TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 2013 (GUARANTEED VAMPIRE WEEKEND-FREE!)

Yes, it's been a really long time since I've been here, updating No Expiration. I'm going to try to return more often in 2014.  You can read a lot of my stuff here at Radio.com, the site I work for (along with a number of websites for CBS owned classic rock, classic hits and Jack stations, along with Chicago's WXRT).

I'm planning on sharing my take on upcoming music events including the GRAMMYs and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as links to some of my interviews, videos and features.  But for now, I'm  returning with my take on the best albums of the year. 

Regarding the headline, I don't really have anything against Vampire Weekend, I am not that familiar with their music (although the few times I've heard their music, it hasn't really kept my attention). I think that they are a "zeitgeist" band - a band who, through a confluence of fans, critical acclaim and an intangible "x factor," are a band who everyone who works in music is expected to pay attention to, and expected to like. That's fine. I definitely like some artists who fall into that category. 

Anyway, I've been having a hard time coming up with an actual order for my favorite albums of the year. In recent years, I've had a handful of albums that rose to the top. In 2007, it was Ben Harper, Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, Mavis Staples and Robert Plant/Alison Krauss. In 2008, the Foxboro Hot Tubs. In 2009, Bob Dylan, the Cocktail Slippers, Rancid and Levon Helm. 2010, it was the Drive-By Truckers and Mavis Staples. 2011: Social Distortion and Foo Fighters. And last year, Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball. 

This year, I have a number of albums that I've enjoyed, but no clear favorites. But I'll try to put them in some sort of order here. So, let's start already!

1. Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite - Get Up! Two generations of blues artists come together. The easiest thing in the world would have been to make this a covers album. Instead, Ben (and the guys from his current band) wrote a bunch of songs that should be blues standards in the years to come. I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing them when their album came out, and that was a huge thrill. Shortly after that, I saw them playing a show at Irving Plaza (way too small of a venue for them) and it was mind-blowingly great. Check out my review, with my wife's amazing photos, here. Anyway, I'm curious to see what Ben does next: I'd love to see him reunite with his old band, the Innocent Criminals, in 2014.

2. Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks This was one that I thought was really overlooked by music critics. But I realize that a white, angry guy forever connected to the '90s who looks like he could totally kick your ass isn't who critics get behind these days.  But whatever. This album was really innovative. Of course, Trent has to compete with his past, which definitely looms large. Pretty Hate Machine, Broken and The Downward Spiral were all game changers. I don't know that he has another earth shaking record in him like that again. And he isn't that guy anymore: he's married, he has kids, has greyhounds. And yet, I think he's still haunted by every artist who ever disappointed him: he doesn't want to get soft, get boring or sell out. And he doesn't. Not only was this a great album, but he supported it with a great tour: first he did the festival circuit (they pretty much blew everyone away, including Mrs. Carter, at Made In America) and then revamped the band, put together a new stage show and raised the game once again on his headlining tour. Check out my review of that, and (again) my wife's amazing photos, here. I should also mention that his album with How To Destroy Angels was great, and their concerts were amazing too. I can't wait to see what Trent does next.

3. Kanye West - Yeezus Ok, I'm with the critics on this one. And yes, I know he's a douche. I've already written about my first (and only) encounter with him, you can read about it here. Do I buy into any of his hype? No. The Wall Street Journal wrote a scathing retort to his complaints that the fashion world is preventing him from entering their world. I wouldn't look to him as a fashion icon anyway. But what he is great at is making records. Of course, sometimes he needs some help and that was the case here: Rick Rubin exec-produced this album, and I'm sure that was a big factor. But Kanye knows a great track when he produces it, and he knows who to collaborate with (he worked with Daft Punk on "Black Skinhead," a highlight of the album). And he's still a compelling MC. I even like "Bound 2" but let's not talk about the video.

4. Mavis Staples - One True Vine Mavis's second collaboration in a row with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. I don't like this one as much as their last record, You Are Not Alone, but this is still pretty great. Once again, Tweedy wrote the best song on the album. Last time, it was the title track, this time it's "Every Step." As great as the songs that Tweedy writes for Wilco are, I think he saves his best songs for Mavis. Another highlight is the cover of Funkadelic's "Can You Get To That." Mavis is the rare artist who improves with age. I went to see her in concert at New York's City Winery, and it was one of the best shows I saw all year. It made you feel good to be alive.  Thank you Mavis.

5. Queens Of The Stone Age - Like Clockwork On one hand, I really like Josh Homme and all of his projects. On the other, I don't always go completely gaga for them as some others do. I really liked the Queens circa Songs For The Deaf, when they had three vocalists: Josh, bassist Nick Oliveri and Mark Lanegan. I thought that they sounded too "samey" once it was just Josh. And then I saw them at the Made In America festival. I thought they were great, and that the new songs were amazing, so I checked out the album, and really loved it. "I Sat By The Ocean" is one of my favorites. Josh got bonus points for calling Jay Z out after playing Made In America. I like some of Jay's stuff, but everyone else falls all over themselves trying to be his pal. Josh comes from a different era and a different school.

6. Arctic Monkeys - AM I really thought all the critics would go crazy over this album. They've been hyping the Arctic Monkeys forever. In my mind, they're one of the few bands that the media go crazy over who actually deserve the hype.  I loved their debut album, 2006's Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, and everything since. But I think this might be their best album. It combines their tight songwriting, which has always been a hallmark of the group, but also adds a lot of the "weirdness" that Josh Homme brought to the group when he produced their 2009 album Humbug. Josh actually sings backing vocals on a couple of songs here, giving him presence on two of my top ten albums of the year. Way to go, Josh!

7. Elvis Costello and the Roots - Wise Up Ghost More proof that both Elvis and the Roots can tackle any kind of music. A lot of this album reminds me of the Specials.  Sometimes these kinds of combinations can come off a bit contrived, but you know that with this one, it was all about mutual admiration and respect. I would love to see them tour together: imagine what Elvis songs they would revisit if they had time to rework some of his classics.  (In my world, Black Thought would be part of the tour and they'd do a bunch of Roots classics as well, Elvis could play along on guitar). Anyway, I'd file this with Elvis's great collab with Allen Toussaint, and the Roots' album with John Legend.

8. Black Sabbath - 13 Like everyone else, I approached this with managed expectations. I mean, could they still make a classic? Well, time will tell, but this album seriously kicked ass. And, OK, it doesn't  quite live up to the first six Sabbath albums, but it's at least as good as Never Say Die! and is better than Technical Ecstasy.  I obviously have a lot of feelings about the band: as I tell everyone I've ever met, I wrote the liner notes to the Black Box, and a while back was interviewed by A&E for a Sabbath doc. I was not disappointed by this album (other than the fact that they couldn't get it together with Bill Ward to have a full reunion; that said, Brad Wilk did a great job on the album, and Tommy Clufetos was great live). A lot of credit is due to producer Rick Rubin (him again!) but also to Ozzy, Tony and Geezer for bringing their A+ game. Especially Tony, who was going through chemo at the time.

9. Walking Papers - Walking Papers A new band featuring Duff McKagan on Guns N Roses and Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees and Mad Season. It sounds like nothing Duff has done, it's really more like Barrett's bands. In fact, singer Jeff Angell sounds a bit like Mark Lanegan. It's definitely a hard rock album, but more of a dusty Tom Waits type blues vibe (not a Clapton blues vibe). I was fortunate enough to interview Duff and Jeff for a Radio.com New Music To Know (read it here) and they were super cool. But what really turned me on to them was seeing them live on the second stage at the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival (see my review and my wife's photos here). They were really great, and I bought their album right there, and then reached out to get an interview. This isn't a "side project," it's a great band, please be clear. I hope they tour in 2014, I want to see them again!

10. Valerie June - Pushin' Against A Stone I also interviewed her for Radio.com's New Music To Know (read it here). I heard about her because some of the songs were produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys (one of my favorite producers) and I think I'd read about her somewhere. I checked out her album and was blown away.  It would be great if she was a "zeitgeist" artist, but she's not going out of her way to enter the conversation for anything other than her amazing singing voice and her great songs. I think music lovers will be following her career for years to come.



So, there you have it. But ten isn't enough, here's a few other albums that I feel I have to add:

• Daft Punk Random Access Memories It has my favorite song of the year (yes, "Get Lucky") and it sees them turning their backs on the EDM scene they may or may not have created, eschewing samples and using all live musicians, including Nile Rodgers. 
• M.I.A. Matangi It has another of my favorite songs of the year ("Bring The Noize"). She's one of the most interesting artists today, consistently. 
• Alice In Chains The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here In which they prove that the "new" lineup, with singer/guitarist William DuVall is for real. One of the most underrated albums of the year. 
• Haim Days Are Gone Yeah, I'm with the critics on this one, too. I don't know how it's "indie" though, it sounds like '80s era Fleetwood Mac and Genesis, and I mean that as a compliment. Especially relative to what most indie rock sounds like these days. I saw them at Made In America and they were incredible. 
• Aaron Neville My True Story In which he revisits his doo-wop past, on a stripped down record produced by Don Was and Keith Richards. 
• Holly Williams The Highway The granddaughter of Hank, her artistry stands on its own. She's great. "Drinkin'" is devastating. 
• Lindi Ortega Tin Star I discovered her opening for Social Distortion, she was great. I wish the press would pay attention to her, she surely deserves it. Another artist who I covered for Radio.com's New Music To Know. A super cool chick as well. 
• Jason Isbell Southeastern The former Drive-By Trucker (who wrote my favorite DBT song, "Never Gonna Change") announced this album by saying it was the best thing he's ever done. Well, it is pretty freaking great. Check it out. 
• Lone Bellow Lone Bellow A great new band, when they sing together it's magic. Do yourself a favor and check them out. 
• Kacey Musgraves Same Trailer Different Park  Another time the critics are right. Her debut is excellent, she will get my vote for Best New Artist at the GRAMMYs. 
• Hanni El-Khatib Head In The Dirt Another Dan Auerbach production, it's great garage rock from L.A. 
• Sara Bareilles The Blessed Unrest I'm sorry to say that I only listened to this after it got a GRAMMY nomination, and well deserved. I interviewed a lot of music writers about her, all of whom were surprised, because she's not part of the zeitgeist, or the conversation. Which is all hte more reason to check this album out. 

Well, that's pretty much it. Bring it, 2014!

WE WALK THE LINE: JOHNNY CASH TRIBUTE

This week, Sony Legacy released We Walk The Line: A Celebration Of The Music Of Johnny Cash. It's a live album of a concert recorded earlier this year in Austin, Texas.  An impressive group of singers joined an amazing house band to pay tribute to the songs that Johnny sang.  He didn't always write the songs he sang, but when the man took a tune on, it belonged to him.

My favorite performance on the album is Lucinda Williams doing Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails classic "Hurt," which Johnny covered on American IV: The Man Comes Around. But there are a lot of great performances here.  Jamey Johnson is kind of the perfect guy to sing Johnny songs: he does "Sunday Morning Coming Down" with Kris Kristofferson, which is great.   Buddy Miller's "Hey Porter" is great, as is the Carolina Chocolate Drops' "Jackson," Shooter Jennings' "Cocaine Blues" and Willie Nelson's "I Still Miss Someone."

The most moving part of the night might have been the cover of The Highwaymen's "Highwayman."  The Highwaymen were, of course, Cash, Willie, Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings.  So, this version featured Willie and Kristofferson, along with Jamey Johnson singing Johnny's part, and Shooter singing his dad's part.  I got chills listening.  Also, the arrangement is way cooler than the original from the album.

I have to give it up to the house band: Buddy Miller on guitar, Blue Note Records president Don Was on bass, Greg Leisz on slide guitar, Kenny Aronoff on drums and Ian McLagan on keyboards.  Mr. McLagan actually told me all about the show in a recent interview. He told me there'd probably be some kind of tour supporting it, with the house band and different singers in each city.  I hope that that's still on.  Hell, I don't care if they get any famous singers: just put Buddy Miller on the mic, that's good enough for me!

"(AHK-TOONG BAY-BI) COVERED" REVIEWED

There were so many great releases towards the end of 2011, so if you have missed this gem I'll give you a pass.  But it's time to catch up!  (Ahk-toong Bay-bi) Covered is a tribute to U2's classic Achtung Baby LP from 1991. The original is one of my favorite albums ever, so I was a bit worried about this... but the talent lineup on it is incredible.

By the way, this was originally available only in the UK, it came with an issue of Q magazine. In the US, you can download it at iTunes, with proceeds going towards Concern, an organization dedicated to working with the world's poorest people to improve their lives.

The album starts out with Nine Inch Nails covering "Zoo Station," which is surprising on several levels. One, I thought Trent Reznor was done with NIN.  I guess not?  Second, I thought he didn't like U2, although I guess if he liked any of their albums, it would be this one (when it came out, I thought it sounded like U2 were influenced by NIN's debut, 1989's Pretty Hate Machine). Third, NIN's versions is so different.  It's much more subtle, and a bit creepier than U2's.

Patti Smith, one of U2's biggest influences, honors them with her piano based cover of "Until The End Of The World." Accompanied by her sons on piano and guitar, and a bass player, it's much different and more sober, and maybe more sad, than the original.

Garbage, who opened for U2, makes their return to active duty with "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?"  Like U2 during this era, Garbage wrestle with getting soul into the intersection of humans playing instruments and programmed computer music.  Few do it well, but U2 and Garbage both did. I look forward to hearing Garbage's comeback album.

Depeche Mode, a peer of U2's, picked the perfect song for themselves with "So Cruel." It's interesting to hear them cover something from this era, since Achtung Baby (and Zooropa and Pop) are the closest U2 came to Depeche Mode's electronic sound. I've always thought that this is one of U2's most underrated songs (if I remember correctly, it's the only song from the album they didn't play on the tour).  Depeche Mode really put their own spin on it.

Friend of U2 Gavin Friday takes one of my favorites, "The Fly," and makes it sound a bit sneakier.  It's a bit more electronic, and like NIN's "Zoo Station," mostly strips The Edge's badass riff from the song.  It almost sounds like he's covering a remix. It's very cool though.

One of my favorite artists, Jack White closes the album with a very emotional "Love Is Blindness," the closest thing to a blues song U2 has ever done.  The Edge wrote that one when he was going through a divorce, and sadly, Jack just went through one. He brings a lot of sorrow to the song,  it's the highlight of the album for me, and one of the best songs of 2011.

I don't love every song on the album, and of course you can just buy the songs you like, but because the money goes to a worthy cause, I downloaded the whole thing.

TRENT REZNOR: WHAT'S HE DOING IN THERE?

Trent Reznor has been posting photos at nin.com and today he tweeted this photo with the message "last day of the session!"  Nine Inch Nails has been put to bed, maybe this is his first real solo effort. I don't know who those two guys are. Of course, that's Trent in the back. Trent Reznor has a lot of currency with me, I have total respect for the guy. I would be willing to buy a Trent record without even having heard it. Plus, I'm happy to support a fellow greyhound person (I don't like saying "owner").

BEST OF THE 00's: TRENT REZNOR

I remember reading an interview with Trent Reznor in about 2000 where he pointed out that Nine Inch Nails' The Fragile album debuted at #1 and falling sharply from that slot the following week was viewed as a failure, but Radiohead's Kid A doing pretty much the same was seen as an artistic triumph, because such an uncompromising album reached #1. He had a point. There's been a weird bias against Trent in the past decade, I think he's often been seen as "of the '90s" and given the fact that he had his commercial peak during that decade doesn't help the perception. And, as a fan, I'll admit that his '90s albums were always different than what came before: Pretty Hate Machine (actually released in 1989, but which became one of the most influential albums of the '90s), the Broken EP (1992) and of course 1994's The Downward Spiral. I don't think the albums that he has done since then have had the same "quantum leap" vibe to them, but they have always been really great. I think rock critics are more comfortable with the likes of Radiohead (and Animal Collective, and Pavement) than a more aggressive and ambitious band like Nine Inch Nails.

The first half of the decade was not too eventful for Trent, apparently he was battling demons on a number of fronts: drugs and a former manager. But in 2005, he returned with a really underrated album, With Teeth. The leadoff track, "All The Love In The World," actually sounded like it was heralding another totally new sound, but even though that wasn't the case, the album still had some classics, especially "The Hand That Feeds," which was one of the first glimpses of the anti-Bush direction Trent soon went in. Musically, Rick Rubin helped Trent out with the album (although he wasn't the producer) and Dave Grohl contributed live drums to lots of the songs.

In 2007, Year Zero was preceeded with an alternate reality game that Trent orchestrated with a technology company... and without the help of his record label.  At the point, started becoming as innovative as a buiness guy (for lack of a better term) as he was with his music. He knew that record labels as we knew them were circling the drain, he wasn't sorry to see them go, but he wasn't going down with them. He actually deserves the same credit that a Radiohead, or Aimee Mann or Jeff Tweedy deserve for creating their own path. Anyway, Year Zero was a great album, and may yet be developed into a TV show or film or something else.

In 2008, he started charting that course with Ghosts I-IV, a double album of all instrumentals. Not my favorite album, but super interesting how he did it. The pricing varied from free (you could download the first nine tracks, free of charge) to $350 for the most deluxe version (which sold out of its 2500 run in one day). Some felt that the Ghosts thing was a cop-out, since the lower sales for the album were a given, since instrumental albums don't generally sell that well anway. Later that year, he released another album, The Slip (this one a more "conventional" NIN album). Which was written, recorded and released within three weeks (and offered as a free download). The tour for the album was one of the most elaborate and intense (and poorly-attended - the upper level of the Izod Center was totally barren) that I have ever seen.

I was glad that Trent said that he would retire Nine Inch Nails this year. Trent has recently said on nin.com that there's some unreleased NIN music coming out in 2010, and some music that isn't Nine Inch Nails.  I think he has a lot of great music left in him, and I'm sure he will still perform NIN songs if he feels like it. But it seems like a great time for his next evolution, and I can't wait to see how that manifests itself.

More Best Of The '00s: Bob Dylan
Willie Nelson
Aimee Mann
Jeff Tweedy
David Johansen
Levon Helm
The Beatles
Jim James
U2
Steve Earle
Ben Harper
Alicia Keys
Norah Jones

TRENT REZNOR IS SERIOUS ABOUT THIS RETIREMENT THING

I'm sure some people doubt that Trent Reznor was serious about retiring Nine Inch Nails, but nin.com announced that lots of NIN stuff is on the auction block at ebay, and they are selling lots of merchandise from the band's recent tours. I have no doubt that Trent will continue to make music, but not under the "Nine Inch Nails" name. I look at this like when David Bowie ditched his "Ziggy Stardust" persona. Maybe Trent should have done it earlier. On the other hand, the NIN shows this summer were awesome.

LOLLAPALOOZA - WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

I'm talking the '90s version of Lollapalooza, here. I respect the fact that they've totally redefined the festival for a new decade, but playing Lollapalooza doesn't really mean what it used to. From 1991 - 1997, they featured some of the coolest alt-rock and hip-hop artists, plus other artists like Metallica and George Clinton, and managed to avoid having the more clone-y bands like Bush, Stone Temple Pilots and Candlebox on the tour, although it would have been really easy to sign those bands up.

Tomorrow on OutQ, I'll be talking about three Lollapalooza veterans who have new albums out: Pearl Jam, Living Colour and Alice In Chains. But I thought I'd offer a separate post about the whereabouts of some of the other artists:

Jane's Addiction: their summer tour was mind blowing. The went into the studio to re-record two songs from their debut, with Trent Reznor producing, but I have a hard time seeing them do a new full-length album. I bet they'll continue to tour, while pursuing seperate projects.

Nine Inch Nails: toured with Jane's this summer - they were also incredible. After the tour, Trent did a few last NIN club dates and said that that was it. I think this is kind of like what Trent's hero David Bowie has done - left something really successful behind, but he can access it whenever he wants. Bowie "retired" the Ziggy Stardust persona, but still performs songs from that era if he feels like it.

Ice-T: His personality is almost bigger than his music, and he is most visable as an actor these days on Law & Order: SVU.

Henry Rollins: Like Ice-T, most people know who he is, but they probably couldn't name many of his songs. He just got a role on the Sons Of Anarchy show, he hosts his own IFC talk show and does spoken word tours.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers: working on a new album!

Ministry: Al Jourgenson has retired the band, but one of his other bands, The Revolting Cocks. The catch is, he doesn't tour with RevCo anymore but is a special guest on select dates.

Ice Cube: still makes music, but is a much bigger force in film than music these days: he's not just an actor, he directs, produces and writes.

Soundgarden: still broken up! Chris Cornell continues his solo career, and Matt Cameron has been Pearl Jam's drummer for over a decade now.

Primus: one of my favorite bands ever. They broke up in the late '90s and reunited a few years later. I don't think they'll ever do another album, but they'll probably tour here and there. Les Claypool is a very active solo artist, he's also directed a film, written a novel, and is starting his own wine label.

Fishbone: They still tour, but singer/sax player/stone cold entertainer Angelo Moore and bassist Norwood Fisher are the only original members left. Rocky George from Suicidal Tendencies also plays in the current lineup, but there are rumors of a reunion of the originals.

Tool: They toured this summer, and are supposedly going to do a new album. Maynard's main priority is his winery in Arizona, and he's sort of deactivated his other band, A Perfect Circle, but he still has his solo project, Pussyfier.

Rage Against The Machine: I think they will exist as a touring band, I don't see them ever making a new album. Tom Morello is really into his new group, Street Sweeper Social Club, and I think he will continue to do acoustic music as The Nightwatchman. It's been over a year since Zach de la Rocha released his EP with One Day As A Lion, I don't know what's up with that.

Smashing Pumpkins: Still around, it's Billy Corgan and whoever he hires. He also plans to work with other projects.

The Beastie Boys: have been reissuing their catalog, and waiting for Adam Yauch to recover from throat surgery.

A Tribe Called Quest: occasionally perform, but Q-Tip mainly focuses on his solo career now

Green Day: one of the biggest bands in the world!


Hole: kind of like Billy/Pumpkins, Courtney Love says she is Hole, and has hired a new version of the band. But she needs to chill.

TRENT REZNOR ANNOUNCES NINE INCH NAILS' LAST U.S. SHOWS (FOR REAL!)

The summer tour with Jane's Addiction was supposed to be Nine Inch Nails' final U.S. dates (actually Bonaroo was supposed to be the last one) but Trent Reznor has decided that the last shows shouldn't be (a) shows with short settimes due to co-headlining and (b) shows in daylight. So he has just announced some final club shows in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago on nin.com. Of course, one of Trent's biggest influences is David Bowie, who has "retired" a few times.

I presume that he isn't retiring Nine Inch Nails to reunite with The Exotic Birds. Check out this 1985 TV interview!

NINJA '09 TOUR HITS PNC

Last night
I went to one of the best shows I've ever seen: NINJA '09: Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction and Street Sweeper Social Club. 

SSSC was great - some people will obviously compare them to Rage Against The Machine because it is a Tom Morello-led band with a hip-hop MC. But Boots Reilly is different than Zach de la Rocha (and Chris Cornell) in that he enjoys being onstage. He's as politically informed as Zach, but he's more fun. I don't know if this band will be a great as Rage, but I'm looking forward to finding out when their debut album comes out in a week and a half. 

NIN were mind-blowing. Even when Trent Reznor was having substance issues (he recently tweeted that he's now eight years sober, congratulations), you never doubted him onstage. Sober, he's unstoppable. NIN had four guys - they used to always have five, but the keyboardist left, and I guess Trent didn't want to get a new guy in the band right as he's about to hang it up. So he and the other guys in the band played the keyboards, and it didn't seem lacking at all. Trent seemed to have an extra intensity -- he doesn't seem sure that he'll ever tour as Nine Inch Nails again. I can understand that: he's in his 40s, he's getting married, and screaming "Terrible Lie" may not feel honest to him anymore. I think he can move on the way Bowie moved on from his early glam persona. Anyway, Trent also resisted the urge to make the show a greatest hits goodbye, and the the show was more powerful for it. He drew from his more recent albums like The Slip and Year Zero, as well as the earlier stuff -- it was basically a thank you to fans (in my mind). It wasn't about the songs that radio/MTV choose to play, it was about the hardcore fans who have been with them for the entire ride. A greatest radio hits show would not have been appropriate. It was definitely appreciated. 

Jane's was also incredible. I've seen them twice before: once with Flea on bass, and the other time with Chris Chaney. Both shows were great, but seeing them with original bassist Eric Avery was a totally different deal.  There's just something about the chemistry of the original four guys, it was unbelievably powerful. It's interesting that the last time Jane's and NIN toured together it was the original Lollapalooza in 1991 - 18 years ago.  Back then, it was JA's swan song and it kind of launched NIN's career. This tour, hopefully is the opposite: as Trent shuts down NIN for the time being, maybe this tour will relaunch Jane's.  It's hard to imagine that they'll be able to make records anywhere near as good as their first three. But even if they didn't - and this ends up being a the final chapter in the Jane's story, it was a good way to end, with the four originals rocking together again. 

TRENT REZNOR: FORCE FOR GOOD

There are probably a lot of people who would claim that Trent Reznor saved their life - or at least influenced it - via his incredible music with Nine Inch Nails. But a guy named Eric de la Cruz may actually thank Trent for adding years to his life. He has a rare condition and needs a heart transplant to survive. Trent found out about it, and started offering VIP packages to the NIN/Jane's Addiction/Street Sweeper tour and tweeted about it -- all the money he raised went to Eric's medical costs. So far, they have raised over $800,000. Wow.

On a slightly less dramatic note, Trent also rescues greyhounds (as does No Expiration) - they are great animals, and the fact that they are treated the way they are just shows how barbaric humans can be. Learn more about these truly incredible animals here.

The media seems to ignore Trent these days, which probably is mostly fine with him. But it's worth mentioning that he has done as much as Bruce Springsteen to fight ticket scalping, gotten the original lineup of Jane's Addiction back in the studio, and gave away the latest Nine Inch Nails album, The Slip, for free. And he's put out great music (most unnoticed), played incredible shows (mostly unreported on), and allows fans to interact with his content for free -- he basically lives up to the promise of the internet in a way that few other artists do.

I have never met him, although I expect he would probably wince at the thought of being considered a "do-gooder," but he actually done some great stuff on the moral front (as opposed to just the music and technological fronts). But I guess no one would have expected Adam Yauch of The Beastie Boys to become a peace activist or Fat Mike from NOFX to be a force in encouraging young people to vote. I guess it's just part of growing up -- and I don't mean that in a bad way.

NINE INCH NAILS' IPHONE APP

Congratulations to Trent Reznor: Apple approved of his Nine Inch Nails iPhone app. Find out more about it here. Wired has been covering the story, read what they had to say about it here. It's just another way that Trent is totally cutting his own path through the his post-major label career. He brings the creativity that fires his music to every aspect of his career, and that's why he will have a career that lasts as long as he wants it to. 

NINE INCH NAILS' IPHONE APP

Trent Reznor is a really smart guy -- not only has he made some of the best music of the past two decades, he is changing the way artists interact with their fans, and always treating the fans with respect. He has always worked with technology, and not fought it. And that's why he is in a position to do whatever he wants to, without having to worry about the music industry. Check out this article about the soon-to-be-approved (hopefully) Nine Inch Nails iPhone app.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: THE INDIGO GIRLS, PEARL JAM, NIN AND STREET SWEEPER

Tomorrow on OutQ, I'll be talking about the brand-new

Indigo Girls album, Poseidon and the Bitter Bug (the deluxe edition has a second disc with acoustic versions of all the songs) and the big kahuna reissue of Pearl Jam's classic debut, Ten. My lovely wife got me this for my birthday: it has the original album on LP and CD, a new version remixed by Brendan O'Brien on LP and CD, a live concert from 1992 on LP, MTV Unplugged on DVD and thier original demo on cassette.

I'll also be talking about some of the songs on the FREE Nine Inch Nails/Jane's Addiction/Street Sweeper EP that you can get at NINJA2009.com.

If I have time, I'll talk about another one of my favorite artists, Hamell On Trial, who I need to write about more here. Next week: it's all Stevie Nicks.

GET A FREE NIN/JANE'S/STREET SWEEPER EP

Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction and Tom Morello's new band Street Sweeper are offering a free mp3 EP of unreleased tracks (easy in Street Sweeper's case, since they haven't actually released anything yet). All you have to do is give your email address. Get it at NINJA2009. 

TRENT REZNOR SOUNDS OFF ON TICKET SCALPING

Trent Reznor doesn't just spend his time online slamming Chris Cornell: he just wrote a very informative essay about ticket scalping.  It's even more detailed than Bruce Springsteen's recent post on the same topic. Check it out. 

DOUBLE AWESOME NEWS: TOM MORELLO HAS A NEW GROUP (and they're gonna open for NIN and Jane's)

First off: Tom Morello has a new band, Street Sweeper,
featuring Boots Riley of The Coup. It's more Rage Against The Machine than Nightwatchman. Check them out here.

And secondly, Street Sweeper is making the best tour of the year, Nine Inch Nails with Jane's Addiction, even better. Trent Reznor just tweeted that they are the opening act on the tour. Man, if that show wasn't already mind-blowing.

NINE INCH NAILS / JANE'S ADDICTION TOUR DATES

Trent Renzor has posted some at the Nine Inch Nails website.

NINE INCH NAILS AND JANE'S ADDICTION TO TOUR THIS SUMMER!!!

Apologies for the extra exclamation points in the title, I'm not
an "all caps and exclamation points" type guy. But seeing the photo of Trent Reznor in the studio with Dave Navarro was exciting enough, and not Trent is confirming the rumors: he has produced a new Jane's Addiction album, which will include founding bass player Eric Avery. Trent actually did one better: on his website he posted a note called "A Note From Trent and a Wave Goodbye," and said that Nine Inch Nails will be touring with Jane's. Both bits of news are mindblowing. Trent also mentioned that after this tour, he would be hanging up NIN, at least for a while. Probably a good idea: he's been so prolific with NIN in the past few years, I think he may benefit from doing things like producing other artists, and getting out of his own "comfort zone." At any rate, this is pretty much the must-see show of the summer.

BONNAROO: SPRINGSTEEN, PHISH, BEASTIES AND NINE INCH NAILS

I did a search for "Bruce Springsteen" on a well known mainstream web site and the latest headline I found was "Springsteen, Phish, Beasties, NIN Set For Bonnaroo" and the first few lines included mentinons of Wilco, Al Green, Snoop Dogg and Elvis Costello. But when I clicked to see the story, it was "no article found." But the Bonnaroo site says the announcement will be tomorrow. Seeing how Bruce and Phish have been heavily rumored to be playing the festival, and it definitely fits into Bruce's tour schedule, this makes sense.

BEST OF '08: NINE INCH NAILS

In 2008, Nine Inch Nails really started forging their own path in a way that so many artists talk about doing, but they rarely actually go through with it. Trent Reznor gave away music, released as much music as he wanted, didn't waste time thinking about trends or the market and did pretty well thanks to the loyalty of a large base of hardcore fans. So I rate NIN as part of my best of '08 both because of Trent's music but also the decisions that he's made.  Honestly, I don't know how often I'll listen through Ghosts I-IV, but I do think that The Slip is a great album.