I’m trying very hard to avoid working today. Not sure what it is this week but I certainly don’t want to be here. Stuff is still getting done but at a slower than usual pace.
I was listening to a few things on YouTube while doing some filing at my desk and I stumbled on this:
Talk about memories. The first time I saw NIN was during this tour. I travelled on a Greyhound with a couple of friends to see them at the Gorge. It was spectacular. Actually, I think it was life changing. But at 15, EVERYTHING is life changing so it’s hard to say whether it really made any difference but it was pretty awesome.
I think it's safe to assume that by this point, if you're a NIN fan you've probably already downloaded "The Slip" but if you're a completionist, many of us are, you may be interested in the details of the release. Here's the recent email I received from the mailing list which has all of the juicy details.
A physical release of Nine Inch Nails' The Slip will be available worldwide in the upcoming days as a limited edition CD with bonus DVD through the Null Corporation label. Release dates as follows...
Australia: July 19 Europe: July 21 US: July 22 Canada: July 22 Japan: July 22 UK: July 28
This CD with bonus DVD edition will be a one time only worldwide run of 250,000 individually numbered digipacks. Each digipack features a six-panel layout, 24 page booklet and an exclusive three sticker set. Art direction by Rob Sheridan.
The bonus DVD includes 5 live performances filmed during rehearsals for Nine Inch Nails' upcoming tour, including album tracks Echoplex, 1,000,000 and Letting You.
A gatefold vinyl version of The Slip which contains one 180gm vinyl LP and a 24-page booklet will also be released in the US and Canada on August 12 and in the UK on August 18.
The Slip, written and performed by Trent Reznor, with Josh Freese, Robin Finck and Alessandro Cortini, has been downloaded 1.6 million times worldwide since its online release on May 5, 2008.
NIN's Lights in the Sky Tour opens in Pemberton, Canada on July 25, 2008 with support slots from Crystal Castles, Deerhunter, Does it Offend You, Yeah and A Place To Bury Strangers. Visit http://tour.nin.com/ for the latest tour information.
I'd actually seen mention of this somewhere else late last week but managed to forget to post about it. Better late than never!
Trent Reznor, one of my favourite artists, is working with producer Lawrence Bender to create a TV series based on material from one of NIN's recent albums "Year Zero".
The concept of Year Zero centers on a bleak, Orwellian future approximately 15 years away, with the U.S. a religious dictatorship and the world on the brink of environmental and social collapse.
I, for one, will pretty much watch/listen/buy anything Trent puts his hands on because I have yet to be truly disappointed.
On a related note, it's worth mentioning that Reznor is also one of the biggest acts, along with Radiohead, to remove himself from the traditional studio music system. I am completely behind his ideas that we need to move beyond the old non-functioning system but I must also point out that it's much easier for him or Radiohead, both bands with rabid, deep rooted fanbases, to take this approach and much harder for small, upcoming bands to follow down the same path. Still, I do appreciate what they're doing for their fans and I must say, I'm loving the regular blog posts, YouTube videos and Flickr uploads that come directly from Trent and crew rather than some dude in the marketing department at some big ass record company.
For the last few days folks have been going nuts over Weezer's new video. I saw it first pop up last week and now it's made the rounds to the point where people who aren't even Weezer fans have either seen it, heard about it or posted about it. No big deal, especially if the video is really cool but I don't think this one's it.
This is the video in question. I avoided seeing it until this morning when I just *had* to check to see what all the buzz was about and I have to say, I'm not all that impressed. Sure, it looks kind of cool but when did it become cause for celebration when someone incorporates all sorts of pop-culture references of the moment into a visual and it becomes a huge hit? I will admit, it was fun but I don't see the charm. Personally, I'd rather watch this:
I'm home on a Monday night. Doesn't happen often but here we are, me at home with the rest of "Jimmy Carter Man from Plains" (about an hour left to go) and no interest whatsoever to finish it. I also have a bunch of reviews that I need to finish including "Deception" (crap), "Then She Found Me" (good) and "Savage Grace" (undecided) but all of it seems to require a little too much effort at the moment.
Instead, I'm spending my time downloading the new NIN album. Yes, Trent and the gang has released yet another free album. I love the way this is going - I download the music for free and then I get to buy the album direct from NIN. I don't have to but I'm what they call a "completionist". I have a mild obsession with collecting all of the halo titles.
If you're interested in checking out some great free music, be sure to head over to The Slip official site for your download link.
[Download just completed. Am unpacking the zip file and will be listening in a few short minutes]
Didn't manage to get out to the drive in on the weekend but we did head out to "Iron Man" (my expanded thoughts here) on Saturday. I had fun but was generally indifferent. RDJ was, as expected, fabulous.
Enough rambling for now. Off to try and get some work done.
I was just about to post about how frazzled I am trying to get too much done before leaving the office for the day. I was basically going to post the KFF and call it a day.
And then IT came. An email from Leeny. The GREATEST EMAIL OF ALL TIME.
It was announcing the upcoming Pemberton Music Festival. Which includes the GREATEST lineup this side of the Rockies. Don't believe me?
COLDPLAY . TOM PETTY and The Heartbreakers . NINE INCH NAILS . JAY-Z . THE TRAGICALLY HIP . THE FLAMING LIPS . SERJ TANKIAN . DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE . INTERPOL . MY MORNING JACKET . SAM ROBERTS BAND . METRIC . BLACK MOUNTAIN . VAMPIRE WEEKEND . THE CRYSTAL METHOD DJ SET . DJ SHADOW w/ Cut Chemist . BOOKA SHADE . JUNKIE XL . DAVE SEAMAN . WINTERSLEEP . BUCK 65 . SECRET MACHINES . SIA . MSTRKRFT . DEADMAU5 . BRAZILIAN GIRLS . MGMT . THE FIERY FURNACES . MATES OF STATE . GRAND OLE PARTY . CAROLINA LIAR . THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT . MONTE NEGRO . LOW VS DIAMOND . ANNIE STELA . M.A.N.D.Y. . TOMMIE SUNSHINE . CHROMEO . 3 Oh! 3 . KEVIN SHIU . TIMELINE . TONY PANTAGES
LOADS of great stuff in there but the seller: NIN. NIN in Pemberton.
I was going to book the ticket and just go but now that I've seen the price...I'm concerned. $235 for 3 days. I just want one day. The NIN day.
Must research. Must go. I'm divided. Anyone have a friend in the neighbourhood? I just need a couch...
One of the reasons I've always loved NIN so much is because of they're constantly changing sound. Sometimes, the changing sound occurs withing a period of a couple of singles, other times, it spreads over albums. Though some folks might argue that remixing one's own work is making more money on the cheap, I take comfort in hearing new arrangements and mixes of material I already know and love hence, my love of NIN.
Now the band, namely the fantastic Trent Reznor, has launched a new website where you can upload, download and listen to remixes - by fans. Not quite sure how well this will work (ie. how will I know that the mix is worth listening to?) but thankfully, the entire thing is free so I'm much more inclined to check it out and if you're a NIN fan, you might want to head on over there and take a look. remix.nin.com.
It was so crazy this week, I didn't manage to buy the new NIN CD, Year Zero, until today. I come home. I put it in. I listen. It freakin' rocks! I take it out and OMG! It looks different!
They've added some sort of heat sensitive coating to the top of the CD. It's the coolest thing I've seen in a while.
So when it's cold, the CD looks like this:
After listening to it, it looks like this:
Totally pointless, I know but I'll say it again: COOOOOOOOOOOOL!
It's been a nasty week full of nasty projects but it's almost over! I can hardly wait to go home after class tonight knowing that there's an extra day of rest in the calendar for me. Lots of work to keep me busy but darn it! I'm going to make the best of the darn thing.
Nothing else to really talk about except that I walking into a cloud of pot smoke this morning and it's starting to make me a little sleepy. I'm such a lightweight when it comes to that stuff.
Instead of just posting the song of the day, I thought I'd post the video considering that it's a GREAT video. For a while this was one of my favourite songs and though it's been replaced by others, it's still great. Sad part is that at some point I read an article where Trent mentioned he didn't like this one because it was done at a time when he was heavily into drugs and alcohol. Either way, I like it. Enjoy.
Oh, and for those of you who are taking the weekend and heading away from technology, have a fantastic time!
