What I’m trying to say here is that DVD-Audio sounds amazing.  I don’t have a 5.1 speaker system but my Audigy 2 ZS can still play back 24-bit stereo.  This is quite a step-up from the 16-bit stereo found on CDs and you can tell the difference.  Why am I suddenly doing a post on DVD-A?  Because I just got the reissued version of Porcupine Tree’s Stupid Dream.  Sure, it came out in 2006, but that doesn’t mean that the DVD-A tracks aren’t awesome.

The recording is of a superior quality and there is a lot of detail I’m hearing.  New sounds even.  Steven Wilson is truly a studio genius.  All these songs sound new and I’m loving it!  Plus, the DVD comes with bonus tracks such as a 15-minute version of Even Less and the video for Piano Lessons.

Countdown to D-Day:  5 days

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Yes, you heard that right! The man behind Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor, has decided to give away the new NIN album for free. The album is called “The Slip” and feature 10 new tracks, two of which were released recently as free downloads. To get your copy of the album, simply go to theslip.nin.com and enter your email address. They will send you a download link and here’s the best part: you can choose from a variety of formats for your download. There’s the good old mp3 download, FLAC, Apple Lossless, and a high-resolution 96kHz/24-bit WAV version as well. That last one is a 1.2GB download and it’s only worth it if you have proper audio equipment to play it back on. I just went with mp3 - my hard drive is woefully short on storage space. Let me remind you that this is the new NIN album in its entirety, being given away for free by the people who made it. I’ll post a review after giving it a few listens.

Reznor had been talking about controlling the distribution of his music and giving people choice. Unfortunately, he was tied to a major record label contract and there wasn’t anything he could do to convince them to change. So, first he told his Australian fans to just steal his music from the internet. Then, he broke away from his record label. By the time he did this, however, Radiohead beat him to the punch and allowed fans to download their new album at any price - even free. However, there was only one option - 160kbps mp3. For most people, 160kbps is sufficient, especially when the rips are done properly. The album sounded very good when compared to earlier, more traditional, CD-based Radiohead albums. Audiophiles probably felt that 160kbps was inadequate.

If you were a fan, you knew that the album was coming on CD later. But many people didn’t know this, paid for the download, and were then pissed that Radiohead tricked them into getting the download when the CD was planned all along. The media and sites like Digg built-up Radiohead to be some sort of revolutionaries for bye-passing the record label and giving the music to the fans directly. The band never claimed this tag, but one felt that there was more that could be done with band-controlled digital distribution.

Reznor went a step further with the release of the instrumental collection, Ghosts I-IV, and offered a mind-boggling array of options. You could get the first nine tracks for free from the NIN site or even via torrents - Reznor uploaded the files himself. Then, to get the complete 36-track collection, you could pay $5 and get a digital download, $10 for the 2CD version which included the digital version as an immediate download, or the more fancy $75 and $300 packages, meant for hardcore fans. The response was overwhelming and took down the NIN website for a couple of days. The music itself is hit-or-miss. I like it as background music - the lack of lyrics can get mildly frustrating but it’s not bad. There are some good tracks here and Reznor was clearly trying new stuff with this record.

Most people paid for the music because they love NIN and/or to support the distribution method. After all, who doesn’t like to stick it to the man (RIAA)? Clearly, Trent’s approach was more well-rounded and he now has a legion of internet fanboys who absolutely love him. This also includes those who felt burned by Radiohead’s approach.

Personally, I know one of the biggest Radiohead fans on the planet so I knew the CD was coming. I still paid for the download to support the method, and I bought the 2CD version of Ghosts as well. The RIAA has long fucked over both artists and music fans and it’s high time that the big name bands reach out to their fans directly. Heck, they can also promote smaller bands. How? If Reznor likes a band, he can offer to sell their stuff through his setup - he did that for Saul Williams already. This guarantees that a large number of people will listen to newer bands. Play live shows to make money and give away studio recordings. Now if only someone can stick it to Ticketmaster….

(I know Pearl Jam tried already and failed so perhaps it will be a LOT harder to take down Ticketmaster)

Not a lot to say today. Busy with schoolwork after last week’s lull. I’m really digging Boxer, the 2007 album by The National. I recommend it to anyone open to trying out new artists. Once you get used to the lead singer’s voice, you will discover that the songs are great. The layering of instruments reminds me of Porcupine Tree and the keyboards are used well. The lyrics are fantastic but you can certainly enjoy the music without paying attention to the lyrics. Come for the music, stay for the lyrics!

I’m posting a live performance of my current favorite, “Slow Show” from Boxer. I think the album version is better, but this liver version recreates the song really well. Also, the lead singer is quite restrained in this video - when I saw the band on campus last week, he was way more crazy.

I got into R.E.M. a while back when my then roommate told me to listen to Automatic For The People. I liked it and then moved to other good albums such as Murmur, Reckoning, Life’s Rich Pageant, etc. But I found their work from the last decade or so somewhat lackluster. It was missing the spark from their early work. When I heard that they were making a new album, I was apprehensive - could R.E.M. possibly turn things around?

Turns out, they could. Not only that, but they also show that they can still rock. Hard. The new album, Accelerate, gets off on a strong note with the raw and angry “Living Well’s The Best Revenge”. The one thing you’ll notice right from the start is Peter Buck’s loud guitar work is back. That, combined with Mike Mills’ meaty basslines and Michael Stipe’s vocals give this album a tremendous amount of energy. Don’t forget that these guys have been around for 25 years and are called the “grandfathers of alternate rock” for a reason.

“Mansized Wreath” continues the good work of the album opener and has some typical Michael Stipe “wow” moments. My personal favorite, “Supernatural Superserious” comes up third and immediately brings back memories of early R.E.M. Some reviewers said that this is typical song that the band could write in their sleep - but that doesn’t stop it from being good. After the weird experimentation on the last few albums, it’s great to hear R.E.M.’s old sound back.

The album is given a sense of balance with the slower tracks “Hollow Man”, “Houston”, “Until The Day is Done”, and “Sing For The Submarine.” The title track is again, quite excellent in my opinion and the lyrics seem indicative of R.E.M. as a band: I’ve got to follow another direction/Accelerate. The album might seem to slow down with all these slower tracks but it ends just as ferociously as it began, with “Horse to Water” and “I’m Gonna DJ” proving to be great closers. The latter will remind fans of “End of The World As We Know It” with its lyrics about the world coming to an end.

The production on this album is raw, not clean. I think this was intentional. A clean production would’ve taken some of the energy out of this recording. The jangly guitars sound great and Mike Mills’ backing vocals are back! I also love the drumming on this album - it adds to the overall energy (sorry for overusing this word). I was initially skeptical about going to see them live in June, but this album has me excited. R.E.M. have shown that they’re still in the game and are not going anywhere. I highly recommend this album!

Rating: 4/5

Video for Supernatural Superserious:

It’s a new year and while people go around making resolutions, I stay put and write more blog posts. I didn’t watch too many movies this year and I didn’t play too many new video games either. So, the only best of list this year will be the one for music. And notice how I retitled it “My favorite music from 2007.” It saves me from those who’ll inevitably say that I didn’t listen to some album they found outstanding - this is my blog and this is the best of the new music I tried out last year. However, I’m open for suggestions on new music!

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