via bb-blog and Savage Chickens.

“Brian Eno and I recently finished our first collaboration in about 30 years. For the most part, Brian did the music and I wrote some tunes, words and sang. It’s familiar but completely new as well. We’re pretty excited. In August the music will be available via this Web site, free for streaming and it will also be available for purchase as both a download and in physical formats. One of the songs will be available free of charge.” - David Byrne.

Album scheduled for release August 18. More info here.

Just how compelling can you make the physical release of an album that has been downloaded (for free) 1.6 million times since May 5?

Nine Inch Nails‘ The Slip is now available as a limited edition CD with bonus DVD. This will be a one-time only worldwide run of 250,000 individually numbered digipacks. Each digipack art directed by Rob Sheridan (whose portfolio is worth checking out in its own right) features a six-panel layout, 24 page booklet and athree sticker set. The bonus DVD includes 5 live performances filmed during rehearsals for Nine Inch Nails’ upcoming tour, including album tracks Echoplex, 1,000,000 and Letting You.

Vinyl fans however, will have to wait until August. What’s in store is a gatefold vinyl version of The Slip which contains one 180gm vinyl LP and a 24-page booklet.

Black Metal is a genre that I could and would never get into. But this photo essay by Peter Beste of the movement in its traditional home of Norway is both compelling and intriguing in equal measure. It sheds light on what is perhaps the darkest form of musical expression today.

“In the last two decades a bizarre and violent musical subculture called black metal has emerged in Norway. It’s roots stem from a heady blend of horror films, extreme heavy metal music, Satanism, pagan mythology, and adolescent angst. In the early-mid 1990’s, members of this extremist underground committed murder, burned down medieval wooden churches, and desecrated graveyards. What started as a juvenile frenzy came to symbolize the start of a war against Christianity, a return to the worship of the ancient Norse gods, and the complete rejection of mainstream society.  I have spent the last 7 years photographing in this insulated and secretive community.” - Peter Beste

Directed by James Frost, Track from In Rainbows.

“In Radiohead’s new video for “House of Cards”, no cameras or lights were used. Instead, 3D plotting technologies collected information about the shapes and relative distances of objects. The video was created entirely with visualizations of that data.” And btw, the song is awesome too.

What a find! The Hussy’s are a Glaswegian sextet I discovered on twitter. There is good Pop and there is great Pop. This clearly falls in the latter category. The Hussy’s got their pop sensibilities all right and all in the right place - fun, melodic and catchy without being vacuous. After a series of EPs, The Hussy’s are set to release their debut album, Super Pro on August 8. Listen to The Hussy’s here.

The Hussy’s are Fili (vocals), James McColl (formerly from The Supernaturals) (guitar), Steph McGourty (bass), Ronnie Smith (guitar), Gordo McNeil (drums) and Greg Barnes (keyboards).

“It does not exist. It’s a figment of a lame cunt’s imagination.”

Interesting typographic video using the voice over of Claude Bessey in the 1981 rockumentary, The Decline of Western Civilization (directed by Penelope Spheeris).

There is no such thing as New Wave from luze duze on Vimeo.

To me, the shift in the design of metal albums came in the mid-90s when nu (or new, take your pick) metal emerged. Beginning with this new generation of bands, the usual imagery associated with the subject matter of the genre was eschewed in favor of bolder and more graphic based elements.

This seems to have taken a another step with what is perhaps one of the year’s most anticipated metal releases, Cavalera Conspiracy’s Inflikted, even if only because it marks a reunion of sorts between brothers Max and Igor Cavalera. The former left Sepultura under what some believe to be circumstances that arose from his wife’s management of the band. No doubt parallels were drawn with that of Yoko Ono’s role in the demise of the Beatles.

Cavalera Conspiracy stays true to the Cavaleras’ musical roots but the design vocabulary of the album brings to mind the premise of Stranger In A Strange Land. After all metal albums aren’t usually heavy with Helvetica (liner notes, song titles and lyrics). Is there a fan of Helvetica in Cavalera Conspiracy? Throw in the liberal use of white and white space paired with the equally sparse and bold compositions of the photography, Inflikted has probably broken new ground in album design.

The firm behind this is Surface to Air which also directed the video for Sanctuary. See the slide show of the artwork for Inflikted here. There is a picture of Igor Cavalera wearing this tee. Perhaps he’s the Helvetica fan.

No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980 is a visual history by Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) and veteran rock critic, Byron Coley of the cacophonous and nihilistic collision of punk and Dadaism. From the book’s description:

“This is the first book to visually chronicle the collision of art and punk in the New York underground of 1976 to 1980. This in-depth look at punk rock, new wave, experimental music, and the avant-garde art movement of the 70s and 80s focuses on the true architects No Wave from James Chance to Lydia Lunch to Glenn Branca, as well as the luminaries that intersected the scene, such as David Byrne, Debbie Harry, Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, and Richard Hell. This rarely documented scene was the creative stomping ground of young artists and filmmakers from Jean-Michel Basquiat to Jim Jarmusch, as well as the musical genesis for the post-punk explosions of Sonic Youth. Thurston Moore and Byron Coley have selected 150 unforgettable images, most of which have never been published previously, and compiled hundreds of hours of personal interviews to create an oral history of the movement, providing a never-before-seen exploration and celebration of No Wave.”

You can buy it here.

Update: Embedding removed. This is what I can’t understand. It’s just a freakin’ music video. Watch it here instead.

via one+infinity.

No Age, art-punk duo from L.A. Brilliant stuff. Read more about them here.

NIN is offering its latest album, The Slip, free online. Trent Reznor said: “Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years — this one’s on me.” Go to the band’s web site, www.nin.com for the download. Those who want something to hold will have to wait until at least July for the CD and vinyl.

After 10 years, Portishead is back with “Third” which will be available from tomorrow.

“Instead of mellowing with age or returning to a signature sound, the band has fractured and splintered that sound, plunging even deeper into loneliness and anxiety. “Third” is unlikely to become fashionable background music; it’s too bleak, too daring, too exposed.” Read more of the New York Times’ piece here.

“Machine Gun” is the first video off the album.

via 37signals.