Odds & Ends: Thom Yorke, Dave Matthews & Morrissey

Dave Matthews was enjoying a bicycle ride before Saturday’s show in Hershey, Pa., when he came to stop, stranded on the road by a flat tire. Two fans who were on the way to the gig at Hersheypark Stadium saved the day by picking up a hitchhiker with a familiar face.

“I didn’t have a cell phone on the bicycle. So I thought, ‘Sh*t,’” Matthews told the crowd at Saturday’s show, seen in a video posted on YouTube (via CNN.com). “And then a nice lady named Emily rode up in a red car with a bicycle rack on it and gave me a ride on to the gig.”

Emily Kraus told CNN affiliate WHP-TV that after she and her boyfriend picked Matthews up, they talked to the musician about the DMB tour and his daughter’s summer camp during the car ride, noting, “We didn’t know how to make conversation with him.”

Matthews repaid the couple for the lift by giving them front row seats and inviting them to dinner and backstage.

Now we know exactly which dish to blame for sidelining Morrissey’s South American tour because of food poisoning, the latest in a string of ailments that have forced the former Smiths frontman to canceled and/or postpone gig after gig this year. Moz says it was a “simple restaurant meal of penne pasta and tomato.”

The tour was supposed to kick off with two nights in Lima, Peru, July 9-10, followed by more than half a dozen dates in Chile. Morrissey has put out a July 12 statement through fan site True To You, confirming reports he returned back to the U.S. for treatment, but still plans on playing Argentina and Brazil in late July and early August. 

“I can’t give words to the sorrow I feel at the loss of perfect Peru. Oh, black cloud. After such a victorious and uplifting welcome of Lima love, the contaminated jinx had its way via a simple restaurant meal of penne pasta and tomato. Three hours later, both I, and security Liam have collapsed with a deadly and delirious bedridden disease. Five days of round-the-clock medical supervision just barely controls the corrosively toxic food poisoning. I know my luck too well. Sorrow replaces joy, and in every dream home a heartache. It could only be me.

“I have returned to Los Angeles and to the expert supervision of my doctor Jeremy Fine, who assures me that I shall be fine (although not in the gossamer, powdery sense) for our upcoming shows in Argentina and Brazil. I have absolutely no idea where my beloved Chile has gone. In the heat of cancellations and postponements, the humiliation and mortification I feel on a personal level is too mammoth to be measured. If my spirits climb down any lower I could never again find the dignity to stand upright.

“We all live at the mercy of biological chance, and although I am not one to take refuge in clichés, I repeat my very servile apologies to any and all who back-packed their way to Peru. Alas, the dark shadow made the same journey.

“Each year of life brings us nearer to our decline, but I will continue to seek a listener until I’m dead in a ditch.”

Recording engineer/producer and musician Nigel Godrich, who is Radiohead’s longtime producer and performs with Thom Yorke in Atoms For Peace, announced Saturday that his 2012 release, Ultraísta, along with Atoms For Peace’s debut, 2013’s AMOK, and Yorke’s 2006 solo album, The Eraser, were no longer available on Spotify.

“Can’t do that no more man.. Small meaningless rebellion,” Godrich tweeted July 14. “Someone gotta say something. It’s bad for new music..”

He added, “The reason is that new artists get paid f**k all with this model.. It’s an equation that just doesn’t work

“Plus people are scared to speak up or not take part as they are told they will lose invaluable exposure if they don’t play ball. Meanwhile … small labels and new artists can’t even keep their lights on. It’s just not right.”

Yorke retweeted Godrich’s messages and added, “Make no mistake new artists you discover on #Spotify will no get paid. meanwhile shareholders will shortly being rolling in it. Simples.”

The Radiohead frontman also addressed criticism that “your small meaningless rebellion is your hurting your fans … a drop in the bucket really” by tweeting the sentiment along with his response: “No we’re standing up for our fellow musicians.”

And what about Radiohead’s In Rainbows, which the band self-released in 2007, allowing fans to pay what they wanted for the download? 

“for me In Rainbows was a statement of trust,” Yorke wrote. “people still value new music ..that’s all we’d like from Spotify. Don’t make us the target.”

A company spokesperson for Spotify has put out a statement defending the service’s practices (via MusicWeek.com).

“Spotify’s goal is to grow a service which people love, ultimately want to pay for, and which will provide the financial support to the music industry necessary to invest in new talent and music. We want to help artists connect with their fans, find new audiences, grow their fan base and make a living from the music we all love.

“Right now we’re still in the early stages of a long-term project that’s already having a hugely positive effect on artists and new music. We’ve already paid US$500M to rightsholders so far and by the end of 2013 this number will reach US$1bn. Much of this money is being invested in nurturing new talent and producing great new music.

“We’re 100% committed to making Spotify the most artist-friendly music service possible, and are constantly talking to artists and managers about how Spotify can help build their careers.”

Leave us a comment and tell us what you think. Do you use Spotify? Do you think Yorke and Godrich make some good points? Or maybe you side with Spotify?