So, rather out of nowhere in terms of expectation, Reznor tossed out a new album.

Unexpected is new to nine inch nails ("nails" or "nin" colloquially) fans; who're used to mouthy label and distributor reps who leak the whole album as soon as the base acetate master has been cut; Trent having withdrawn nails from the major labels has given him a level of control that he wasn't even able to maintain with his sublabel; nothing records.

we got a trifecta of awesome from that so far; Trent managed to get remix.nin ([link]) together; a community driven radio station that's all nails, all the time.. but fan & professional remixes are the core and heart of its purpose.

the next two parts both come in play in this lil' review of my thoughts on this album;

'ghosts i-iv' is a strange, but familiar record. Trent brought together past and present collaborators; the biggest collaborator being Atticus Ross (12 Rounds, Error, Bad Religion, Rancid) who's been a big part of nin in a more background setting for some time anyways, but has moved in to a stronger presence with each release. Ross is best known for his production techniques and styles, and they're as present in this work as any other.

Alessandro Cortini plays a role in the creation and production of some tracks as well; while not as famed for his work in nin, he has also been a member of Mayfield Four and Modwheelmood and generally contributes his guitar and synth work to Ghosts.

Brian Viglione, famous as the rhythm that keeps the Dresden Dolls functional, also puts his talents in to this collection; even participating in the writing process, not just the production.

Lastly, Adrian Belew is the final major player in this collection. Adrian is an immense multi-instrumentalist who, while best known as the guitarist/singer for King Crimson, has also lent his talents to works by Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Porcupine Tree, David Byrne, Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Crash Test Dummies, and even more. His virtuoso talent and natural rock sensibility is perceptible where its important, but his ability to experiment is what shines here.


The Album is actually a 4 part collection of 9 untitled tracks, each. There isn't a lyric to be found in the whole lot, for that matter. So anyone who was hoping this amassing of big name artists was to produce backing to Trent's singing.. sorry. this ain't the case.

The collection is more a challenge; Trent sent everyone off to create audio renditions of visual things, be it scenery, pictures, whatever it was that stuck with them. they all together amassed these final 36 bits of music in the set 10 week period that Trent gave them all to do the work; and Artists in Residence (with nin's faithful artist, the ever present Rob Sheridan involved of course) brewed up stunning art to accompany the thing.

The release, despite being the first off label release, shows a typical nin style variety; 4 versions are available with a 5th version on the way; anything from a free 9 track promo download (Ghosts I) to a $300, limited production, CD & Vinyl package, signed, numbered and lithographed to fit every nin nut's fantasies. A perusal of Artists in Residence's website gives up photos of the $75 and $300 versions, and i tell you what; i damn near bought that $300 one myself once i got a look at it. the lack of label interjections has let Trent and his merry band of what must be the most OCD musicians and production artists to ever successfully cooperate really blow the doors off this release.

and it doesn't stop at the packaging; the downloads are even offered in Apple compatible Lossless, FLAC, and 320kbps MP3, which pretty much covers everyone's needs; these come complete with a high quality PDF version of the art book that is part of the $75 and $300 versions, as well as standard and wide screen wallpaper collections, some snippet album related art, and some top quality versions of the nin logo sets.

i don't mean to impress with the visual and technical details, as if to cushion a let down musically. the music is the centerpiece of all this intensely creative packaging and well thought out release style; and it lives up to the burden all this work has set for it.

Despite lacking vocals, the music is a bit of a progression from the Still EP (2nd disc of the And All That Could Have Been deluxe version, for those who got it that way) & the slower tracks in The Fragile. While there's a bit of Year Zero's stylistic sensibility involved here; the anger and political charge is fully wiped away.

These tracks, which i can't review one by one like i would a normal album; because.. they lack titles and there's too damn many of them; are everything from miniature jam sessions to art-rock experimentation. if ever minimalism was put to sound; this is generally the exact way i would imagine it to sound, and would rather like to visit a modern art museum with this music on repeat.

all manner of instrumentation is present here; from the standard fare guitars to one of the most well recorded piano's I've heard in ages.. to the synths and some guitar work that's noteworthy just for the fact.. it's very unguitar at times. sonic youth fans will be falling over themselves spotting the use of drone guitars and sympathetic stringing; while pianists can generally take solace in listening to absolutely, in-bleeping-credibly well microphoned pianos.

the quality of a song is the quality of its music i think, and the sensation that the quality of this release gives me is that someone has jammed my head in there with the piano strings while bela bartok or franz liszt hammer proper musical appreciation in to my skull. i know I've mentioned the pianos already but... but.. the pianos!

ok ok, moving on (the pianos!) i love to listen to instrumental music; particularly modern music sans the singers.. but most suffers the problem of being produced as if it were built for a singer still; this isn't so much that the songs themselves are constructed to support vocals, but that the mixers have become so accustomed to mixing space in for a singer that they dampen and flood all the instruments together (an effect pioneered by a total psycho, and named 'wall of sound' while i rather expected the same sort of treatment since nin has effectively been a vocal based project for nearly twenty five years now.. that was not the case. the music carries variated volumes and rather well thought out instrument placements, both 'in the mix' (what order the instruments are in, from background to foreground) to 'spacial locale' (where they would physically stand on a stage in relation to each other) while this seems a minor point; once you're listening to music that lacks a voice, the instruments become the voices in a much more direct manner, and these sorts of details are what can make or break such an efforts ability to carry.

there is a lot of genre crossing, blending and bending in these tracks, not just instrument bending and assorted other abuses. in fact, a careful listen does reveal a number of human vocal effects applied in a very deliberate instrumental fashion; this is a refreshing, if not rare thing to hear at all; let alone as well put together as here. these tracks span the full gamut of spacey, peaceful thinkers to toe tapping energizers, and full bore emotional dirges to foot stomping fun. expect to hear the sort of melodic little bits of fun that throw back to pretty hate machine, to the more advanced and evolved abuses found in the fragile, year zero and with teeth.

what is probably most surprising of all, is this 'album' doesn't bore like many instrumental albums can; i love Pelicans, but i can't sit through their entire albums; they play with a rock sensibility that leaves you for want of a singer. while there are times you find yourself wondering (quite validly, i think) what sort of lyrics and singing would be put over some of these tracks; they never feel as if there is a lack of something; everything is polished, be it as a spacey, deconstructed tune, to a fully rounded and fleshed out song.

basically, I'm saying.. nin fans, and the non-fans, can find things to appreciate in this album; the musicianship is both polished, simple and precise, while dredging up complications and technical mastery where the song dictates a need; and at all times, these feel like songs that were meant to be written, and written this way, these don't feel like fillers or forced works.

a must own; if you don't believe me, take a free listen here: link! (this is nine inch nails official bit torrent for the 9 tracks, titled 'Ghosts I' which were purposefully released for free and set up by the band & representation on the torrent system with the explicit purpose of being shared, free, like this.)

the pianos!