A review of Nine Inch Nails' "Bad Witch"

Sometimes…it’s just fucking exhausting to be a Nine Inch Nails fan. Most bands…they say, hey, we have an album coming out. Then there’s a single or two, maybe a video, then the album. It’s good, you like it, you play it a lot, you attach thoughts and ideas to it, you continue listening to it, you see the band in concert, you post pictures on social media, you feel important, life goes on. Not with Nine Inch Nails. Oooooh no. Starting with the first time Trent fucking Reznor said the words “concept album”, everything has been a goddamn marathon. Anyone ever hear about the whole Year Zero ARG? No? Do you even know what an ARG is?! Well fuck you, because my favorite band is more calculating and deliberate than yours. My favorite band hides new music in European bathroom stalls. My favorite band puts as much time and planning into THE ALTERNATE REALITY ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR NEW ALBUM AS THE ALBUM ITSELF.

And, while I’m bragging, I’m also lamenting, because I can no longer just…fucking…LISTEN to a new release from Nine Inch Nails. I have to dissect it. I have to search for hidden lyrics in the lyrics tab on various streaming platforms. I have to play it backwards. I HAVE TO RUN THE FUCKING THING THROUGH A SPECTROGRAM TO LOOK FOR HIDDEN PICTURES IN THE WAVEFORMS.

FUCK!

All this to say: the trilogy of albums, which started in 2016 with Not The Actual Events and continued in 2017 with Add Violence has been completed. The mystery has been solved. Our entire world is just a computer simulation. Or not. Whatever. I can’t feel anything anymore.

But how about those saxophones?!

Leaning more towards the dissonant impenetrability of Not The Actual Events than the mellow, nuanced gloom of Add Violence, half of the lyrics on Bad Witch are crooned in the style of Bowie, whereas the rest are buried behind walls of noise. Hand claps have never sounded less celebratory than on the opener, “Shit Mirror”*...“I eat your loathing, hate, and fear / Should probably stay away from here” Reznor warns**. “Ahead of Ourselves” writhes with smirking, barely restrained fury until the chorus when it snaps its chain for just a few bars at a time, nearly doubling in volume. Those moments feel like actual punishment for the mistakes we’ve made. “Obsolete / Insignificant / Antiquated / Irrelevant / Celebration of ignorance / Why try change when you know you can’t?”.
After the punch/kick combo of the first two tracks, “Play The Goddamned Part” and “God Break Down The Door" take the listener on a noirish, Lynch/Bowie influenced midnight journey. When the latter was dropped a few weeks back as the one and only single, it consternated a lot of fans, but it finds its place in the context of the album and fits perfectly.
While the first two thirds of Bad Witch are brutal, more an assault than an album, the last third, consisting of the nightmare soundscape of “I’m Not From This World” and the funky, hypnotic groove of “Over And Out”, provides a welcome shift. The final two minutes of the album serve as a well-deserved respite from everything that came before it.

With or without the context of the trilogy of albums released over the past year and a half, Bad Witch stands as the most unexpected and challenging work Nine Inch Nails has ever created. If Trent Reznor were to retire now, I cannot envision a more perfect endpoint to his career. Or, if he wants to keep making groundbreaking stuff for another 30 years, that’s fine with me too. Whatever. Like I said, I can’t feel anything anymore.

* Yes, yes, believe me, I know, I had the same thought.

** Yes! Seriously! I know how it sounds, but the song more than justifies the title and lyrics! CONTEXT, PEOPLE! IT'S ABOUT CONTEXT!

A review of Eels at Brooklyn Steel, 6/9/18

Eels closed their first set at Brooklyn Steel with the final track from 1998’s autobiographical Electro-Shock Blues, “P.S. You Rock My World”. There’s a lyric from that song which, in my mind, could serve as a thesis for everything Eels’ leader, Mark Oliver Everett has ever done…”maybe it’s time to live”. It’s not as vapidly positive as “it’s time to live” or irritatingly motivational as “go out and live!”; it’s real and shows that there are options. “Yeah, things are shitty and you could end it all or…maybe it’s time to live.” There are no guarantees, but…maybe. That was the vibe throughout: hey, it could be better, but it could be worse…maybe it’s time to live.

As always, Eels served up equal parts well-crafted (if sometimes simplistic) rock and subtle reflection*. From Souljacker’s “Dog Faced Boy” to Shootenanny’s “Dirty Girl”, and Hombre Lobo’s “Prizefighter” to Electro-Shock Blues’ “Climbing Up to the Moon”. The chameleon songs returned in brand new wrapping, including what I keep thinking of as a Tool cover of “Novocain for the Soul". And speaking of covers, as usual the show had a handful. Most notably two Prince covers, “Raspberry Beret" which was fun, and the return of "When You Were Mine”, first played live on Eels’ 2005 tour. Originally, it featured a string quartet, but this time, it was stripped down and sorrowfully bluesy, absolutely beautiful. These days, it seems everyone is covering Prince, but as E has been covering him since the early 90’s, it somehow seems to mean more.

Although the arrangement was tight, the new album (The Deconstruction) wasn’t meant to be recreated with two guitars, a bass and a drum kit, and most of the more intricate tracks from that album were left off the evening’s set list in favor of the more rock-like songs such as “Today Is The Day”, “Bone Dry” and “You Are The Shining Light”. Standouts included “I Like Birds", the arena rock version of “Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues", “From Which I Came/A Magic World”, "Fresh Blood", “Daises of the Galaxy", “Flyswatter", "Bone Dry", "P.S. You Rock My World", and the mini-medley show closer of Brian Wilson’s "Love and Mercy", "Blinking Lights (For Me)”, and “Wonderful, Glorious”. 

Eels have just wrapped up their North American leg and are now off to Europe and the UK. If you’re hoping for a string quartet, horn section, or even a piano, you’re out of luck, but you should still see them, you should always see them, because they are Eels.

*Also an original song introducing the world to their latest drummer Little Joe entitled ”Little Joe!”.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - May 2018

Nine Inch Nails
So. Strange.
First and foremost, the morning of the title/artwork/tracklist reveal, I thought I was misreading things all over the place, but no, the new Nine Inch Nails LP* is called Bad Witch and the opening track is indeed called "Shit Mirror", which, as I've stated on various Social Media platforms, I am VERY curious about. I'm expecting an instrumental because I cannot fathom what the lyrical content of a song entitled "Shit Mirror'" might be.
But let's talk about something we've actually heard..."God Break Down The Door" the first single.
On Wednesday the 16th, the official NIN YouTube posted the audio for this and then, promptly removed it. But, as this is the internet, it was captured and circulated. A day later however, it was released officially. After extensive listens, I think I'm ready to call it a Bowie tribute, specifically in the vein of "Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)" and "'Tis A Pity She's A Whore". It features saxophone and Reznor straight up crooning, but there's also some Prodigy programming as well... By far, the most unique Nine Inch Nails song I've ever heard. It has me excited, intrigued, and trepidatious for the album, which might be exactly what Reznor wants. Like it or not, GBDTD is something completely unexpected from Reznor and company.
Then there's "Play The Goddamned Part" and "Ahead of Ourselves" both of which were debuted at listening stations at the Physical World Pre-Sale event for NIN's upcoming *sigh* Cold And Black And Infinite tour. The former is an instrumental featuring some crazy aggressive bass and MORE SAXOPHONE!!!! At one point there's a solid wall of sax and it's just amazing, and the latter is fucking brutal, a relentless assault. A lot of the lyrics are distorted but clearly angry. The chorus is jagged and reminds me of "Break" in that it's loud AND THEN IT'S VERY FUCKING LOUD FOR A FEW BARS, then back to loud, THEN FUCKING BACK TO REALLY LOUD.
Bottom line, I loved everything I heard, more so than GBDTD.
Now, back to the *sigh* Cold And Black And Infinite tour. For something with a name like that, one might expect more than 20 plus dates. Also, NIN's two NYC dates are at Radio City Music Hall. Personally, I have been to Radio City maybe half a dozen times; when I was a child to see the Christmas Spectacular, then, much later in life, to see "An Evening With Harry, Carrie, and Garp", which featured J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, and John Irving reading some of their work and answering questions, and, most recently, to see "Weird Al" Yankovic. Oh. Also this. How could I possibly forget this...
All that to say I have no idea what to expect from these shows.** But I will thoroughly enjoy yelling "fist fuck" at the top of my voice at this world famous New York City institution, perhaps during the obligatory performance of "Wish" or perhaps into the face of a terrified concessions staff member.
On Saturday the 19th, I stood in line for five hours to get tickets to the two Radio City shows. Which sucked. But, Trent made it worth the wait with date specific posters and shirts, as well as those two new tracks. And! It appears I did NOT get a chest cold from standing in the cold wet for a quarter of a day! Double win!

A moment of reflection of the title of the new album...Bad Witch. 
That title.
So, I've never liked "pretty hate machine" or "with teeth" as Nine Inch Nails album titles. People can say PHM because it's a staple in the industrial scene and that cancels out the weirdness, but I have never worn a piece of clothing with the words "pretty hate machine" on it. Why? Because, out of context, someone might think I am identifying myself as a hate machine who is pretty. And...I just don't need to have that conversation with my mother.
As far as "with teeth"? Well, it kind of sounds like someone announcing in broken English that they have teeth. Maybe in their pocket or something. Like "with child" means you're full of baby, "with teeth" means you're full of teeth. I feel like walking around with clothes that say "with teeth" might lead to being pursued by dentists...
I'm going to need some time to get used to...bad witch. Or maybe I never will.

They Might Be Giants
Since I abused my limitless power and massive, throbbing fanbase**** last month to introduce my first release, I missed out on telling you about what was on offer from DAS. Some good shit, that's what. "Tractor" and "I Haven't Been Right Yet" are towering examples of everything that continues to be right and good about They Might Be Giants.
Then there's the video for "By The Time You Get This" WHICH ACTUALLY HAS THE JOHNS IN IT!!!!
Regrettably, I do have to take points off for "Dee Dee & Dexter" getting hauled out of the vaults. This sub-par little ditty has been clanking around since the early 00's. On the up side, maybe we'll get a high quality version of "Courage, the Cowardly Dog". Love that goddamn song...
Finally...and I mean that...I've been a fan of TMBG for over twenty years. And the thing I wrote highlighting my time as a TMBG fan is here. For you to not read.


Also, hey, there's a fucking new Gorillaz album coming at the end of June. They've released two tracks thus far, and one is light and breezy and summer and hot people in bikinis eating Sno-Cones while the other is a little more nighttime roller disco. That one ("Lake Zurich") is an instrumental. Based on these tiny tastes and the fact that there are only THREE guest artists on offer, I think The Now Now will be the album I wanted Humanz to be.
Also, Murdoc has been replaced by Ace...from The Powerpuff Girls...which is absolutely fucking bizarre. 
THIS IS MY SOAP OPERA.

Purple Rectangle
You guys, my EP hasn't gone triple anything yet. I need...*Googles requirements for "triple-platinum album status"*...three million units sold.
So, you know, tell a friend.

I've got more stuff coming soon. 
For you to not listen to.

Next time I talk at you, there'll be new Nine Inch Nails, new Gorillaz, and a review of EELS at Brooklyn Steel. Poot!!!!

* Oh fuck me there was so much wasted...cloud space?...server space?...nanobytes?...on this subject, but it was finally settled when Reznor Himself visited the Echoing The Sound fan forums to shine some light on things...LINK!!!!

** Other than "The Hand That Feeds" into "Head Like A Hole" into "Hurt"...although...maybe this time they'll switch it up...***

*** Seriously though,,,I really think they will.

**** I believe I have less than 20 views per entry that are not from bots.

Twenty Years of TMBG

Rather than bore you with a detailed account of my time as a They Might Be Giants fan, I choose to bore you with a slightly more concise, bulleted list of the highlights from my time as a They Might Be Giants fan.

• TMBG on Tiny Toons - Why Is Hampton Wearing Glasses? 

What the hell is going on?

It all started, as I imagine it did for most 30-something TMBG fans, in the mid-90s with a little show called Tiny Toons. I recall seeing the music video episode, watching the videos for "Istanbul" and "Particle Man", hearing the name They Might Be Giants and then Buster Bunny asking "who are these guys?", but not truly understanding what I had just experienced. Why was Hampton wearing glasses? What was up with Plucky’s turtleneck and mop of hair? This remained a mystery for, literally, years until one of my best friends solved this enigma and, at the same time, changed my life for the better.

• Will Pomerantz Introduces Me To They Might Be Giants (Intentionally) - Something To Distract Me From Nine Inch Nails

I officially got into They Might Be Giants in early 1998. I misunderstood their initial description and thought that they were a band whose goal it was to make music with all the instruments that have ever existed. I got this idea from one of my best friends, Will, who asked if I wanted to see them in concert in March of 1998. He told me they had a guy who played the accordion and that they had a song with a "singing saw" and that led to me thinking they were kind of a novelty band. He corrected my thinking, but in the back of my mind I think that idea has always lingered.  Anyway, he gave me all the albums they'd put out at that point, six of them, and told me I had a week to familiarize myself with the music before he needed them back in order to brush up himself. I crammed and a lot of stuff blurred together. Some instant favorites were "Don't Let's Start", "Sleeping In The Flowers", and most of Factory Showroom.

We attended our first They Might Be Giants concert on March 26th, 1998, at Embassy. The show, which featured the oversexed beatboxing trio Double Dong as the opener, was fantastic. After the show had ended, a lot of people were still lingering, apparently in order to obtain a copy of the setlist. At the time, I had never heard of this practice and therefore was a bit shocked when Will shoved me as hard as he could in order to snatch the setlist from the hands of the girl in front of us who was just about to get it.

Setlist from my very first TMBG show signed by the band. Deepest apologies to that girl that got crushed.

Outside the club, Flansburgh just hung out, totally at ease, signing autographs and chatting with fans, while Linnell literally sprinted from the club's other entrance to the tour bus which was a few yards from the building. That dynamic has shaped the way I see the Johns and I feel it still kind of stands.

After that evening, once I had decided to sink my teeth in, Will was my guide; when I asked him which album I should purchase first, he warned "anything but Flood, that's their most popular". That was solid advice from a true friend. It would have been easy to pick up their most popular album and, perhaps, eschew their earlier, weirder, less popular stuff, but he steered me right. I believe my first purchase was their latest, Factory Showroom.

Between March and August of that year, I immersed myself utterly in They Might Be Giants*. By the release of their first live album five months later, I knew them well enough to be bummed out they didn't put the version of "Particle Man" on the record which featured Linnell singing "The Sign" before the third verse. Thanks again Will, this is all your fault.

• My Return To New York City and Subsequent Deluge of They Might Be Giants Shows

Since that show, I have seen They Might Be Giants perform over 70 times.
I had a lot of free time in college. Like...a lot. I arranged my schedule so that I’d have classes Monday through Wednesday, but then a four day weekend...every week for entire semesters at a time. I also never really went to bars, so all my disposable income went to music; albums, merch, and seeing TMBG at they seemingly endless parade of shows at the Bowery Ballroom/Irving Plaza in the late 90’s and early 00's. Not only me though; I’d bring friends, potential significant others, passing acquaintances...there was the time my friend was an RA and I convinced her to arrange a free outing to a TMBG concert. I brought upwards of 20 total strangers to a concert of a band I liked simply because I thought they were amazing**. I met my friend Jade at a TMBG show...on the Bowery...in the spring time... After college, I stayed in New York and saw them any chance I could. In case you're wondering, my favorite show was the one they did for their 2003 documentary, which lasted over 4 fucking hours. Sadly, it is the closest thing to a Prince concert I will ever experience.

• Becoming Tall - Oh Man I Hope This Isn't All In My Head...

During my deluge of TMBG concerts...something happened. I sort of became a Person. Specifically, The Tall Guy. At one show, Flans pointed to me and said "we’d like to thank the tall guy standing in front of the very short girl". While I was thrilled to be singled out (actor, hello?), I didn’t think too much of it; these guys had been touring for 15 years, they’ve got their raps and banter down to a science...but then, at a completely different show, while Linnell needed a moment on stage to confer with the horn section, Flansburgh asked the crowd “Don’t you hate when you call someone and their phone rings and rings because they don’t have an answering machine?” I nodded and Flansburgh said, “The tall guy knows what I’m talking about. The tall guy has a lot of friends without answering machines.” At the Mink Car in-store at Tower Records, Flansburgh asked if the audience could hear them. I gave him a thumbs up from the back of the room and he said “the tall guy can hear us, we’re okay.” Then, at their show at the Palace in Gainsburg, Florida, where I happened to be for spring break in 2002, during “Guitar”, Flans knelt down on the lip of the stage and handed me his pick, holding down the opening chords while I strummed the notes on his guitar. I felt...important. This kept me going for a while and some TMBG show regulars began to refer to me as “the tall guy”, for better or worse. It was weird, but gratifying and hopefully not all in my tiny, little actory head.

• Meeting Bill, the Alternate Timeline Me 

The next big thing happened all because of my friend, Megan Boggia. She was working at XM Satellite Radio in the late 00’s. She worked with a guy named Bill and told me I should meet him...
We all got together for lunch one day and I happened to be wearing a TMBG shirt. Bill offhandedly mentioned that he grew up with them in Lincoln.
Hm.

A CORRECTION FROM BILL: "I did not grow up with them in Lincoln. My late best buddy Jimmy Mac did, and we all hung out a bunch before they got famous when I would hitch-hike from the New York suburbs (where I did grow up) to visit. Then they got famous, and I only hung out with them for Famous Reasons, like radio interviews. But we’re still friends."

Skip forward a few months to Megan calling me and asking what I was doing that afternoon. I told her I was working and she told me that I wasn't, that I should call in sick, and that I should visit her at XM. I did so and, lo and behold, there were the Johns being interviewed over ISDN by Bob Edwards. Soon after that, Bill and I got to know one another and discovered that he and I are the same person, just from alternate timelines. He is a massively talented voice actor with a penchant for Slack, cartoons, and the weird. I respect him greatly.

• An Afternoon At Kampo - The Best Day Of My Life Thus Far

Bill and I worked together on a few audio things here and there, built a friendship and then, one day in mid-October of 2007, I get a call from Bill. He tells me to show up at Kampo Studios in downtown New York.
I asked no questions.
Turns out Bill had booked the studio for a live recording and interview with the band and he'd invited me.
Over the next few hours, I met Pat Dillett, saw TMBG assemble their cover of Mark Mothersbaugh's Sims theme, enjoyed a mini concert as one of two audience members (the other being Bill), sat in on one of the best interviews with the band I've ever heard, and, perhaps coolest of all...got coffee with the Johns. Anyone who knows anything about They Might Be Giants knows how ridiculous of an honor that was.
But, most importantly, I just got to be a normal guy chatting and hanging out in a studio with They Might Be Giants. All that weird fan/band member stiffness and stress sluiced away as I was there as a friend of Bill's, not some fanboy who'd bribed his way in, or someone asking endless question about the meaning of this song or whatever. It was singular and perfect.
This was a major shift in my relationship to the band, a maturing moment.

• Interviewing Linnell...Without Pants

Some years later, after I'd been writing for Soundblab (a UK alternative music site), the opportunity arose to interview Linnell for Glean. I took that opportunity and, in my opinion, conducted a pretty solid interview. I asked some general questions and some pretty deep cuts, got some great responses from the man. The bit towards the end about Gloria and how Linnell wished people could still stumble blindly upon the music of TMBG really got me. Nothing is unknown these days. A quick look at your phone and everything confusing or mysterious is laid bare, a known quantity, processed and then forgotten.

• Aftermath

As a result of all these unique experiences with They Might Be Giants, I've achieved a sense of calm...I no longer scrabble for a setlist after a concert or show up four hours early to shows in order to potentially lock eyes with Linnell or paw at Flansburgh's guitar...I merely appreciate what they do along with the fact that they're still choosing to do it all these years later and that they don't have any of the usual bullshit that causes other bands to break up or whatnot.
All these years later and I still can't seem to articulate why I love TMBG so much, just that I continue to do so unabated.

Signed flyer from my first TMBG show

As an afterthought, here are the handful of TMBG videos I've worked on in some capacity over the years. These guys make inspiring music...

"It's Kickin' In"
Featuring the aforementioned Jade. I made this because it's one of my favorite songs from The Spine. I wanted to make something as literal as I could and it paid off.

"Can't Keep Johnny Down"
Why was DV ever a thing? It was the "muddy" quality of this video that potentially cost me first place in They Might Be Giants' "Can't Keep Johnny Down" video contest, although I did take one of the runners up positions.

"Am I Awake?"
Referred to as a "lovable sasquatch" by contest judge the honorable John Hodgman, this entry was named as one of a small handful of finalists.

"Erase"
One of the winners of the "Erase" video contest; I owe all the success to the cast and crew.

* Nine Inch Nails hadn't put out any music since February of '97 and I was legitimately dying.


** Back then, if you hadn’t heard of a band I liked, I’d make you a mix CD, then ask you if you had listened to the mix CD yet, then ask you why you hadn’t listened to the mix CD yet. See, I liked the best bands and I was super cool and smart and I could help you get super cool and smart too by sharing my music with you...did I say “music”? I meant “Truth of the Universe”...

While I have mellowed out since then, allowing people to like and not like whatever they want, reducing my rate of proselytization by about 98.8%, I am always happy to put together a playlist for a potential new conver-...ah...fan.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - April 2018 | Introducing Purple Rectangle

Over the past decade, I've been stockpiling musical devices. While I'm not overly proficient with any of them, I can get sound to come out. Little by little, I've crafted...stuff. Not really songs, not all of them...sort of between full on songs and sonic textures.

I'm finally ready to release some of the things I've made.

My debut EP, created solely with the Electro-Faustus Drone Thing and a duo of pedals (the Montreal Assembly Count to 5 and MWFX's Judder) is called LULL and is available everywhere digital now.

LULL isn't the first thing I've recorded and not everything I've done sounds like it, but it is the first piece of original music I wanted to release as Purple Rectangle, the title I've chosen for this endeavor.

It's one track with five distinct sections. It's drone and texture and atmosphere.

And there's more coming.

front cover

back cover

STREAM
Spotify
Apple Music

PURCHASE
iTunes

PRESENCE
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End of the Month Music Bitchfest - March 2018

Nine Inch Nails
Bottom line: Reznor said the third EP was "too predictable" and now it's coming in early June before NIN's 2018 shows get going. You know you just maxxxing out the Hype, right T Rez? Best not be writing checks yo' ass can't cash, sun.

Beck
EDGAR WRIGHT DIRECTED THE VIDEO FOR "COLORS"!!!! And it is seriously...man...it's the perfect visual counterpart to that track. Also: Alison Brie! For no reason!
Plus, a twilit, discoriffic remix of "Up All Night" was released and it's solid as the late 80's. Here.
Speaking of remixes...man, I thought I'd heard all the Beck remixes. I love me a good Beck remix. I own far too many 12" records containing Beck remixes. So imagine my surprise when I discovered THREE fucking Beck remixes from Odelay that I have NEVER FUCKING HEARD.
IT WAS BIG.
MY SURPRISE.
IT WAS FUCKING MASSIVE.
So I now have those three remixes...and that's all I've got to tell you about that.
...
Oh okay, fine.
In case you want to hear them too, they are:
The FULL "Where It's At" U.N.K.L.E. remix
Mike Simpson's "Groovy Sunday" remix of "Devil's Haircut" (sounds a bit like the Wizeguyz remix of "Sexx Laws")
The Mickey P. remix of "The New Pollution"
Also, homeboy is playing Madison Fucking Square Garden in July and I'm a put my face there. Really, really hope he ups his production game...

St. Vincent
Another pretty solid remix... "Los Ageless" by DJDS tries to defang this scathing little ditty and fails at that, but the stipped down interpetation presents a really nice perspective. HERE.

They Might Be Giants
"Chip the CHiP" is the first Escape Team song that I really dig. I love Linnell's vocal styling and the energy, plus the lyrics are pretty fantastic once you can hear them. Also, "Tick Tick Tick Tick" could be a sequel/rebuttal to "Prepare".
Noticed something...aside from the I Like Fun tracks and "Rowboat Mayor", everything on DAS has been a Linnell.
Hm.
Also, March 26th, 1998 marked my first TMBG concert and the beginning of a very deep fandom nee obsession nee fandom. I wrote a little thing. Might post it.

Eels
Got my hands on The Deconstruction! While it's not the Eels album I wanted to harken the return of E to the land of the living, it's what he wanted/needed to do, and there are some really fantastic cuts on there.
Review is on Soundblab here.
Hopefully, homeboy is touring with a choir this time around.


I also reviewed the first collaboration between Drew McDowall of Coil and Hiro Kone, The Ghost of Georges Bataille. HEEERRE.

Also also allaso reviewing the new Black Moth Super Rainbow record, Panic Blooms. Man, I thought I dug Tobacco...
If listening to Tobacco is like getting punched in the face, listening to BMSR is like making out with a daydream made of sexy tar... I'll post the review when it's up.

Finally, Marilyn Manson released the fourth video from his tremendous Heaven Upside Down, "Tattooed In Reverse", one of the best tracks this motherfucker has released in over a decade. The video is...*sigh*...Marilyn...don't ever change.

WHAT A ROBUST AND JUICY MONTH! PLUMS! PLUUUUUUMS!!!!

P.S. I saw the David Bowie Is exhibit on the 23rd and I might have something to say about that soon...but not now.

A review of "The Ghost of Georges Bataille" by Drew McDowall & Hiro Kone

When the focus of one’s release is "the sentiment of death as productive force", there must be an ongoing respect of the source material, deeply felt, at the heart of the work. McDowall and Kone are reverent the entire time, perfectly blending their own unique sonic talents and birthing something fragile, nuanced, and draped in shadow.

The Ghost of Georges Bataille is the first recorded collaboration between Drew McDowall (Coil) and Nicky Mao (aka Hiro Kone) and was recorded in only a week, however, anyone thinking that wasn't ample time to craft something genuine or compelling should think back to that alleged Picasso anecdote.

"Barely Awake" opens with a metallic drone and develops into what could be the last breaths of some dying being, desperate yet also resigned. Death is to be feared, but it may not be an end.
"Dreaming Is Nursed In Darkness" thrums and fizzles with odd, alien vocalizations before a beat makes itself known. Then jagged, icy programming delivers a fantastic sense of dynamism.
"Bright Kiss of Fire" is dark and cavernous, tense and anxious.
The centerpiece of Ghost, "Violence’s Detour", maintains a solemn, dour beauty. Warmth washes over the listener for a bit before a stuttering, broken beat kicks in, adding chaos and unrest.

"Not for the casual listener" stands alone as a sort of warning at the bottom of a paragraph in the album's press release. While I wholeheartedly agree with that, I can't help but think maybe if more "casual listeners" took their time to sit with and take in work of this calibre, they'd be less "casual".
The Ghost of Georges Bataille is a sepulchral triumph, meaningful and arresting, and, hopefully, the first of many collaborations between McDowall and Kone.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - February 2018

Nine Inch Nails
Two really odd developments...neither having to do with new NIN music.
The first is this blog that was recently discovered...in a nutshell, either Trent Reznor is plagiarizing from the blog of an unmedicated schizophrenic for material for these new EPs or there's a really weird ARG that was started in 2011 for the EPs just recently released.
Read way too much about it here.
Also, some source tapes of projections from Nine Inch Nails' Fragility v1.0 tour have surfaced on eBay.
And the circumstances are shady as all hell.
Read way too much about that here.

Eels
I'm having trouble not hearing David Brent singing the new Eels track...I do not like that. It's a bit fluffy and sort of blandly optimistic...verging on a bit naive...I think seeing where this fits in the whole will give it more weight.
Context is always important with Eels, but an artist's work standing on its own is also important.

They Might Be Giants
The only thing of note this month is the video for "Push Back The Hands". Which is awesome.

There's also something which is just astounding and I shouldn't talk about it, so I won't. Suffice it to say...my friend and I have one of the rarest...if not the rarest...piece of TMBG historic memorabilia in existence.
Sorry.
Moving on.

Since my life is nothing but an accumulation of disappointment and upcoming release dates for various types of media, I decided to distract myself from this devastating fact and my horrid existence by listening to a bunch of Autechre last month. Something about all that dissonance and chaos acts as a balm for the screaming void that is my mind...

Move of Ten was where I jumped in and I bounced around from there. Before Chiastic Slide came out in 1997, those boys were actually making some pretty mellow stuff. Since then though, ah...all the sqwarky blizz... I need to keep going and maybe I'll share a playlist of my findings with "you". One thing is for sure though, "pce freeze 2.8i" is the perfect intro music for a techno-organic villain. One with swagga.

Then there's that new Prince song that Janelle Monae released....damn I miss Prince.
As far as Monae, I think I like who she is and what she represents more than the music she's made. My friend gave me ArchAndroid and I didn't love it, although I recognized that it was something special. I like The Audition better. Haven't really given Electric Lady a spin yet. But I will.
To me, she's more pioneering than Kanye West without all the rambling idiocy and ego. I could see her and Beck collaborating and not interrupting each other's award acceptances, you know?

This month I shall be reviewing the new Eels and the collaboration between Drew McDowall and Hiro Kone, The Ghost of Georges Bataille.

March 2018 also marks 20 years as an active They Might Be Giants fan*. Something I owe solely to Will Pomerantz and my own impeccable taste in music and penchant for imprinting. I wrote a little thing. And will publish it here. So...hahahahaha...so you all...hahahahahaha...can read it...hahahahahaha.
Oh, silly.

I also sent my first rough EP of original "music" off to a dude at a tiny label to check out. I'll let you know when nothing happens.

* Since hearing them on Tiny Toons in the early 90's but not understanding what I was hearing, I've been a passive fan.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - January 2018

EELS
EELS! New Eels! The first new Eels in four years! On the 16th, they let a floaty teaser go.* Musically, it sounds airy and delicate but that means absolutely fuckall when it comes to E. The title track dropped the next day and it has some fantastic programming and samples, which makes me hope that's the direction of the album but "Fresh Blood" was its own thing and I got bummed when Hombre Lobo wasn't 13 versions of that track so...trying to mitigate...but I did buy the $85 CD/pink vinyl/t-shirt/Bobby Jr. socks bundle...of course.
Man, I'm just happy homeboy is still around. Maybe 2018 won't be a waste of time after all.

They Might Be Giants
While Dial-A-Song is back in action, the first quarter or so is going to be I Like Fun which...I don't know...feels like a waste. Not just because I've had the album since the middle of November, but because, for everyone, it came out January 19th, so fans will be getting doubles** for a while.
Although I will say the video for "I Like Fun" is just fucking perfect and the one to beat over the course of this year's 50ish other offerings, although...dude...Nick Offerman Vs. TMBG.
Also, since I haven't lodged a complaint in four seconds, I was mucho bummed to hear nothing off of I Like Fun at either of TMBG's December shows except for "I Left My Body". But, knowing them, they'll be back this way and I will just SOAK in it. Looking forward to hearing, literally, everything from ILF. The shows were still a blast as they did play a nice batch of tracks from Mink Car and it was fabulous to hear some of these again for the first time in almost twenty years. "Wicked Little Critta" is always a treat, as is "Bangs", "Cyclops Rock", and a personal favorite, "(She Thinks She's) Edith Head", plus we got THREE TRACKS from John Henry! AND THEY ARE NOW REGULARLY PERFORMING A FOURTH!!! Could 2018 be the year they do a John Henry show? NO!
I always love "Dead" but hearing them open with it after not seeing them for an extended period of time is always special. And the perfected "Trouble Awful Devil Evil" is so goddamn beautiful live and having "The Guitar" start before the clock ticked over, then playing "Auld Lang Syne" on the 31st (1st) then going back to finish "Guitar" was excellent.

Relatedly unrelated; had a hankering to listen to Linnell's solo album, State Songs. Man that is a weird, tight, dusty, square little package. I remember seeing his one live performance in New York back which I was in college where he hired a band organ (complete with its operator, Bob) to play at the Bowery Ballroom. Singular experience...
Then I moved on to his House of Mayors EP. "DeWitt Clinton" baby. That's all. Plus some of the tightest, most proficient accordion playing from the man is there on his processionals. From there, I revisited Flansburgh's solo thing, Mono Puff. I recall fans were nervous around the years of 1997 to 1999, thinking these solo efforts and the release of their first live album, video collection, and Then: The Earlier Years was an indicator that the band was breaking up. I might write a little something for March about my first twenty years as a They Might Be Giants fan...
Will might read that...aaaaaand...that's it.

P.S. Here's my absolutely glowing review of I Like Fun.

Beck
Video for "Fix Me". The presence of this many dogs along with the double meaning of the title make me wonder if this clip was sponsored by the ASPCA...of whatever the Japanese equivalent of the ASPCA is.****
Also, Beck released a rather flat cover of Lou Reed's "I'm Waiting For The Man" which tells me, for certain, that Beck has never waited for someone to sell him drugs.

Nine Inch Nails
A very pregnant pause... Fans are holding to Reznor's tossed off comment about how the EPs will come out "about 6-8 months apart". If it's six, we get EP 3 this month*****, if eight, March.
Or, if Reznor gets caught up in something else or changes his mind or whatever...who knows...
The definitive vinyl editions of With Teeth and Year Zero are, allegedly, coming in a few weeks; whether that means other stuff is in the pipeline as well...only Reznor knows the inner workings of Reznor's mind.

Now, peace be with you; go in Reznor's Name.


* And, no, "floaty teaser" is not a genteel term for fart.

** You know, like when you were collecting Marvel cards in the 90's and ALL YOU NEEDED was the High Evolutionary, but all you kept getting was fucking Storm?***

*** ...maybe THAT'S why I hate Halle Berry so much...

**** Did not know at the time of that statement that it actually WAS.
P.S. What a shitty video.

***** We didn't.

A review of They Might Be Giants' "I Like Fun"

The one thing lacking from I Like Fun is fun. And that's 100% as it should be. After thirty-five years and twenty albums, They Might Be Giants have perfected their unique style and the result is this obsidian gem of an LP.

Not only is "Let's Get This Over With" a fantastic and relatable sentiment, a great name for an opener, and an excellent song, it also has what might be the best opening lyric from a They Might Be Giants album since their debut in 1986.*
And the album keeps getting better.
"An Insult to the Fact Checkers" centers around a surly Flansburgh sneering over aggro-surf rock. "Mrs. Bluebeard", one of the most straightforward and stunning tracks here, joins the ranks of PG-13 educational songs like "The Lady and The Tiger" from 2011's Join Us, a posthumous lament from one (or all?) of the notorious pirate's dead wives ("I want to say I learned something valuable today / alas my murdered remains are incapable of learning anything / I’m not complaining / I’m not anything"). “I Like Fun” could be the theme for a follow up to The Oblongs. It starts off a little eerie with that warbling Linnell sample, then the chorus makes it weirdly nostalgic and warm. The enigmatic "McCafferty's Bib" is funky, slick, and untrustworthy, and "The Greatest" would have been perfect on an episode of Malcolm In The Middle. 

But the secret, sad heart of the album are the four tracks tucked between the uneasy creep of the title track and the sci-fi, hippie rock of "Lake Monsters". The forced, aching smile of "Push Back the Hands" ("it wouldn't help you if you'd had any sleep / it wouldn't save you from the mission creep"), the subtle, sorrowful sharpness in the mellow, sun-warmed "This Microphone" ("selflessly hiding all emotions inside / chilly and dry / New England style"), "The Bright Side" which sounds like a friendly, exhausted band locked into a shitty 15-album contract performing for a sunny field full of fans whom they loathe ("the bright side / is blinding our eyes / and the sound keeps ringing / the bright side / is just a white lie / that the crowd keeps singing"), and the frenetic, desperate hope of "When the Lights Come On"** ("there won't be any more trouble / you'll be dragged from the rubble / when the lights come on / and I'll be looking so great / I will have lost some weight / when the lights come on"). Listen to that tetralogy, read the lyrics, and you'll get the band's manifesto, the soul of They Might Be Giants.
This opus comes to a close with "Last Wave", the broken, unveiled face of I Like Fun. "We die alone  / we die afraid / we live in terror / we're naked and alone and the grave is the loneliest place".
It's not quirky. It's not funny. It's not fun. It's the truth and that is so goddamned sad.

Everything here is seething or apprehensive or resigned or snarky. The title track is about medicating away someone's enjoyment of life for Christ's sake...and the fact that this whole thing is called I Like Fun is the best sneer ever. Some might think this album is too morose***, but those people haven’t been paying attention; not to the music of John Flansburgh and John Linnell, and not to recent world events. This is the best, darkest, and most cohesive They Might Be Giants album in a quarter century.

* Perhaps a reference to "Don't Let's Start". Since we did let them start, we may as well get this over with.

** All the while it's so crushingly, painfully obvious that the lights will never come on again.

*** A potential alternate title for the album could be Songs of Fear, Anxiety, And Defeat.

The Year In Bitch - 2017

I seriously only really took in about half a dozen records this year. Specifically, the new Nine Inch Nails EPs, the new Beck, Manson, St. Vincent, Gorillaz, and, most recently, the new They Might Be Giants*. Three of my five favorite artists had absolutely stellar releases this year (and one of my five favorite artists had a poppy, sweet-and-plasticky-like-a-strawberry-Twizzler release this year) and, in the dearth that is to come, I shall try and recall this shining plethora and hold the memory close as a spark with which to warm my soul...although I will fail and start complaining pretty soon, I am certain.

Along with that tight and isolated four plus hours of music that I obsessed over this year, I did take in a few other things...the pair of Reznor/Ross scores of Patriots Day and The Vietnam War, the excellent new New Pornographers, the new Tori Amos, the new and spectacularly non-Euclidean Drew McDowall, and Transparent by Coil and Zos Kia, a record which I feel ended up perfectly summarizing this year and all its occurrences. You should totally give it a listen, with headphones, while looking over a recap of the world events of 2017. I'm not kidding.

One life changing moment that occurred was when my wife and I (and a small handful of others) had tea with Tori Amos. I mean...it's something I could never fully put into words. She was graceful, attentive, gracious and the Summer Queen of the Sidhe. At one point, when she was chatting with my wife and I and hearing all about our non-fae lives, she took my hand in hers and I almost died. It was a legitimate brush with divinity and I shouldn't have even brought it up because it's like a blind man trying to describe how red her hair is.

Something far more mundane yet also worth nothing from this year...packaging. Starting in February with the physical component for Nine Inch Nails' Not The Actual Events and continuing with its vinyl release, then the physical component for Add Violence, the CD packaging for the new Manson, the deluxe versions of the new Beck and St. Vincent, and culminating with the "Super Deluxe" edition of Gorillaz' Humanz. I talked about a lot of it here, but I must harp on it.
While I don't think any packaging I've ever encountered competes with some of the stuff Coil and its associates have come up with over the years, specifically the insane presentation for Peter Christopherson's Time Machines II, I think it's fantastic, in this world of people blithely renting licenses for songs off of iTunes instead of purchasing hard copies of albums, to see artists putting effort not only into their music, but into the method in which their music is presented. While streaming is convenient as hell, there's something lacking...namely beautiful, full color, 12" by 12" artwork...or soot-covered cardstock, a quick reference guide to a machine that creates dystopian, pre-apocalyptic scenarios, or branded kaleidoscopes and prisms. The music should obviously stand on its own, but the artwork and packaging and all the weird trappings serve to add further depth to the release, expanding the world the artist is trying to create for the listener. That's "listener", not "consumer". All this is to say...I don't know...people still give a shit and will continue to as long as the artists do the same.
But not with cassettes.
Those are fully obsolete.
Beck. 

ONTOTHEMOTHERFUCKINGSUPERLATIVES!!!

Best Song of the Year
This is a tie for me between St. Vincent's "Slow Disco" and Nine Inch Nails' "The Lovers". Here's the former with a string octet and the latter live in rehearsal which won't sound any different unless you're a fan so...yeah.

Worst Song of the Year
"Despacito".
If this song were a person I would hire an assassin to kill it.

BEST! LIVE! NOODS!
I wanted Gorillaz to be epic, but between the ocean of goddamn people (Christ I fucking hate people) and the fact that they were supporting an album I'm 17% into, that didn't happen. Seeing Nine Inch Nails two nights in a row was pretty epic (Panorama and Webster Hall), and certainly better than the last time I fucking did that but it comes down to Mother Feather at the Knitting Factory and St. Vincent at Kings Theater. One was perfectly sculpted and executed like a theatrical performance, and the other was sloppy, wet chaos. On one hand, you have Annie Clark, standing on a stage alone and delivering the same set of songs over three months, never varying, just a series of musical monologues and soliloquies, then you have Mother Feather's unending, goddess-gleaned energy repeatedly driving red hot pop cock rock into the audience's collective face like a dong made of sincerity, lady parts, and power...plus they have a new bassist!

Biggest Surprise
Oh my goodness there was no contest. I was absolutely thrilled by Marilyn Manson's Heaven Upside Down. Despite not being a perfect return to the truly unsettling Manson I fell in fearful love with over 20 years ago, this is the closest thing we've gotten since the ebon opus that was Antichrist Superstar and the best Manson album he's created since 2003. Even if the man backslides, there will always be this album to let us know that Marilyn Manson was back...even if only for a short time.

Biggest Disappointment
This might have been a tie between Beck's exquisitely crafted and glimmeringly hollow pop swamp Colors and Gorillaz' Humanz but, after those three singles Beck released, I should have expected something like this, whereas Humanz was such a letdown. I know it's good, but I don't like it. As of right now, about nine months after its release, I only enjoy two and a half songs ("Charger" and "Hallelujah Money") and one chorus ("Saturnz Barz")**.

Best Album of the Year
Yeah, I know Nine Inch Nails put out a new EP in 2017, but HA, I'm picking one of the other six releases I listened to this year! It's got to be Masseduction. It's like Annie Clark was possessed by Beck and Prince and then did her thing. Tracks like "Hang On Me", "Los Ageless", "Savior", "Slow Disco", the title track...come on asshole, fuck you it's the best. Asshole.
fuck you.

Best Album of Next Year
Um...is it cheating if I give this to the new They Might Be Giants? I mean...Beck certainly isn't putting anything new out next year. Neither is St. Vincent***. The members of Cake are dead and E is working on learning to love himself. So unless something astonishing happens and Reznor actually puts out a new LP in 2018, yeah, the Best Album of 2018 is I Like Fun by They Might Be Giants.
You've got 365 days to change my mind world, step t'me.


Most Anticipated Release of 2018
Well, the third Nine Inch Nails EP obviously, the one that ties everything ever together and brings meaning to my life: artistically, spiritually, and sexually. Duh.
Or is it the new Mother Feather, Constellation Baby? Starring tracks like "I.C.U.", "Shake Your Magic 8-Ball", "Totally Awesome", and the absolutely stellar title track...**** Thing is, no matter how good it is, the new NIN is only an EP, five or six tracks, probably clocking in at less than a half hour...so...oooooch...this is going to be a tie...for now.

Hopes for 2018
A fucking new Nine Inch Nails album! Of course! What do you fucking think?! But I have a feeling that these EPs are going to serve as the only new real NIN for a while. Damn it. So...I suppose...nothing. I have no hopes for 2018. That way, I can't be disappointed! I BEAT THE FUCKING SYSTEM!

* Which isn't actually out until 1/19/18.

** Four and a half if you throw in "Out of Body" and "The Apprentice" from the 2-CD version.

*** Except for a small handful of tracks left off Masseduction, like "Sexclusive", a track featuring Jehnny Beth from Savages on guest vocals.

**** Get it? Stellar? Constellation Baby? STILL GOT IT!

A review of Gorillaz' "Humanz" (Super Deluxe)

Why do people purchase "deluxe" or "super deluxe" or "bonus" or other such named "enhanced" versions of albums? For extra artwork? Unique packaging? More songs? For the sheer exclusivity of it? For me, depending on the band, it's for unreleased/extra music first, then artwork, and only if I really dig said artwork. So when Gorillaz, a band for which the artwork is as important as the music, maybe moreso, announced their new album Humanz a mere month before its release, I went all out; I purchased the two-CD version which featured six tracks not on the standard CD and pre-ordered the "Super Deluxe" version which boasted fourteen new tracks. Between that bonus CD and the SD version, that doubled the tracks on the standard album. After months of delay, I received my SD package earlier this month and sat down with it over the weekend.

Included in the Super Deluxe edition of Humanz is an art book featuring the Instagram posts from earlier this year which detailed the Gorillaz' path from Plastic Beach to Humanz, some scribbled-on lyric sheets, and unseen art from Jamie Hewlett, and fourteen separate records, each a unique color, each in its own sleeve, the a-side containing the album's twenty tracks and the b-side sporting a new, unreleased track. The book and records all come in a huge, faux leather case adorned with lightning bolts. I'll get right to it: while a handful of the bonus tracks are interesting (namely "Colombians" which sounds like something from Goat Simulator, "Midnite Float", and an alternate, D.R.A.M.-centric version of "Andromeda") most are forgettable instrumentals and foreign language versions of LP tracks. 

Now the question: was it worth it? The package was over $350 with shipping and took eight months to arrive. Everything in it is beautiful and well-crafted, although the tracks are mostly Gorillaz-official-website-background-music quality. Would I have been happy with just the standard LP? I'm not a theoretical physicist so I really can't answer that. I'm going to say no though, as I am a completionist and when it comes to Gorillaz, the narrative is important to me, so any new music/images could mean more insight into this non-existent band. For a normal person though? They probably don't even know about this, and is that a bad thing? Digital vs vinyl. Collecting vs minimalism. Each record has only two songs. Arguably, the only less practical way to present this album would be to have twenty-eight one-sided records. Is it necessary. Ooh. There's a phrase you don't hear a lot in conjunction with these special releases. But, then again, it's "super deluxe", what's "necessary" about something labeled as "super deluxe"?

Oy. 

Did you know there's a Grammy award for packaging? Look it up. Nine Inch Nails was nominated in 2008 for Ghosts I-IV and Reznor, Ross, and Rob Sheridan in 2012 for their The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo score packaging. They were nominated for "Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition". THERE'S A GRAMMY AWARD FOR PACKAGING.

A review of St. Vincent's "Fear The Future" tour at Kings Theater on 12/2/17

Annie Clark is a human. I can now say this with complete certainty. The last time I saw her perform, in 2014 at Terminal 5, I wasn't sure; she was too cold and calculating, like some multi-function automaton that had yet to truly master a mimicry of human behavior. Even when she was vulnerable and confiding, there seemed to be a barely audible click behind each teardrop and sigh. This time however, Saturday at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn, she was just a human. A guitar-murdering pocket apocalypse of a human, but a human nonetheless.

The evening started with an hour long Q&A and two-song acoustic performance*, both of which went a long way towards humanizing Clark. Then there was the very start of her first set, which featured Clark almost ridiculously overdressed in a matching pink, vinyl teddy and high-heeled boots**. As the set unfolded, so did the stage, mirroring Clark's confidence and command of the space. For the majority of the second set, Clark merely stood and sang and killed a score of guitars and utterly dominated the theater.

The first third of the show was an almost chronological tour of her past work, starting with "Marry Me" and ending with "Birth In Reverse", while the back two thirds focused on her latest. As much as I enjoy a well-varied and structured set list, hearing the whole of Msseduction from front to back was fantastic as every track had additional depth and highlights not found on the album. One downside to the performance was the overabundance of the not-so-stellar visuals, which consisted solely of extra footage from the albums' two videos and press material. Occasionally they added but more often than not they distracted.

Highlights included a reworked and almost industrial version of 2014’s “Digital Witness”, a heart-rending new string arrangement of "Strange Mercy", “Cheerleader”, and...well, pretty much everything on Masseduction.

Clark recently extended her Fear The Future tour to mid-2018, so if you can, check out a true virtuoso performing one of the best albums of the year.

Shitty photos here.

* "Laughing With a Mouth of Blood" and "the second in the 'Johnny Trilogy'", "Prince Johnny".

** She had mentioned in the Q&A that her look for the live show was a mix of "silly and sexy".

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - November 2017

Had spinal surgery on the 18th of this month, but right before that, on the 17th, I received my review copy of the new TMBG. And, although I am embargoed...it's fantastic. Look for the full review in early January.

Aside from the new TMBG, I've really just been listening to those NIN EPs, the new St. Vincent, and the new Beck.

Opinions have emerged further on all four releases: Not The Actual Events is really good (received my CD of that recently and it's a perfect interpretation of the vinyl package and art, just smaller), but Add Violence is one of their best, tightest releases ever, Masseduction might be surpassing St. Vincent as my favorite album of hers*, and Colors is still lacking a lot for me. While I understand where Beck's in making such an album, I just don't love the album.

In December, I'm seeing St. Vincent as she wraps up the US leg of her Fear The Future tour, Mother Feather at Knitting Factory, and TMBG's triumphant return to the stage on both the 30th and 31st at the Music Hall of Williamsburg...where, hopefully, they'll play "Last Wave", as I need to stand amongst a crowd of people and sing that chorus out loud.
Oh man I can't wait 'til folks get to hear I Like Fun...

Also...there might be something from Nine Inch Nails on December 5th. Not the new EP, but, if not a song, then at least a tease, update, or image introducing yet another art style over which fans can get hard. Reznor and Ross are going to be on Song Exploder, but the song being exploded (?) is "The Lovers", so...who knows...I could just be wrong.

* Which is thrilling as I can't think of many bands whose subsequent albums get better and escape that godawful stereotype of their-first-was-their-best.

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - October 2017

I know the world is ending not because I'm listening to the new Marilyn Manson more than the new Beck, but because I'm enjoying the new Marilyn Manson more than the new Beck.

Beck
I wrote my review and it's a goddamn whirlwind. Now, a few weeks after having played nothing but this, the new St. Vincent, the new Manson, and a few Stephen King audiobooks* on repeat...I think I get it.
Beck says he wanted to make something joyous, something that felt good. Joy and feeling good are not always complex.
So. There.
When I want complex joy from Beck, I'll listen to "Milk & Honey", or "Debra", or "Dirty Dirty". When I was simply joy from Beck, simple like bright swathes of primary colors, I guess I'll listen to Colors. These are shitty, shitty times in which we live, Beck is only trying to help.

St. Vincent
After her most recent, self-titled release, I was curious as to how she'd top herself. Masseduction is, at least, as good as St. Vincent. Plus, "Slow Disco" is so beautiful that it hurts to listen to it. At one point, I looked up how old Annie Clark was, thinking she was, like, 25 or something, and it somehow made me feel better that she was making all this amazing shit and was only a year younger than me. I'm seeing her in December in Brooklyn and I'd suggest you do as well.

They Might Be Giants
Album title, release date, and first single have been revealed! I Like Fun (excellent title) drops January 19th (unless you're in the IFC or reviewing it...like me) and "I Left My Body" is a pretty solid introduction. Check it out here.

Nine Inch Nails
TR and AR released their cover (although I'd call it more of a reinterpretation because the original is less than three minutes long and theirs is seven and change) of John Carpenter's theme to Halloween. IT'S HERE FOR YOU TO LISTEN TO! TO! Shit gets cray around the six and a half minute mark.

Marilyn Manson also released the most Marilyn Manson-ass Marilyn Manson video ever. It's for his track "SAY10" and it features a chick masturbating and the devil and Johnny Depp and that rubber wall thing and slow motion blood explosions and just fucking everything but Twiggy.

Between those three albums, a quick revisitation of Reznor and Ross' Vietnam score, and some vintage Tori, that is, literally, all I've been listening to this month. But...a note on packaging***...

Over the past few weeks, I've received physical copies of the deluxe vinyl version of the new St. Vincent, CD and vinyl editions of the new Marilyn Manson, thht awesome-rad-cocaine-on-your-cock-and-asshole colored vinyl version of the new Beck I'd mentioned a while back, and, finally, the latest CD from Nine Inch Nails**, and I was blown away by some of what I saw. These days, a special package for a deluxe or limited edition vinyl isn't that crazy; you're paying more and should receive more for your money, but, as Trent Reznor loves to remind people at every turn NO ONE BUYS CDS BECAUSE FUCK CDS EITHER BUY MY RECORDS ON VINYL OR STREAM THEM BUT NOTHING ELSE. NOTHING ELSE. NO. FUCK YOU ANDY. ONE OR THE FUCKING OTHER. However, while he might hate them, the packaging for Add Violence is tight. Nothing flashy, just a perfect and concise package for the EP. On one side of each page you've got the track title and on the other you've got the lyrics, white text on a black background. The middle of the booklet has a small taste of the elaborate and insane physical component, then back to basics for the rest of it. The disc itself is red with black text. On the back of the booklet and the disc itself, the NIN logo and "halo thirty one", printed clearly. In other words, Reznor didn't phone it it, even though he doesn't believe people buy them anymore.
So, thanks.

Then, shit got interesting...Manson's last one, The Pale Emperor, came in a simply digi-pack with no liner notes and an exterior that was akin to sandpaper, meant to damage any surfaces it touched. I always thought that was cool and a pretty neat trick for Manson to pull. When Heaven Upside Down arrived, I opened things up**** and found one, single insert: one on side, the album cover, on the other, the geometry Manson has embraced this time around, nothing more. I was pissed. On one hand, I want to fully experience the release; since my first cassettes, I would sit down with a magnifying glass and pore over the liner notes, absorbing them, devouring them, trying to get a better understanding of the other elements that made up what an album was. On the other hand, I wanted to hear what the fuck Manson was saying. I'd say...40% of the album is garbled by Manson's throat-shredding yowls and I was wondering (as I always do these days) if it happened organically or because the lines were silly and he was trying to hide something. And I don't trust any of those lyrics sites because, without the official lyrics, everything is fan fiction. All that to say...I was pissed. Then, I took a closer look at the jewel case. It was the type of case usually reserved for a 2-disc release, that is to say there was a "page" on which the CD was set instead of the back cover. That's when I saw it...the back cover was the booklet. Now, I mentioned this to my wife and she said that wasn't anything special. Personally, I'm 36 and have been buying CDs for 23 years and I'd never seen anyone utilize this back space in such a fashion. Yes, Tool and a few others have "hidden" artwork back there, but never a whole booklet. And, on top of that fun little revelation, there was the book itself; the lyrics were laid out as bible verse and the paper stock was that insubstantial stuff on which bibles are printed.
Wow.
Manson.
Well done.
For a guy who'd just been releasing jewel cases with folded inserts for a decade, this was something special.

YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE WAS SPECIAL???? ST. VINCENT'S DELUXE LP OF MASSEDUCTION! Honestly? I was legitimately confused when I first opened it. But I was also on painkillers, so...I choose to blame that.
The whole thing comes in a vinyl envelope. Inside that envelope is the cover art on a huge, double-sided poster which serves as housing for all the stuff. The stuff that I just mentioned a few words ago consists of the record itself, yellow (I'd have preferred the pink, but never mind), and in its own slipcover, a sticker sheet which is maybe a little odd, and a really great, zine-y booklet containing pictures and the lyrics. It reminds me of something from Fight Club, now that I think about it...
The package
The record

Next, the crazy fuck-my-ass-with-your-awesome-rad-coke-covered-dick deluxe edition of Beck's Colors. Whether you like the album or not, you cannot deny that Capitol is aching to make this release a thing*****. Aside from the numbered enamel pin (I'm a patch man and this pin isn't changing that), the kaleidoscope (seriously), and the fucking hexagonal, glass prism (thing weighs like eight pounds), the records (two of them, red as the devil's taint) are in this semi-customizable slipcover with four colored transparencies all coming together to form the dude, just watch the video. Also, the booklet is laid out fantastically. This is actually worth all the hubbub.
The packaging
The useless physical objects
The records

And, lastly, because of the awesome CD packaging for the new Manson, I grabbed the vinyl edition...which was nothing more than red vinyl, and a single lyrics sheet. Nothing cool. Something about putting all that effort into the CD but not the vinyl feels weird...

And on that odd and disquieting note...


* My professional opinion as a voice actor and a three-time audiobook narrator: George Guidall is awful (Dark Tower series), Steven Weber is awesome (It).

** ...who seems to have parted ways with Manson, perhaps because of the passing of Daisy Berkowitz.

*** Strap in, motherfuckers!1!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

**** ASTONISHED to find there was no parental advisory sticker on the album...the album which features a track clearly titled "WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE"...did Tipper Gore die?

***** #CustomHashtag

A review of Beck's "Colors"

All right, I'm going to get weird here for a moment. I do not consider myself a conspiracy theorist, but since the direction of Beck's follow up to Morning Phase has slowly come to light over the past three years, I have developed what one might call a "conspiracy theory"*...and here it is...

After Beck won the Grammy in 2015 and was rewarded by Kayne's cuntishness and a legion of ill-informed children tweeting #WhoIsBeck, I believe he had a thought. I believe his thought was to make an album so accessible and so mainstream as to show these twenty-somethings exactly who he was and what he was capable of. He sat down and looked at what he had lying around** and saw a bunch of stuff he did with super-mainstream, finger-on-the-pulse producer and former keyboardist, Greg Kurstin. This stuff was as far from the somber beauty of Morning Phase as Beck had been perhaps since 1999's Midnite Vultures and it was accessible as fuck. The plan started there.
Beck went on to make songs as commercial and radio-friendly as he was able, dusting them with just a hint of the funk and weirdness he is so adept at, but not too much funk or weirdness, got to keep this appealing to the masses, always think of the masses. If Morning Phase was the spiritual sequel to 2002's Sea Change, a complete work for musicians and people who loved intricate and challenging music that pays dividends after repeat listens, then this new one was going to be for the Playlist People, the Shuffleheads, those who like songs but not albums because who has forty minutes to listen to anything? To someone in their twenties, forty minutes is the equivalent of four hundred years. That is a fact created by combining math and science.***
At one point, and here's where things get uber-conspiratorial, Beck decides to not just make an album for the kids, he decides to mock them a little by lampooning the music and subjects they're used to. Proof?**** The first single, "Dreams". The song actually features the Millennial Whoop. And those lyrics...so...normal...
As time went on, the songs got more and more overproduced, and less and less substantial. He removed continuity and flow from the album, and came out with ten candy-coated frosting dots that were designed to appeal to the most brainless and least focused demographics: Millennials and the corporations that shill for Millennials.*****

Now, do I actually believe all this? Eh, no. In a nutshell; I think the direction and content of the album as well as the decision to release Colors after Morning Phase was influenced by the fact that the overwhelming response to a skilled artist winning one of the music industry's highest awards****** resulted in the majority of the public asking "who's this guy who is almost 50 and who we've never heard of who just beat Beyonce for the best album released in the entirety of 2014. I don't care if you're a time-travelling space alien like Beck, that's got to get through, and it's got to sting, at least a bit.

I should probably review this thing, huh?

Colors is an album made of and for the zeitgeist. Sadly, while the zeitgeist can be colorful, it can also be hyperactive and vapid. From start to finish, the album is rife with the same overused and mundane concepts and assertions that've plagued the music industry since its inception. "Put it up in the air / if you don't really care", "just wanna stay up all night with you / nothing that I wouldn't rather do", "it's my life, your life / live it once, can't live it twice"*******, "what I need is right in front of me", and so on. Here's the thing though, even if 90% of the lyrics here are just fluff, a lot of the songs are catchy, if not good.
I don't hate this album. I hate...what it is and why it is, the need for it and the music it reflects and mimics. There are good, well-crafted, pop-as-fuck songs here. "Dreams" (the original, not the blander album mix) and "Up All Night" should be on every summer mix tape for at least the next five years, "Dear Life" is solid and would fit nicely on other, better Beck albums, "Square One" and"Wow" are fun (but the latter isn't nearly as weird as seemingly every other review claims it is. There's one "weird" line in it and that accounts for five seconds of a forty five minute album. Fucking get over it and make sure you don't listen to Midnite Vultures or your heads will explode), and "I'm So Free" needs to be on the radio forever.
And hey, if Beck wants to make an album where every song is crafted to be purchased by movie studios or car companies and featured in commercials or trailers or bland CW dramas, who am I to get mad when he does? He's got kids and, apparently, musical genius and Grammy awards don't pay for college. Going from there, as I was listening to Colors for the first time, I could actually see the commercials in which each song would be used and took notes. 

"Colors" - iPhone 8 Color announce or new Canon printer, something where they're trying to sell the idea of "color" as a new invention or product

"Seventh Heaven" -  CW teen drama prom dance song as credits roll; our introverted hero just found out his mother has cancer but she told him to go to the dance anyway and to ask the girl he likes to dance with him and he does and she does - full disclosure - this might be because of the old WB show of the same name, but I've never actually seen an episode so...I don't know.

"I'm So Free" - sugar-free chewing gum commercial, both because the gum is sugar...free and also because chewing gum makes one feel free. Or maybe some smartphone plan that has free long distance.

 "Dear Life" - ABC pilot about a bartender/burgeoning stand up comic, used as the theme or maybe an extended intro. Is the show called "Dear Life"? Patton Oswalt would have been offered and would have turned down this show. But Joel McHale might not have...

"No Distraction" - specifically the bridge and chorus - used in the first act of the inevitable sequel to NERVE, before shit gets dark - driving through a city at night, perhaps with someone yelling out the window about how great the night is going to be

"Dreams" -  is there a sequel to Inside Out? If not, definitely something by Pixar. Probably just in the trailer though.

"Wow" might be the only track too "out there" for typical ad agencies. That's not to say it's not viable, just that I'm not a fucking copywriter. Whatever it gets used for it will have the spec "urban".

"Up All Night" - oh, I don't know...maybe, like, a watch commercial?

"Square One" - in the fourth sequel to Bridget Jones's Diary in a scene where her daughter is having a fun girls' night out but she's in love with one of her girl friends? Was Bridget Jones's baby a chick? Can we rewrite that?

"Fix Me" - "hip", "cool" life insurance ad for 30-somethings. My wife suggested that one and it clicks audibly for me.

I was going to go as far as to record little fake commercials using these tracks in these situations, but that felt shitty. Plus, I'm lazy.

My hope is that Colors will prove to the idiot tastemakers, the vaping and vapid Millennial masses, Twitter********, car company ad execs and to himself that he can be as banal, mundane, and relevant as the rest of what's drifting in the cultural septic tank that is pop music. Then he can get back to being Beck, unfettered, and continue making real music for no one but hiss founky self.
And me.

* Not Gibson's worst movie, but certain scenes reminded me too much of Jacob's Ladder, plus he's still a rapey, anti-Semitic piece of shit and no one seems to remember that anymore.

** In my mind, and with regards to the amount of material they've both got backlogged, I equate Beck to a funkier Richard D. James.

*** I used to be in my twenties, so shush.

**** Or "proof", I suppose.

***** Obviously this doesn't apply to each and every single person born between 1982 and 2004 (or whatever the definition of a "Millennial" is). I know a lot of Millennials and a lot of them they kind of hate the label and fight against it, but for every Millennial I know who is not a piece of shit, I know a dozen who are.

****** Kind of. To some people anyway.

******* aka "YOLO". Ugh.

******** Seriously though, I feel like the marketing budget for this album could offset more than one third world country's debt. But hey, check out that custom Beck hashtag!!!!