Chalk - "Afraid"

The Belfast post-punk/electronic trio Chalk will obliterate your speakers with the incendiary track "Afraid," which rages like an outtake from NIN's Broken EP. 

Bryan Ferry ft. Amelia Barratt - "Star"

 
Bryan Ferry's first brand new music in 10 years is a track that began as a sketch from NIN's Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. This collaboration with Amelia Barratt will feature in Ferry's upcoming Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023. It's a minimal, pulsating song that sounds exactly what a Bryan Ferry/NIN collaboration should sound like.

HEALTH - "CRACK METAL"

If you want an industrial metal track in the vein of NIN's "March of the Pigs" then you will go nuts for the intense "CRACK METAL." It can be found on HEALTH's latest opus, RAT WARS. 

Jam of the Day: Bosco - "ROSENWOOD/Pour the Whiskey"

Originally from my hometown, Savannah, Georgia, singer Bosco now resides in Brooklyn via a short tenure in Atlanta. This dense track comes off her debut EP BOY, and sounds a little like Aaliyah fronting NIN or Tricky. I am looking forward to more from this interesting new artist.

Happy 20th Anniversary: Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

I remember calling in sick at work to be the first person at the record store to buy this record. After spending my college years wearing out copies of Pretty Hate Machine, this was a monumental record release for me. And it never disappointed. For me, this is still THE essential NIN record, one that will stand the test of time for me.

Album Review: Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks

Nine Inch Nails
Hesitation Marks
Rating: Woof Daddy

Hesitation Marks, the title of the 8th album under Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails moniker, refers to preliminary wounds made before a suicide attempt, and here there are plenty of references to being on the brink, trying to pull oneself back. It is no secret that Rezor has faced his share of demons over the years, but now, nearing 50, he's married, with two kids, and an Oscar winner, he seems more grounded than ever and still able to put out some of his most vital work since his 90s hey-days. Over these 14 tracks, Reznor revisits his past in a way, but looking at it from up above and with a more critical eye, touching on many of the same themes he has always worked with, however, much more wiser and kinder to himself. The sound of the record too touches on every facet of his career, from the electro-EBM of Pretty Hate Machine, studio excess of The Fragile, glitchy/claustrophobia of Year Zero, and even his masterful industrial synthpop of The Downward Spiral. This is not Reznor trying to reclaim what he once was/had or simply an exercise in nostalgia, it is an natural progression and amalgamation of all his incarnations, and one of his most vital records in years.

Working with longtime producer Alan Moulder and current collaborator Atticus Ross, Reznor is working on a more skeletal platform than usual, but instead of seeming too spartan actually helps the progression of tracks, and adds to the feeling of claustrophobia and tension. From the opening synthetic strains of the pulsating and ominous "Copy of A," Reznor builds off a core idea, never allowing the tracks to be overcome by too many elements.



And thankfully, Reznor is not afraid to be generous with the hooks this go around. While more recent works tended to go heavy on atmosphere over melody, here on Hesitation Marks, the hooks are fast and furious and keep on coming. From the lurching and buzzy first single "Came Back Haunted," throbbing EBM of "Running," and even the maligned punk-pop track "Everything"



Reznor shows why he was and still is the master of mixing the alternative and pop together. And yes, "Everything" sticks out like a sore thumb on the record and really doesn't fit in with the theme or feel of the record, but is so darn catchy you will forgive him for its inclusion.

Another interesting thing about the record is that there is an underlying funkiness to it, as if Reznor has been listening to a lot of old Prince albums. "Satellite," my favorite track on Hesitation Marks, has a funky bassline and percolating percussion that underlying its seething edge,



"All Time Low," even reverts back to his rap-sing attempts on Pretty Hate Machine as the deep funk of its bassline and rhythm guitars pushes it forward,

while on penultimate track "While I Am Still Here," Reznor even finds a way to throw in a horn break down.



There is a good mix of different styles and moods on the record even if Reznor tends to stick to a more muted palate, especially on tracks like "Find My Way" and Disappointed" that find him being about as minimal as he as ever been. But Reznor still knows how to provide a sense of drama regardless of what he is working with. There is a dazzling trio of tracks at the end of the record that prove Reznor just gets better with age. "Various Methods of Escape" seethes with an underlying energy that erupts in controlled bursts, "I Would For You" pretends to be a slow burner until the chorus explodes with cinematic grandeur,



and "In Two" finally releases all that pent up energy and anger into a furious swell of dense electronics and roaring guitars.



Ultimately what makes Hesitation Marks such a vital record is that Reznor is doing what he always does, but with more sense of purpose and less clutter. He is simply focusing on the music he wants to make without having to resort to aping his former work, but not neglecting his rich back catalog, using it as a frame reference to evolve his sound, and finally not trying to "sound" relevant by throwing in shameless nods to current trends such as dubstep and EDM. Hesitation Marks is Reznor finding his way again, and putting out one of the records of the year.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

New: Nine Inch Nails: "Find My Way"

Another track from the upcoming NIN record Hesitation Marks. This track has been previewed during his recent festival circuit. It is a slow-burner.

Video: Nine Inch Nails - "Came Back Haunted"

Watch the seizure inducing video for the Nine Inch Nails track "Came Back Haunted," directed by David Lynch.

Album Review: How To Destroy Angels - Welcome Oblivion

How To Destroy Angels
Welcome Oblivion
Rating: Meh

Trent Reznor is never going to be able to separate himself from NIN; it basically inhabits everything he does, whether producing music for a video game or producing an Oscar winning music score, it just sounds like NIN. How To Destroy Angels, the band he put together with spouse Mariqueen Maandig, collaborator Atticus Ross, and art director Rob Sheridan, suffers from the same fate, it sounds like NIN with a female vocalist. But where NIN has always been a classic mixture of the beautiful and the ugly, melody versus texture and atmosphere, aggression against passivity. On their debut album Welcome Oblivion, How To Destroy Angels mainly sticks to creating atmosphere and texture which, while not necessarily a bad thing, tends to get a little monotonous over the long haul of a record.

Of course, the looming question over the record is the presence of Mariqueen as lead vocalist. Is her voice detrimental to the sound of How To Destroy Angels? Not particularly. Her voice is perfectly serviceable, however, when you are marrying it with the music of Trent Reznor, someone with a broader range and more forceful personality is needed, and Mariqueen's delicate, breathy approach tends to float off into the background. And on many tracks here, you can sense Reznor realizing her limitations and either turns her voice into chopped up samples or more mantra-like recitations. But when these tracks are extended past the 5 minute mark it becomes increasingly turgid. Reznor utilizes her best on the more structured tracks, most of the times adding his voice as a counterpoint to her lukewarm presence. "Strings And Attractors" is perhaps the perfect marriage (no pun intended) between Reznor and Mariqueen. Over trash can style beats and skronky synths, Mariqueen's coo is the perfect foil, and on the chorus, Reznor steps in with some of his most beautiful ambient touches, while his voice comes in behind, adding needed strength to the track. "How Long?" is probably the most "pop" track Reznor has ever produced featuring an almost epic sounding chorus. It's an interesting track in the middle of the record that stands out almost to its detriment because it is so straightforward.



Even "Ice Age," which appeared on their EP An Omen, takes a more organic approach, Mariqueen's vocals a better match with the intertwined banjo, dulcimer, and acoustic guitars.



Where Reznor is less successive is when he realizes the limitations of Mariqueen's vocals and tries to either mask the flaws or makes her voice just an element of the mix. Both "And The Sky Began To Scream" and "Keep It Together" finds her breathy voice buried underneath an avalanche of twisted, burning electronics. "Welcome Oblivion," the harshest track on the record, twists and manipulates her voice into something more aggressive and brutal, but still feels like some way to make up for her limited range, especially when her true voice appears mid-track. "Too Late, All Gone" cuts and pastes her vocals into a robotic frenzy which suits the throbbing pulse of the song.

Elsewhere, the lengthy runtimes of the songs are more of a hindrance as Reznor runs out of ways to obscure the fact that Mariqueen's vocals cannot carry a full length record on their own. The last few tracks on the record especially make this apparent. "We Fade Away" barely leaves much of an impression over its interminable 6:45 runtime; Reznor and Mariqueen's vocals repetitiously intoning the lyrics over and over again until they reach trance-like levels. "Recursive Self-Improvement" takes the vocals, chops them up, then throws them in the mix like a mantra. "The Loop Closes" is a rising storm of brooding electronics that mainly chants the lyrics instead of working them into the mix.



Of course the record itself is impeccably produced; I doubt Reznor could ever just phone in his production work. The album opens and closes with two instrumentals that showcases Reznor's still immaculate ear for atmosphere, texture, and mood. In a way, the record would have been more successful had it been strictly instrumental. Surely, it would have been better with a stronger vocalist. As it stands, we get more Reznor made music while waiting for his recently resurrected NIN to get back on track with recording and touring. Welcome Oblivion unfortunately will be seen as a mere stopgap in the NIN history.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.