Die Hardest

Right then. Despite the off-formula red flags I see wavin' all over No. 4.0 (supporting players are children; not one African-American lead to be seen), I do hope it's good. 'Cause this video is GREAT:

Andy McKee

I don't have a lot of patience for guitars, usually because their players aren't doing much interesting with them. That's my bias and I'm sticking to it.

This fella, though, is an exception to the rule. And the music? Just gorgeous. A nice way to start the morning during this emotional June, our hinge of the year.



Thanks to Dave for the link! And Mike and Doug will probably love this, so I'm tagging those jerks too.

This Today

For me, May was a quiet month. But around me, things moved.

B's romantic journey cross-country has changed shape. K's journey out of country may help her shape-shift as well. Shan's too, I'd wager. Tans has a new home, and new work to give. Trevs finished his Chapter 11. My book did a dipsy-doodle on me. Rich Wilkins passed away. Sebastian Roberts was born.

In the wake of it all, I'm left feeling kind of raw, more emotional than I've been since...well, since last May - when I was the one in flux. At times like these, I don't have the right words. Thankfully, when words fail, there are sounds.

So here's a song that grew out of last month and came to its close at the beginning of this one. It's been a year since I smashed some musical notes together. About time, I say.

And to be honest, it doesn't look like the world's gonna stand still outside me anytime soon. Change is coming. Change is here. Change is eternal.

To This Day

Zeroes and Ones

...or maybe just Ones, 'cause there's a lotta firsts here.

Year Zero is the first Nine Inch Nails record I can listen to all the way through since Pretty Hate Machine in 1989. It's the first of Trent Reznor's "concept" albums I'd say works as a whole. And most enjoyably, it's the first time past 1992's Broken I've been able to shout along with NIN at the top of my lungs and savor the anger and aggression while keeping a straight face. Why come?

Mr Reznor's finally changed his topic. He's no longer sniveling about the girl or guy or God who's done him wrong. This time the schlep who got dumped and damned is the world, and we're the Ones (Zeroes, actually) responsible. I'd even venture to say Trent's found a place for the Almighty in his dirty little heart, and he's okay with being judged by a higher power that's likely a mite disappointed in what we've done with the gifts it gave us.

That is to say, I take Trent's "Zeroes and Ones" to mark something other than the bits and bytes usually serving as his musical instruments. Call a Zero, perhaps, those who haven't the inclination to help improve this mess we've gotten ourselves into here on planet Earth. And a One? Maybe that's somebody who can find a peaceful solution to our religious, resource and territorial disputes instead of taking up vengeful arms.

Anyhoo. Enough ballyhoo - I've already bitten off more than I have the chops to chew. Long-overdue political subject matter aside, there's some rather good old-fashioned industrial disco on this album. And I listened to it rather non-stop while driving my way around the United States two months ago (splicing in some cheerier bile from the adorable Lily Allen for relief now and then).

End result: a decent familiarity with Trent's new tunes. And a hankering to play around with them.

So here's minimixes fo' y'all - especially for Dave and Tara, whom I know dig this record as much as I do. These are sort-of-sequels to my Nails mixes from last year, though this time I didn't want to pair past with present (as I did on Pretty Hate Machine and With Teeth), because the new album, really, points only to itself.

My Violent God Given Heart
The Good Master
Me, I'm The Destroyer

Shame on us
We knew from the start
May God have mercy
On our dirty little hearts
Shame on us
For all we have done
And all we ever were
Just zeroes and ones