4.03.2017

End of the Month Music Bitchfest - March 2017

Nine Inch Nails

So...the physical components have arrived...

*deep breath*

That hasn't been one major release from Nine Inch Nails since 1989 that hasn't had distinct and exceptional artwork and/or packaging; Gary Talpas, Russell Mills, David Carson, Phillip Graybill, Rob Sheridan...but the physical component for the December 2016 EP Not The Actual Events, created by John Crawford, Corey Holms, and Jeff Anderson, might take the taco as far as style and uniqueness.

First, you get a black, plastic wrapped envelope in the mail. On it is a warning label:




Inside are six sheets of cardstock preceded by a transparent photograph of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross with their eyes scratched out. The first five sheets each correspond to a song on the EP, the sixth is a credits page. Unlike every Nine Inch Nails album to date, each of which has had a coherent and unifying theme and motif throughout, here each song's lyrics sheet has a completely different art style, look, and feel, allowing for deeper understanding of each individual song and reflecting the song itself: 'Branches/Bones' is concise and brutal, clocking in at just over a minute and a half; its lyrics are set in the center of the page in a tightly packed rectangle, every word cordoned off by a neat slash*, 'Dear World,' with its sluggish, affected verses and clear, clean chorus has a separate font and layout for each, the former garbled and layered over itself, the latter spaced neatly on lines like notes on a musical staff, 'She's Gone Away' is the sequel to 1994's 'Reptile', a point pounded home not only by snippets of 'Reptile' lyrics lurking in the lyrics tab of the mp3 version of the track, but by the fact that the font on the sheet is the same from The Downward Spiral and are actually superimposed over the lyrics sheet for 'Reptile', the vocals on 'The Idea Of You' are obscured by a jagged, looping guitar, Dave Grohl's barbaric drums, and the fact that Trent Reznor CAN'T STOP WHISPERING, the lyrics sheet, while typed clearly in black ink on white (or whitish) cardstock are distorted; missing letters, sliced in half, printed backwards, making it nearly indecipherable, and the closer, 'Burning Bright (Field On Fire)', which find Reznor screaming at the empty, howling center of the universe as he explodes is portrayed as a solid, vertical line of text, a battering ram, a blazing pillar of defiance.
Oh and everything is coated in a fine patina of black dust that gets all over your hands.
Singular.
And weird.
And filthy.
More pictures than you would EVER NEED TO SEE here.


And, in the world of wild, unfounded rumors related to NIN, Rob Sheridan, former art director and member of Nine Inch Nails side project, How To Destroy Angels, has been posting tiny snippets of video footage from the 'Hurt' live visuals processed with the distinct VHS/glitch filter that defined the motif of HTDA's first LP, Welcome oblivion.
Does it mean anything?
Of course it does: new HTDA this year, culminating with a double headlining tour of HTDA opening for NIN with Reznor, his wife, and their 18 children as backing band a la the Brady Bunch.
Obviously.
Or, Rob is bored.

STAY TUNED!!!

Beck
"Beck"** has set a release date for his STILL-AS-YET-UNTITLED follow up to Morning Phase. You ready?
"Spring 2017".
You fucking space alien...
Oh, and it's ten tracks.
Three of which are out.
One of which has been out for two years this June.
Beck...I feel as if you are doing this wrong.
Anyway, clock's ticking now, motherfucker, because you've set an IRONCLAD DATE...uh...SPAN OF THREE MONTHS in which to release this album! I mean it's not like he can change the release window, right?
Beck's new album, Not Really A Thing, which consists of ten tracks totaling about 40 minutes will be out late 2015, no, wait, November 2016...ah, spring 2017. For real. Totally. Pre-order soon.

Checked out the new Depeche Mode, Spirit. First third sounds so naive and wide eyed, it's hard to believe it's coming from a bunch of guys in their fifties. Have they even heard of Bono? He's been doing the political thing for decades and there is still evil and poverty and famine. But....maybe...if Depeche Mode and U2 team up...!!!!!!
It's like they heard Radiohead's 'Burn The Witch' and were like, "Yeah! But we can do it worse! And for longer!!!"
After these groundbreaking anthems of truth and rebellion (available on sale now at your local Best Buy) comes 'You Move', a track 30-something liberals can fuck to and feel edgy while doing so.
Musically, it's sounds like Depeche Mode. Fans of Depeche Mode will enjoy that while people who are not fans of Depeche Mode will enjoy that less.
As usual, Gore's solo effort ('Eternal', not 'Fail'), is the most compelling and interesting track here, but 'Cover Me' does have some nice dark synths and cool progressions that allow you to ignore its banal lyrics. Otherwise, meh.
To be completely frank with you, my own spirit is weak*** from all these useless petitions and cries for impeachment...via Twitter. The only way Bono or Gahan or whoever the fuck are going to really change things is if they obtain an assault rifle (from a gun show) and, literally, kill every one of the evil motherfuckers in power. Quite honestly, I think there are enough musicians out there to make a difference if each one simply targets one monster.
If Bono shot Trump point blank in the face, I would probably not delete the next U2 album that forces its way onto my devices.
Probably.
Maybe.
What's the single sound like?
Is there watery guitar?
Oh.
Hm.

Gorillaz! Everything Gorillaz! So excited!
And, on the next breath, I have some concerns. When Gorillaz came out in 2001, it was all about them, this weird collection of cartoons making an album****. There were a few guest stars, but this was the Gorillaz. As time went on, they did less and less tracks on their own. Demon Dayz had eight without guests, Plastic Beach had five, The Fall doesn't count, which leads us to Humanz, which features one track without a guest artist. Five of the fourteen songs have been released and, for the most part, there's a lot less Gorillaz than I would like for a band that puts out one album every decade and a half. Who do they think they are, Cake? If Damon Albarn wants to host some sort of festival of cool, underground artists, why doesn't he just...oh...nevermind, he did. Well, okay, if he already fucking did, then why not just make, you know, a Gorillaz album...of Gorillaz songs...performed by Gorillaz?
Anyway, I'll just focus on what I've experienced rather than what I have yet to experience, yes?
Humanz was announced with a brand new amazing video (because, obviously it's amazing, all their visuals are amazing) which is a combination of Scooby Doo, H.P. Lovecraft, and Murdoc floating, naked, through space. Everything one needs.
The four songs that were released are...not amazing. They all have their moments (mostly thanks to 2D, also Vince Staples verses on 'Ascension' are dark as fuck even though his voice is piercing and petulant in all the wrong ways) but nothing is grabbing me. Granted, I just got these and need to spend lots more time with them, but I've found, as far as Gorillaz go, I really do either like tracks from the first listen or not, there's never really been any period of "growing on me", na mean? First thoughts: 'We Got The Power' (the album closer) is happy and bouncy and a rallying cry with as much depth and dynamism as a bread sandwich, Popcaan's whining, autotuned vocals on 'Saturnz Barz' are nigh unbearable. 'Andromeda' is the stand out as it's better than the other four (even if it does sound a bit like a more soulful rendition of 'Doncamatic').
Humanz is out on April 28th in a myriad of formats, including a 2-CD deluxe edition with six extra tracks (all featuring guest artists...grrrr), and a $350, 14-disc, super deluxe vinyl edition which comes with each track on its own record with an alternate version as the b-side, a 54-page art book, and a handjob. From Murdoc.
I'll be reviewing the full album on Soundblab (and here probably) once review copies have shipped.


I'll also be reviewing the new New Pornographers album, Whiteout Conditions, coming 4/7. Some predictions: Neko Case will be the gem she always is while I'll only be able to barely tolerate the three or so Dan Bejar tracks. Three or four of the tracks will be added to my NP playlist, one of which will be truly amazing and make me cry. 

After last month's brush with Transparent, I decided to wander over into the world of Psychic TV. I was not ready. I found that listening to too much made me want to dance and/or join a cult and/or straight up kill someone. If you want a pretty good picture of their mission statement, check out their cover of 'Good Vibrations', which features a spoken word moment that makes things a lot more Manson-y.*****


And, lastly, after attending the Come Together event last weekend at PS1 MoMA to obtain a copy of the Alessandro Cortini/Merzbow collaboration******, I was introduced to the music of Mitski. Might give that a try this month.

* But its variant, which features a bizarre mockery of that same nice, neat shape, reflects the savagery of the track.

** Read: "Capitol Records"

*** smrt. clevr. gud.

**** Yes. I know they're not real. I just dig the aesthetic and the fact that Damon Albarn is a fantastically multitalented dude who had been held back as the lead singer of Blur for so long and that this was a chance for him to do whatever the fuck he wanted.

***** Charles, not Marilyn.

****** By reading that clause, you are now a hipster.