Davies by Auntie Nubbins of A Silly Blog )

Adam Buxton is on twitter as AdamRealBuxton and is one of the accounts Chieftan Mews follows on Twitter.

Come To Florida http://t.co/2WE81HE @jerkyboysjohnny : IMS MENOO : @ghostfacekillah http://t.co/dFDtCMd

Feb 23, 2010:

@ChieftanMews: Come To Florida http://t.co/2WE81HE @jerkyboysjohnny : IMS MENOO : @ghostfacekillah http://t.co/dFDtCMd

Mew’s tweeted this while Radiohead where due to kick off the start of their 2012 World Tour in Miami Florida.

The first part of the tweet is addressed to Johnny Brennan the creator of Jerky Boys and Family Guy.

The link takes you to a youtube video taken from The Jerky Boys 2 that appears to be a prank call asking for ‘Pablo Honey to Please come to Florida’

The Jerky Boys are an American comedy duo from Queens, New York, whose routine consists of prank telephone calls and other related skits. Formed in 1989, The Jerky Boys were made up of childhood friends Johnny Brennan and Kamal Ahmed.[1] After Kamal left the act in 2000, The Jerky Boys continued on as a solo act featuring only Brennan, before going on hiatus after the 2001 release of their final album, The Jerky Tapes. The project was resurrected in 2006 and remains active today.

The calls were made by ringing up unsuspecting recipients, or in response to classified advertisements placed in local New York-based newspapers. Each call was made in character, usually with over the top voices influenced by the duo’s family members.[1]

According to their current record label, Laugh.com, the act has sold over 8,000,000 CDs since their 1993 debut.

(Source: Wikipeida )

These days Pablo Honey is better known as the name of Radiohead’s First Album.

According to FeelNumb.com Pablo Honey was named after this skit as ‘Jonny Greenwood got a bootlegged tape of The Jerky Boys in the early ’90s and he and the band listened to it non-stop. They even sampled a snippet in the song “How Do You?” ‘

The second link is to the videoclip for Daytona 500 by Ghostface Killah. The Videoclip is made of footage from Street Racer a cult Anime tv Series from the 80s.

Ghostface Killah – Daytona 500

RapExclusiveHD gives us the following information about the video:

“Daytona 500” is the solo debut single by Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ghostface Killah, featuring The Force M.D.s, Raekwon, and Cappadonna from his 1996 solo debut album Ironman. The title is taken from the most important and prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar: Daytona 500. Released unofficially, the song didn’t chart on any charts but is considered a longtime favorite among Wu-Tang fans. The song was later added to his greatest hits album, Shaolin’s Finest.

Ghostface Killah doesn’t have a website but you can check him out here or on Last.FM

Mew’s states that IMS MENOO.. meaning ‘He’s Mental‘ (clearly in a good way) and addresses the tweet to Ghostface Killah’s Twitter Account.

Within 24 Hours he had deleted the tweet along with two others from the same day.

Bestow blindfolds and gAg mouths to avoid pre-tense and maKe whoopie to the sounds around you. BeAt your drumKit @philipselway @clivedeamer / many citizenS have theIr patria in war/gameS/takeovers and are fIghting from afar in their settee/chair/sofa. are you /they/we winning? (SISI BAKBAK)

Feb 23, 2012:

@ChieftanMews: Bestow blindfolds and gAg mouths to avoid pre-tense and maKe whoopie to the sounds around you. BeAt your drumKit @philipselway @clivedeamer

Feb 23, 2012:
@ChieftanMews: many citizenS have theIr patria in war/gameS/takeovers and are fIghting from afar in their settee/chair/sofa. are you /they/we winning?

Two of 5 Tweets sent on February 23rd that where deleted within 24 hours. The first tweet is addressed to Phillip Selway and Clive Dreamer who is currently working with Radiohead as a additional drummer for The King of Limbs.

As reported on The King of Limbs Part 2 there is a hidden message in the selection of capital letters.

It is as follows:

B A K B A K

S I S I

It relates to a recent SISI BAKBAK remix of Hold On by SBTRKT

This remix has recently causing some confusion in the press for Sisi BakBak being a possible alias for Thom Yorke.

Consequence Of Sound gives the following info:

SBTRKT will release his new single “Hold On” digitally on February 21st, and as a limited edition 12” in a deluxe lenticular sleeve on May 8th. It comes backed by the instrumental ”Rise to Freedom”, along with a remix of “Hold On” attributed to Sisi BakBak, who (through powers of Sherlock-like deduction) is probably Radiohead’s Thom Yorke.

According to KEXP’s Cheryl Waters, who premiered the track, the remixer is soon playing Seattle’s Key Arena (that’s where Radiohead is playing in April.) Also, as Pitchfork points out, BBC’s Rob da Bank tweeted (via P4k): “listening to the thom yorke mix of @SBTRKT for the 18th time…unbeatable!”” So there you go.

( Source : Check Out SBTRKT Hold On SISI BAKBAK Remix )

As yet there has been no official word to deny or confirm that Thom is Sisi Bakbak

Chieftan Mews has a long history of tweeting messages directly related to the band (even if in a round about fashion). From this we can take the message as confirmation that Sisi Bakbak is indeed Thom Yorke who has a long history of involvement with DJs including work with Modeselektor, UNKLE, DJ Shadow, Flying Lotus, Burial, Four-Tet and MF Doom.

Thom also organised the TKOL RMX 1234567 remix collection of The King of Limbs.

In somewhat-related news Modeselektor will be releasing a special Deluxe Tour edition of Monkeytown on the 16 March 2012 which features a additional bonus track co-written by Thom Yorke. It may be Dull Hull from the B-Side of the limited edition Shipwreck single (which you can listen to here) or it could be something new.

** UPDATE 20-March 2012 : it is Dull Hull, you can read the full tracklisting here **

While the first edition of Modeselektor’s third studio album “Monkeytown” was already far from standard, this new and updated deluxe package offers an even more extensive collectors item.

Released in the middle of the second leg of the album tour, this Deluxe Tour Edition of the album features an entire bonus cd filled with all instrumentals from the album and an additional bonus track co-written by Thom Yorke (Radiohead). The bonus DVD comes with all 3 official videos for the songs “Shipwreck” with Thom Yorke, “Evil Twin” and “Berlin” feat. Miss Platnum as well as extensive live footage. Filmed at the Warehouse Project in Manchester you will find 7 songs from the live show as well as a 20min interview added as additional video bonus material.

Alltogether about 3 hours of Modeselektor entertainement.

( Source: Monkeytown Records )

According to their website the Deluxe Tour Edition is limited to only 3000 copies, you can order it here.

Now for the rest of the tweets!

Pre-tense could be read as a reference to ‘The Present Tense’ a currently unreleased song that made it’s debut at the 2009 Latitude Festival being played solo by Thom Yorke. A fan favourite you can listen to it here.

Whoopie has two meanings, one is to celebrate in a (usually) drunken fashion, the second is to have sex. Considering Thom Yorke’s reaction to people ahem.. ‘making woopie’ to Radiohead it’s more likely to be the former then the latter.

blindfold is a reference to Running Blind the title of Phillip Selway’s recent E.P.

Mew’s had previously retweeted a message from SandbagUK informing of a limited edition release of the E.P. signed by the man himself, It is now sold out but you can still buy Phil’s debut album Familial here.

The second of the two tweets appears to be about computer games.

‘patria’ is a Latin word for ‘Homeland’ or ‘Fatherland’.

February 23rd was the release date for ‘Wargame: European Escalation’ described as ‘a real-time strategy video game developed by Eugen Systems set in the years 1975-1985.’

Wiki gives the following:

It features large maps up to 150 square kilometres in size. It can have up to 100 million scenery objects. Players can command 361 unique units. [3]. Playable factions include the Warsaw Pact which is subdivided into the Soviet Union, Communist Poland, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia. On the other side is NATO, which is subivided into the United States of America, United Kingdom, France and West Germany. Each country has its own arsenal of units, and players can choose various units from the four subfactions of the side they are playing on, unlocking better units through game progression.

Gamespot has a good range of coverage of it Here

While Mew’s seems to be referencing that game in particular it doesn’t actually mean he’s played it. Many websites and gaming platforms such as Steam present advertisements for upcoming games that appear when logging in.

For example is a screenshot of the game advertised in Steam’s main page on the 5th of March.

Screenshot of Wargame: European Escalation advertised on Steam.

Previously on the 3rd of June 2010 Jonny Greenwood posted a Office Chart to Dead Air Space unique in listing a selection of Games instead of music which he addressed to “all the nerds who are marveling, like me, at Red Dead Redemption”

Red Dead Redemption is the title of a game by Rockstar San Diego released exclusively on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on the 21st of May 2010 in the UK. Awarded numerous Game of the Year titles it’s considered to be a modern classic and raised the bar for open world games.

(Source: Wikipedia )

Wiki describes it as:

Set in 1911, during the decline of the American Old West. The game follows John Marston, a former outlaw, while he sets out to hunt down his former gang members. Marston’s wife and son are taken hostage by the government in ransom for his services as a bounty hunter. Having no other choice, he sets out to bring his three former gang members to justice.

You can read (or watch) a review of it here.

For the curious the rest of Jonny’s list was:

Braid (various)
Marathon (Mac)
Goldeneye (N64)
Elite (BBC Micro)
Cave Story (various)
Ico (PS2)
Red Dead Redemption (PS3)
Zelda Ocarina of Time (N64)
Zelda Twighlight Princess (Wii)
Half Life 1 and 2 (Mac, PS3)

(Source Office Chard for a Week Off )