First off I’m back kiddies! For anyone still coming to see if there is anything new I applaud your patience. Unfortunately The Anti Hype took a bit of a back seat for Erick and I because our lives just got a little more hectic for different reasons. But I am getting back into my blogging and will have a couple of good posts coming up within the next few weeks.
So on we go shall we?
Ghosts I-IV came out about 3 days ago after a lead and legend Trent Reznor posted a message on the site of something to the effect of “Something is coming in two weeks”. No one knew what it was or anything at all about it until its release on March 2nd. What was released was a 36 track instrumental ensemble of various styles. Trent Reznor explains, “I’ve been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn’t have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective – dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I’m very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts.”
So free of any sort of direction from a record label NIN were just able to experiment and explore to create something truly unique. Each song is very atmosperic. The styles change through out but the distinct flavour that is NIN is apparent throughout. At times its grungy, others its more electronic, industrial and chaotic and at times its just plain creepy. The lack of any lyrics makes it feel like the original score to a Silent Hill game or something. That said it is anything if not spellbinding. It is music for daydreaming. I listen to this in the background at home or at work, because you are not trying to pay attention to any lyrics its not as distracting even for its erratic nature.
This is my first NIN album. I’ve been dancing around getting into NIN for a long time now. I almost bit the bullet last year with Year Zero after loving the whole cryptic, underground, viral marketing campaign but in the end just moved on. So not knowing March 2nd was a special day, I was browsing Digg and came across the story announcing that Ghosts I-IV went live and was available now, so I went to check it out. What finally sold me, believe it or not, was the way it was distributed. The site lets you listen to the whole album streaming online for free but bandwidth was kinda sucky at the time so what did I do? I decided to go ahead and download the first 9 tracks for free. Brilliant move! It gave me enough of a taster that it gave me enough to enjoy and get a sense of what the album was about but at the same time felt brief enough to make me want to come back for more. So I did want more.
So I went back to the site and was given a plethera of options on how I would want to have it. Being a NIN virgin I went the route of download only for $5 but for all the tiers of fans out there the options continued from regular double CD to Ultimate Collectors edition pricing from 10$ to $300!!! Best part was Trent realizes that we music lovers have become impatient people with the digital age. We want our digital content NOW! So with every order you get to download the whole album right away. And CAN you!
As if that option wasn’t great on its own, then it lets you CHOOSE which DRM Free format you want! High Quality mp3, FLAC lossless or Apple lossless. Beautiful, just beautiful. Not one in much need of super high quality (mainly due to the lack of any decent hifi to show any difference) I went the mp3 route. The download comes in zip to keep it organized and also includes a 40 page PDF, wallpapers and web art. Super.
Then you load the music on you iPod music player of choice and notice each song has a different piece of album art. Each song has its own beautiful piece of photographic artwork which makes you want to watch as the songs changes to see the next one. Suddenly my audio experience became a visual experience.
Trent Reznor is clearly raising the bar as to pleasing the fans by loading as much content as possible, making it partially free and incredibly affordable (which makes downloaing through *ahem* other means completely ungratifying) and creates an entire, dare I say, experience sourrounding it. Without a doubt Ghosts I-IV is the best album of the year so far and I’m gonna tell you why. First off the music is amazing, there is such a wide variety of stuff here, even if you are not a fan of NIN’s previous stuff you may find something you like. Second $5 for 36 fully loaded, high quality tracks and artwork is probably the best 5 bucks you’ll spend maybe ever, its about the price of a venti coffee at starbucks in NYC, maybe less. Third supporting the cause and the word of bands like NIN and Radiohead to tear away from the oppression and greed of major labels will help drive the movement and up and coming bands. The year is still young but Ghosts I-IV will be a main contender as the year rolls on.
I will now leave you with some words by the Rez himself:
This music arrived unexpectedly as the result of an experiment. The rules were as follows: 10 weeks, no clear agenda, no overthinking, everything driven by impulse. Whatever happens during that time gets released as… something.
The team: Atticus Ross, Alan Moulder and myself with some help from Alessandro Cortini, Adrian Belew and Brian Viglione. Rob Sheridan collaborated with Artist in Residence (A+R) to create the accompanying visual and physical aesthetic.
We began improvising and let the music decide the direction. Eyes were closed, hands played instruments and it began. Within a matter of days it became clear we were on to something, and a lot of material began appearing. What we thought could be a five song EP became much more. I invited some friends over to join in and we all enjoyed the process of collaborating on this.
The end result is a wildly varied body of music that we’re able to present to the world in ways the confines of a major record label would never have allowed – from a 100% DRM-free, high-quality download, to the most luxurious physical package we’ve ever created.
More volumes of Ghosts are likely to appear in the future.
– Trent Reznor, March 2, 2008
-Alx-
2 Comments
I have to agree on pretty much every point. I’m not a NIN virgin, I own ‘Downward Spiral’ but never really listen to it. I’ve never been much of Nails fan but I do respect what Reznor’s done musically.
This thing, though, is quite brilliant. It’s absolutely pure inspiration. I love the loose nature of its inception and execution. I also love the direct path Rez has cut from the artist to the consumer.
I think the part I love the most is that it is an ALBUM. Listening to individual tracks isn’t nearly as rewarding as listening to the entire collection (or at least either of the four sections individually.)
As far as I’m concerned this is the year’s first serious contender for album of the year.
totally agree with you Reggie.
When you listen to it carefully you can really just picture them just trying things out and having the music just flow out of them without really trying hard to come up with something. It really captures the imaginative nature of these artists as pure talent and passion went into every song.
Whenever I listen to this, I always end up listening to the whole album.