Are the other albums on that hip-hop vote worth listening to as well?

I can't speak for all of them, but I personally voted for Aesop Rock's album for Hip-Hop Album of the Year. But, anyway, Dizzee Rascal, El-P, Little Brother and Sage Francis are all worth a listen, atleast.

Alas... have the lyrics for the entire album been transcribed anywhere? I have the Dead Emcee Scrolls book, so I'm sure some/most of the lyrics are in the book, but I'm lazy.

Yep, as someone else mentioned, El-P's album is great as well. (It contains the song Flyentology feat. Trent Reznor)

But he's right about the sludginess. I mean, I generally like Trezzo's production philosophy, and I generally like Saul and what he says, but they just don't go together as well as they should. Whenever I hear the songs I have to make a conscious choice either to listen to the music or listen to the lyrics. It's not my optimal listening experience.

Bowie's mug shot is right about the sludginess! (best mug shot ever)

Mmm... sludginess... goes down thick and smooth. Been kinda quiet on the Saul front since the release. I was hoping to get an idea on how the sales were doing... or at least how many d/l they had gotten.

I think it's tons of fun. I can see why a lot of people would feel the opposite though. It's not a "everyone loves" kind of record.

whens the physical cd comming out?!

supposedly early 08

I like it a lot so far. My favorite is WTF! so far. (Trent is in it ) and it has some sweet piano work and Saul sounds really good too.

I'm down with the sludge.

I think the production style is very similar in style to Year Zero's production, but that really lends it a genuine appreciative quality from the producer. It doesn't necessarily identify it as a "companion piece," though it's more that than it is any kind of corruption of the other artist's sound and integrity. Reznor's just been actively feeding off Saul's album as much as he has off his own. You can tell when an artist is overjoyed, proud, and ultimately satisfied with an album in every way, and you can feel the shared contention there between both musicians. That's really cool, and incredibly rare in collaborations.

It doesn't hurt that I think the album is incredibly interesting in a musical sense, and it's definitely genuine and enthusiastic to a degree that makes it difficult to deny its integrity or earnestness. It's an album (that it would seem) both artists felt they needed to make, and I'm stoked on everything about the project. Offering particular criticism doesn't seem appropriate (especially) in this setting, and in any other community it's equally deserving of appreciation just for the balls to be honestly and genuinely random, new, and ultimately successful.


Anyone who bashes either artist for experimenting (with a compatible yet unexpectedly appropriate musician) is not extending a proper amount of appreciation for the gesture alone. It's a challenging project and it created something peculiar and undeniably interesting. It's one thing to say you don't like the album, and that's fine. It's pretty lame to "defend" your favorite artist from being "corrupted," especially when said artist has repeatedly asserted his honest love of the project. When the artist is honestly happy, their work is anything but corrupted.

The music is pretty great. It isn't my favorite album of the year, but it's a great record that came out in a really interesting and amazing year for music, and anyone who bashes it for being a departure of any sort is easily disregarded for being a boring fanboy dipshit.

The breakdown before the end of Tr(n)igger is really awesome, and I love the jarring transition into Sunday Bloody Sunday, which is really the song that first hit me the hardest... it's really bizarre in so many ways when you first hear it... but it's so musically insistent that the reference's familiarity (to most litseners) grants it an interesting consideration on behalf of the artist(s). More than any song on this album, this one appeals to me the most obviously

and, honestly, /\ /\ /\ is nothing but a good thing. and if the glitchy guitar at the end doesn't make you rock out a little bit, your ears are boring/bored.

I LOVE Banged and blown through. There are like 2 more songs on here that are good. The music is great, but a few listens I can tell that the singing will go with it.

Sorry to ask again but the internet doesn't seem to have a typed version of the lyrics for this album.

I remember one of you having a word doc that contained the lyrics. Would anyone be kind enough to let me grab it so I can have something printed out to read while listening?

Thanks.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4BWQ9ICA

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Thank you so much!!!

a stupid review

abstract: "Saul Williams needs a little more work before he can be accepted into the mainstream. The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust! has flashes of brilliance, and Reznor's production style definitely fits Williams well, but Williams needs to work on his rhymes or flow (or both) before he can even be considered as an elite rapper. However, for a free album, listeners looking for something different could do a lot worse than to give Saul Williams a try. C"

Ed Carroll, you've got D for it.

"accepted into the mainsteam", huh.

bloody hell that review is all kinds of retarded

It's from a college newspaper; they're not known for quality. I only read my college's newspaper for entertainment and the Dilbert strips. It's definitely not as entertaining as the Rolling Stone review. I'm going to go back to blasting Sunday Bloody Sunday now.

Oh my god... he obviously has NO idea who Saul Williams is.

Doesn't look like anyone's mentioned seeing Saul's performance in Sanford Bigger's Somethin' Suite last week (NYC). Anyone go? SW did a ridiculously good performance of The Ritual in full Niggy garb... black and orange facepaint, a totally decadent black feathered coat, shades and what I imagine must have been (some of?) the jewelry he had custom-made for the Niggy Tardust character. He was also part of another (non-Niggy Tardust) segment that night.

In person the whole look was really striking. These B&Ws don't do the real deal any justice: