Album Review: Heligoland

With their fifth studio album release, has Massive Attack yet again made an ‘awe-worthy’ record with Heligoland?  This album starts out with a nice chilled out track featuring Tunde Adebimpe from TV on the Radio, and “Paradise Circus,” which features that porn-laden music video, may deserve repeat listens. Heligoland has many featured artists on it; one being the always-chosen vocalist, Horace Andy (he was also featured on the track “Angel” off Massive Attack’s third studio album Mezzanine). The album also includes drum tracks contributed by the recently deceased Jerry Fuchs from !!!. However, the duo seems to have lost their gothic sound from past albums, which makes Heligoland just “another Massive Attack album.”

There isn’t one track on the album that I can honestly say, “I really want to listen to that song again.”  Heligoland has a deluxe version available on iTunes with six remixed versions of songs off the album. Is it sad to say that the remixed songs are the best part of the album? Besides that, there will also be a vinyl release of the album available shortly. And the next thing to look for from Massive Attack is an upcoming EP that will be released May 2010. It will feature tracks from previous tours that are not included on this album. Though most of the Massive Attack albums are great to listen to, this one is surely one to fall asleep to.

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.