New NIN Album: The Slip!

There have been hints in the recent song releases that something was going to happen and to check back on NIN.com on May 5th. The day is here and apparently we get a whole nother album available for free download! I'm getting my copy now hopefully before the servers crash.

Get "The Slip" now!

Deja Vu

So another new NIN single has hit the internets, this time via their official Facebook account. I present to you:

Echoplex

Trent goes on and on and on throughout this ditty how his "voice just echoes off these walls." You know why your voice just echoes off the walls? Hmm? If this song is any indication, it's because you've got nothing left old man and the room that used to hold inspiration for amazing music is EMPTY! And that place, a.k.a. this song, you built from broken parts is exactly that. A song you built out of older, better ones. Is that the whirling noise from "Wish" at about the 2:15 mark? Then there's the piano tinkering thrown in. We get it. Those couple bars of piano are lovely but you're even wearing me out with it already and I'm a piano junkie. Even the guitar (bass? I'm terrible with identifying instruments) towards the end sounds VERY familiar...can't quiet place my finger on where yet but it strikes me as March of the Pigs but slowed down slightly. Maybe. Maybe not. Either way the whole thing just seems like a bad patchwork quilt of old and borrowed sounds.

The only thing "new" to this latest release is the drumbeat but even that isn't original. Just new to the NIN realm. Most others will recognize it as the prerecorded sound bite that comes programed on all keyboards. I believe it's Funky Beat #107 if I'm not mistaken.

I appreciated the seemingly straightforward lyrics of "Discipline" and I'm not saying the lyrics for "Echoplex" aren't honest, it's just that I don't know that I like the direction you're going here. Are you trying to tell us that you're going to be fading away into obscurity and won't be making music anymore because, as I deciphered earlier from the lyrics, you're inspirationally drained? Or is it that you're calling yourself out that all your new songs are echoes of previous works? Can someone help me out here?

Okay, so I may be a bit cranky in this assessment but I stand by my opinion that this song is not working for me in the least little bit. I really want to like it but...um...no. Sorry Mr. Reznor, can we please try this again.

I'm Listening to the new NIN single RIGHT NOW...

And it's a real song...with words!

The title is...I swear to God..."Discipline." And part of the chorus is...I swear to God..."I need your discipline." Ooh, dirty in a "Master and Servant" kind of way! Or at least I hope so because that would be more fun than a song about, say, addiction and relapse or something. It kind of mixes the ponderous piano of the "Ghost I-IV" tracks with the gothy disco of "Closer" or "The Big Comedown."

I'm giving it a thumbs up, as I'm sure will be no surprise to you all. But all this talk of discipline is cracking me up.

Trent, honey, what exactly do you need to be disciplined for? Did you break the vase in the hallway while rough-housing with Atticus? Have you been having trouble getting off the couch and going to the gym? (Me too!) I can totally help you out on the discipline part; I went to Catholic school for TWELVE YEARS. I know I've got a ruler around here somewhere...

So bitches and Dan, what do you think? Do you like the new song? What the hell are the lyrics? Does anyone know yet?

illustration by Zeemort

Look Who's Back!

It's Robin Finck! And according to nin.com he's back in the NIN lineup. Hooray! Robin's looking good despite being with GnR for the past few years, although the beard makes him look a bit like a mountain goat.

Back in Jan of '05 Trent had this to say about Finck and his **cough, cough, shoddy, cough** replacement:

"Alessandro fit in immediately, but we looked all over for the right guitarist. In retrospect, I believe we were looking for someone to fill Robin's [Finck] shoes. When Aaron walked through the door, he pissed on Robin's shoes and kicked them out the door where they belong — effectively closing a chapter. A great chapter, but one that is in the past. This is a new entity that feels very fresh and vital."

I don't think I'm the only one who is glad that Trent is reopening this chapter. It will be interesting to see what Finck brings to the table after being away for almost 8 years. And I'm happy to say that we should be able to see him in action at Lolla this year. Only one more day until the official lineup release but this leak from the Sun-Times looks promising.

**EDIT**
This year's Lolla confirmation straight from the horse's mouth.

Also announced via the NIN YouTube profile is new band member Rich Fownes who will be taking over the position of bass man. Eerily, he kind of even looks like Jeordie but maybe just a younger version.


I think I'll just refer to him as Jeordie 2.0 from here on out. After briefly skimming his myspace account it seems he has a thing for John Candy and has been plucked from The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, a gothic rock psychobilly band. The jury is still out on whether or not he'll be a more of less irritating presence than Aaron North. By all means, I hope Jeordie 2.0 brings a little debauchery to the band but I'll be disappointed if he just turns out to be another flying monkey boy like Aaron.

Who Says We Don't Discuss The Important Things Around Here?

My discussion with Iris, 4/2/08:

Iris: did you see that NKOTB are getting back together?
my 5th grade heart goes pitter-patter
lol


Maise: Oh man, I've got bitterness towards them because I didn't like them in junior high, which made me an outcast.


Iris: what? no love for New Kids?!?!
i don't know that we can be friends anymore.


Maise: No! And now they're all old and ugly!


Iris: lol


Maise: Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!


Iris: NOOOOOOOOOOO!


Maise: I mean, who are they pitching to here? They'll scare all the little girls, and everyone our age will go, "You didn't age well."


Iris: http://www.nkotb.com/
the guy on the right looks like an asshole
i can't even remember his name
danny wood? maybe?


Maise: Yeah, I think he was danny.
I mean, the one on the far left looks good. Joey?


Iris: my dream guy was always jonathan. the second from the left
yeah. that's joey


Maise: Yeah, if I had to pick one, I would have picked Jon, but he always looked super-gay in retrospect.


Iris: but jonathan was the oldest so i don't know how old that makes him now


Maise: Jordan looks like a soccer dad.
The three to the right look like who you'd wind up with on some random online date.


Iris: jon is 40 now


Maise: LOL
That's messed up!


Iris: omg that's so bizarre that he's around the same age as trent


Maise: He's only two years younger than TRENT?


Iris: SO fucked UP!


Maise: How can that be?


Iris: YEAH!
fuck if i know


Maise: Weeeeird.


Iris: omg that's weird


Maise: I mean, Trent could have been in NKOTB!


Iris: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!


Maise: And it would have been like The Exotic Birds.
I love that old vid of him.


Iris: if the NKOTB played instruments


Maise: Because he thinks that Exotic Birds song is AWESOME.
Well, Trent can hump stuff. That's kind of like dancing.


Iris: the hair flip is AWESOME
and the intense eyes
LOL! hump stuff!


Maise: LOL

NIN's Ghosts III, Wherein JR Speaks the Truth

Okay, so Iris is all whining that Maise has deserted this place and with a whole new peachy keen NIN record in four parts that need IMMEDIATE ATTENTION and blah, blah, blah, and I’ve been railroaded into taking some time out of my already crazy busy schedule to do a review of the third movement of NIN’s Ghosts. So, as I routinely say to my boss, There ARE 24 hours in a day (why not use ‘em all?), and I set out to give it a listen and see what’s what. I’m even giving my thoughts in real time, so this review is also innovative.

This had better be good.

Reznor has something of a history of disappointing me lately.

Ghosts III – 19

• First of all, I’m not digging on the numbering system. I guess when you’ve got to turn something out as quickly as this, you don’t have time to: A. Come up with lyrics; B. Come up with song titles; C. Wait for the packaging ideas to come to you, so you just release it real cheap as a download.
• Soundtracky.
• Is this song ever going to get off the ground? I haven’t got all day. I can’t sit around and paint pictures with my mind AND make videos for this stuff for you, Trent. I already have a job. What happened to the artist being responsible for the art?

Ghosts III – 20

• I guess it’s cool that Reznor is such a fan of recycling that it includes not just plastics and newspapers, but past songs of his. “Closer”, anyone?
• This song is, like, begging for lyrics. Reznor is neglecting his own material.
• Feels like a long intro to something else.
• I like what it morphs into in the second half; more organic, less of the ball-less industrial-lite of the first half.
• The outro with piano sounds a lot like the softer parts of [With Teeth]. He must be sucking Al Gore’s dick with all of this recycling going on.

Ghosts III – 21

• Does nothing for me. Other than to make me think of Fields Of Gaffney’s “Xylophone.” So I guess that means he’s recycling other people’s stuff, too.

Ghosts III – 22

• Is that a didgeridoo?
• Trent does lite-jazz!
• I like the drum sound, though the actual drum riff sounds, shall we say, “familiar.”

Ghosts III – 23

• Finally, something that I can sink my teeth into, and that references NIN’s back catalog without sounding mired in it.
• Love the distortion. Finally.
• Okay, two thirds of the way through this song, and where is this going? Anywhere?

Ghosts III – 24

• Okay, something else that is starting out promising.
• Totally hearing the Human League influence in the keyboards.
• I think club DJs could get a lot of mileage out of this one.

Ghosts III – 25

• Tedious.

Ghosts III – 26

• zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ghosts III – 27

• zzzzzzzzz….zzzzzzzzz….huh?….oh, nothing…….zzzzzzzzzz
• Well, part the underlying guitar line is reminiscent of Cheech & Chong’s “Earache My Eye”—can’t wait for that lawsuit!

I guess I would like listening to this stuff while doing yoga, or going for a walk or something. Except that I hate walking, and haven’t done a single yoga pose in three years.

This sounds, overall, like nothing more than more thought out than average demos, which seems to prove my point that this is why TR chose to release it as a download. It’s expensive to release a multi-disc “work” (and believe me, ladies and germs, I’m using the term “work” loosely), and there would probably be a backlash from people who felt ripped off. And well they should. But if you get a few dozen songs for five bucks, that makes it a little harder to complain.

In all honesty people, I don’t want it to be the case, but I think Trent is running out of ideas. Every song on here either sounds like something that he has already done or something that someone else has done. I’m not stupid enough to not realize that there aren’t really any original thoughts left in music, and it’s all about how people interpret their influences, but this is kinda like stealing Aunt Linda’s Famous Apple Pie recipe and passing it off as your own, just charging $1.50 a slice instead of $4.25. Just cause it’s a bargain and not total crap doesn’t make it good.

You know, if I wanted to carry the apple pie analogy a little further, this is not only like stealing the recipe and trying to pass it off as your own (…cough…Rachel Ray…ahem…cough…), it’s like also saying, “Well, you know, I thought maybe what you apple pie fans should do is go out and make your own ice cream to go on top of this pie. You can have a slice now, and eat it without anything on top of it, OR you can take the slice—did I mention it’s only $1.50 and that you can get it right through your computer?—and set it aside while you go to the store and get the cream, vanilla and rock salt, churn the ice cream, wait for it to set up, then scoop it out yourself and put it next to the pie I made. In fact, I’m going to have an ice cream making contest to see who comes up with the most interesting ice cream to go alongside my pie. So get churnin’!”

Yeah, it’s kind of A LOT like that.

Thanks for nothing, Reznor.

I’m sticking with GAFFNEY.

About the author: JR is known by many as the “hardest working woman in (non-profit) show biz,” a title that—along with herself—she takes very seriously. You can read more about her exploits and preferences at JR.”

Just What the Doctor Ordered

WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG FOR SOME BREAKING NEWS!
We will return to your regularly scheduled program momentarily
but first...

March 26, 2008 -- TIRED of a world in which Americans idolize wannabe singers, and where musicals about high school students pass as rock 'n' roll, Dr Pepper is begging Axl Rose to finally release this year his 17-years-in-the-making album, "Chinese Democracy." The soft drink company's incentive to Axl, the frontman of Guns N' Roses? If he ships the album in 2008, everyone in America - except estranged guitarists Slash and Buckethead - will receive a free can of Dr Pepper. "It took a little patience for us to perfect Dr Pepper's special mix of 23 ingredients, so we completely understand and empathize with Axl's question for the perfect album," said a company spokesperson. Dr Pepper is asking fans to lobby Axl to drop the album already.

Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh Axl! Stop! Stop! My side hurts. Ow, ow! And Company Spokesperson you're KILLING me with the "it took a little patience" pun. Seriously!

But wait...*sniff, sniff*...is that a gimmick I smell? Here's how I'm predicting it will go down, folks. If, I said if, Axl actually drops this record in 2008 I'm saying that in order to claim your FREE Dr. Pepper people will have to actually BUY the album. So who's up for a $15 can of soda with a side of has-been?

Any takers?