Well, another week’s worth of posts slipped through my grasp until I could take a minute on the weekend to capture them, this time as I can barely hit the keyboard after smashing rocks and bricks all day yesterday. ONE of these days I’ll get into the rhythm and start dropping these posts in the moment. (Although, thinking about picking the kids up from daycare is almost as good as actually doing so, right?) So here’s what I’d thought about sharing before — if it’s old news and you don’t care anymore, blame the government. Otherwise, enjoy!
Tuesday:
NIN dropped the first song from its upcoming EP, Add Violence (out Friday), and it’s a smoldering five minute gem, with Reznor’s “Closer”-era piano plinking along amidst the swirling typhoon of vocals and strings. It’s immersive and atmospheric, as some of his best stuff tends to be — it actually wouldn’t sound out of place at the end of Downward Spiral, serving the same purpose as “Hurt” did there, giving a cool, bracing pool to sink into after the chaos and flames of the remainder of the album.
This EP is the second in Reznor’s planned trilogy of EPs, this one coming on the heels of last year’s, Not the Actual Events, with the third installment expected soon. The first one had a couple good ones on it, so we’ll see how this one sounds Friday. In the meantime…
Wednesday:
Pitchfork dropped this teaser for the Keys’ frontman Dan Auerbach’s latest side project (yes, this is in addition to his recently released solo album and his other side project The Arcs), a soundtrack to an upcoming graphic novel, Murder Ballads. The graphic novel is apparently about a record company guy who meets a couple blues musicians and then… stuff happens — killing and slow jams, I’m assuming, based on the title.
Will at least be worth a look, though, based on this offering, a track between Auerbach and Louisiana bluesman Robert Finley whose gravely, soulful voice sounds great on the upbeat number. This thing screams being used for the intro to some new TV drama — season three of True Detective maybe? Check it out in the meantime:
Friday:
Last up is the new video from Grizzly Bear and the latest single from its upcoming album, Painted Ruins, due out in August. They’ve released a mixed bag of previous tracks so far, “Four Cypresses,” “Mourning Sound,” and “Three Rings,” but this one is a lovely successor to the tracks on 2012’s excellent Shields (which ranked #3 on my year end list). The video also captures some of the greatest hits of wifey’s and my weekend cosplaying and relaxation, so it’s nice to see that catching on as well. Enjoy!