MP3: “Everlasting Beacon of Light” by Zechs Marquise

Here is the first track from The Mars Volta sibling band Zechs Marquise and their forthcoming new album, Getting Paid. The song, “Everlasting Beacon of Light” features guest vocals by Matthew Embree and is available for download here or streaming below [via Consequence of Sound]:

New Dredg Album Due May 3rd, Dan The Automator Produces

Radiohead surprises with a new record, and now Dredg says they’ve already finished a Dan The Automator-produced album? I’m not sure if the music gods have smiled harder within one week! Dredg made the announcement on their website and Facebook page today. You can read all the details here. The album drops on May 3 and will be followed by a world tour.

Dan The Automator – Sex (I’m A) by Ulrich_

Dredg – Brushstroke An Elephant In The Delta Waves – 13 by @fish_mx

A Perfect Circle to Reunite For “In Its Entirety” Shows This Fall

According to their new Twitter account, Maynard James Keenan and Billy Howerdel will play all three APC albums on consecutive nights at three-night stops to LA, Seattle, Las Vegas, Tempe, and San Francisco. James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) and Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails) will join Keenan and Howerdel on these stops, which will also include an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel on October 27. What this means for a new A Perfect Circle album is unclear. Previous interviews with the never-serious MJK suggest that the band would release songs instead of albums, but Howerdel supposedly has a vault of new tracks ready for Keenan to add vocals to. Keenan also has plans to join his “other” band shortly to add vocals for a new Tool album. New music from A Perfect Circle and Tool is good news no matter how you look at it!

A Perfect Circle – Judith by Hatama

NIN Adds NYC Club Dates: Bowery, Webster Hall & More!!

Trent’s farewell tour just got a bit more interesting and perhaps more fitting.  After attending the NIN/JA show in at PNC in NJ, I was left disappointed.  As the last note of “Hurt” was played, the writhing hard-hitting NIN that that I had seen more than ten times live seemed to have ended with a whimper, destroying my dream of hearing “Heresy” played live.

Now Trent seems to have agreed (citing short sets and large outdoor venues in daylight as not the way to go out).  The announcement came today via Twitter, thanks to Trent’s recent return to the digital world.  But just as he announced it, the servers crashed, delaying the official NIN.com announcement while they patched them up for some 45 minutes.  Dates have yet to be announced.

Full Post from nin.com below:

Getting right to the point, we’re going to play a handful of shows in NYC, Chicago and LA starting August 22nd. They will be informal affairs in medium to small venues with longer set-lists, possible special guests, cool openers and other surprises. Upon reflection, the NIN/JA tour felt like we had to rush through sets due to a limited allotted set length and many shows were in daylight – it just didn’t feel right to end NIN that way. An offer to headline V-Fest in Toronto (being announced soon) set the idea in motion to play some FUN shows to end this up with. If we can get it together we’ll film these shows, too

In NYC we’ll be playing Bowery Ballroom, Webster Hall and Terminal 5. In Chicago, the Aragon Ballroom. In LA we’ll be at The Wiltern, The Henry Fonda, The Palladium and The Echoplex. These should be cool, unusual and unique shows and I hope you come out – this is it.

So far, The Horrors will be joining us for some shows in NYC, Mew will be with us at other shows in NYC, Chicago and LA, and perhaps more.
Details and ticket info will be announced shortly, so check back.”

Thanks,
Trent

Redemption awaits…

Trent Reznor Quits Twitter, Cites Metal Sludge

You knew it was only a matter of time before all the controversy involving the hatemongers on Twitter vs. Trent Reznor and his new fiance Mariqueen Maandig came to a screeching halt. Reznor tweeted for the last time a link to a message on the NIN forums announcing the end of his “interesting experiment.” Reznor’s latest online conflict occurred with a blogger named Fred W. Garrett, who questioned Trent’s motives for raising money for Eric De La Cruz’s heart transplant and his treatment of fans who won tickets through his Twitter contests. Trent also mentions the term Metal Sludge and describes it as:

Metal Sludge is the home of the absolutely worst people I’ve ever come across. It’s populated mainly by unattractive plump females who publicly fantasize about having sex with guys in bands. Kind of like a role-playing game where people NOBODY will fuck make up stories about their incredible sexual encounters with people they WISH they could fuck.

He also gives some advice for the contingency:

Cutter’s tip for my friends there: remember to cut along the length of vein, not across. Bigger payoff.

In his Twitter-less universe, Reznor does have a plan:

I have business in the real world to attend to including wrapping up the live version of NIN, DOING some cool new shit and spending as much time as possible with the most amazing woman in the world.

You can read the lengthy message here.

Trent Reznor Raises Money For Good Cause By Hanging Out With Fans

Trent Reznor (NIN) is offering some VIP treatment for fans who are willing to donate some much needed funds to help Eric De La Cruz, a 27-year old who is in dire need of a heart transplant. A letter on the NIN web site reads:

A Letter from Trent:

This is for something important. Eric De La Cruz is dying and needs a heart transplant. He keeps getting turned down for a transplant list because he’s on Nevada Medicaid, and there are no transplant centers in Nevada. We want to get involved and hopefully so do you, so we’re extending a hand. His sister Veronica (former Anchor and Internet Correspondent for CNN) has started a campaign to save his life.

Eric’s situation shines a bright light on a broken health care system, and his particular set of problems are being addressed on the political front, aiming for reform in addition to the need for immediate financial help to keep him alive TODAY. I think we can help with the latter. 100% of the money collected from this will go directly to Eric’s fund. I hope you’ll consider helping out with this.

Sincerely, Trent Reznor

A $10 “just donate” option has been added to the three donation options originally posted:

If you have a ticket to a NIN/JA show: if you donate $1,000 to this cause, we’ll invite you to come hang out with us before the NIN/JA show of your choice. You and a guest can watch NIN and Street Sweeper Social Club’s soundchecks, eat dinner backstage with us, take pics / get autographs and watch the show from the side of the stage if you’d like. If you donate $300, you and a friend can join us for NIN and SSSC’s soundchecks and a handshaking / hug session before doors open at the NIN/JA show of your choice. If you do NOT have a ticket to a NIN/JA show: if you donate $1,200 to this cause, we’ll invite you to come hang out with us before the NIN/ JA show of your choice and provide 2 tickets (best available). You and a guest can watch soundcheck, eat dinner backstage with us, take pics / get autographs and watch the show from the side of the stage if you’d like.

More info on this rewarding fan/charitable opportunity can be found here. Trent posted further details about what the general experiences would be like for fans who decided to purchase one of the more expensive donation options here.

UPDATE: In less than 48 hours, $542,212 has been raised. According to the video above, this will be more than enough for Eric to get his heart transplant. Job well done, NIN fans!

Relaxed Camera Policy Announced For NIN/JA Tour

The recently announced NIN/JA tour, which finds Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction sharing the stage for the first time since 1991, threatens to be the last wave of performances for Trent Reznor under the moniker of NIN. Trent recently tweeted about an official announcement for a relaxed camera policy he devised and provides details in a forum on the band’s web site. Here is an excerpt from the message:

In an effort to allow you to document your experience at the upcoming NIN/JA performances, we will be relaxing our photo/video policy (5/7/09 – 6/12/09 only). Fans will be permitted to bring in their personal cameras, video and audio recorders. This is not not an open door policy for any and all recording devices. Please try to use common sense as we are trying to ensure this experience is great for everyone attending. Don’t show up with a television crew and a recording studio.
To be clear: this applies only to the North American NIN/JA tour.

In other NIN/JA tour news, Trent has also announced set times for each band (including Street Sweeper Social Club). In a surprising move, NIN will play before Jane’s Addiction at each show. This may backfire, as hoards of NIN fans are already announcing they will either not attend or leave early. This is no surprise to me since NIN fans are notoriously closed-minded.

http://ninja2009.com/

Animal Collective’s Email Hacked, Fake Message Sent

According to Bradford Cox’s blog, someone hacked into an email account and posed as Animal Collective’s Brian “Geologist” Weitz and sent the following message:

It has come to my attention that 2 full length tracks off of our upcoming album, Merriweather Post Pavilion have surfaced online. David, Noah, and I please ask that someone assist us and leak all of the remaining tracks on the album. The album is intended to be heard as a whole, and nothing bothers us more than individual tracks leaking and ruining the the overall album experience

-Brian Geologist

Cox relayed the band’s frustration with the situation by talking a bit about his recent conversation with Brian Weitz of Animal Collective:

Just got of the phone with Brian Weitz. Total Bullshit. Someone actually had the nerve to hack into their e-mail account and send this out. The truth is that AC do not want their album to leak and are trying very hard to avoid the drama around said album that has risen to a fever pitch.

The Deerhunter frontman also suggested an alternative to all those anxious fans who cannot wait until the January 6 release date of Merriweather Post Pavillion, Animal Collective’s ninth studio album. He recommends that fans pick up their own instruments and create an album they would hope would sound like the upcoming offering from AC. The comment seemed a bit tongue-in-cheek, but Bradford was trying to get the point across that fans should respect the band’s wishes and wait until the proper release date. The fact that we are less than three weeks away from the release date without a leak is amazing.

Nine Inch Nails, Sesame Street Used For Torture

In a disturbing but not very surprising revelation, the music of Nine Inch Nails has been used by the U.S. military against detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanimo Bay. Prisoners were aurally assaulted for hours and days at a time with excrutiating levels of hard rock music. In addition to Nine Inch Nails, the blaring sounds of AC/DC, Queen, Pantera, Rage Against the Machine, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Metallica, Christina Aguilera, and Neil Diamond have been played at levels just loud enough to avoid bursting the ear drums of detainees. Even children’s songs, including the Barney and Sesame Street theme songs, have been used to “break” detainees. The Associated Press cited an FBI report where one interrogator bragged that it only took four days of alternating music and light with silence and darkness. One prisoner reported the following statement to his lawyer:

There was loud music, Slim Shady and Dr. Dre for 20 days. I heard this nonstop over and over. The CIA worked on people, including me, day and night for months before I left. Plenty lost their minds.

Recently, some artists have stepped forward to communicate their disapproval with these tactics. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails voiced his opinion today on his web site’s blog:

It’s difficult for me to imagine anything more profoundly insulting, demeaning and enraging than discovering music you’ve put your heart and soul into creating has been used for purposes of torture. If there are any legal options that can be realistically taken they will be aggressively pursued, with any potential monetary gains donated to human rights charities.
Thank GOD this country has appeared to side with reason and we can put the Bush administration’s reign of power, greed, lawlessness and madness behind us.

Unfortunately, not all musicians are offended by the thought of their songs being used for torture. Stevie Benton, bassist for Drowning Pool recently commented to Spin Magazine, without authorization from his record label:

People assume we should be offended that somebody in the military thinks our song is annoying enough that played over and over it can psychologically break someone down. I take it as an honor to think that perhaps our song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that.

Those artists who are insulted with these tactics are doing something about it. Massive Attack and former Rage Against the Machine guitarist, Tom Morello, have officially campaigned against the use of their music for torture. Shows and festivals they are associated with will include moments of silences to voice their disgust with our government’s disregard for human rights. The campain is called Zero dB and is run by a human rights group in England called Reprieve, who enforce the human rights of prisoners. Their web site features an online petition for those who condemn the use to torture.

Fishpork’s Favorite 50 Tracks of 2008

Ranking our favorite 50 songs of 2008 was no simple task. There were many great songs that were left off the list, as well as some surprises that made it. We’ve included several songs from the same bands (Crystal Castles, TV on the Radio, Of Montreal, etc.), seven songs of projects by Bradford Cox (Deerhunter, Atlas Sound) and even an entire LP (Animal Collective’s Water Curses). Some of the tracks were rather new to our iPods (The Walkmen, Vic Chesnutt), while others had the benefit of being part of our summer soundtrack (Tapes N’ Tapes, Elf Power, Eric Avery, Ladytron). These were the tracks that made us fans of music in 2008:

1. Nothing Even Happened – Deerhunter
2. Crimewave – Crystal Castles
3. For Our Elegant Caste – Of Montreal
4. Echoplex – Nine Inch Nails
5. Spiral Stairs – Elf Power
6. Set It Off – Girl Talk
7. Recent Bedroom – Atlas Sound
8. Street Flashes – Animal Collective
9. Boneless (Notwist Remix) – Panda Bear
10. Hang Them All – Tapes N’ Tapes
11. Air War – Crystal Castles
12. Water Curses – Animal Collective
13. In the New Year -  The Walkmen
14. Never Stops – Deerhunter
15. Two Propellers – First Wave Hello
16. Cobwebs – Animal Collective
17. Runs in the Family – Amanda Palmer
18. Quarantined – Atlas Sound
19. Seal Eyeing – Animal Collective
20. Gobbledigook – Sigur Ros
21. 35 Ghosts III – Nine Inch Nails
22. The Clockwise Witness – Devotchka
23. Stork and Owl – TV on the Radio
24. Strange Overtones – David Byrne & Brian Eno
25. Dancing Choose – TV on the Radio
26. Logos – Atlas Sound
27. Knights – Crystal Castles
28. On Planet Off – The Notwist
29. Little Kids – Deerhunter
30. George Michael – Tapes N’ Tapes
31. Skinny Love – Bon Iver
32. Teenagers – Department of Eagles
33. All Remote and No Control – Eric Avery
34. Revolution – Eric Avery
35. Nights of the Week – Apes and Androids
36. And How – Vic Chesnutt and Elf Power
37. Softly Through the Void – Elf Power
38. The Blue Route – The Walkmen
39. Triceratops (Acid Girls Remix A) – Health
40. Bitch Went Nuts – Ben Folds
41. Id Engager – Of Montreal
42. Predict the Day – Ladytron
43. Ribs Out – Fuck Buttons
44. Threads – Portishead
45. Crosseyed Beautiful Youngunz – Love as Laughter
46. Waves of Rye – Department of Eagles
47. Danse Infernale – Atlas Sound
48. Gallery Piece – Of Montreal
49. Idle Hands – The Gutter Twins
50. Ghosts – Ladytron

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