The 10 Best Albums of 2008 - #'s 10 - 6

10. The Walkmen - You & Me: You & Me is certainly not a breakthrough, but it doesn't have to be to be considered a great record. Instead, it captures a band coming to grips with a transitional phase in their lives. Being in your 30's means things start to get more serious, which is almost antithetical to being an interesting rock band. Lead vocalist Hamilton Leithauser decides to cope with this by romanticizing days gone by and past lovers before deciding that it is time to move on. Thankfully, precision percussion, flickering guitars, sulky horns and organs provide the perfect melancholic backdrop for this self-realization.

When music critics try to answer the question of who the best rock band in America is, usually names like Kings of Leon, The Hold Steady, and My Morning Jacket get tossed around, while The Walkmen rarely ever get mentioned. I'm not sure if they're the "best", but their steady output of compelling music definitely warrants them being included in the discussion.

9. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip: I can't think of anyone who worked harder in 2008 than Trent Reznor. The man had time to release two albums (free of charge), embark on a massive visually stunning world tour, create a social network, and release a massively popular (free) iPhone app. You'd think all that quantity would come at the sacrifice of quality, but you'd be wrong.

The Slip is easily the best Nine Inch Nails album since The Downward Spiral. If for no other reason than it says what it needs to say and doesn't waste time with anything else (two problems which plagued The Fragile and With Teeth). Now that he is free from the chains of the record labels, Reznor is able to do whatever he fucking pleases. On The Slip he dabbles in dance-rock ("Discipline"), aggro-Industrial ("Letting You"), ambient ("Corona Radiata", "The Four of Us Are Dying"), and even belts out a beautiful ballad ("Lights in the Sky")...in other words, it's a brief survey of everything good NIN has done over the last 15 years.

8. Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair: 2008 was certainly a banner year for disco music and perhaps no other band was more responsible for that than Hercules and Love Affair. With help from the best dance producer on the planet, Tim Goldsworthy (see, Cut Copy later in this list), and Antony Hegarty's sad whine, DJ/producer Andrew Butler gave us one of the most decadent records of the year. With obvious nods to Arthur Russell and Giorgio Moroder, Butler and his guest vocalists ( including Kim Ann Foxmann and Nomi) reimagine the best elements of late 70’s/early 80’s American and Ital-Disco into something that is undeniably contemporary. “Blind” might be the best single of the year, while “Rise Me Up” and “You Belong” could spice up any party without fail. If burning calories on the dance floor isn’t always your thing, songs like “Athene” and “Easy” have their place as the perfect soundtrack for the late night comedown.

7. Atlas Sound – Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel: What list of my favorite music would be complete without an appearance by Bradford Cox? It’s hard to ignore his prolific output with his first love, Deerhunter, but in 2008 his solo project Atlas Sound proved that he doesn’t reserve all his compelling musical ideas for Deerhunter. Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel is definitely more subdued and lethargic than any of the Deerhunter releases, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As with most solo projects, Let the Blind… is an inwardly focused album, with deeply personal references to Cox’s tortured adolescence set atop Krautrock-inspired soundscapes and haunting reverberations. Songs like “River Card” and “Quarantined” shine as glimmers of hope atop a pile of sadness, while others (“On Guard”, “Cold As Ice” and the title track) are simply beautifully arranged compositions that would make even Brian Eno proud. Let the Blind… is most definitely an arty record that (much like Deerhunter) scrapes the line between being profound and overwrought, but luckily never crosses it.

6. No Age – Nouns: Sometimes the most refreshing and inspiring music is the most direct in its intentions. This has always been the allure of Punk, yet it seems that not many bands succeed in capturing that essence…or they simply try too hard to artificially recreate such urgency. Los Angeles duo No Age has no problem avoiding these pratfalls on Nouns, as they display a hyperactive brand of cacophony that propels many of the songs from mere noise fodder to full-fledged anthems. Without question “Sleeper Hold” and “Here Should Be My Home” fall into that category, while “Eraser” and “Cappo” filter pop through a haze of distortion. Nouns, like the indie punk scene that birthed No Age to the rest of the world, is immediate in its passion and promise—a common quality among all great punk music.

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Nine Inch Nails & Deerhunter @ The Forum - 9/6/08

It had been over 10 years since I set foot inside the Great Western...er, I mean LA Forum. I think the last occasion was either a Knicks-Lakers game or a Pearl Jam concert. Either way, it was 1998, Vlade Divac was the starting center for the Lakers, and nobody knew what the hell the Staples Center was back then. Fast-forward to last Saturday and I found myself (along with my brother) inside witnessing one of the most visually stunning concerts I had ever seen.

After a wonderful opening set by Deerhunter (man, I love that band), the real show began. The material was a great mix of new stuff (most of The Slip and Year Zero was played, along with a couple of selections from Ghosts I-IV) and crowd favorites ("Terrible Lie", "March of the Pigs", "Closer", etc.), with no over-reliance on aggressive material, which (thankfully) kept the crowd from getting too rowdy.

The true star of the show had to be the stage setup. The tour is dubbed "Lights in the Sky", which is an apt title since LED lights and video walls are used to display digital animations and engulf the band in color. Screens lowered from the rafters and rose behind the band, while at times rows of lights moved to create the illusion that the stage was moving.

Another highlight was during a brief set of instrumental songs from Ghosts I-VI a semi-transparent video curtain lowered in front of band and displayed animated images of rain, while the video wall behind them and above displayed images of a dark desolate forest. One of my favorite uses of the screens came during "The Hand That Feeds" where a giant photo of President Bush that served as a backdrop to the stage slowly morphed into a photo of John McCain. Of course, this was met raucus cheers from the LA crowd (myself included).

When it was over there wasn't anything I could find at fault about the entire show. Aside from the laughably disorganized LA Forum security staff, the show itself was flawless. If any of you have the chance to check out Nine Inch Nails when they return to North America, I highly recommend doing so.

Setlist:
1. 999,999
2. 1,000,000
3. Letting You
4. March of the Pigs
5. Head Down
6. The Frail
7. Closer (The Only Time)
8. Gave Up
9. The Warning
10. Vessel
11. 5 Ghosts I
12. 17 Ghosts II*
13. 19 Ghosts III*
14. Ghosts Piggy
15. The Greater Good

16. Pinion
17. Wish
18. Terrible Lie
19. Survivalism
20. The Big Comedown
21. 31 Ghosts IV
22. Only
23. The Hand That Feeds
24. Head Like A Hole

25. Echoplex
26. Reptile
27. God Given
28. Hurt
29. In This Twilight
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Video(s) of the Week - Trent Reznor, Peter Murphy & TVOR: "Final Solution" & "Bela Lugosi's Dead"

[photo courtesy of the Official Nine Inch Nails Flickr photostream]

This week I am taking another opportunity to showcase the most fan-friendly and technologically savvy musician in the business, Mr. Trent Reznor. Why another post about Trent Reznor? Because I got floor seats to see Nine Inch Nails (with opener Deerhunter, YES!) tonight and I am pretty excited. Also, I wanted to prove a point about how free music actually benefits the music industry. While Reznor has been kind enough to release two full-length albums free of charge and free of strings attached, it's only fair that fans such as myself pay back the favor and use our cash to see him live and in person. See how that works, RIAA. A band/artist uses music for marketing themselves (and not necessarily as a profit stream) in order to generate ticket sales at the box office. It's not a hard concept to wrap your head around.

I decided to give you two videos because I couldn't decide which one of these I liked better. Filmed during a NIN sound check two years ago in Washington, DC, we see three exceptional acts letting loose to play two of their favorite songs. Peter Murphy hangs in background (at least mostly, since Murphy is too much of a ham to stay silent forever) to let Reznor take the reigns of his most recognizable song, "Bela Lugosi's Dead", while TV on the Radio lay down the backing music. On the next song Murphy takes center stage as the three acts pay homage to Pere Ubu's classic (and one of my favorites) "Final Solution." Both songs are executed flawlessly and I hope I get to see a similar surprise tonight at The Forum.

Trent Reznor, Peter Murphy and TV on the Radio - "Bela Lugosi's Dead"


Trent Reznor, Peter Murphy, and TV on the Radio - "Final Solution"

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Video of the Week - Nine Inch Nails: "Echoplex" (Tour Rehearsal)

[Photo courtesy of the official Nine Inch Nails flickr page

Trent Reznor is on fire. Pure and simple, the man has been reborn ever since he was emancipated from his record deal and decided life as a musical free agent suits him well. Not only has his musical output exploded, but in a matter of months he's become the most web-savvy musician on the planet. NIN.com has evolved from a mere band website to the model for how to fully take advantage of all the latest social media and Web 2.0 (I hate that term, BTW) has to offer; and not in that square peg in a round hole type of way that so many make the mistake of doing. Indeed, you can tell that Reznor and his web developers carefully plan the digital content he offers to fan to ensure that it is always useful and informative.

When he created a social network for fans to interact he made sure it was more than simply a glorified message board and instead offered fans the opportunity to remix Nine Inch Nails songs and share them with fans across the world via podcasts, MP3 downloads and playlists. Now that he is preparing to launch a world tour with his NIN bandmates, Trent has also made keeping track of the band's travels a fan-friendly experience. Besides cutting scalpers out of the loop during ticket presales, he's released a free tour sampler EP with tracks from his band and the various opening acts throughout the tour (which includes Deerhunter, A Place to Bury Strangers and Crystal Castles), created fan pages on Facebook and other social media networks, and even made it easy to add tour dates to your Google Calendar.

And just recently he collaborated with Pitchfork.tv to offer fans three exclusive high quality videos showcasing the band rehearsing for their upcoming "Lights in the Sky" tour. I thought I would share my favorite one with you, if for no other reason than it totally makes me crazy go nuts in anticipation for when I see them play at the Forum on September 6th (I got floor seats, baby!).

Nine Inch Nails - "Echoplex" (tour rehearsal)
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Song of the Day - Nine Inch Nails: "Discipline"

This whole I-don't-need-no-stinking-record-label thing is really beginning to suit Trent Reznor real well. In the old days fans used to have to wait four to six years in between albums, but now that Mr. Reznor is free of record label contracts he can release music whenever the hell he damn pleases. Did you realize in the last four years we have been treated to four proper Nine Inch Nails albums? That's the kind of production we expect from the hip hop world (MF Doom and Talib Kweli come to mind). And now that he's figured out this whole digital distribution thing, who knows how much more prolific Reznor's output is going to get.

His most recent album, The Slip, was released last week without much advance warning and once again he allowed fans the freedom to download it completely for free (in MP3, AAC and FLAC versions, no less). In fact, unlike the last NIN album (Ghosts I-IV, released barely two months ago), there is no way pay for a digital version even if you really want to fork over some of that hard earn scratch to show your appreciation. For those that prefer to pay for their music, you'll just have to wait until The Slip is released on CD.

OK, so Reznor proves again that he has his ear to the ground and will give the people what they want, but how's the music? Actually, it's pretty damn awesome. The Slip is perhaps the most focused and straightforward Nine Inch Nails album since Broken. It's not some 70 minute concept opus, but instead a concise little package (it's just under 44 minutes long) that feature's some of Reznor's best work in years.

"Discipline" is without a doubt my favorite track on the record, and possibly the best NIN song since "The Perfect Drug". For one, it's catchy as hell. I'm talking catchy in the same way that "Closer" and "Head Like A Hole" were catchy. That is, the bass line grooves in such a way that you might catch yourself tapping your foot extra rhythmically or even, dare I say, dance to it (yes, not all NIN songs require you to sit in the bathroom with a razor blade to your wrist). On top of the sick bass line, Trent incorporates just the right amount of noise with pretty little piano lick to give the song a feeling of powerful adrenaline, but not aggression.

When he sings in the chorus "I need your discipline/Once I start I cannot help myself" I am reminded of the old Trent Reznor, the one who was anti-establishment and authority and how that guy doesn't exist anymore. He's still a rebel, but he's mature enough to admit that he needs something to keep him in line. I think in this new post-record-label era that instrument of 'discipline' is his fans. If the results keep sounding as refreshing as this song, and by extension this album, then I am all for it.

Nine Inch Nails - "Discipline"

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Trent Reznor Teaches Radiohead a Thing or Two About Digital Distribution

First things first, February was an ATROCIOUS month for this blog. Seven posts in 29 days? That isn't the kind of production I expected from myself when I started this blog. Last month was a hectic month for me and I rarely left myself any time (or energy) to write. There's so many things I need to change that I think I get discouraged too easily whenever I conceptualize everything as a whole. For now, I'm going to make it a goal to just start writing and sort out the other shit later (which will include a redesign of this space). Sorry for being so horrible at life.

Anyway, the rapid demise of the major label-controlled record industry continued this week with the surprise release of a new Nine Inch Nails album titled Ghosts I-VI. What made this release so 'surprising' wasn't the lack of advance warning (after all, nobody knew a new NIN was even in the works, let alone completed), or the fact that is was released via a direct-to-consumer approach on the NIN.com website. What made it stand out was Reznor's creative (and might I add, superior) improvement on the whole digital pay-or-don't pay model that Radiohead popularized with In Rainbows.

Instead of asking consumers to name their own price, Reznor decided to offer Ghosts in a variety of formats (high quality 320kbps MP3, FLAC or Apple Lossless) and packages, ranging from free to uber-expensive. For the casual fan there's a free download of Ghosts I, which includes eight tracks, available through NIN.com or via bit torrent networks. In the coming weeks parts II-VI will be made available for free download. While those who want the complete four part collection can download it through the Nine Inch Nails website or the Amazon Download Store (I recommend this option, since the download speed is much faster) for the affordable price of $5, which includes a beautifully designed digital booklet and collection of desktop wallpapers (in both standard and widescreen formats). Mr. Reznor also beat Radiohead by giving fans the choice between paying via credit card or PayPal.

For the more serious NIN fan there's a standard 2-CD set for $10 (available April 18th, but with free download privileges thrown in). Die-hards can choose the $75 Deluxe Edition, which comes complete with the 2-CD set, download code, data DVD with all 36 tracks in multi-track format (under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license explicitly for creating custom remixes) and a high definition 96/24 mix on Blu-Ray disc. And the super duper uber-fans can shell out $300 for the Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition package (limited to 2,500 copies and now sold out) which includes everything in the Deluxe Edition plus Ghosts on four 180-gram vinyl records and two hardcover photo books.

What Reznor has done here is perfected the "Radiohead Model" and made it scalable (thanks to bit torrent and Amazon) and flexible to the point where the consumer can choose whatever level of commitment fits their interest. He made good on his critiques of Radiohead's execution and showed the world that fans value content that can adapt to their digital lifestyles. From the casual user who just wants music that will work on all their digital devices (and doesn't treat them like a criminal for shifting that content back and forth) to the hardcore fan who wants an interactive experience, Trent has you covered. He has also proven that customers will pay a premium for extra content, so long as it carries added value to the end-user. And I can't think of anything that adds more value than allowing the user to create their own remix and post their work on Remix.Nin.com, where a community of users can listen, vote and discuss your creation.

Admittedly, not every band can pull off such an ambitious undertaking, but certain aspects (like employing bit torrent distribution and high quality digital formats) can be mimicked by virtually any type of band. Indeed, the times are changing and it's great to see the artists wrestling away control from the record labels and determining their own fates. I can't wait to see what they think of next.

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