Thom Yorke and Flea: music’s odd couple

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke is not a man known for his lighthearted approach to music as his band's angst-ridden back catalogue testifies - but he has teamed up with extrovert bassist Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers to form a new supergroup.

Flea (above right) is nothing if not an exhibitionist and is best known for performing naked - sometimes with a sock protecting his modesty. His collaboration with Yorke (above left) has been greeted with surprise by fans of both groups who have been posting their reactions on internet message boards. As one poster on NME.com put it, "Flea's all about freaky funk and Radiohead are about arty electronica."

The rest of Yorke's supergroup comprises REM collaborator Joey Waronker, Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Mauro Refosco, and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich.

The band is set to perform some of Yorke's music from his first solo album Eraser, released in 2006, at two concerts at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles next week

Announcing the dates on the Radiohead website Dead Airspace, Yorke wrote: "I've been getting a band together for fun to play the Eraser stuff live and the new songs to see if it could work!

"We don't really have a name and the set will not be very long cuz... well... we haven't got that much material yet!" ·