SOUND BITES

Depending on your mindset of what does or does not constitute an album, Bad Witch is either Nine Inch Nails' ninth album, or the third and final EP to close out the set that started in late 2016 with Not the Actual Events . Maybe, for the sake of our sanity, let's call it something in between; it only has six songs (two of which are instrumentals), yet is over a half hour long. Plus, even though its track list is short, there is a lot happening within the confines of these six songs. Bad Witch starts out with muscle, bile and swagger; Shit Mirror chugs along on a noisy soundtrack, with a little snap and pep (along with barely audible background vocals from Trent Reznor's wife Mariqueen and The Cult's Ian Astbury), while Ahead of Ourselves propels itself with a frenetic break beat and just a little punk attitude. This pair of tracks are sure to be welcomed by longtime fans who like their NIN fast and loud, though something is a bit different about these songs; th...

No one knew when it was released, but Not the Actual Events (the noisy EP surprise-released just before Christmas '16) was more a prologue than a standalone EP; earlier this year, it was announced that Nine Inch Nails were in the process of releasing a trilogy of EPs, and that Add Violence was the second (the third is expected by the end of the year). Naturally, people would be looking at Add Violence as a continuation of Not the Actual Events ' cold, harsh and noisy presentation, especially with that title implying even more brutality. As it turns out, those really weren't the actual events, so to speak; while there are a few parallels thematically, overall this batch of five songs is much less abrasive than its predecessor, as Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross allow for more accessibility in the songs. Lead single Less Than , despite a gradual increase in volume and intensity, is as straightforward and chart-ready as NIN's biggest hits. The Lovers features more of...

It can't be coincidental that the cover of the newly released EP from Nine Inch Nails bears striking resemblance to that of the deluxe edition of And All That Could Have Been , the live album NIN released in 2002. That tour was for the 1999 album The Fragile , a vast and exploratory record that Trent Reznor and frequent collaborator turned full-time NIN member Atticus Ross have been listening to a lot lately; a reimagined version of that record was constructed as part of the massive NIN resissue campaign set to launch in 2017 (alongside, presumably, a new album). Not to say that the five new songs handed in to fulfill Reznor's promise of new NIN in 2016 completely mimic the music from The Fragile , but much of the mood and tone of that album is present on Not the Actual Events . Burning Bright (Field On Fire) is the closest cousin to The Day the World Went Away we're ever likely to get, while the plodding, percussive beat that buoys centerpiece She's Gone Away ca...

We all know that expression is the most important ingredient in art. We also know that, sometimes, the way an artist expresses themselves isn't what some would call "appropriate". Ever since the first person took offence to an artistic statement, there have been artists that revel in offending. Recently, Wakrat (side project featuring Rage Against the Machine bassist Tim Commerford) released their new single Generation Fucked, a snappy little tune with a nice groove. Oh, and 36 F-bombs. That got me thinking about this week's column, and what might make the cut on a list of the most explicit songs ever released. As it turns out, there are a lot of explicit songs, so I had to pare the list down somehow. With that in mind, the boundaries I set are as follows: a) No hip-hop or extreme metal. Low hanging fruit. b) No joke/novelty bands. Sorry, Tenacious D and Steel Panther. c) No album tracks. For inclusion on this list, a song has to have been released as ...

(DISCLAIMER: The intent of this article is not to belittle the art of the double album, nor is the point to diminish the worth of the albums featured below. My goal is not to "fix" these albums, and I support the artists' decisions when it comes to how they present their art. Just so we're clear.) The double album: a career move meant to distinguish a batch of songs as something special. An artistic vision that simply can't be confined by standard definitions or time constraints. Many of our greatest musical landmarks run outside of the accepted parameters of what an album should be. Sometimes it's a grand statement, a series of musical moments strung together into something magical and cinematic. Other times, it's a way to express disparate emotions, a way to segregate when an artist is going for two distinct approaches at the same time. Sometimes it's simply a case of a creative outburst that grew too fast and too wild. Far be it for me t...

Remembered by some as "the one with Closer on it", Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral is blatantly, shockingly more than its crass and silly hit single. Anyone with a passing familiarity with the album has a sense of its scope, but even some fans have yet to discover all it has to offer. Probably one of the most masterfully layered recordings ever created, The Downward Spiral is an experimental audio surgery performed with equal parts expert precision and brute force. It's so sonically dense, I was able to hear things on the hundredth spin I hadn't noticed on the first 99. And the production is near perfection. I've gone on record ( here , if you care to read it) as saying that this album is "the pinnacle of digital recording", and I stick by it. Loud without going to the Loudness Wars, reflective and full of dynamic range when it needs to breathe, The Downward Spiral is (in my opinion) the most rewarding sonic experience the compact disc f...

NINE INCH NAILS All Time Low From: Hesitation Marks Released: September 3 Trent Reznor will never return to the so-called "glory days" of the 90's, when his anger, anguish and addictions manifested in ultraviolent bursts of noise Broken and The Downward Spiral . Many scoff at the work he's done since, say, 1999's The Fragile as "soft" and/or "weak". It's also called "sober" and "content with life". We didn't need another Spiral; I'm sure Reznor doesn't intend on going back to those dark places anytime soon. What we got in 2013 was a focused, consistently listenable and oft adventurous NIN album with any amount of potential single choices. Whether it gets my personal Album of the Year reward remains to be seen, but I'll go ahead right now and crown Hesitation Marks pop album of the year. Yes, I'll classify it as such due to its general lack of guitars and overabundance of catchiness. And if ...

With Nine Inch Nails' eighth studio album (I know, that seems like an awfully low number considering the twenty-eight official "halo" releases, but it's true) set to drop next week, I figure now is as good a time as any to look back on the tumultuous and exciting career of the man known as Trent Reznor and his most recognizable brand (and, apparently, also as good a time as any to go for excruciatingly long sentences). Over the course of Nine Inch Nails' career arc, Reznor has seen the highest of highs and lowest of lows. The ten videos selected do more than just plow through nearly a quarter century of a visionary musician's resumé; they chronicle the soaring best and crushing worst of the man's very life. Enjoy!

You know how a lot of bands take months and months to carefully tease and promote an album? Of course you do; we talked about it last week . Well, Trent Reznor seems to have developed a very simple method of promotion that works quite well. Two days ago, as Nine Inch Nails was preparing for their return to the stage, Reznor confirmed via social media that not only was Nine Inch Nails going to do another album but that it was, in fact, finished and coming out later this year. Today (well, late last night), we get not only an album title and release date, but also a full high quality stream of the album's first single. It's called Came Back Haunted , and it's got the goods. Check it out: Came Back Haunted does away with (most of) the laptop noise that influenced the last three NIN records and focuses on its tight groove and a pretty straightforward dance beat, rather than disorienting listeners with the experimental sonic blasts and disjointed beats that populated ...

As it turns out, something I said on this blog earlier this year had a little more resonance than I anticipated. From my January 15th article " What Are The Chances? ", where I gave a percentage chance for certain artists releasing a new album in 2013: 1% NINE INCH NAILS We know that Trent Reznor is gearing up to release How To Destroy Angels' debut. We also know that there's an Interscope-released Nine Inch Nails greatest hits collection being targeted for 2014, for which Reznor promises two new Nine Inch Nails songs. But, we also know Reznor likes to fuck with his fans and absolutely loved fucking with Interscope. What better way to do that than to bring out a brand new Nine Inch Nails record? What better way indeed? Surprise: A new #NIN album is finished, coming later this year on @ columbiarecords : tmblr.co/ZW-7vsm2kw_u #NIN2013 — Nine Inch Nails (@nineinchnails) May 28, 2013 Bravo, Mr. Reznor. I love it when a plan comes together. More on...

One of the year's most anticipated releases has to be the upcoming third album from New Yorker art-rockers Vampire Weekend. Their light, unassuming style of indie rock has endeared them to bloggers and TV ad execs alike; their sophomore album, 2010's Contra, actually debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts upon release (not a smash hit as it was released on a quiet January Tuesday, but a #1 nonetheless). Now, as we near the third album's spring release, a few buzzwords are being thrown around in relation to it. Darker. Organic. Nocturnal. Whether this bodes well for the sound of the record is to be determined, but it got me thinking. Throughout modern history, bands have often made bold moves, twists in their artistic story arc that have polarized fans, critics and label heads. For many bands, this act of commercial defiance happens at a certain specific point in their careers. The "difficult" third album.

Reason enough to buy a magazine? Hit the jump to check out NIN's first new music in two years, plus other choice contributions to the newly released U2 covers album. So, today the interwebs were graced with the presence of the first Nine Inch Nails track to be released since summer '09, not long before Trent Reznor announced plans to retire his longstanding industrial/metal/rock band from the touring circuit.  Now, Reznor's accomplished a lot in the two years that followed; his work with frequent collaborator Atticus Ross for The Social Network score snagged him a metric shit-ton of critical acclaim, and a fistful of shiny trophies to boot.  But, as worried as us fans may have been about losing NIN for good, Reznor always maintained that, when it came to the studio, Nine Inch Nails would live on.

If I had a time machine, I'd transport back to 2004. Seems kind of an odd choice, I know; the world wasn't really all that different four years ago. George Bush was fucking the world over, gas prices were high, and the music industry was dying. One would think that, given the luxury of time traveling, a more important time would be at the top of the list. There have been, after all, many moments in history that would be truly awesome to relive (my birth) or experience for the first time (what happened after I blacked out from chugging all that Hermits wine). But, no; I stick with 2004. That way, I can look back on Nine Inch Nails' discography and, more specifically, Trent Reznor's torrid pace of one studio album every five years. Throw in all of the singles, remix albums, live sets, videos, etc., and at the end of 2004 we were given a grand total of seventeen "halos" in fifteen years. If I had a time machine, I could go back to 2004, tell you that not ...