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
17 comments:
Exactly. My words exactly.
Would you believe I haven't even heard any HDTA stuff yet? Normally, I'd feel like a bad NIN fan for not jumping on everything Trent does with an impassioned fervor. But I have good excuses! Feel free to pick your favorite and run with it.
A) Grad school. Two 20+ page papers due this week!
B) I've defected to Team Cortini.
C) So much more music is coming out right now, such as the new LCD Soundsytem record.
So I will add my voice to the chorus of "meh," then.
So many emails have been sent back ad forth since this came out and even though it's been a few days (a week?) I still feel the same now as I did then. A big, old befuddled WTF?
My initial reaction was literally:
Okay...LOVE the music and and the lyrics (which basically sound like The Great Below Ver. 2.0) but why the hell isn't HE singing this? It's so clearly his lyrics/phrases...hell even the _way_ in which she's singing it. I know he's said in the past that he would continue creating music under the NIN brand until he felt that the music/project/whatever didn't really fit the brand but this is so NIN I don't see what the difference is unless he didn't feel it right to make her lead on vocals under the former band name.
Hater reaction (whether hater toward MQ or just TR) is "oh trent is still writing about needing to be saved but he's not 20 anymore so no one's buy it. oh wait...trent's got a 20-something wife...we'll just put HER on vocals. she'll be believable." But I think I'm more pissed at him.
I really don't think it's her I'm hating on though. I mean, her vocals aren't great but they're not screeching. I think it's just because this is so much of what he does with her just shoved in front like we wouldn't notice.
And what the hell is with that picture that goes along with the video? It's so funny. And in the article on Pitchfork that goes with this, Atticus doesn't even get a mention?! Poor guy.
And SERIOUSLY, how is MQ claiming she "wrote this from the heart"? If Trent isn't the one who wrote this, I'll eat my hat.
Aren't you in Hawaii or something, Em?
Glad to see both of you ladies are still following us!
I saw you're blog the other day Cat, and you were saying the exact things we've been going rounds with in emails. Maybe not the digs at MQ's choice in expensive footwear but the general confusion of just what the fuck does Mr. Reznor think he's doing?!
Heya Em. So what is Alessandro up to lately? I wanted SO badly to go see him play in Arizona last year but plans fell through. Does he have any touring items coming up?
Oh and in the above comment, I'm referring to the song "A Drowning". We'll get to the other one later.
BAH! Me again. The thing is I really want to like these songs but all the WTF-ery questions they bring up make me feel so fucking grouchy about it. Is anyone else having the same rising blood pressure reaction to this?
Well, here's what confuses and angers me:
1) The music of NIN speaks to me on so many levels; it was almost like I didn't have a choice in whether I "liked" it. It grabbed me by the heart and got me passionately involved.
2) HDA sounds just like NIN.
3) I wouldn't listen twice to HDA songs if I didn't know who they were.
WTF??? How can this be????
Yes, HTDA is confusing and somewhat annoying. It's like Trent has nothing new to offer. Can't wait to hear the new, completely different NIN. Which I'm pretty sure will sound a lot like HTDA. Which sounds a lot like NIN. Wat?
I really loved clip 3 on its own but it gets drowned out by everything else going on in the song. I'm just not really finding any emotional impact with the song somehow
I was quite entertained by Trent's teasing fuckery on twitter though. I'd just put my boy to bed and checked twitter when he said 'stay tuned' and was supposed to have an evening of wine and banter with my husband and ended up getting up to check twitter every half hour much to his annoyance! Ended up going to bed before it was released.
Maise: Yeah, I'm still in Hawaii. Just finished my first year of grad school (as of yesterday), and I'm about to go to Japan in July for an intensive Japanese-language program. Exciting times.
Iris: Last I heard, Alessandro was supposed to put on a blindoldfreak show in Austin, but that was canceled. Also, Pelle (his bandmate in Modwheelmood) has been hinting vaguely at new music on his Facebook page, but because Pelle does so much stuff outside of MWM, it's hard to tell whether this new music specifically refers to MWM.
Now that I've got a little time, I'll try to give HDTA a listen so I can respond to some of the points you guys brought up.
Also, I cannot write that freakin' acronym to save my life. Sorry for making you guys want to break out the red pen.
So is Trent finally not downplaying his role in this?
http://www.nin.com/images/htda03.jpg
I think there must be some photoshop action going on in there, he looks about 10 years younger!
It's the power of love, Isabel.
They all look pretty good there. I wonder what they're staring at so dramatically, though.
I'm glad Trent has his neck back - AND I'm beginning to get a bit of a thing for Atticus, he's like a male cinderella - the studio assistant done good.
In other news, Ronnie James Dio has died - after the whole Pete Steele death thing. I only saw Black Sabbath - er sorry - Heaven and Hell at the Sonisphere festival last year and he was on top vocal form and seemed fine.
Hmm...I've got blemish remover, teeth whitener, and a thinify tool in Paintshop but I really need to get that "anti-aging" filter Rob constantly uses on TR.
You know, Trent, it's okay to look your age. Some would even say those little crow's feet around your eyes are sexy. It's not really a good thing to start looking so much like your doll .
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