I saw these on Stereogum and they were cracking me up, so I have to share them here. As sadkermit.com explains:
Soon after the death of Jim Henson, Sad Kermit spiraled downward into a life full of addiction, romance and pain. The songs and videos on this webpage shed light on Sad Kermit's descent into his dark, hurting world.
Sad Kermit doing Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt":
Elliot Smith's "Needle In The Hay":
And you can even download mp3s from the site of sad Kermit songs. Since it is Radiohead week in Atlanta, here's "Creep":
Record Review: Russian Spy Camera - Mutiny In The Kitchen With Knives
Russian Spy Camera has recently posted their new record, Mutiny In The Kitchen With Knives, for free. It is a quirky collection of classic rock influences as well as some more contemporary shout-outs. The opener is an epic, Television - inspired jam that stands out as the most indulgent and longest track on the record. As the record progresses, more straightforward tracks like "Cryptology" wear out the Bowie and Clash worship through some great piano work and Strummer-esque vocal noodling. Electronics-tinged tracks like "Hotels" takes a stab at some groove-inspired rock that Muse began to touch on their latest record; an audible hip hop influence. "Cults" further professes the band's love for Muse as synth arpeggios layer over a riff that sounds like it came off the Stills' first record. The record even tackles a few acoustic ballads, like "The Obsolete Man" and the album closer, "Pickpockets" (presumably shooting for a Weezer - Butterfly type vibe). The pace is consistently fresh. Mutiny In The Kitchen With Knives changes gears confidently, quickly, and to great effect, with tunes that are impressively broad in scope and yet retain the tightness of a pop rock record.
This month has witnessed not only established giants Nine Inch Nails release a free record, but also local Athens band, Russian Spy Camera. Seeing brave moves like this from both the upper and lower tiers of the music business is exciting and speaks to the rapidly changing state of the industry; hopefully the trend will continue. It seems that the Nine Inch Nails endeavor was quite the success, so we can probably expect so (check out the behavior of The Raconteurs and even The Smashing Pumpkins). Russian Spy Camera have adopted a simpler pricing scheme ('pay us if you want to').
Nine Inch Nails New Album Has Been Dropped: Ghosts I-IV
Totally out of nowhere, a new Nine Inch Nails album has been released at The NIN website. Here is what Trent Reznor has to say about it:
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.
- Trent Reznor, March 2, 2008
I am just now listening to the album, which is very different than the last few albums so don't be discouraged if you didn't really enjoy them as much as other NIN material, but it is a little too early to talk about what I think of it (although I'm liking it so far). So instead, we'll discuss the distribution method. Ever since Radioheadcame out of nowhere and dropped In Rainbows on the world for free, concepts of how to distribute an artist's music have been shattered, and everyone has been speculating on its implications and what the new business model will be exactly. Even some Atlanta bands have jumped on this bandwagon. The Sonz Of Acworthgave away their latest album online, From Exile re-released their 2006 Crushing Realityfor no money, and of course band blogs from the likes of Deerhunter/Atlas Sound and Snowden have been feeding their fans digital material on the free. Trent Reznor was actually the quickest to get experimental after In Rainbows, releasing the Saul William's The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust for free in lower quality mp3s or for $5 in higher quality formats. His first experiment didn't seem to meet his expectations, but it appears he did not abandon hope, and instead went back to the drawing board and hit us with this.
The pricing scheme offers many choices. You can download the first of the four movements for free at high quality mp3s or you can purchase all 4 movements digitally at $5 and the double disc CD at $10. For the high rollers and NIN diehards you can get a Deluxe Edition for $75 and a Ultra-Deluxe package for $300. If that is not enough, you can buy it digitally from Amazon right now, or the CDs and Vinyls hit stores next month.
I really like this model because it offers the consumer so many choices, and I think Trent is going to find this experiment much more satisfying than the Niggy Tardust deal. Saul Williams is about as unaccessible as an artist can be so I believe that only tested the far limits of the free model at an extremely early stage. These are exciting times as we watch the music industry transform before our very eyes and a pioneer like Mr. Reznor may go down in history as a whole lot more than just a brilliant musician. We'll see what happens next, but until then there is a new NIN album to jam:
As you're reading this, I've already emarked on my journey to uber-drunkeness in Savannah to celebrate one of my favourite holidays. You can watch my intoxicated phone logs of the weekend here. Since i won't have many sober posts until I get back monday night, I'm leaving you with an action-packed "Friday Free-Style" featuring tons of mp3s, videos, links, etc. Have a fun weekend:
The Paper Chase blew my ear drums out at the Explosions In The Sky show Tuesday night. Check them out:
Kid Rocksmacked a woman because she realized his music sucks. Seriously.
Watch the new video from Arctic Monkeyshere. They will be playing the Tabernacle May 19th.
Remember Ratatat will be at the Loft on April 10th so get your tickets now.
Music For Robots has posted a list of mp3s from bands playing at SXSW. You should really check it out and listen/download that shiznit.
Listen to a track off the new Wilco album Sky Blue Sky: Wilco - What Light
Listen to a track off the new Blonde Redhead album 23: 23
Everybody is going crazy about the new Arcade Fire album. After a few good listens, I like it, but I'm not willing to crown them yet. I think if you compare it to the best albums to come out this year, it just doesn't hold up. It's definetly worth checking out though. Here's a track in case you haven't heard it yet(doubtful): Intervention
For you hip-hop heads, here's a track from the forth coming Hieroglyphics crew Souls Of Mischief member A-Plus: Patna Please
Nine Inch Nails : 3 leaked songs and all sorts of weirdness
So, NIN has been up to some crazy stuff in promoting and releasing forthcoming tracks from the new album. First, this song was found on flash drives found in bathroom stalls at 2 different NIN shows last week:
Disclaimer: MP3 files are available for a limited time only and are only provided for promotional use only. Please support the artists and buy their stuff. If you'd like to see any file removed, please email us and we will take care of it immediately.
For that, or any suggestions, complaints, tips, or whatev', email us at info@ohmpark.com
