New album(s) from Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails released the next installments of their instrumental series Ghosts V:Together and Ghosts VI: Locusts as free downloads.

A return...

Holy cow! It's been a really long time since I've visited this Blog.

I was about to start a new blog, as a means to document all the ways musicians were coming together to raise awareness about the current COVID-19 pandemic, whether it be through releasing new music for free, streaming live performances from their living rooms, or uploading old concert footage to Youtube. You can find the full list of posts here!

Maybe I should have restarted this project earlier. But, a lot has happened in the years since I last visited: priorities changed, interests shifted, and time poured into other activities. Any way, now seems as good a time as any to get back into blogging.

I don't know how often I'll post (or what additional content will be covered), but for now, I have plans to share new music from Nine Inch Nails, several playlists from live DJ sets by members of Deftones, and a Post Malone playing a Nirvana tribute concert, and a star-studded rendition of Foo Fighters "Times like these." If there are any other videos/playlists/downloads you have come across during your lock down, then don't hesitate to share them in a comment.

#StayHome                                                    #StaySafe                                          #LoveOneAnother

Grammys snub Hard Rock and Metal legends

Last nights Grammy Awards ceremony was meant to end with a bang, especially considering that the final performance for the evening included some of rocks greatest talent including Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age). 

Instead of being treated to an absolute musical extravaganza, viewers at home got to watch a reasonably good live performance of the Nine Inch Nails' track 'Copy of a,' followed by a much better performance of the Queens of the Stone Age track 'My god is the sun.' Well, that was what everyone was anticipating, but because the ceremony was running late, the guys in charge decided it was time cut off Homme and the boys and let every one at home know where the Grammy Awards got there money from before rolling the final credits.

As a result Reznor had the following tweet for the people behind the Grammy Awards:

Music's biggest night... to be disrespected. A heartfelt FUCK YOU guys.

— Trent Reznor (@trent_reznor) January 27, 2014

Subsequently all videos of the performance have been removed with the organisers claiming copyright infringements. This prompted Spencer Kaufman across at Loudwire to write an open letter to the producers of Grammy Awards. It's an interesting read and points out a lot more of underlying issues within the 'music industry.'

Nine Inch Nails help launch Beats Music with 'Remix 2014 EP'

Following last years release of the Live 2013 EP, which was a Spotify exclusive, Trent Reznor released a follow-up EP , Remix 2014. The new EP was released to coincide with the launch of Reznor's foray into the on-demand music streaming service, Beats Music, which was launched yesterday. 

Like the Live 2013 EP, Remix 2014 EP looks set to remain an online only release, which at present means that Remix 2014 EP is a United States exclusive.

I wonder if Hesitation Marks will get an expanded remix album/ EP companion album, or if the Remix 2014 EP is meant to to fill that space?

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and David Fincher team up once again

The soundtrack scoring duo, Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails, How to Destroy Angels) and Atticus Ross (How to Destroy Angels), are set to team up with director David Fincher for the third time to score the soundtrack for Gone Girl.

The trio have previously collaborated on the soundtracks for The Social Network, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, while Fincher also directed the music video for the Nine Inch Nails' track, Only.

All-star line-up to close Grammy Awards Ceremony

The 56th Annual Grammy Awards are taking place this Sunday night. I don't normally take much interest in awards ceremony, but this year might just be different. For starters it'll be the first time Gary Clark Jr, Nine Inch Nails, and Queens of the Stone Age perform at the event. 

Clark is the first artist in history to be nominated in the categories 'Best Rock Song,' and 'Best Traditional R&B Performance' in the same year. I saw him perform live in June last year, and he would be a worthy recipient of either award, and probably deserves both.

What I'm really looking forward to seeing though, is the final performance of the evening by Trent Reznor/ Nine Inch Nails and Queens of the Stone Age, who will also be joined on-stage by Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), and Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac). I'm interested to see if they will perform a track off of the Sound City soundtrack (since they were all involved in its creation), or if they perform a medley of tracks by the various groups. Either way, this looks to be an epic Grammy ceremony performance finale performance.

Nine Inch Nails announce live DVD and Blu-ray

Following the release of the Live 2013 EP, and several videos of performances and behind the scenes action from the Tension 2013, Nine Inch Nails have released a 90 minute video from their performance in Los Angeles last month. This also just happens to be one of the concerts I was planning to attend if I found myself in Los Angeles that week, but sadly the trip never went ahead.

The above video also serves as a promo for the expanded concert set for release next year on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital distribution. According to the nin.com minisite, and Facebook the full concert will be releases, with 5.1 surround sound audio mix, as well as additional content.

I'll be aiming to get the Blu-Ray, as I want to experience the Los Angeles show in full-HD, which will be the next best thing to actaully having been there myself. Hopefully I'll be able to catch Nine Inch Nails on a future European or North American tour, as I doubt they'll be heading to South Africa any time soon.

Dead Beats and Sol Invicto remixes

Before releasing the last track to Initium II, Sol Invicto treated us to a remix of Saul Williams' Break. The track originally appeared on Williams' album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust, which was produced by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.

Speaking of which, local production duo Dead Beats released a remix of Nine Inch Nails track, The hand that feeds this weekend too. It's been a while since I've listened to the original With Teeth version, but hearing this reminded me of how much I liked that song when it was released in 2005. Dead Beats have taken all the elements I liked from the original, and breathed new life into it. This is well worth a listen if you're a fan of Nine Inch Nails, and like hearing other artists interpretations of relatively well-known tracks.

If you enjoyed the remix then check out Dead Beats other offerings. They also have three EPs that can be downloaded for free. Two of these were released under the duos previous name, Sparrow.

Nine Inch Nails live EP

Trent Reznor and co. have recorded several Nine Inch Nails shows during the band's 2013 tour. Hopefully this means we'll get a concert DVD, or a full live album in a couple of months time. For now though four of the tracks have been compiled into a Live 2013 EP, which is streaming via Spotify. The EP artwork is labelled 'Seed 7,' signifying this as an official promotional release. 

This is only the second 'seed' that has not been made available for free download, the last time being back in 2005, when members of the nin.com community received promotional DVDs in the mail with the words Seed 1 on the back cover.

-- Update 17 September 2013 --

Apparently the EP has disappeared from Spotify, although Rob Sheridan has confirmed that it will be back online again soon. In the mean time, have a look over here.

@heroicraptor So I heard. No idea what happened there but it should be coming back.

— Rob Sheridan (@rob_sheridan) September 12, 2013

The price of being a Nine Inch Nails supporter: $6, excluding shipping

This morning I came across Spin's recent interview with Trent Reznor, the mastermind behind Nine Inch Nails, in which he discusses many things, including the value of his music. What really caught my attention though was Reznor saying, "...my personal feeling is that my album's not worth a dime. It's not a buck. I made it as well as I could, and it costs 10 bucks, or go fuck yourself."

Now this is all well and good, except for the fact that I paid '12 bucks' for my copy of Hesitation Marks, and I bought it directly from the official Nine Inch Nails store! Why did I pay more, when there should have been fewer middle-men involved?

Okay, so by ordering directly from the NIN Store I am able to download MP3, Apple Lossless, FLAC, or WAV versions of the entire album, as well as the Audiophile Mastered Version in all those formats too. That is well worth the extra '2 bucks.' However, I also ordered the Deluxe CD, which is '20 bucks' at the NIN Store, double Reznor's recommended '10 bucks,' and '4 bucks' more than what Amazon are selling the record for. Again, Why did I pay more, when there should have been fewer middle-men involved?

Using Amazon as the benchmark for suggested retail prices (as they're selling the Standard CD version of Hesitation Marks for $9.99), I've paid a total of $6 more than the suggested retail price for my copies of Hesitation Marks, by ordering directly from the official Nine Inch Nails Store! What has this extra $6 actually bought me? Yes, I have lossless downloads of two mixes of Hesitation Marks (but I have also incurred additional costs by choosing to download these massive ZIP files), however there are no download options available that include the three bonus tracks from the Deluxe CD. Not even in less favourable lossy MP3! So why was the Deluxe CD version $4 more than Amazon, when the Standard CD was only an extra $2, and the files available to download are exactly the same! Why did I pay more, when there should have been fewer middle-men involved, and there are no additional files?

After having previously bought two Nine Inch Nails albums (Ghosts I and The Slip), which were made available as free downloads. I've supported Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails when South African record stores were charging higher prices for his albums than other artists,* and I'm still supporting Reznor. But paying higher prices for Nine Inch Nails records, when buying directly from the official Nine Inch Nails store, I'm definitely starting to feel a little cheated.

When it comes time for Nine Inch Nails to release their next album, I may take Reznor's own advice from 2007 and "Steal it!"

In the mean time I say, "Thanks Trent, here's my 32 bucks, now go fuck yourself."

--

* Those "ridiculous prices of CDs" mentioned by Reznor in the above video are also common in South Africa, where physical copies of The Slip were priced three-times more than any other release of the time. While many albums released by other artists in 2008 have come down in price, the price of Ghosts I-IV and The Slip have remained the same as they were on release day.

September 3 music, gaming and movie releases

Tomorrow there are quite a few things being released that I am really looking forward to adding to my various, ever-growing collections. 

First up is Nine Inch Nails' ninth* studio album, Hesitation Marks. I've ordered both the regular and deluxe versions of the CD, because I am a huge collector of Nine Inch Nails related media (but let's leave that for another post when I can share pictures of my entire NIN collection). While I'll have to wait a few weeks to receive the physical editions, I can at least take solace in the fact that I'll be able to download lossless versions of the complete album, as well as the alternative mix, some time tomorrow. Till then I'll sit and listen to Came back haunted, Copy of a, and Everything a few times.

Then, the console version of Diablo III is also hitting shelves tomorrow. I pre-ordered a copy quite some time back in order to secure a copy of the artbook advertised by my local games retailer. Although my copy will be ready for collection tomorrow morning, I wont be able to get to the store until the weekend. While I'm hoping the week will pass relatively quickly, at least I know I should have enough time to finish Diablo II.

Lastly, The Lords of Salem is getting released on DVD and Blu-Ray tomorrow. I haven't seen the film yet, but it's on my list of things to watch. At present The Lords of Salem doesn't have very favourable scores on IMDb (5.2/ 10), but then again, even Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects only score 5.8/ 10, and 6.8/ 10 receptively. Both of which I'm quite fond of too.

While writing this I realised that I am quite happy to fork out my cash to buy music (either digital or physical CDs) and PlayStation and PC games, but I'm a bit more reluctant when it comes to buying movies. While I do have a small collection of DVDs, it's nothing compared to my CD collection. I may even have more PS3 games now than DVDs. Considering I only bought my PS3 in March, its a good reflection of the where I've been investing my free time and spare cash. I've also come to realise, that after watching a movie I've enjoyed, I tend to buy the novel the film is based upon, rather than the DVD of the film itself. One notable exception is Ang Lee's Life of Pi, for which I'd like to buy the Blu-Ray and the book.

--
* Some sources may say it's Nine Inch Nails eighth studio album, but I consider Broken to be an album, not just an EP. 

Listen to Nine inch Nails 'Hesitation Marks' now

The first album from Nine Inch Nails in nearly five years can now be streamed via the following link. According to NIN's facebook page, different sites are hosting the stream depending on where in the world you are trying to access it from.

Also, if you order Hesitation Marks directly from the NIN store, you'll be able to download an alternative version of the album for free, which features a different mastering process. This version has been dubbed the Audiophile Mastered Version, and is aimed primarily for listeners with serious audio equipment.

I may preorder the album and download this alternate version anyway, in the hopes that I will one day have the equipment available to hear the differences between the standard and audiophile versions.

Third track off 'Hesitation Marks' released

Nine Inch Nails have released another track from their next album. Today NPR Music shared the third (second according to them) track from Hesitation Marks, due out on 3 September.

The song is called Everything, and it sounds almost nothing like previous material from Nine Inch Nails. It's possibly one of the poppiest, most radio-friendly pieces ever penned by Trent Reznor. That said, I doubt it'll actually get too much radio play here in South Africa where it'll be lucky to even get a mention on local radio, despite there being a pretty big Nine Inch Nails following here.

So far none of the four tracks (three studio recordings, one live performance) I've heard from Hesitation Marks have been particularly mind blowing, but they're still on average pretty good. I guess I'm just not used to hearing 'happy Nine Inch Nails' yet. Despite the apparent change in direction, I'm still rather looking forward to this release, as Nine Inch Nails has been my favourite band since the release of The Fragile. I at least hope that there's one of Reznor's trademark, scene-setting instrumentals on Hesitation Marks. 

If nothing else, I'm hoping that fellow Nine Inch Nails fans wont start labelling Hesitation Marks a complete disappointment à la Korn's 'The path of totality' and possibly Korn's follow-up album 'The paradigm shift' too.

Free download from Nine Inch Nails

Last Friday saw Nine Inch Nails release the the second single off Hesitation Marks for 'free.' Copy of a is available via Amazon, but only if you live in the United States or United Kingdom. Despite being a free download, you still need to enter credit card details to place the order, which has gotten a few peoples knickers in a knot over privacy and security issues. Since Amazon is probably one of the most trusted online retailers I don't think there's too much to get uptight about, unless you're not from the U.S or U.K. and can't actually download the track. Guess I'll just have to wait till the albums release, like a majority of the rest of the world, before I can legally own a copy of a Copy of a. (Sorry I couldn't resist.)

Nine Inch Nails débuts third track from 'Hesitation Marks' in South Korea

Nine Inch Nails played two new songs off Hesitiation Marks at the Ansan Valley Rock Festival two nights ago in South Korea. The new tracks played are entitled 'Copy of a' and 'Disappointed.' Below is a video of the band opening the show with Copy of a, followed by the first live performance of Disappointed.

From the three tracks I've heard from Hesitation Marks so far, I'm quite impressed. I'm equally excited to hear the rest of the album, which sounds like it has been influenced by electronic music much more than previous Nine Inch Nails albums.

'Hesitation Marks' artwork, Part II

Last month I wrote about the album artwork for Nine Inch Nails' album Hesitation Marks. Turns out that that particular cover is for the iTunes deluxe digital version, and that these are the covers for the remaining physical and digital editions of the album. The digital cover is my favourite, but that wont stop me from getting the Deluxe CD edition.

Digital

Standard CD

Deluxe CD

Vinyl

Nine Inch Nails' 'Came back haunted' video

New Nine Inch Nails video for Came back haunted directed by David Lynch.

Album art revealed for 'Hesitation Marks'

Nine Inch Nails next album, Hesitation Marks, set for release on 3 September is now available for pre-order on nin.com and iTunes. The album will be available on several formats, including digital download, CD, and vinyl. Pre-orders will also get instant access to download the single Came back haunted, which premièred earlier today.

Along with the release of the first single, and the cover art for Hesitation Marks, comes an extensive list of North American tour dates for Tension 2013. 

Now for a look at the Hesitation Marks cover art. My first thoughts were that it was reminiscent of the various artwork from The Downward Spiral era, which isn't a bad first impression considering the artist responsible for those artworks, Russell Mills, is also responsible for this piece.

I really like the choice of colours, and the overall presentation as it's a step away from the Year Zero/ The Slip artwork, suggesting this album is not set in the Year Zero storyline.

I don't like the look of the fragmented NIИ logo, as it doesn't fit in with the gritty texture of the background. Maybe it's not too late to make the logo layer slightly transparent, so that some of the imperfections of Russell Mills' excellent piece of work shows through.

-- 

Update here

Nine Inch Nails: Came back haunted

Why wait until 11:00 AM (PDT), when you can listen to Came back haunted, the first single off Nine Inch Nails' album Hesitation Marks, coming out on 3 September 2013. Came back haunted will be available to download later today on nin.com and iTunes.

There's also a video for Came back haunted

First single off new Nine Inch Nails album

A week after the announcement that Nine Inch Nails has a new studio album to share with us, we now have news that we'll be able to listen to the first single off said album, tomorrow at 11:00 AM (PDT) on various radio stations right now! The single is entitled Came back haunted, and I'm hoping that the band will make it available as a free download shortly after we've heard it, like they did with Discipline back in 2008. The difference is, this time around, Nine Inch Nails are signed to a record label, so it's unlikely we'll be getting anything for free from them again for a while. More details at radio.com.

Here's a photo of Trent Reznor (left) looking like a hipster.