How to Destroy Angels Has Released a Video!

First of all, you can watch "The Space in Between" in 1080p here.



Okay, let's discuss!

Okay, video is starting in a poorly lit hotel...kind of sounds like a slowed-down "Burn" so far, but I can go with it.

Someone has left the TV on, the water running, a cigarette burning...there's life with Mr. Maise right there.

HOLY SHIT...what has happened to our happy couple?!!!!

(click for larger size)

More monotone "singing." So I've figured out why I'm not really into HDA. It is the singing...NOT the fact that it's her and not really her voice, although no one is going to mistake her for Jennifer Hudson or anything. It's the fact that she's essentially singing Nine Inch Nails songs in a dull monotone. It might work if she were in Ladytron or something, but Trent's music is very strum und drang, emotional, cathartic. In one song, he can range from a whisper to a sexy growl to a rage-filled roar. I mean, let's face it...lyrics are not Trent's strong suit. Half the time, he's recycling lyrics from other songs. It's the WAY he sings it that draws me in. So that's why the monotone is not doing it for me at. all. Don't get me wrong--it's not a *bad* song. It's just kind of boring.

Anyhoo.

Meanwhile, Trent's not up to much in this video. "Don't pay me any mind...I'm just a corpse here...had nothing to do with the making of this song..."


And Mariqueen tries her best to be the SEXXXIEST possible dead person. Yuck.


Atticus does a good job at being sort of vaguely sinister:


But who the hell is this chatty blonde? Seriously? Who is this??


Well, it probably doesn't matter, since it's meant to be all David Lynch and mysterious, I guess. It's kind of a cool video, but it also sort of feels like something Marilyn Manson would do now that he's back together with Evan Rachel Wood. "We love each other so much we are BLOODY CORPSES!" Maybe this is all some allegory about Trent and MQ's feelings when they got into all those fights on Twitter.

About two minutes in, this production turns into an overserious remake of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance"


But I have to admit that the effects are pretty cool.


But they should have done some movie magic on the gross feet in this video:


This band hasn't released their first EP, and there are clearly already some serious tensions within the group:


I would like to point out that when CSI Miami arrives, they're going to get the phone logs for this room, and Chatty Cathy's fingerprints are clearly on it. Horatio Caine would know just what to say.



So there you have it. Kinda cool video. Boring song. Thoughts?

Back to Work, I Guess!

So we've got a lot of cobwebs to clear out and a lot of spam comments to delete, but what the hell? Trent never stops working, even when he puts himself on hiatus, so I guess we shouldn't throw in the towel either!

This is usually where I make apologies for playing FarmVille instead of writing more frequently and covering all the concerts I see, but we don't have time. There is a lot happening, and it is HILARIOUS.

First of all, there's this great new band out...have you heard of them? How to Destroy Angels--there's this really pretty lady named Mariqueen. She's the lead singer. We've got Atticus Ross; he...um, does all the things he normally does. And then there's this other guy...well, he's way off in the back and kind of blurry. He's probably not that important.



They've released a single. It's called "A Drowning," and is available on Amazon and Itunes and inside your favorite breakfast cereals. This is the cover of the single. Isn't that a nice-looking lady?



You can hear the song here.

Hmmm. You know...it sounds awfully familiar. And this logo...it kind of reminds me of this one band I listened to a lot not too long ago...like when they did some album called "The Trip" or "The Fall" or whatnot.



Hm.



Oh, for Christ's sake--JUST BECAUSE YOU'VE TURNED YOUR BACK TO THE CAMERA DOESN'T MEAN WE DON'T KNOW IT'S YOU, DUMB ASS!

Everything about this project just SCREAMS NIN--in CAPS LOCK, even; as dedicated NIN fans, we can't help but feel a little...cranky about it all. He closes up shop on Nine Inch Nails, and THIS is what he comes up with next? Something that looks and sounds EXACTLY like what he has been already doing for the past 20 years? What on earth is the point?



Look at the nice lady! Look at her! Love the nice lady! Love her now!!!!

Sigh.

Look, I've stuck with Trent through thick and thin, and I've stuck up for Mariqueen daring to marry the man, even though I really couldn't give a shit, and I have taken a LOT of verbal abuse for this from the haters. That's why I feel fully qualified to say "meh" to this entire project. If Trent is not going to give Mariqueen and Atticus their own voice (although hers is kind of bland and not so compelling...in "A Drowning" she seems to be doing a sort of Trent impression), I seriously do not see the point. This means that either he is afraid that his fans will be hostile to anything that sounds remotely new and different (which may be true, given the general idiocy of his fanbase). Or maybe he's so much of a control freak that he simply can't collaborate. Or maybe this is stuff that he was working on for NIN and shelved for whatever reason and decided to resurrect it now. (Hell, even Niggy Tardust featured some discarded music from The Fragile.) I don't know. What I do know is that for a NIN ripoff, it's not even particularly good NIN. There. I said it.

Strangely, Trent has said this:

"TR: As stated above, this EP is a very early phase of this project. Yes, it sounds more NIN-ish than I believe it will as we progress. To me, HTDA frees me from some of the constraints I've begun to feel (primarily emotionally) in NIN.

NIN is not dead and I am about to work on some material that I believe will be quite different than previous NIN very soon."

What? Why?? Why make NIN-ish music for How to Destroy Angels and then create music that sounds completely different for NIN? This makes no. sense.

At any rate, I'm still curious to see what HDA comes up with next. Because I'm sure it will be hilarious. Like their new video...which we shall tackle in another post.

Yours from the Other Side,
Maise

Trent Once Again Has Blown Up the Internet...

With vague photographic evidence of some sort of musical work taking place. The news has not only resurrected me, but it has also crashed nin.com, so I won't be able to steal said photos for this post. I can describe them as pictures of some sort of synth-looking equipment and wires...the posts are entitled "?", which pretty well describes my reaction to them. However, we all know that when Trent gets coy, he's about to unveil something new to his hungry disciples.

Fortunately for us at Places Parallel, we have the "inside track," so we can inform you all that Trent and his wife are working on a single AND a video...we can't wait to hear their gothed-up cover of Paula Abdul's "Opposites Attract"!



Now, I know it seems a bit cheesy, but lyrically, I can understand why they relate so well to this song:

"I like it quiet
And I love to shout
But when we get together
It just all works out...

I take it easy
Baby I get obsessed...

Nothing in common but this trust
I'm like a minus, she's like a plus
One going up, one coming down
But we seem to land on common ground
When things go wrong we make corrections
To keep things moving in the right direction
Try to fight it but I'm telling you Jack
It's useless, Opposites Attract..."

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!