We kicked off the working week on Monday, 17 January, which traditionally is the day that most of the nation wants to stay in bed and say ‘no’ to the burgeoning world outside.
So it is with this thought in mind that we chose Radiohead, masters in the dark art of misery, for this week’s security track.
Fake Plastic Trees, taken from the famous Bends album, was Thom Yorke’s ode to undercover surveillance. Yup. You think it’s a nice potted plant? Think again. That plant is watching your every move. “It looks like the real thing”, Yorke croons, but it’s really just a camera.
This sort of surveillance can come in handy when you’re not really supposed to be filming anything. Take for example, The Cove, the 2009 documentary on dolphin slaughter. Famous for the harrowing footage of dolphins being led to their untimely deaths in Taiji Bay, Japan, the film won the U.S. Audience Award at the 25th annual Sundance Film Festival that year.
And because the messy mass culling of pilot whales and bottlenoses was a bit of a sore subject for some, covert surveillance had to be used. Cameras disguised as rocks that opened up to reveal blinking LED domes were scattered around the bay and in the water. The result was hours of damning footage. You should watch it.
But first, watch Thom Yorke wowing some enlightened kids at Glastonbury 2003.
