“I’m very pleased with the way it turned out,” says Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails’ Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D (Interscope Records), to be released November 20, 2007. “Remix records can be disposable garbage (of which I myself have been guilty to some extent) but this collection feels good to me.”
Spun off from Year Zero, the #2-charting album issued in the spring, Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D features a stunning diversity of remixers, from Joy Division and New Order’s Stephen Morris to classical crossover pioneer Kronos Quartet and hip-hop poet Saul Williams; from avant-garde leader Bill Laswell, electronica’s Olof Dreijer from The Knife, Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino and post-punk revivalists The Faint to an unknown fan who submitted a remix via the Internet.
“I reached out to heroes, friends and strangers,” says Reznor. “I encouraged those I approached to do anything and insert themselves as much as possible into the track. Some of the stuff that was done earlier led me to choosing other people to balance things out. The Pirate Robot Midget mix is a fan’s work – I thought it was great, it filled a need and I asked permission to use it here. It’s always interesting for me to hear my work reinterpreted – I hope it is for you as well.”
In fact, purchasers can even reinterpret and remix Year Zero themselves. The CD package for Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D includes a DVD-ROM containing every track from Year Zero in multi-track format (Mac and PC). Perhaps for the first time, the master multi-tracks for every recording on a major album are being made available to the public. The tracks are pre-formatted for Apple GarageBand and Ableton Live (Mac or PC); the DVD-ROM also adds the demo version of Ableton Live (Mac or PC) and generic WAVE files at 16 bit 44K that can be loaded into any audio editor. The package is also available on 180 gram heavy vinyl in a deluxe six-panel gatefold jacket. A special Web site, remix.nin.com, will debut upon Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D’s release date.
Says Reznor,”Remixes and fun encouraged.”
With bassist Michael Todd and drummer Josh Eppard leaving the band mid-tour, things were looking a little hazy for Coheed & Cambria. After enjoying the success and massive buzz of their previous albums ‘The Second Stage Turbine Blade’ (February 2002), ‘In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3′ (October 2003), ‘Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness’ (September 2005) – the band was in a precarious position as it was about to begin work on the ‘Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow’ album. But as luck would have it, bassist Todd returned to the fold and former Dillinger Escape Plan drummer Chris Pennie took over the drummer’s stool. Due to contractual obligations Pennie was not able to play on the album but Foo Fighters’ skinsman Taylor Hawkins appears in his place. Coheed & Cambria play a complex but infectious brand of Progressive Rock that is simply littered with melodic hooks and harmonies that leave you wanting more after each and every listen. Couple all this with some classic guitar riffing and lead crooner Claudio Sanchez’s high pitch Geddy Lee-esque vocals and you end up with (yet another) amazing Coheed & Cambria album! Yet amongst all the prog-rock craziness, there are some brilliant pop moments as these guys have an uncanny knack of writing what is catchy and memorable all at once. Standout tracks for me right now are ‘The Running Free’ and title track ‘No World For Tomorrow’. Bottom line, it’s a Coheed & Cambria album and with that in mind, you are guaranteed a multitude of glorious melodies, serious riffage and the continual nerd-nirvana of the three album space-rock-opera that has even made it onto the pages of a comic book! Geek bliss!
Ron Mueck is an Australian hyper-realist sculptor working in the UK. His incredible sculptures of creepy, grotesque, mottled skin and uncannily gigantic proportional figures have adorned the Millennium Dome as well as Charles Saatchi’s living room for a number of years now. It would be fair to say, Mueck’s one of the leading contemporary artists of today.
His early career was as a model maker and puppeteer for children’s television and films, notably the film ‘Labyrinth’ staring Bowie. Mueck moved on to establish his own company in London, making photo-realistic props and animatronics for the advertising industry. This eventually led him to conclude, ‘photography pretty much destroys the physical presence of the original object’, and so he turned to fine art, in particular, sculpture.
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Continue reading ‘The Brilliant Ron Mueck’
