Holy Bitchfest, Batman!!!*
Nine Inch Nails
Good news/bad news regarding Nine Inch Nails this month.
Or bad news/cocktease news, if you want to be a pessimist.
WHICH I DO NOT.
So.
A few weeks ago, Mouth Taped Shut (the mysterious behind-the-scenes blog for the Fincher remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo...although I have a sneaking suspicion that it's being run by long time Nine Inch Nails co-hort and mindfucker, Rob Sheridan), posted a picture of Trent Reznor in front of a computer monitor looking kind of smug/confused.
Now why would Trent Reznor be smug and confused?
I will FUCKING TELL YOU WHY.
Because, if you looked at the address on the browser on his monitor (www.comesforthinthethaw.com/index2) and then entered that into YOUR browser...well...shit got real.
Or, more specifically, you got a message, the tag line of the movie, "What Is Hidden In Snow, Comes Forth In The Thaw" (which is, apparently, an old, Swedish adage...a creepy, old, Swedish adage). When you click on said old and creepy adage, you got what amounted to a frost-obscured slideshow of images from the new Dragon Tattoo with a really annoying, high pitched warble looped endlessly in the background with the occasional distorted burst of sound from the movie; some room ambience, a blur of voices, etc.
At least you did on the first day.
Over the next week, the images would change and a new sound was layered on until, at the end of the week, there was a fully constructed piece of music.
Beautiful, haunting, cold music.
At the start of the next week, everything was taken down and a new sound was posted, a plinking, circusy tune that reeked of tainted innocence.
As before, each day added a new layer.
The week after that, a deep, bassy bass note echoed to and fro, from nowhere to nowhere, then, by the end of that week, there were hammer dulcimers and tidal guitars and a whole buncha other Coil meet Aphex Twin ("Drukqs" Aphex, not "Aphex Acid" Aphex) meets other stuff stuff.
And, just today, everything was cleared out again and replaced with a series of out of tune, d-verbed piano chords.
It actually sounds a bit like something you'd hear in the Haunted Mansion.
Which is cool.
Not sure if this is going to continue until the release of the film, but, if it does, I'm fine with that.
Along with Comes Forth In The Thaw dot com, there is a website for What Is Hidden In Snow dot com, but it's an ARG relating to the framed, pressed flowers in the film and really has nothing to do with Nine Inch Nails.
Not musically, anyway.
Now, while this whole not-really-an-ARG is interesting and all, it seems to cement the fact that we aren't going to get any new Nine Inch Nails or How To Destroy Angels until after December 21st, 2011.
And, knowing Reznor's callous, utter disregard for how hard or loud his fans whine, probably not until Q2 2012.
Oh, and if you think I'm just saying this so Reznor (a dedicated fan of my Monthly Bitchfest) reads this and releases a bunch of stuff, just to prove me wrong...well, you've got problems.
Mind problems.
Aside from this not-really-an-ARG nonsense, Nine Inch Nails contributed a cover of U2's "Zoo Station" to Q Magazine's "'Ahk-toong Bay-bee Covered".
Apparently, "Achtung Baby" is 25 years old.
The cover is less NIN-y than I would have suspected and kind of builds/drags (depending on your taste/opinion) during the last, oh, two and a half minutes.
In a way, it reminds me a bit of their cover of Gary Numan's "Metal", but without all the interesting stuff at the end.
Something about the cover makes me think either Reznor simply picked the first song off the back of the album or someone assigned it to him thinking that this was the most sonically nuanced track and figured Reznor would do something interesting with it.
Feels kind of rushed, I suppose.
Along with Nine Inch Nails, the album (only available with a copy of Q Magazine...a UK-only god damn magazine) features covers by Gavin Friday, Depeche Mode and a band you might know from my previous Monthly Bitchfests...
Oh, and "We're In This Together" (a NIN song from 1999's "The Fragile") was featured (in a horribly edited fashion) in the latest trailer for The Avengers.
It totally works.
Because, you know, the superheroes...are all in "this" together..."this" being trouble.
It's rumored that Trent Reznor is set to play Galactus...
That's not true.
He's set to play Dr. Klaw.
And, just four days ago, one Mr. Trevor Resnick posted on his thing: "lots of new music coming your way very soon".
Now, In Trentspeak, "soon" translates into "anywhere from six months to never" BUT, "very soon" translates to "roughly between a week and two weeks".
So it seems that he has insiders who are aware of the above comment regarding releasing a bunch of stuff just to spite me...
I'm assuming it will be the (two disc?) Dragon Tattoo score...but I just love being surprised by him...
Beck
I angrily downloaded his cover of John Martyn's "Stormbringer", then listened to and enjoyed it, angrily.
Other than that, no noise.
Oh, wait, there's a new Beck t-shirt.
Urge to kill...rising...
Eels
Nothing but the news that E has contributed a letter to the new book, "Dear Me", in which people (actors, writers, musicians etc.) write letters to their sixteen year old selves.
Meh.
Cake
Zip.
They Might Be Giants
Had a chance to listen to the superexclusive vinyl 7" I received.
Two songs good, two songs not so good (though the idea that the dark, folk ballade about Nikolai Tesla was originally slated for and quickly rejected from the Disney kids' album "Here Comes Science" is pretty hilarious...Flans sings about "Tesla's body, lying on the floor" and "an x-ray of Mark Twain's skull").
No need to buy any new audio equipment.
Along with their continuing tour (Saturday, March 10th at Terminal 5!!! WOO!!!!!), TMBG announced they were releasing yet another rarities collection on November 1st, but, as it's only digital until after the discs ship on December 1st, they released it two days ago. It's called "Album Raises New and Troubling Questions" and, whether or not you like the band, you have to admit that's an excellent title.
The album is kind of a junk drawer of songs, featuring tracks written for their most recent album, "Join Us", that didn't quite fit in, their cover of "Havalina", their cover of "Tubthumping", some of the tracks they recorded with their brass band, one of the songs they did for Strongbad and a leftover kids song.
It's super hit or miss, but the hits are great, like Linnell's response to their kids song "I Am A Grocery Bag" called "Money For Dope", the album quality "Authenticity Trip", and an electronic reinterpretation of their old classic "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" titled, well, "Electronic Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", obviously.
I've always felt that the level of a TMBG fan's fanaticism can be measured by just how unknown the tracks on a rarities album are to said TMBG fan.
I was aware of/familiar with less than half.
Which says...something.
Anyway, overall, this release is just for fans.
Head's up.
Meanwhile...
Marilyn Manson remains asleep under some foul-smelling blankets.
Garbage has slated the release of their new album for the fucking end of March/beginning of April 2012.
Which is ridiculous, since, as of October 17th, it was mastered.
I fucking hate the old fashioned way musicians continue to release music.
It strikes me that four of my five favorite bands are either unsigned or on their own label.
But, Garbage also contributed a U2 cover for the "Achtung Baby" tribute album.
Something about crazy horses.
The cover is pure Garbage, dark and electronic, then loud and sweeping, displaying that they are still capable of doing what made people love them, which is terribly exciting for the prospect of that new album...coming out in six fucking months.
Wazzers.
You can read a hugely in-depth interview with the Head Wazzers of Garbage, namely, Shirley Manson and Butch Vig by clicking the linky below.
In a soul crushing interview earlier this month, Chris Vrenna, ex-NIN drummer/programmer and the mind behind Tweaker, said that the new Tweaker album (possibly due out before the end of the year) will be the last.
I am truly saddened by this.
While not every track was gold, there was some amazing stuff on their two releases, "The Attraction To All Things Uncertain" and "2 a.m. wakeup call" and I am going to miss them and the places they might have gone.
I continue to blame Marilyn Mason.
As a tiny, little side note: the new Puscifer album, "Conditions Of My Parole", is pretty solid.
Some excellent programming on there, proving that too many cooks can sometimes make a pretty tasty taco.
There is a song on there called "Horizons" and it feel very Grind Showy.
All right.
Like the Otter...you're free to go.
Cavalcade of Links
Drip-feed yourself some new Reznor/Ross compositions
Buy TMBG’s new rarities album
Nine Inch Nails' cover of U2's "Zoo Station"
Garbage's cover of U2's "Who Going To Ride Your Etc. Etc.":
Marilyn Manson, Twiggy and Madonna Wayne Gacy's 1994 appearance on Donahue:
*Batman is not mentioned in this month's Music Bitchfest
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