Taste the Lights, taste the Action, taste the Bitch.
Nine Inch Nails
Around the beginning of August, more than five months before its release, the official web site for David Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was updated with character bios and photos...and a seven minute piece of music composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
The song appears to be called "dotcom", although this might just be labeled as such because it is, in fact, on the web site.
Featuring a vibraphone, heavy, dark synths and, eventually, some lonely, wailing guitar sounds, it's simple, creepy and very evocative.
Of what we won't know until December 12th.
Probably girls with tattoos of dragons on their backs.
Not nearly as exciting as new Nine Inch Nails or How To Destroy Angels or, you know, something with lyrics, but it's caused quite a stir among fans.
September 21st marks the twelfth anniversary of Nine Inch Nails' double album opus, The Fragile, and, one could hold out hope of some news of the deluxe re-release promised a few years ago.
Or perhaps a discreet link to the whole fucking thing for free.
Or an announcement that he's changed his mind and scrapped the whole project.
Or something else entirely.
Or nothing.
I'm trying to rein in the expectations when it comes to Trent Reznor.
An interesting aside, Reznor just joined Wondros, a creative collective made up of Javier Aguilera and Jesse Dylan (stylish commercial artists), Antoine Fuqua (director of Training Day and also a stylish commercial artist), Mark Pellington (a lot of producing credits, some TV and music video direction, plus an alternate version of the Nine Inch Nails video for "We're In This Together"), Aaron Schneider (cinematographer and director of the recent Bill Murray movie "Get Low") and David O. Russell (director of The Fighter, Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees) .
Some speculate this has to do with the HBO mini-series Year Zero, based on Nine Inch Nails' 2007 album, and that Reznor might be writing or directing part of the series, but, like I said, the first thing you get when you hang expectations on Reznor is disappointed.
Or sometimes amazed.
But usually disappointed.
Beck
Hey everyone!
The new Beck-produced Stephen Malkmus album is out!
It doesn't sound ANYTHING AT ALL like Beck!
Buy it!
ALSO!!!
BIG NEWS!!!
Beck is going to be among those performing at the Serge Gainsbourg tribute at the Hollywood Bowl!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously though.
A few days ago, Beck posted two new Charlotte Gainsbourg tracks from her upcoming EP, "Terrible Angels".
The EP features these two (really, really good) tracks (both produced by Beck and sounding so Beck that the only thing missing is Beck actually singing the vocals) plus some other stuff.
It's coming out September 6th and precedes the double album "Stage Whisper" (coming out November 8th), the first disc consisting of live tracks from Gainsbourg's recent tour and the second disc consisting of unreleased tracks, most from the Beck-produced IRM sessions.
Which is good.
Not as good as a brand new Beck collab with her, but still pretty good.
And the fact that they announced the EP about a week before its release?
Also good.
In addition to this, I just read a huge interview that Pitchfork did with Beck about his last fifteen years.
Two things jumped out at me from this epic, career-spanning chat:
First, that Midnite Vulture was meant to have been a double album and that Beck sort of kind of feels like a re-issue with all the unreleased stuff might be appropriate some time soon.
"There must have been 25 songs that were left behind, and about two thirds of them are finished."
Holy fucking godshit.
Second, that, although the article states that his "robot-dancing days are behind him", Beck is still quite the dancer; avoiding the straightforward question of "what about releasing your new music" with the grace and ease of an epileptic, alcoholic eel wearing banana peel loafers on a Tilt-A-Whirl.
So, what I gather from this is that Beck is done releasing his own music.
Period.
Cake
First let me say this: I do not know why I did the following.
Cake pressed 5000 copies of their most recent album, Showroom of Compassion, on 6, double-sided, multi-colored "7 vinyl records.
And I bought one.
Again, I do NOT know why I did this.
Moving on...
Eels
E and his band of raving-mad guitarists have finished their epic worldwide tour.
During the course of this tour, they sang on stage with Ringo Starr (he's the drummer), locked guitars with Jimmy Page and played at Glastonbury for over 64,000 screaming fans.
All in all a good tour.
What's next?
Knowing E (as much as any fan can know E...), most likely some downtime and then the mention of a new album, probably to be released in Spring 2012.
Hopefully they'll release a recording of this most recent tour as it was pretty amazing, but, if they don't there are quite a few tapers out there with some pretty good copies.
I've decided that that pass I've been issuing to Eels for the past few months expires November 30th, 2011.
As in, if there is NO motion on the Eels front by then...I'll start the bitching, but, based on E's tireless song writing heart, I doubt that will happen.
Sleep tight, E, you have most certainly earned it.
They Might Be Giants
The Fall leg of the Join Us tour continues.
I had a hankering to listen to some professional quality live recordings so I bought some live shows from the 2007 tour supporting The Else.
Good stuff.
I didn't see them nearly enough on that tour.
At the moment, I'm expecting my exclusive Instant Fan Club vinyl EP of NEW NEVER BEFORE HEARD TMBG MUSIC some time before the end of September
As well as another vinyl, my prize t-shirt and another shirt with has a picture of a bird on it.
Good times...
Greatly looking forward to their January show.
They had better pull out all the stops for this one as I will be traveling across the country to see them.
Just a heads up.
Meanwhile, in the land of Not My Top Five Bands, we have had quite a bit of forward momentum.
Well, except for Marilyn Manson.
I think he forgot about his new album.
And his hands.
Or something.
Fucking junkie.
Oh, and P.S. Marilyn: paper white, tattoo-covered Goths with a beer belly and neck wattle are NOT Goths, they are sad.
That was what I was going to say about Manson, but, early Monday morning, a new picture of Manson wearing a funny hat with the words "Born Villain" written on it in "Goth" font popped up on his official site.
No info, just the silly-hat picture.
After some digging (read: one Google search), I found out that "Born Villain" is not the title of his new album, but a short film made by, of all people, Shia LeBeouf*, chronicling the making of his new, as-yet-untitled-but-still-totally-amazing-and-suicide-death-metal-wait-I-mean-punk-glam-rock album.
No news yet as to whether or not Manson has forgotten about the actual album.
Garbage posted that they have three weeks left in the studio before mastering and mixing and all that happens, so we might see the new Garbage album by the end of 2011 or beginning of 2012, if we're lucky and they are true of heart
They are continuously posting pictures and videos with snippets of what's going on.
Nothing anyone can really sink their teeth into, but at least it all sounds like good old Garbage.
Last week they had their first photo shoot in six years.
So...they still have faces and limbs and stuff.
And, just a day or so ago, they posted that they have mixed and mastered a song and that it will be out at the end of September or beginning of October.
And they think it sounds great.
Which I thought was a bit obvious.
I mean...who would write and record and mix and etc a song and then say, "Meh. You want new music from us or not? Shut the fuck up and eat the corn"?
Both Tori Amos and St. Vincent have put out videos from their new album; Tori for the last track on her new album, a song called "Carry".
The video is pretty forgettable and the music...
So, I didn't realize that the label Tori has joined up with for the release of "Night of Hunters"** is America's longest standing or most famous classical music label, Decca Records.
Based on "Carry" and the first track from the album, "Shattering Sea", which you were able to hear if you shared the "Carry" video on Facebook (sorry everyone), the gimmick of this album is Tori, singing and playing her Bösendorfer along with various orchestral arrangements***.
Which doesn't sound great.
Both of the songs have some compelling moments, but nothing to make me think that Tori is about to revolutionize music.
Which is sad.
"Shattering Sea" is a bit more layered than “Carry" and has some really great moments, but it still isn't amazing.
But, unlike some stuff of her last few albums, I don't hate these tracks, plus there are still twelve more to hear, so I'm holding out hope.
Along with the video and song, an EPK for Night of Hunters was released. It showed Tori basically reiterating the theme of the album (which sounds amazing) with some of the new music playing behind it (which sounds less amazing). There was some video of her, her daughter and her niece in costumes, LARPing and having their pictures taken for the album's liner notes and maybe some future music videos.
Sorry to keep repeating myself, but it really does look like this is going to be an excellent concept poorly executed.
Anyway, twelve unheard tracks, holding out hope, etc.
St. Vincent, on the 25th, released her video for the song "Cruel" (which appears to be the first single).
The video was directed by the guy behind both the "Marrow" and "Actor Out of Work" videos from her latest and, up to this point, greatest album, "Actor".
The video is dark and funny, but the song...not so much.
I must say I enjoyed "Surgeon", the first track Clarke released from her upcoming album "Strange Mercy" more than this new one.
"Cruel" seems to drag a bit.
But the important thing is that it exists and that both the new Tori and the new St. Vincent will be out by the end of next month (the 13th for St. Vincent and the 20th for Tori Amos).
I've decided not to buy tickets to St. Vincent at Webster Hall in November until I hear the new album.
My heart has been broken before...
Okay, no more complaining for a month.
Enjoy the silence, fuckers.
Cavalcade of Links
Hear the mysterious new track from Reznor and Ross here: www.dragontattoo.com
Hear the two, new Beck-produced Charlotte Gainsbourg tracks here: www.beck.com
Hear and see all the above mentioned Tori Amos stuff here: www.toriamos.com
Ditto the St. Vincent stuff here: www.ilovestvincent.com
See Manson's silly hat here: www.marilynmanson.com
* What?
** NOT Night of the Huntress as I was mislead to believe.
*** An octet, as it turns out.
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