THE MUSIC MADE ME DO IT

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV

As I'm sure you've heard by now, Nine Inch Nails have released Ghosts I-IV exclusively via online ordering. The main page reads:

Nine Inch Nails presents Ghosts I - IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available right now. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I - IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.

Trent Reznor explains, "I've been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn't have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I'm very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts."

What's most interesting to me is the approach Trent took to selling this. You can download the first nine songs for free, or pay $5 for download only of all 36 songs plus extras, $10 for download plus two CDs and extras, $75 for a deluxe edition or $300 for a limited edition ultra-deluxe edition. For the downloads on the paid versions, you have the option to choose high-quality MP3s, FLAC lossless or Apple lossless files - all of which are DRM-free. (On the free download, you only get the high-quality MP3, DRM-free version.)

At first glance, they're not doing too bad so far. If my math is correct, they've collected $750,000 alone from the $300 version that has sold out. Personally, I opted for the $5 version. Along with the 36 tracks, I got a 40-page PDF booklet along with some digital goodies - wallpapers, banners for putting it on blogs, MySpace, etc. and a few .jpgs.

One of the coolest things they did in my opinion, is that when I loaded it to my iTunes, each song came with a different image for the album art. I think Trent is doing some very intriguing things in exploring all the ways in which he can interact with the fans of NIN and get his art in front of more people. Definitely one of the artists to keep an eye on in the digital space.

Rainydayz Remixes - Radiohead In Rainbows Remixed

This one has been out there for a while, but being that I just now caught on to it, I thought I'd share for those of you who were in the same boat as me.

Amplive created a remix of Radiohead's In Rainbows and posted it for free downloading.

After a bit of legal hop-scotch, the remix, titled Rainydayz Remixes, is available for all to download at no cost.

You can get the album along with more info and the artwork here.

Bon Iver (Justin Vernon)

photo via Aaron Landry

One of my co-workers tipped me off to Justin Vernon's new band/role, Bon Iver, on Thursday. She saw him play at Electric Fetus on Wednesday night. DOH! Why couldn't I have found out about this before! And why and I just finding out about him now! Oh well. At least I know of him now and will be all over his new album, For Emma, Forever Ago, when it is relaunched on Tuesday. (Unless when I swing by Electric Fetus in a bit, they have it.)

The story behind Bon Iver's new album is quite possibly one of the most interesting back stories to an album I've heard in quite some time. The story goes:

It wasn't planned.  The goal was to hibernate.

Justin Vernon moved to a remote cabin in the woods of Northwestern Wisconsin at the onset of winter.  Tailing from the swirling breakup of his long time band, he escaped to the property and surrounded himself with simple work, quiet, and space.  He lived there alone for three months, filling his days with wood splitting and other chores around the land.  This special time slowly began feeding a bold, uninhibited new musical focus.

This slowly evolved into days filled with twelve-hour recording blocks, breaking only for trips on the tractor into the pines to saw and haul firewood, or for frozen sunrises high up a deer stand.  All of his personal trouble, lack of perspective, heartache, longing, love, loss and guilt that had been stock piled over the course of the past six years, was suddenly purged into the form of song.  The end result is, For Emma, Forever Ago, a nine-song album comprised of what's been dubbed a striking debut by critics and fans alike. 

Bon Iver (pronounced: bohn eevair; French for "good winter" and spelled wrong on purpose) is a greeting, a celebration and a sentiment.  It is a new statement of an artist moving on and establishing the groundwork for a lasting career.  For Emma, Forever Ago is the debut of this lineage of songs.  As a whole, the record is entirely cohesive throughout and remains centered around a particular aesthetic, prompted by the time and place for which it was recorded. Vernon seems to have tested his boundaries to the utmost, and in doing so has managed to break free form any pre-cursing or finished forms.

For Emma's tracks consist of thick layers draped in lush choral walls, with rarely more than an ancient acoustic guitar or the occasional bass drum providing structure.  Vernon sings the majority of the record in falsetto, which painfully expresses the meanings behind its overt, yet strangely entangled words. This newfound vocal path acts as each song's main character and source of melody.

Despite its complexity, the record was created entirely by Vernon with nothing more than a few microphones and some aged recording equipment.  This homemade aspect shows itself in sections as creaks and accidentals are exposed in the folds of the songs, but is hidden well by the highly impressive and almost orchestral sound that Vernon managed to produce by his lonesome, within the creaky skeleton of his father's cabin.

In addition to the above videos, there's another one from The Current for the song Lump Sum on their YouTube channel, plus many more on YouTube.

Reviews, interviews, etc.: Pitchfork, Stereogum, Reveille, Newsvine, Muzzle of Bees, My Old Kentucky Blog

Performances, tracks: MPR, Hype Machine, Brooklyn Vegan

Tour dates

For Emma, Forever Ago comes out on Tuesday (2/19), but you can pre-order it from his label (Jagjaguwar) or Amazon.com now. According to the note on the Jagjaguwar page, their pre-order comes with an offset-printed poster.

Jagjaguwar Records Page | VIRB | MySpace |  Last.fm  |   iTunes | Amazon