New Music 2008

There has been some pretty good music to come out this year. Here is what I have been listening to.

Attack & Release by The Black Keys : This album was an immediate hit for me. It is hard not to draw comparisons to The White Stripes. White Stripes + Black Keys = piano keyboard? This is a great blues/rock album. Favorite tracks "I Got Mine" and "Strange Times."

The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow : I really did not like this album at first. It really took several listens for it to grow on me. I think part of the problem is that I really do not like the first song "Starlings." The album is really quite good besides that song. In particular I like "Grounds for Divorce."

Accelerate by R.E.M. : Wow, R.E.M. is still going! I bought every R.E.M. album when they were released, starting with Document in 1987 and ending with Reveal in 2001. That's eleven years and eight albums. Reveal was not good. I did not buy Around the Sun in 2004. I was quite skeptical when I heard about the release of Accelerate, but it is a good album. I really like "Living Well is the Best Revenge" and "Accelerate". 

Consolers of the Lonely by The Raconteurs : I love the White Stripes, but I really did not like the first album The Raconteurs. It was underwhelming. This one is much better. I still sometimes wish that Jack White would just take over and turn it into a White Stripes album, but it's usually a "this is good but ohh, how it could be better" kind of thing. Favorite songs are the title track and "Old Enough."

Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend : This album took awhile to grow on me, too. It was one of those albums that sounded much better in my car than on headphones. Pitchfork says they are pop not rock. I don't agree. I think they are a little too clever to for pop, and maybe too catchy for "alternative"? Who knows. It is a fun and original album. Favorite songs "Campus" and "Oxford Comma."

The Slip by Nine Inch Nails : Oh, NIN released an album? Well actually they released Ghosts as well, but I must admit that I haven't listened to that much since I downloaded it. The Slip is amazingly good. The only bad thing is that by releasing so much music, Trent Reznor is making it seem too easy. For me, this album really clearly defined the post-Fragile NIN sound. It obviously started with With Teeth, but The Slip has made it crystal clear. Best tracks "1,000,000", "Discipline", and "The Four of Us are Dying."

First Radiohead, Now NIN

As I await my email from Radiohead giving me a link to download their new, um , release tomorrow, I found a similar story that made me rejoice. My favorite band, Nine Inch Nails, has gone free agent. No more record company for Trent Reznor. This is the same guy who used camcorders, Final Cut, and a couple of Macs to create a concert collection video. Most of the truly awesome Year Zero recording from this year was recorded on Trent's MacBook Pro. Heck, he even release the Garage Band tracks for several of the songs so fans could have fun remixing the songs. The marketing for Year Zero has become infamous for its viral/guerilla tactics. Given all that, what was the function for a record company for NIN?

So will the next NIN recording be free like Radiohead's new one? That is a very interesting question. One must assume that without a record company, it will be a digital download only. In that case, it has to be DRM-free. It is expensive and complicated to do a DRM scheme (requires dedicated servers after all) and obviously distasteful for artists. Of course NIN could go the iTunes route. He obviously has an affinity for Apple products. Even if it is DRM-free (probably 320kbs MP3s, same as Radiohead is expected to release and same as NIN distributed on thumb drives as part of the Year Zero marketing) it does not necessarily mean it will be free (or pay whatever you want like Radiohead.) Still, I would definitely not be surprised if it was free. NIN has one of the great live shows in all of rock, and touring will always be a huge thing for them.

Year Zero

Any year with a new Nine Inch Nails CD is a good year. I've watched in amusement as the whole "guerrilla marketing" campaign for Year Zero unfolded. I'm sure I would have ate that up when I was in college. These days I don't have time for researching mystery drugs, calling encrypted telephone numbers, and searching for underground websites. All I have time for is the music, and that does not disappoint.

I was a little nervous about a concept album from NIN. Lyrical has never been Trent Reznor's strength. But like every NIN CD, it doesn't matter. The music on Year Zero is amazing. It made me think about how most artists who make heavy use of technology (like Reznor) make heavy use of sampling. That's how they use modern technology to make music. Not Reznor. NIN is much more organic than artists like contemporaries such as Beck and Moby, or more recent electro-artists like Gorillaz and Gnarls Barkley. Even U2 made heavy use of sampling when they did their technology forrays on Zooropa and Pop. The only band that takes a similar approach to NIN is Radiohead.

Anyways back to Year Zero. The music is intense. The lyrics mine the concept more than adequately. They are a little repetitious at times, but the music keeps you from noticing. This is a lot more like what I would have expected of NIN after The Fragile than With Teeth was. It's an incredible CD. Arguably the best NIN CD from start-to-finish. There's never a weak point and there's one surprise after another.

Don't just take my word for it, since I am unabashed NIN fan. It has received very good reviews across the board. It even got a nice review from traditional NIN-bashers Pitchfork. They make a good point that essentially Reznor has embraced the long tail (they don't use that technology metaphor of course.) Whatever the case, NIN has made my year.