Nine Inch Nails: The Slip

Nine Inch Nails has released a new album for free download called "The Slip." I've listened to it a few times so far I like it but don't love it. They have also announced several North American tour dates, none of which I'll likely be able to attend. I guess that's not such a loss. I have this simulation to keep me entertained.

Nine Inch Nails: Discipline [UPDATED]

Looks like Trent Reznor is up to some shenanigans again:

Trent Reznor has done it again. Nine Inch Nails has released a new single, "Discipline," exclusively to radio this afternoon. The song was just finished and mastered in the studio yesterday, with a 24-hour turnaround to radio. The band will also allow radio stations to link online to an exclusive download of the song, as no one else will be licensed to release it for a few months. The band also promises "more news tomorrow," and Reznor posted yesterday on NIN.com, cryptically saying "2 weeks!" and nothing more.

I'm a huge industrial/metal fan and Nine Inch Nails is my favorite band (as ridiculous as his politics are... don't get me started) so I'm pretty excited. Ghosts I-IV was quite good in my opinion and I'm eager to see what this new stuff is like.

I'll let you know after I hear it on the way home.

Update: I still haven't heard it because the shitty radio stations in my area didn't play it during rush hour so I'll have to download it when I get home tonight. You can get the file here for free. I guess Trent is really into this new media business model.

Review Update: So, I listened to it today after work and I like it, I guess. It's nothing mind blowing. It feels like pretty standard NIN, dancy fare with a solid rooting in With Teeth. I like it more than most of Year Zero in terms of staying power but it isn't nearly as creative or cutting edge. I guess I'm eager to see what it accompanies in 'two weeks.'

Are You Ready to Rachmoninov?

While it is now the time for dance at the Flea's sanctum, it is instead the time at Moron Pundit where we sit in slack-jawed wonder at the amazing talent of the world's virtuosos. Over Thanksgiving, I gave thanks for my brother's visit home from graduate school at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

We were discussing Tori Amos (a mutual obsession of ours) and our conversation meandered to the most difficult piano pieces of all time. He mentioned Bach concertos that were written without the foreknowledge that anyone would ever play them and even now there are probably less than a dozen who can. In an attempt to see what that must look like, I hunted tried to hunt down the most difficult concerto in history. Many pointed to Rachmoninov's Concerto 3. Watch this (there are 4 previous parts):

Pay particular attention to the left hand (my brother said he was notorious for ridiculous left parts) as it starts to look like he's having a seizure in the last minute of the piece.

Amazing!

So, is this actually the most difficult piano piece in history? Can you brilliant readers recommend a more difficult piece? I'd love to see it.

Also, I found a website called Classic Cat that archives thousands of free classical downloads. Delightful!