The Rural Minority

OK, OK, let’s call a spade a spade.  We’ve got three more video teasers from How To Destroy Angels (see below), a sweet viral marketing campaign, and a cryptic website.  I was wrong.  The Rural Minority regrets the error.  I’m an asshole and a sexist to boot.  Count me amongst the masses excited to hear the music that this project produces.

I’m also looking forward to the day when Reznor tweets or blogs about the evils of YouTube.  That’s the only explanation for his apparent Vimeo fetish, right?  He’s sticking it to the capitalists or some shit?

In other news, Nashville has flooded.  You may not have heard because national news outlets decided to pick up the story only a few hours ago well after 15 people had died in Tennessee alone.  Luckily, this story, having to do with significantly less news-worthy water problems in a major metro area sat atop the NY Times website almost the entire weekend.  See below for some of the more sobering pictures of the damage so far (and also a really great tribute song already penned about the incident).  Be warned, however, that the Cumberland is still a’risin’.  The worst may be ahead of us.

Ever since Trent Reznor announced the “end” of Nine Inch Nails there’s been a ton of speculation as to what is next for him.  It hasn’t ever been in doubt that he intended to keep making music.  Watch the video below for the first verifiable clue as to where he’s headed…

Obviously, the snippet of  music doesn’t provide us with much to go on.  But according to Pitchfork, Reznor and his new bride Mariqueen Maandig are now How To Destroy Angels.  If there’s two things that almost always destroy creative genius its sobriety and women.  Reznor got sober and his music, while still good, didn’t reach “The Downward Spiral” or “Fragile” levels.  And now he’s added a wife.  A wife that he’s making music with.  [Insert John Lennon and Yoko Ono joke.]

Call me skeptical but don’t you dare call me sexist.  It isn’t my fault women don’t ever make music that’s worth a damn.  It is God’s fault for creating them inferior to men in every way.  Again, please don’t call me a sexist.

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:

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.