End of the Month Music Bitchfest - July 2013

Nine Inch Nails

On the 17th of the month, the cover art for Hesitation Marks was revealed...all four of them.
I finally have a "valid" reason for buying four copies of a Nine Inch Nails album!
While Russell Mills offered a fascinating and thought-provoking insight into his artwork and how it connects with the album...all I heard while reading it was the bass line from "Came Back Haunted".
Maybe once my head is a bit clearer and the excitement has worn off...

Here's his thing:

The artworks, (30 mixed media pieces) that I eventually produced towards uses in the Hesitation Marks releases, evolved out of lengthy exchanges between myself and Trent and in response to the conceptual ideas that thread through the tracks and to the sonic territory that the album explores. I’ve tried to lock into the album’s prevailing mood and echo the album’s essence. The ideas are not communicated in a literal or easily digested form, as this would be boring for me and would insult the intelligence of a potential audience. I’ve tried to make works that obliquely allude to the essence of the subject matter, to its emotional core. 

As with my self-initiated works - the paintings, assemblages, collages and multimedia installations - personal ideas and obsessions seep into these works. The organic, the natural, prevailing over or feeding into the industrial, the man made, is a common theme in my work generally and in this instance was particularly apt for the art required.

The works explore ideas of catharsis, of being into dissolution into being, both on a personal and sociological level. They allude to ideas about chaos and order. They deal with ways of suggesting presence in absence. They are a cross between the forensic and a pathology of the personal in which only fragments remain, in which minimal clues can suggest events that may have occurred. They attempt to harness the chaos of a situation, of now, of the personal trauma, of the human condition, into a form that is coherent, a form that accommodates the mess without disguising it as something else. It attempts to capture the essence of these ideas by implication and exclusion. Beneath the form lies the uncertainty and ceaseless flux of the mess, of the chaos.    

An amalgam of the contextually-anchored and the process-driven, they are hopefully powerful, arresting, seductive, suggestive and resonant. I hope that they will invite multiple readings.

Or, if you are as adept at reading subtext as I am:

After reading last month's Bitchfest, I decided to stop fucking around with feathers and paint and to up my game.

Well done, Russell.

Seriously though, these things are absolute works of art.
Do yourself a favor and check them out in all their horrible, haunted glory over at nin.com.

Digital cover: "Turn and Burn"
(Plaster, earth, oils, acrylics, etching varnish, bitumen, burning, rusted linen, blood, spent matches, on wood)

Deluxe CD cover: "Cargo In The Blood"
(Burning, Polaroid frame, copper wire, mica, on velvet, on wood)

Standard CD cover: "Time And Again"
(Plaster, earth, oils, acrylics, etching varnish, rusted linen, blood, microscope slides, on wood)

Vinyl cover: "Other Murmurs"
(Plaster, earth, oils, acrylics, etching varnish, collage, on canvas, on wood)

Guys, I don't even have something snarky to say. These are amazing. I especially like the simplicity and menace of "Cargo In The Blood". That image of something crooked and alien invading and infecting a host...the name itself feels sinister. It also reminds me of something else I can't quite put my finger on...

The Downward Spiral cover art: "Wound"
(Plaster, acrylics, oils, rusted metals, insects, moths, blood, wax, varnishes, surgical bandages, on wood)

Since With Teeth, I've feel like the quality (or at least the depth) of Nine Inch Nails artwork has taken a bit of a dip. I love glitch art and Rob Sheridan and his ability to manipulate images, but, honestly, aside from some of Carson's work on The Fragile, nothing has ever surpassed Mills' art for Downward Spiral.
And now he's back, and has completely outdone himself.
Whoever steered Reznor back towards Mills after almost two decades, thank you.
I had a chance to correspond with Mills recently and he informed me that, after a well needed and long overdue redesign of his official site, he will release a book of prints of the photographs taken of the huge, iron NIN logo he had created and then attempted to destroy by exposing it to the elements.
Can. Not. Wait.

Aside from this marvelous little revelation; on July 27th, Nine Inch Nails officially started their 2013 festival tour with their first show in almost four years at the Fuji Rock Festival.
What this means for you: I don't care.
What this means for me: the rekindling of the eternal struggle...do I or do I not spoil the stage set up and setlist for myself.
This was a big concern for me because I'm seeing them (twice) in October and the idea of keeping away from pictures and setlists and BRAND NEW NINE INCH NAILS MUSIC for that long might, literally, kill me.
Luckily, I was freed from all accountability when Reznor commented that this run of a dozen or so festival shows would be its own thing, and that, when it comes to an end in Philly on September 1st, the band is going to go back into rehearsals and learn a whole new stage set up for the nine inch nails: tension tour...which I still think is a very silly name.
Let freedom ring...yes...let freedom ring...
With this announcement, I was now allowed to trawl the messages boards of Echoing The Sound and the Twitter feeds of Reflecting In The Chrome and, since the first show was in Japan, some random Japanese dude's Instagram, looking for shaky, blown out video and bassless, treble heavy audio...ah, the joys of being a Nine Inch Nails fan boy...
But.
But.
Someone must love us sweaty, pale bastards because, as it turns out, the first Nine Inch Nails show in four years was streamed live!
That means pro-shot, HD footage and sweet, succulent soundboard audio!
So!
After the longest two days of my entire fucking life EVAR, the glorious godkings at RITC posted that soundboard audio and a link to the video of the entire concert. A concert that I watched with no sense of guilt or regret or anything.
Well...except for the massive erection...
But (of course), I took detailed notes and have quite a bit of stuff to complain about.

UNDERSTAND THIS: I would not bitch if I weren't such a huge, insatiable fan.
I know that does not make anything better, but, perhaps it will grant some insight.

Anyway, here we go:

Major spoilers are about to happen.

I liked that, by the end of the very first song (a new track from Hesitation Marks called "Copy Of A"...and that's "uh", not "ay"), the visual set pieces had been introduced as opposed to how things have been for years before, i.e. here is the band and some white lights -> here is the band and some colored lights -> here is a tiny peek at what is going to blow your mind -> here is your mind blown etc. Instead of that typical ramp up, they introduce the mobile light panels and then simply play around with them; showing what they can do and how many different ways they can be utilized.
Really bold, excellent choice.
The reinvention of "Sanctified" is fantastic. Aside from that uber-80's drum programming, nothing remains from the original version, the absolute definition of reinvention. Two songs in and Reznor's fulfilling that promise like a BAWS.
Along with the first live performance of "Came Back Haunted" (which, everyone seems to agree, is better than the album version), Reznor debuted a second never-before-heard track from the upcoming Hesitation Marks, a quiet song steeped in regret and determination, "Find My Way" (sounds a bit like Depeche Mode at times).
A quick aside: thus far, we've heard three tracks from the new album (four, if you count the moderately good copy of "Disappointed" from the second night of the tour) and two things are staring to coalesce for me: the first, that the lyrics all seem a bit vague and generic, and, second, although Reznor himself stated that this album was sparse, I'm beginning to worry that it might be too sparse. More than the sparseness though, it's the lack of texture; everything I've heard sounds too smooth...
However, these are live versions and there is no cause for panic...I hope.
Returning to the show: sadly, aside from the three new tracks and some truly effective additions like a new synth line in "Terrible Lie" and "Closer", some absolutely fantastic piano incorporated into "The Way Out Is Through" (one of my favorite NIN live songs, made even more so after hearing this version), and a warm, empathic, tearjerkingly beautiful sonic wash in "Hurt", I feel as if the show ended for me after TWOIT. The last quarter of the show is as predictable as ever ("Only" into "The Hand That Feeds" into "Head Like A Hole" into "Hurt"). Again, to be clear, I enjoy these songs and the band is still enthusiastically carrying them out, but, come on...this isn't "reinvention".
Back in the plus column: it was great to see "Reptile" again, Ilan is adding a lot to the songs he hasn't played before, the visuals in general are amazing, but stand out most for me on "Closer" and "Me, I'm Not", "Gave Up" as always, looks amazing draped in its trademark red and blue, and I really enjoyed the evolution of the static theme in "Only".
Overall, the way these new lights and light panels are used to create boundaries in space is something I've not seen before.
Plus, Reznor is screaming less, which allows him more vocal control, i.e. less breathlessness and more falsetto, which I dig, even if his performance feels a bit less raw than usual.

To summarize: as usual for NIN, the new visuals are just stunning, the new songs, while they sound great, lack distinction when it comes to the lyrics and, thus far, Reznor's claim of "reinvention" just isn't there yet. It's weird: it seems as if he picks one song to "reinvent" per tour.
For Fragility it was "The Day The World Went Away", for With Teeth it was "Closer" (if you consider adding that little piece of "The Only Time" a reinvention), for Lights In The Sky is was "Piggy" and, now, it's "Sanctified". Although it's debatable with "Closer", all these other instances are true reinventions and work perfectly in the framework of whatever tour for which they are reinvented. So...why aren't there more? Am I just being greedy?
Hm.
I suppose we'll see as this festival run and then the main Nine Inch Nails tour unfold.

One last thing: major delightful surprise at the inclusion of "What If We Could?" from the GWTDT soundtrack.
One track down, thirty-eight to go...

And here it is, the first Nine Inch Nails live performance since September 2009.
Enjoy.

In less than a month, we're going to have a new Nine Inch Nails album.



Beck

The afternoon after I posted last month's Bitchfest, I received my "Defriended" vinyl and, that evening, had a chance to listen to the full, fourteen minute and one second version.
And, yes, I have a thing or two to say.

Nothing happens here that could not have happened in a five minute version of this song.

I had hoped this was going to be like Gorillaz' "Do Ya Thing", where the "radio edit", for lack of a better term, was actually just the first four minutes of a longer, more insane song that went to some really interesting places...but, no, it was not, it was the four minute version stretched into a fourteen minute version.

Afterwards, I reflected that this was probably, hopefully, a one time thing, that Beck just needed to blow off some steam since he hadn't released anything in a while, and that this would be the end of such indulgence...and then I saw this.
In case you didn't click on the above link*, I'll just go ahead and spoil it for you: it is another 12" single for a new Beck song called "I Won't Be Long". On side A, the normal version of the song, on side B, a fourteen minute and forty nine second version of the same song.
The edit sounds good, a bit Rick Springfield-y, but not in a bad way. I was pensive about the extended version being the same drawn out, pointless expansion that was featured on the first 12", but was pleasantly surprised.

Here's a blow by blow from my first listen:

After two and a half minutes of mostly melodic noise, the song just starts...with 11 minutes left to go.
Things take off and get really good around seven minutes with an extended bridge containing new lyrics and harmonies and melodies.
Really beautiful, sounding a bit like U2.
What're the next seven minutes going to be???
A bit reminiscent of "Spiral Staircase"**.
Whoa. Then the bass kicks in...and things get grungy...
...for like a minute before they open up again at the ten miute mark.
Very summery.
Guitar screeches peppered throughout.
The song comes back to itself with that high, watery guitar that feels a bit like "Goodbye Horses".
Then the synthy flood from the beginning washes back in and the song ends.

I feel...not OKAY paying ten bucks for this, but at least I'm not as bummed as I was when I heard the fourteen minute version of "Defriended".
Beck.
BECK.
You are off to a good start: you are releasing new music!
But.
Beck.
You need to focus on completing and releasing an album.
NO more 12" records for one song! BAD!
No more uninteresting songs that last a quarter of a hour (more "Defriended", than "I Won't Be Long"; I kind of like the extended version).
BAD BAD NO!
Ugh, why do I even bother?
Motherfucker wants to release a book of sheet music, he's going to release a book of sheet music.
Motherfucker wants to design some sunglasses, he's going to design some sunglasses.
Whatever.
How about this, Beckles, you put out ten more of these 12" singles and (after spending around $120) I'll finally have a new Beck album and stop shouting so much.
Deal?
Hello?
Beck?
Ah fuck, he's wandered off into a corn field...

And, going back to the idea of spending $120 for a new Beck album: you know, at this point, after this long?
I just might be okay with that arrangement.

Is that loyalty or stupidity?
Yes.

And, now, somehow, I have to get my head in a Beck space, as I'm seeing him in concert in four days, but unless he's giving out copies of the new Nine Inch Nails album and performing Nine Inch Nails covers and is being replaced on stage by Nine Inch Nails...well, you get the idea.


They Might Be Giants

Flans has just informed the members of the 2012 IFC that the "finyl vinyls" will be arriving...in August  of 2013.
Whatever, time is but a window, death is but a door, progress is progress.
He's also announced plans for the 2014 IFC and that they will involve "master tapes of historic interest".
**CHEWING BITE**
I shall be seeing them in Brooklyn on August 10th.
You should come.
It's going to be rock.



And, finally, something that has been piquing my interest over the past few months is Alessandro Cortini's Forse project. In a nutshell, it's three releases spread over various formats (including, apparently, cassette, something I'm a bit puzzled by; vinyl is supposed to have the clearest and best sound quality, digital works best for portability and cassette...is obsolete...and sounds bad) all composed live on the Buchla Music Easel. For anyone that's heard any of Alessandro Cortini's SONOIO, you'll have an idea of what some of this sounds like.
But, if you have no clue what SONOIO is and just want to hear something cool and electronic and amneotic, here's the first volume, Forse 1.
I also reviewed it.
But you don't have to read it if you don't want to.***

See you next month, whine drinkers.





* You dick.

** A great interactive sound experiment Beck contributed to the 2012 PS Vita and PS3 game Sound Shapes.

*** You massive dick.