Ugh

reminds me of the acid trip i took last week

I like NIN.

Cool. I like that you like NIN. :)

In other NIN-related quasi-news, you know that horrendously overrated "real punk" band Savages? Surely you do, especially if you read Pitchfork more than you'd like to admit because it's just part of your daily routine at this point (like me).

Well, Savages' sister band, KITE BASE, just released an utterly baffling cover of "Something I Can Never Have," the excellent OG NIN ballad and centerpiece of Pretty Hate Machine. Check it out here, but maybe read the rest of my post first unless you're totally bored and just need something to look at.

I call the cover "baffling" because it's a true WTF on loop. It actually starta off on a really interesting note. Monotone bass guitar feedback lends a sense of foreboding to the minimalist a cappella "bop-bop-bops" that act as the covers inexplicable anchor. Sounds stupid, but this part works for me, and I was kind of down with the song for the duration of the intro. It felt a bit like what I imagine a tongue-in-cheek Sleater-Kinney cover of the song might sound like (that would be awesome, by the way.)

But then things fall apart (no pun intended, swear it), as the song suffers from the same unfortunate Ms.interpretarion of punk that makes befalls Savages' work. The problem, as I see it, is in the vocals. Or, more specifically, the vocalist. An overly emotive whatshername starts doing what appears to be her best Melissa Ethridge imitation, singing the lyrics in a painfully earnest manner with all kinds of unecessary little affectations that make this sound more like Florence Welch or Stevie Nicks than anything in the family of punk... or industrial... or even "alternative."

It's a missed opportunity. What we get is an interesting and promising reduction of the song's music, with vocals by Jewel a la "Who Will Save Your Soul" (only less yodely). This is what's wrong with Savages, too. The spirit of punk is present in their music, but it clashes with a vocal performance so conventional that there is no justification for it. Not in 2016. Perhaps in 1992... on pop radio... or something. I don't know.

But I get why I don't like Savages now. Id never watched a video of theirs before, and watching this helped me identify the aesthetic clash in their music that makes it neither pop enough for fun, or punk enough to be taken seriously.
Also, whatsername makes the ALWAYS BAD decision to stick with the same basic vocal approach from the original (minus the whispering), making it just a clean, sterile, joyless and purposeless endeavor entirely.

If you're going to cover a song, especially in a different musical style, do something new with the vocals! Otherwise what's the goddamn point? What if the Beatles had performed "Till There Was You" exactly as it had been performed in the fucking Music Man? Snooze.

Or, more appropriately, what if Trent Reznor had repeated Adam Ant's vocal delivery on "Physical?" It wouldn't be the asskicking out-of-nowhere kick to the balls that it had been as the deeply hidden track #98 on Broken. He sang it like a serial killer! It was awesome! And of course he gave it a thumping, ominous organic-industrial makeover on the musical end.

This could have been a cool cover with the right vox. Unfortunately it's a god awful mess and I can't imagine why anyone felt compelled to make this shit.

There. That's what Severian says.

me and trent are soul bros. percolating in the thick stew of it all. brewing up techno black magik farts. with tried and true geetars coming along for the ride of course

I;ve never took acid. but the best way to prepare for shooms is don't eat crap. just eat fresh fruits and veggies if that at all. very small amounts for 2 days so you can shit all that nasty junk food shit out. all the nasty build up shit. sorta like a mini enema, like nasty 2 girls one cups nasty butt dump/spews. if you don't have excess then drinking cheap booze will work too. .

You misspelled sexy.


edit: And I enjoy Savages, actually. Was thoroughly more impressed with their live show than I expected to be.

you still like rocky road too?!?:o

Only in a cup. I find the consistency to be a little chunky for cones, personally.

I don't have anything *against* Savages per se. But I really don't get the over the top hype surrounding them. Are they terrible? Nah. But I haven't found anything on either of their records that made me want to listen to more. Rather, I've heard the kind of stuff that makes me say fuck it and pull out Pink Flag.

sorry I was not bothered to read this thread. seriously, i am sorry. i am not much of fun, maybe except one sad track of NIN on Natural Born Killers Sto. I just want to ask, did anyone mentioned Alessandro Cortini in this thread? I think he knows his stuff..talking about analog synths.

Heh, there's been an entire EP* trilogy since the last post - thoughts?

My opinion: Year Zero is easily the most underrated NIN album and is probably my favourite out of the whole lot. The Downward Spiral is a close second, and whenever I'm dedicated enough to go through the whole thing The Fragile is magnificent.

What's people's opinion on The Slip? It seems to be divisive from what I've seen, but I love it.

And also, how cool is it that we finally get 'The Perfect Drug' live? :cool:

*I refuse to accept Bad Witch as an LP

Woof, we get 'And All That Could Have Been' now too. And the whispers are that there'll be some big Fragile stuff near the end of the tour.

Damn, it sucks that I'm missing out.

I like Bad Witch, but like Add Violence and the other one, I consider it an EP... it’s about as long as Kanye’s “Ye,” which I also refuse to consider a full-length album.

I’ve always liked NIN, but the glory days were the ‘90s. Early ‘00s stuff has some nice moments but doesn’t quite feel the same. The Slip and Ghosts I-IV are my favorites from the ‘00s era.

Didn’t care much for Hesitation Marks.
The EPS are an improvement from that one but don’t get me as excited as a full-length or a badass Reznor/Ross soundtrack like The Social Network or Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

“The Perfect Drug” is one of NIN’s best — and most underrated — songs. The radio edit was just as punchy, just a groovy l and just as ballistic-missile chaotic in the unwinding final third as “Closer.” Excellent single, excellent song.

NIN learned from Aphex Twin. Radiohead learned from both, whether they admit it or not. NIN did OK Computer back when Thom & Co. still had the Bends.

The shortest 'album' I've ever seen is Group Sex, by a punk band called Circle Jerks. It's all of 15 minutes long. By that standard, Bad Witch is definitely an album - but I don't accept it as one, because it was sold as an EP.

Add Violence > Bad Witch > Not The Actual Events, with all of them being about mid-range.


The Slip was the first full-length album that I looked at, no doubt because it was free. I'd probably say that it's a good introduction to NIN, because it covers most of the areas that they've reached beforehand.


Should really relisten to the soundtracks. I looked at HM for the first time in a while last week and, while it's not as bad as I'd initially thought, it's still unlikely to be one I'll choose to listen to.


Thanks to a compilation album that my dad had, that was the first NIN song I heard. It's brilliant.


I'm assuming that you've heard his 'remixes' on Further Down the Spiral?

Yes, I’ve heard all that stuff. Been a NIN fan since about 1992/93.

The Social Network and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are essential NIN-fan fan listening.

I’ve strayed from the project in adulthood, but I go through phases and at one time NIN was up there with Sonic Youth and Radiohead for me.

Slip was your first? You sound like a youngen. Hah.
Out NIN experiences sound vastly different.

Well, considering I was born around the same time that Still was released...

Whoah. So you’re, like, 16?

Whoah.

My level isn't 'little trouble girl' for nothing :p

I enjoy that album quite a bit. Echoplex is one of those live experiences that will always have a serious imprint on my mind. That tour was damn good. Amazing visuals.

I have enjoyed the new stuff as well. Soundtracks as well like mentioned. I think my NIN experiences follow Sev's pretty close, actually.

Echoplex is easily in my ten favourites. My favourite off The Slip, but it's an extremely close thing with 1,000,000.

I saw the Another Version of the Truth live video on YouTube and it impressed me just how well organised all of that was.

I am also pretty intrigued by this. It certainly does not appear you need any coaching or anything of the sort when checking back catalogs and shit, but I will say one thing. NIN has always had such a strong visual element with their shows. I strongly, strongly urge anyone getting into NIN at all to go check past live stuff. There is a really large collection of pro-shot stuff out there.

Edit: On that note, I was really hoping to find the full 4-6 song single-camera shot of this Fragile material, but just found this one song segmented out. This was some of the most mesmerizing shit I had ever seen. David Carson directed visuals. The Fragile will always be my fav album of all NIN simply from this tour alone. I will do a deeper dive tomorrow to see if can't find the full 4-6 songs uncut.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_wUVXGkndE

Yeah, watching him build that Echoplex beat live, Vanna White style on stage really excited me. I thought it was a really cool way to work into and out of a song.

Edit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_M049DK21k
Here is a pretty decent clip of it.

Seeing NIN live is one of those things I’m just always going to cherish, whether they become lame and uncool and lose their recent appeal or not. I will wear my NIN live experiences with pride.

Definitely check out old concerts from TDS and Fragile eras, as well as post-PHM shows that feature Broken material. “Wish” is one of the most ferocious things I’ve ever seen on a live stage. My god.

A truer statement has never been uttered. Wish live is pure intensity.

A lot of people like to ask, "If you could go back in time and see any tour...?" I really think one of my answers would be the Jim Rose/Manson/NIN tour for TDS. I was just right at that fringe age of being allowed to go out of town for shows on my own by the parents, as long as they knew something of who I was with and seeing. Somehow the parents caught wind of the band names for this one and put it on severe halt. I remember the girlfriend at the time coming back and telling me all about it and me just being sooooooo bummed. I will never get over not seeing that one, prolly.

Not quite a tour, but I wish I'd been around for all of the Year Zero alternate reality stuff.

I wish I remembered the Outside tour. I was just starting to get out to concerts around this time. Was really into music at a young age, and I come from a music nerd household, so I got to see some shit I really don’t remember at all. Bowie and NIN was one such show, and though I saw NIN repeatedly when I was older, even those concerts are fuzzy (when I saw them on the Fragile tour, I was probably high... ok definitely high).

But as for straight NIN shows, I wish I’d seen them around the Broken era.

Look at what this bitch got for Christmas!

better than SOnic Youth

Lolok

REZNOR
1965-20??
Died. Said 'fist fuck'. Won a Grammy.

Name one SY album that slaps harder than Broken ep

Makes sense, as award ceremonies essentially are fist-fuck orgies.

Slaps harder?

Is heaviness how goodness is determined now?

Well, he won an Oscar too.

yeah

Today's glorious fact: Trent Reznor backwards is Ron Zertnert, and if that's not an excellent name then you're no fun at all.