Thom Yorke of Radiohead did an excellent guest DJ spot on NPR's All Songs Considered recently. I loved hearing him talk about working through "new gear" and how it inspires him to write. The songs he chose were really telling. You could hear where In Rainbows, their latest album, came from when he played the tracks with heavy beats. He also talked about the role technology like Garage Band plays in Radiohead's writing process. Another thing that I enjoyed was hearing him talk about how the band has to get away from the record once it's done, because all they can hear are the flaws. It must be a killer to work so hard on something and have that feeling.
Check out the interview and In Rainbows if you haven't already. See my previous entry on In Rainbows for a few songs to listen to.