Monthly Archive for March, 2008

You Too Can Be A Ramone!

Published on March 23, 2008 in Music. 0 Comments Tags: Ramones, The Ramones, Vans.

You Too Can Be A Ramone!

With Vans about to launch a ‘Johnny Ramone’ clothing and footwear range – you too can ‘Beat On The Brat’ to your heart’s content.

A good time to cash in on a rock star is when he’s not around. And four years after his death, Johnny Ramone is a suitable candidate for a clothing collection, courtesy of Vans.

Due to launch in spring 2008, the collection includes a t-shirt with concert shot on front and Ramones logo on back (£25), Johnny Ramone stone washed grey super skinny jeans (£60) and a slip-on featuring the man and his signature (£38).

Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts I-IV

Published on March 10, 2008 in Album Of The Week and Music. 0 Comments Tags: Ghosts, Ghosts I-IV, NIN, Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor.

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV

It is incredibly difficult to put into words a review of the latest Nine Inch Nails release… ‘Ghosts I-IV’. In its vastness and scope and the mere fact that this is a veritable slab of over two hours of music… where does one even begin to analyze individual tracks or key moments in this Reznor opus? Add to the fact that there are no track identifiable track names – it all adds up to a unique and fresh listening experience. I absolutely adore what Reznor has accomplished here as I have always preferred his more experimental work. There is so much on offer here. So much style, technique, haunting ambience and emotion. It is all so grand yet at the same time, there is an element of rawness permeating throughout each track. It is going to take a long, long time to fully digest just what has been unleashed here.

The entire ‘Ghosts’ experience was all incredibly rewarding. I can’t recall such a buzz over a new release and the digital methodology that was used to deliver this music to the masses. These are exciting times for genuine music fans and genuine artists such as Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails who are actively seeking out new ways of doing things. Everything from the initial overworked servers and the moment of finally downloading the music (legally and intact as the artist wished) – to even managing to score the $300 Deluxe Edition as yours truly did – just added to the entire experience that was/is ‘Ghosts’.

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV

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The Watchmen (First Look)

Published on March 5, 2008 in Cinema, Comic Books, Geek and Superhero. 0 Comments Tags: Alan Moore, DC Comics, Rorschach, Silk Spectre, The Comedian, The Niteowl, Watchmen.

The Watchmen

The countdown is on… officially one year and counting until the release of Watchmen on March 6 2009.

Watchmen was a twelve-issue comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Originally published by DC Comics as a monthly limited series from 1986 to 1987, it was later republished as a trade paperback, which popularized the ‘graphic novel’ format.

To date, Watchmen remains the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award, and is also the only graphic novel to appear on Time Magazine’s 2005 list of ‘the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.’

Watchmen is set in 1985, in an alternative history United States where costumed adventurers are real and the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union (the Doomsday Clock is at five minutes to midnight). It tells the story of a group of past and present superheroes and the events surrounding the mysterious murder of one of their own. Watchmen depicts superheroes as real people who must confront ethical and personal issues, who struggle with neuroses and failings, and who – with one notable exception – lack anything recognizable as super powers. Watchmen’s deconstruction of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its innovative adaptation of cinematic techniques and heavy use of symbolism, multi-layered dialogue, and metafiction, has influenced both comics and film.

So without further adieu…

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New Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts I – IV

Published on March 3, 2008 in Music. 0 Comments Tags: Ghosts, Ghosts I-IV, NIN, Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor.

Trent Reznor has a habit of teasing the hell out of his fans. Most of us have grown accustomed to waiting half a decade for new music but things recently have been a helluva lot more productive for the Nine Inch Nails camp. A couple of months ago, the official Nine Inch Nails site began updating by featuring Trent and co. hard at work at… something. No one knew what it was and most speculated that he had begun work on the sequel to Year Zero.

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I - IV

Over the course of the past two weeks, more teasing eminated from the site with Trent posting cryptic messages like “Two weeks”, “Soon” etc. A new Nine Inch Nails in two weeks? Yeah right Trent.

And the two weeks came and went. And here it is… a new Nine Inch Nails album! A NEW NINE INCH NAILS ALBUM!!!!

The official site went live at 9PM ET with the several versions of the new instrumental album entitle ‘Ghosts I – IV’

You can get the first 9 songs from the 36 track project for free or you can purchase the entire album digitally for a mere $5.

Straight from Trent… “…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…”

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