How to Destroy Angels' remix competition

How to Destroy Angels are running an official remix competition through Indaba Music. Stems of three tracks off Welcome Oblivion are available for download. The contest is open until 29 May 2013, and the  final winner will receive US$ 500. I'm downloading the stems, just because I have collected all the stems released by Trent Reznor so far, but it's unlikely I'll ever get round to producing anything from them.

Two new How to Destroy Angels remixes

How to Destroy Angels have released a third remix of their track Keep it together by Nosaj Thing, as well as a rework of The space inbetween  by Sonoio's Alessandro Cortini that has been retitled Between the spaces. Each of these remixes was premièred by a different music website, although both may be downloaded from the bands Soundcloud page (links below).

How to Destroy Angels announce tour dates

If you live in the United States, or Canada, then you'll be able to catch Trent Reznor and co. on tour in April. Eleven dates have been announced as follows:

04.12.2013 Indio, CA (Coachella)
04.13.2013 Las Vegas, NV (Pearl Theatre)
04.17.2013 Monterey, CA (The Golden State Theatre)
04.18.2013 San Francisco, CA (The Regency Ballroom)
04.19.2013 Indio, CA (Coachella)
04.21.2013 Denver, CO (Paramount Theater)
04.23.2013 Chicago, IL (Vic Theatre)
04.25.2013 Toronto, ON (Sound Academy)
04.27.2013 Boston, MA (House of Blues)
04.28.2013 Montclair, NJ (Wellmont Theatre)
04.29.3013 New York, NY (The Apollo Theatre)

Information about ticket pre-sales can be found here.

How to Destroy Angels' impressive new album

How to Destroy Angels have teamed up with Pitchfork Advance in order to stream their first full length album, Welcome Oblivion for free. This is no regular album stream though, as it includes album artwork, as well as several short videos to accompany the music.

Tracks available to stream:

1. Wake Up: the best opening track of all the HTDA releases.
2. Keep it together*: I still have neutral feelings about this track. I like the remixes though.
3. And the sky began to scream: from 03:00 onwards is reminiscent of Trent Reznor's earlier songs.
4. Welcome Oblivion: could easily be mistaken for a remix of a b-side from The Fragile era, with elements from Atticus Ross and Reznor's soundtracks thrown in for good measure. I like that this track has some aggressive vocals. This song will surely satisfy many Nine Inch Nails followers who are craving some new material from the project.
5. Ice age*: the original version of this song has grown on me me a little, but I still prefer the Soft Moon remix.
6. On the wing*: starts with some promise, but the vocals killed it for me. Not my favourite track, but not a bad one.
7. Too late, all gone: I liked the intro. I didn't like the verse, but the bridge and chorus are astounding. Overall this sounds like a mash-up of the Dust Brothers soundtrack for Fight Club and a b-side from NIN's Year Zero.
8. How long?: I like everything about this track; it is one of the songs where Mariqueen Maandig-Reznor has demonstrated her true vocal abilities. I really want to hear this song get a few plays on a  local radio station. The video is excellent too.
9. Strings and attractors: another track in which Maandig-Reznor flexes her vocal chords a bit. Unfortunately the spoken versus detract from the chorus, which is a beautiful combination of Reznor and Maandig-Reznor's voices. They really need to do another duet like this.
10. We fade away: with a guest appearance by Alessandro Cortini, I was a little disappointed by this track on the first listen. I was hoping it would build  into something that was reminiscent of one of the jams from Ghosts I-IV, but instead it turned out sounding a bit like a reworked left over from The Social Network soundtrack. It did sound better after a second listen though.
11. Recursive self-improvement: fortunately this track has the groovy, experimental noodling I was expecting to be featured in We fade away.
12. The loop closes*: still one of my favourites, although not so much the chanting at the end. It also has a cool video.
13. Hallowed ground: The piano in this piece, once again evokes memories of sounds from The Social Network score, None-the-less, it's a good choice to close the album off with.

* Tracks originally released on An Omen EP.

Overall, I enjoyed this album, and am considering getting the vinyl edition. Listening to this on a pair of earphones for the first time has definitely made a difference, especially with regard to the tracks that were originally released on the An Omen EP. It also helps to have heard the rest of the album in order to fully appreciate how the tracks on the EP fit in with the concept of the album.

For me the stand out tracks were Welcome oblivion, How long?, Recursive self-improvement and Hallowed ground.

First single off Welcome Oblivion

How to Destroy Angels have released the video for the first single off their first full-length album, which is set for release on 5 March. The track is entitled How long? (the answer to which is 35 days), is one of the few How to Destroy Angels songs in which vocalist, Mariqueen Maandig-Reznor actually sings, instead of whispering breathlessly over her husband, Trent Reznor, and his long standing partner in crime, Atticus Ross', menacing and intricate soundscapes. 

This is a much welcomed relief, and as a result, How long? is my favourite 'non-instrumental' song by the group to date. Hopefully more of the as yet unheard tracks on Welcome Oblivion will be more like this, as opposed to sounding like the songs offered on An Omen EP. Several songs from the An Omen EP will also be featured on the full-length album.

Welcome Oblivion will be available for pre order from the middle of February in digital, CD, and vinyl formats.

How to Destroy Angels close the loop

The latest video from How to Destroy Angels is for the track The loop closes of their An Omen EP. This is my favourite track from the EP. The video is really fitting too, featuring plenty of glitchy sequences of what I'm assuming are CRT monitors. 

According to HTDA's social media posts, their first full length LP, Welcome Oblivion is set for release on 5 March 2013. Hear's hoping it features a few more tracks in a similar style to that of The loop closes.

Here's a bonus remix of the Ice age by Deadmau5. Once again, I prefer the remix over the original track.

How to Destroy Angels 'Ice Age' video and remix

Today How to Destroy Angels premièred a remix of Ice Age by The Soft Moon. Fortunately, much like the last remix, The Soft Moon's interpretation of the song is better than the original.

This is no doubt due to the fact that the twangy, country notes have all but been replaced by 80s influenced drum machine sequences and brooding synth textures that wouldn't have sounded out of place thirty years ago. As J. Wrinkle commented on Facebook, "Trent created HTDA so that he could get away from the NIN industrial rock sound... and this mix just takes it right back." Precisely my sentiment towards the track.

 

The video for Ice Age was released a few days ago, while I was in Thailand without an internet connection. While I'd made the comparison before my trip, after watching this video, as well as seeing a particular behind-the-scene photo from the video shoot (below), I can't help but think that Mariqueen Maandig Reznor looks a lot like a kathoey. That said, the original version of Ice Age is slowly growing on me.

Stream An Omen EP from How to Destroy Angels

The third full release made available for online streaming today, following those of Crystal Castles and Deftones. This EP from How to Destroy Angels is also set for release on 13 November. 

Track listing below:

After haven taken a listen, I can safely say that The loop closes and Speaking in tongues are my favourite tracks on the EP. This is probably to do with the fact that they sound like outtakes from Nine Inch Nails' Ghosts I-IV or one of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' soundtracks. These two songs also feature Trent Reznor on vocals, more prominently than Mariqueen Maandig Reznor.

This has lead me to conclude that I simply do not like Mariqueen Maandig Reznor's vocals. They just don't seem to tie in with the scenes set by the music at all. I'm even finding myself a little disappointed by this release as a result. In hindsight, I'm kind of glad the physical copies of the EP sold out before I got round to ordering them. It means I now have the funds to order an album that I am excited about.

While Trent Reznor is easily one of my favourite musicians, I can safely saw that his wife is not. I sincerely hope that she stays as far away from the recording studio as possible when Trent Reznor gets round to laying down some new Nine Inch Nails tracks.

Keep it together remixes

How to Destroy Angels released the first remix of their single Keep it together by Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio) on 19 October. I didn't post about it initially, because although I liked it, I didn't think it warranted its own post.

Hot on the heels of the video for the single comes the second remix by Factory Floor. Clocking in at nearly twice the duration of the original, this remix is well worth posting about. In my opinion, this is one of those rare occasions when the remix is in fact better than the original track. It might have something to do with the fact that Factory Floor has added a catchy kick and snare beat, a couple of little synth accents and lowered the volume of Mariqueen Maandig Reznor's breathless vocals to a level that is almost inaudible. 

While I've really liked the music that has come out of the How to Destroy Angels camp, I'm still not entirely sold on the lyrics or vocal performances on some of the songs. To me they just seem out of place and almost disjointed from the rest of the song. That said, I own the CD edition of their first EP, and am probably going to order the vinyl edition of An Omen EP early next week.

--Update 06/11/2012--

As of this morning, the vinyl edition of An Omen EP is sold out on the band's website. Guess I'll have to settle for the digital version, as there is no CD option for this release.

How to Destroy Angels' new music video

How to Destroy Angels have released a video of the band performing the single Keep it together in what appears to be Trent Reznor's home studio. You can watch it here.

As an aside, it's great to see Rob Sheridan involved as a musician in the band. Up until recently he has been credited as the art director for the band. I'm sure he will add an interesting element to future live shows.

How to Destroy Angels - Keep it together

Announced just 30 minutes ago via Facebook, the new single from How to Destroy Angels has already received over 800 downloads. The band will be releasing their second EP on 13 November 2012 (the same day the new Deftones album drops).

If you like the new single, Keep it together, you can download the band's eponymous EP here.