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In what will no doubt be used as future fodder to demonize Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails yesterday put out an album called the Slip for free on their website. You can download the entire thing in any number of formats, which Trent will likely lord over Thom York, especially after their announced plans of going back to conventional record sales.
I will say that if this hasn’t already, it should show artists that this is the best way to keep a dedicated pool of hardcore fans. Sure, sign up with a record company for a record or two so that they can help you get some radio play, because unsigned bands are still non-existent on commercial radio. But once you have a name and a fan-base, bail off to the internet and serve your fans music for free and they’ll keep you in Navigators and infinity pools for life with concert revenues.
Good news! Pearl Jam is back in the studio. Not only are they in the studio, they’re back in with the guy that produced most of their more commercially successful records. Brendan O’Brien, the producer behind Vs., Vitology and Yield will be working with Pearl Jam on their 9th studio album. Mike McCready says, “It’s really in its infant stages right now. We have about five ideas that have been worked out.” Apparently they’ve already had one session with O’Brien and they’re have another in July.
One way or another, Duff, Slash and Matt Sorum are the real reason for the tensions and ultimate dismissal of Scott Weiland from Velvet Revolver. For the longest time I blamed Scott because he was a junkie known for flaking out and doing generally stupid stuff, but apparently it was actually the former members of GNR who are to blame. Not because they were the ones acting unprofessional, getting high and generally committing random acts of asshattery. No, it’s because they keep getting into bands with dudes like Scott and Axl.
Scott knows. That’s why he too is blaming everyone else in the band for his removal. Weiland says, “I was in a band where at the end, it was pretty much three against one. And so I’m pretty sure that it felt that way to Axl as well. Everyone has made Axl out to be this horrendously crazy person, this bad guy, and I don’t know him very well at all… My point being that having been in a band with Velvet Revolver for five and a half years, I’m not quite so sure that it was all Axl’s fault. It’s like, why does it always have to be the lead singer?”
Scott, using Axl as a basis of comparison is like Saddam Hussein using Pol Pot as a character reference. “Why does everyone think Pol Pot was such a bad guy. Has anyone ever thought that maybe all those dudes that he executed were douchebags? It’s kinda like that with me and the Kurds. They were total dicks.” |
