Ghosts indeed

Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor blitzed his fans and the recording industry at large this week by unleashing Ghosts I-IV, a 36-song instrumental double-album that no knew was coming. He was able to pull this off by releasing the album via his website, effectively elmininating the middle man, which also allowed him to sell the album as soon as it was done and for dirt cheap - a measley five dollars for nearly two hours of new Nine Inch Nails music.
This is a pretty major move not only for the band but for the record industry as a whole. More and more big bands are giving the record companies the finger and selling their music on their own. Going by the fact that NIN's servers have been crashing all week due to the overwhelming response, I'd say the greedy record labels are one step closer to becoming ghosts themselves.

So how is the album? Personally, I am loving it. Ghosts I-IV is the album I always hoped Nine Inch Nails would one day make. In place of the usual post-adolescent angst is an atmospheric daydream that is so easy to get lost in.

But I'll stop there for two reasons: One, I'm not that great at writing about music; and two, thanks to Trent Reznor I don't really need to be. The "Ghost player" below allows you to hear it for yourselves.