Mr. Self Destruct and The Science of Sound

Rusty Belmonte — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:09:44 +0000

A good friend, Josh Walters of Leroy Townes and the Lonestars, sent me a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Mr. Self Destruct” that he recorded on a whim. He whipped up a nice slide show to accompany it and I’ve embedded it below. I’ve had the privilege of performing music with Josh on a number of occasions and, in fact, he was my next door neighbor for a number of years. I post the video here because I know a few members of the Minority who are big NIN fans and I found the cover to be quite haunting.

I think this is a good example of a cover worth recording. If you’re familiar with the Trent Reznor’s original piece you’ll quickly notice how much of the cover was created out of whole cloth. This approach to covers either works well or ends disastrously. I enjoyed this. Anyway, here’s props to childhood friendship:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I haven’t posted in a while so you’re probably all wondering what I’m reading these days. I’m a few years late on this but Daniel J. Levitin’s “This Is Your Brain on Music” has been a page turner since I started it on Monday. Its a must-read for any musician who, ya know, can actually read. Levitin is a session guitarist turned neuroscientist who details how music engages our minds. The book is wildly informative and, so far, has taught me a whole lot about timbre (rhymes with amber). That’s actually a good gauge as to whether you should read the book. If you like music and don’t know what timbre is then get your ass to the bookstore.

Finally, I feel I owe everyone an explanation for the reason my posts have been few and far between. For art’s sake, I’ve cleverly hidden the explanation in the haiku found below. Enjoy!

Some health insurance?

I have none. But I might have

A staph infection.

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Mr. Self Destruct and The Science of Sound