Nine Inch Nails Versus The Rock-afire Explosion

"sounds like a dayam monsta movie" -- Apollo Creed

I've blogged about NIN, and I've blogged about the hilarious/disturbing resurgence of The Rock-afire explosion. Now, they meet.



Chalking this up as "one of a million things I never would have predicted back when I was 3 years old and eating pizza at Showbiz"

Guns 'N Roses has a new album?

Yes, they do, and their first radio single since 199whenever shows promise. Have a listen!



I'll have a review of their new album Chinese Democracy soon in eleven years.

Captured in Fleorgia

I made the 150 minute drive to Jacksonville on Wednesday to see my favorite band Nine Inch Nails. Bored, alone, and awaiting entry into the arena, I was spotted leaning against a light pole by Florida Times Union's Carol Keller. She told me not to move and look into her camera, and poof! I was forever frozen in time.
Aside from that flattering moment, the evening was surprisingly uneventful. There was a really cool looking Carnival/Festival happening across from the arena that I almost decided to ditch the concert for. In retrospect, I wish I had. While I love Nine Inch Nails and still believe they are one of the best live performers of the last twenty years, I'd seen their show only two months earlier, and contrary to advertisement, little had changed aside from the noticeably pathetic turnout and all of their once-breathtaking special effects screwing up and tainting the experience. I came away from the show wondering some things. Has Trent Reznor lost a step? The tech-heavy performance overshadowed the physical passion he used to pour into his shows. Am I getting old? Seeing NIN live was once a priceless experience, but for the first time I began questioning whether I spent too much to be there. Are both true, or was it just an off night for the band and for me? Should Jacksonville really be a part of Florida? It is so close to Georgia, and shares so many of its wonderful attributes, such as toothless McCain supporters, recently released convicts, and churches. Perhaps it was just an off night. I mean, they couldn't even get their logo right. Or perhaps I simply put too much stock in getting out of town for a night, ignorant the forthcoming Georgianess of Jacksonville. In any event, that horizon is gone. The next adventure involves a Theme Park in Georgia. Here's hoping it surpasses a technically challenged concert in the middle of the world's ugliest misplaced city.

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.

Radio done right

It started out as something called The Music Genome Project: a collection of self-proclaimed "music-loving technologists" who wanted to find a way to link different types of sounds together in an effort to help people more efficiently discover the music they love. I can't speak for the whole project, but for me it has become the go-to place for letting good new music find me. Now known as Pandora Radio, this is the easiest, best, most diverse and non-corporate radio station I've ever heard. There are no commercials, no fees; you don't even have to download a player. You just go to the site, it asks what your favorite band is, and within seconds it is playing high-quality music not just by your favorite band, but also by other bands that have a similar sound. The more bands you enter in your favorites category, the more diversity you will find in the music being played.

My favorite part, and what makes this unique from any other radio program, is that if you hate the song playing you can give it a "thumbs down." The music stops instantly, the program recognizes that you don't want to hear that type of sound ever again, and it immediately fetches another song closely tied to your favorites. In this way it is truly your radio station.

Now if they would just realize what an awesome thing they have on their hands and find a way to bring this to satellite radio, they would find themselves at least one willing subscriber in myself.

You can thank me later. For now just have some fun and check it out.