My 2013 Best Of

• Black Sabbath - 13
• The Bronx - IV
• David Bowie - The Next Day
• Gary Numan - Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)
• Iggy & The Stooges - Ready To Die
• My Bloody Valentine - m b v
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away
• Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks
• Superchunk - I Hate Music
• Yo La Tengo - Fade

As always, my definition of best means albums I was motivated to purchase and listen to repeatedly.  My honorable mention for 2013 includes ...

• Boards Of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
• Queens Of The Stone Age - ... Like Clockwork
• The Thermals - Desperate Ground
• They Might Be Giants - Nanobots
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II

Goddamn Morrissey

Pulled in its entirety from The A.V. Club (because it's hilarious) ...

Morrissey has cancelled his upcoming South American tour, citing a lock of proper funding. The mope rock singer posted an open letter lamenting the tour’s tanking and the state of his life in general, saying, like only Morrissey can:

“In a year when far too many disappointments have been buried this really is the last of many final straws, and I am not alone in feeling this. The future is suddenly absent, and my apologies are now so frequent as to be somewhat ridiculous, and it is I who apologize because no one else would bother. It is agonizing to be responsible for imparting such news - especially when it springs upon me unexpectedly and inexplicably. But the collapse of South America rings the curtain down with a colossal thud, and the major problems remain as insoluble now as they were in 2009. The obvious conclusion stares back at me from the mirror, and the wheels are finally off the covered wagon. Cancellations and illness have sucked the life out of all of us, and the only sensible solution seems to be the art of doing nothing.”

The singer ends his by saying, “I shall see you in my dreams,” whatever that means. If you see Morrissey, give him a hug.

Wow!

Nailed it.

Josh Freese Is The Man

Here's a couple of NIN videos featuring rehearsals of "1,000,000" and "Letting You," two songs off The Slip. These are live performances, mind you. Tight band.

Not sure what "1,000,000" is about, but based on some other things I've read about Reznor's political leanings, I'd guess "Letting You" is about the Bush Regime.

"We're letting you get away with it!"

Check 'em out here.

Not That Any Of YOU Care

From Wired:

Trent Reznor has been telling the whole world how happy he is to be free from his record label. Now the Nine Inch Nails mastermind has unveiled a post-label strategy that takes Radiohead's In Rainbows concept further by leveraging BitTorrent and releasing songs under a Creative Commons license that permits purchasers to remix the tracks.

The full version of the new Nine Inch Nails album, Ghosts I-IV, contains 36 songs split into four volumes. Reznor (and/or his representatives) uploaded the first volume into BitTorrent, where it can be downloaded free.

The entire 36-song version can be purchased digitally (in the MP3 format) for a mere $5 from Amazon MP3 or the band's website, NIN.com. At this point, the site has slowed to a crawl due to the tremendous response to Sunday's release -- Reznor says they're adding more servers to cope with demand.

I bought the whole enchilada but can't download it 'til I get home. The article doesn't mention it, but these songs are all instrumental. So anybody who had a problem with Reznor's lyrics in the past (myself included) can listen guilt-free. The article also doesn't mention that Adrian Belew contributes guitar on a ton of these songs. NIN music for the non-NIN fan? Who knows ...

At the very least, check out the folder of goodies that Fell To Pieces. There's a 40-page pdf of GORGEOUS photos, plus some other schtuff.