Bad Witch LP, out June 22 (thread pt 3) SPOILERS

[Mike]

Aside from being black and white, I don't see anything similar about the artwork.

I couldn't figure out how to link the image, but it was a white background with a grid of black and white pictures of lo-fi quality. My immediate thought was of the BW artwork when I saw it. Plus the band name also pushed me in that direction.

Since I can't figure out how to link just the image, here is the page with the artwork. Its the second and third down from the top:

[BRoswell]

I couldn't figure out how to link the image, but it was a white background with a grid of black and white pictures of lo-fi quality. My immediate thought was of the BW artwork when I saw it. Plus the band name also pushed me in that direction.

Since I can't figure out how to link just the image, here is the page with the artwork. Its the second and third down from the top:

It's not necessarily a new setup for album artwork. It's about as much of a stretch as the Charles Manson link.

[elevenism]

"so maybe we're still hearing residual throwbacks to that era all over, like a haunting." - @laststepdown

this is the part i ONE HUNDRED PERCENT agree with.

is bad witch about the manson murders? No.

Is modern NIN "haunted" by the TDS era? Absolutely.
And this era includes the tate house.

So it IS part of it.

No way do i think it's part of it to the degree that homeboy was suggesting, but it's DEFINITELY at least a small part of it.

And that's all ah have ta say about that.

[laststepdown]

is bad witch about the manson murders? No.

Is modern NIN "haunted" by the TDS era? Absolutely.
And this era includes the tate house.

So it IS part of it.

No way do i think it's part of it to the degree that homeboy was suggesting, but it's DEFINITELY at least a small part of it.

And that's all ah have ta say about that.

thanks for putting up with my insane correlation, and thanks for giving it a thesis better than i could in my inebriation

So, today I came across something interesting called 88 Lines About 44 Women by a band called (The?) Nails. The album art was strikingly similar to Bad Witch. Anyone know anything about this music?

Actually, yes. That's pretty interesting (insert a "the" nine inch nails joke here, i don't have the wit right now) I have never seen the art before googling it right now. However, I do know the song well. I used to do a lot of karaoke (more than i want to admit) when my drummer died (2009), i would get up on stage and scream brittney spears 'hit me baby' or whatever pop was popular at the time every week at a local bar, and just give it a deathmetal/screamo screech. the 60 year old stoner I was playing cards with would go with me after we were done playing on friday nights and sing this song, others like 'broken hearts are for assholes' by frank zappa (which i recognized at the time from closure, i've been a NIN fan since PHM), 'kicks' by paul revere (which is crazy now from the stupid connection to manson family and the theory I presented that everyone hates me for and looks at as bad), the clash, paul simon, sex pistols, joy division, dead kennedys, other old songs/bands i can't think of off the top of my head-but yeah, he would sing 88 lines all the time at the karaoke bar. Consistently. Like it was on his personal setlist. If everyone got to go up and do 2 songs that night he would sang 88 lines, and assholes. He had it in his disc changer next to god save the queen and london calling. I was going through a BAD breakup at the time, found out she was a junkie, (and a much longer story than i want to get into right now, that is probably better expressed about through art) and he would give me gifts of these soundscapes of albums from the past to listen to and try and help when we traveled to card tournaments together. music as therapy, you know. i am a state champion card player, i was ranked top 5 in my state at one point in my specific game. so we had tons of 8 hour drives to 2 day convention center dwellings. i wasn't looking at album art though, we were usually in a convertible 2-seater (miata!), so there's not an optimal time to check out album art. so it was just music and conversation. my friend has seen the ramones more times than i've seen NIN, he's the reason i started organizing my digital offline collection by YEAR as well as genre/artist/album. and i was going through enough emotionally/personally that i never bothered to look back at that old artwork. the hum in the chorus reminds me of the verses of less than.

[ImTheWiseJanitor]

I’m loving reading all these inputs about the record, as I do every album cycle. All I can say is that while there’s great satisfaction to be drawn from stories that are tied up neatly, with a bow to cap it all off, I always find that I personally get more immersed in stories that are incomplete - whether it be by design or a result of circumstance that makes it so. Something Trent said about the Year Zero ARG, which was my introduction to ETS and all you lovey folks, deeply resonated with me. I’m paraphrasing because I’m lazy, but it was something along the lines of, “I’m giving you chapters 1, 2, 5, 20, and 76.” That concept kind of fascinated me, because I guess until I was 17 (fuck, I’ve been here 11 YEARS?), I hadn’t really even tried to look at stories or art as something that can be incomplete and still be beautiful and creative.

That’s one thing that I love about the NIN discography - Nothing feels truly complete, and it all pulls on those itty bitty threads that connect from one work to another, which keeps me listening, investigating, and posturing new ideas about all of it until...well, I guess until I just don’t have the mental capacity to do that anymore. Until that moment, the possibilities are infinite. Bad Witch just pulls on some of the same strings as nearly any release in the catalog - There’s never enough time. Questions and hypotheses on the idea of God. The idea that no matter what we do, as a species or individuals, some things will simply never change, but maybe someday, they could. Determining how much of “you” is actually “you” versus other influences, be that your past life, dependence on another person, people, drugs, ideology, or any other thing that can consume a person’s soul. Asking ourselves what COULD have been.

I suppose my point is that over time, I’m wondering whether a perfectly articulated and thought-out narrative even fits in with the world that Nine Inch Nails creates for itself. I don’t think this trilogy is a perfect representation of what it was idealized to be in the beginning stages of its creation, and Bad Witch is a natural mutation in that 3-link chain that almost seems to want to separate itself from the other two releases, to a degree. It’s absolutely connected. But I think it’s connected in more of a mutative, evolutionary sense than a cohesive narrative sense. If you were to map out each of the three releases and connect them with red string, you’d have a myriad of connections between them, but you’d also likely be left with dozens of open ends. Maybe a bunch of those open ends stretch waaay back to other works if you go far enough, but maybe it’s less of a direct connection to something that can be pinpointed and more of a natural tendency toward a given direction. Like something’s there, but can’t quite be defined or made out clearly - ANOTHER common trope we’ve all seen in NIN’s work over the years.

There are always going to be connections to the past, connections to the future that we may not be aware of when living in the present, and connections that may not even be meant go anywhere, but keep us intrigued all the same. Perhaps meant to be explored without a definitive end. The artwork, the physical components, the videos - while they may not bring all the concrete answers we want, they can be tools to help us in the search that some of us just can’t seem to stop ourselves from undertaking, whether it leads to something created more from our own imaginations and perceptions, or something intentionally left for us to eventually find in the background.

Anyway, I’m done taking a shit, back to work!

[laststepdown]

I’m loving reading all these inputs about the record, as I do every album cycle. All I can say is that while there’s great satisfaction to be drawn from stories that are tied up neatly, with a bow to cap it all off, I always find that I personally get more immersed in stories that are incomplete - whether it be by design or a result of circumstance that makes it so. Something Trent said about the Year Zero ARG, which was my introduction to ETS and all you lovey folks, deeply resonated with me. I’m paraphrasing because I’m lazy, but it was something along the lines of, “I’m giving you chapters 1, 2, 5, 20, and 76.” That concept kind of fascinated me, because I guess until I was 17 (fuck, I’ve been here 11 YEARS?), I hadn’t really even tried to look at stories or art as something that can be incomplete and still be beautiful and creative.

That’s one thing that I love about the NIN discography - Nothing feels truly complete, and it all pulls on those itty bitty threads that connect from one work to another, which keeps me listening, investigating, and posturing new ideas about all of it until...well, I guess until I just don’t have the mental capacity to do that anymore. Until that moment, the possibilities are infinite. Bad Witch just pulls on some of the same strings as nearly any release in the catalog - There’s never enough time. Questions and hypotheses on the idea of God. The idea that no matter what we do, as a species or individuals, some things will simply never change, but maybe someday, they could. Determining how much of “you” is actually “you” versus other influences, be that your past life, dependence on another person, people, drugs, ideology, or any other thing that can consume a person’s soul. Asking ourselves what COULD have been.

I suppose my point is that over time, I’m wondering whether a perfectly articulated and thought-out narrative even fits in with the world that Nine Inch Nails creates for itself. I don’t think this trilogy is a perfect representation of what it was idealized to be in the beginning stages of its creation, and Bad Witch is a natural mutation in that 3-link chain that almost seems to want to separate itself from the other two releases, to a degree. It’s absolutely connected. But I think it’s connected in more of a mutative, evolutionary sense than a cohesive narrative sense. If you were to map out each of the three releases and connect them with red string, you’d have a myriad of connections between them, but you’d also likely be left with dozens of open ends. Maybe a bunch of those open ends stretch waaay back to other works if you go far enough, but maybe it’s less of a direct connection to something that can be pinpointed and more of a natural tendency toward a given direction. Like something’s there, but can’t quite be defined or made out clearly - ANOTHER common trope we’ve all seen in NIN’s work over the years.

There are always going to be connections to the past, connections to the future that we may not be aware of when living in the present, and connections that may not even be meant go anywhere, but keep us intrigued all the same. Perhaps meant to be explored without a definitive end. The artwork, the physical components, the videos - while they may not bring all the concrete answers we want, they can be tools to help us in the search that some of us just can’t seem to stop ourselves from undertaking, whether it leads to something created more from our own imaginations and perceptions, or something intentionally left for us to eventually find in the background.

Anyway, I’m done taking a shit, back to work!

right after i typed out that stupid manson correlation, i found out who my biological parents were coincidentally. some googling and internal conflict found my results. cried most the rest of the day, really. i've known i was adopted since i was like 5, and my adoptive parents were amazing and i couldn't have asked for a better set of parental units-but i still don't know my heritage, and bloodline, medical history, etc. when a person would talk casually/socially about how they're a quarter cherokee, and a quarter irish, or this or that, i would just exclude myself from the conversation as easily as possible, as i was a mutt. little things like that add up, all the way to not being confident in myself enough to be able to go say 'hi my name is' to a girl at a bar. and i've always felt like the outcast/black sheep in my adoptive family tree.

so. i found out my mom died in 2013 and my dad died in 2014 to the day, yesterday. i had no idea. i saw their grave for the first time yesterday, i just found out where it was and drove to it. i called the memorial gardens and they said "you're coming today?" like, lady, are you kidding? what do you want me to do, wait another 35 years? they had a map of the place ready for me when i got there. i didn't know my mom was buried next to my dad. i have 2 half-brothers and a half-sister that i obviously never knew about. i talked to my half brother for the first time ever, 4 years after my dad's passing to the exact day. that's some good odds. i might go to the casino tonight. my only regret is not finding them sooner, and getting in a conversation with them. answer some questions, you know? so, the half-siblings, i'm going to meet two of them literally later today, they're not 2 hours away and now i'm the baby of this family. they were all in their 30s when i was born. so they have a good memory of what all happened, and might at least give me some history to the event. learning can be fun! hope this is incomplete enough!

[elevenism]

Anyway, I’m done taking a shit, back to work!

HAHAHAHAHA.
Seriously, we need a lollerskates button.

[ZeroSum]

I just wanted to stop in and say that this album is truly really, really fucking good. The excitement of there being a new NIN release has worn off, and I'm still listening to this thing a couple times on average per day and absolutely loving it. This band is incredible and I feel so lucky to have gotten into them.

[Oceanic Voyager]

So I've finally gotten around to giving Bad Witch the time it deserves and I have to say that I am underwhelmed. As abrasive and impenetrable as Trent's music has sometimes been in the past (especially in the immediate sense upon a first listen), there has always been a great melody lurking somewhere. But nothing on here is particularly catchy, and I am finding a lot of the sounds/arrangements to be derivative of past works (a little Ghosts, a little NTAE, a little HTDA). Add Violence to me, is the clear high-water mark of this trilogy. Less Than has by far the biggest hook out of the 16 songs. And The Background World is probably my favorite NIN song since Demon Seed. The Lovers and This Isn't The Place really resonate ("reznorate") on a personal level. Etc..

I'm sure Shit Mirror will be fun live. And the prominent use of sax on these songs provides an interesting twist. But I am wishing for more guitar, more singing, more something...to draw me in.

Perhaps it's the ultimate grower? I am going to keep at it..

Pretty much agree with you.... Shit mirror is a fun song and easily the best song on BW. Less than has a great hook. The Background World is a beautiful song...best I have heard in a while.

I am not a fan of The Lovers...i have no idea why it was released as a single.

[BRoswell]

I am not a fan of The Lovers...i have no idea why it was released as a single.

It wasn't.

Also, I definitely disagree about there being nothing catchy on Bad Witch. Shit Mirror is catchy as fuck, and the bassline in Over And Out is super sexy. I even caught myself humming it the other day.

[ItsChrisRoss]

Every time Shit Mirror comes on in my car/on my phone/on my Ipod/on my stereo/anywhere where it displays the title, I ALWAYS think it says SHIRT MIRROR at first.

[BRoswell]

Every time Shit Mirror comes on in my car/on my phone/on my Ipod/on my stereo/anywhere where it displays the title, I ALWAYS think it says SHIRT MIRROR at first.

"Got a new shirt and it fits all right!"

[eversonpoe]

"Got a new shirt and it fits all right!"

"sleeveless tees are mighty nice!"

edit: apparently i forgot how to spell "sleeveless"

[ItsChrisRoss]

"sleeves tees are mighty nice!"

"gotta keep it clean, cant spill my beer!"

[mostlymad]

"gotta keep it clean, cant spill my beer!"

This is what Reznor would sound like if he were from around here, in Kentucky.

[eversonpoe]

i don't know if anyone has said it yet, but after discussing the album with my friend dan today in the car, i realized how much TV On The Radio influence can be heard in the music, and that makes me really happy.

[Fred]

I'd really like to hear the abandoned version of the album that was teased in the recent Quietus interview. I realize the chance of it either being released or leaking is probably a perfect zero, but it'd be intriguing to hear the "sci-fi" ending as originally planned. Alas, the Bleedthrough concept gets the shaft again.

[loopcloses]

I really really like The Lovers but I do think it's peculiar that it's been featured as much as it has, it's gotta be the least single-friendly song across all three releases short of the instrumentals. I definitely wouldn't have guessed it would be a live staple when I first heard it.

[Ribbitman]

Play The Goddamned Part live please

[Fred]

Play The Goddamned Part live please

Seconded. I wanna see Trent, Alessandro and Robin up front with a sax each.

[Reaps]

I'd really like to hear the abandoned version of the album that was teased in the recent Quietus interview. I realize the chance of it either being released or leaking is probably a perfect zero, but it'd be intriguing to hear the "sci-fi" ending as originally planned. Alas, the Bleedthrough concept gets the shaft again.

Yeah it's a shame, he could have released them like he did with the HM interview with the demo's.

[paul_guyet]

Seconded. I wanna see Trent, Alessandro and Robin up front with a sax each.

I'd also like Robin to scream into his sax and then destroy it.
Every. Night.

[sonic_discord]

I'd really like to hear the abandoned version of the album that was teased in the recent Quietus interview. I realize the chance of it either being released or leaking is probably a perfect zero, but it'd be intriguing to hear the "sci-fi" ending as originally planned. Alas, the Bleedthrough concept gets the shaft again.

Maybe that material could be the perfect incentive for fans who already own the individual releases to buy an "album" that combines the trilogy (even if it's unchanged from the original releases, without new segues, different sequencing, or different versions) and adds the aborted early version of Bad Witch as bonus tracks. "I'd buy that for a dollar!"

[Fred]

Maybe that material could be the perfect incentive for fans who already own the individual releases to buy an "album" that combines the trilogy (even if it's unchanged from the original releases, without new segues, different sequencing, or different versions) and adds the aborted early version of Bad Witch as bonus tracks. "I'd buy that for a dollar!"

It would also be great for a Deviations instalment covering the Trilogy. Just don't pretend to make it a "one-time super-duper limited pressing" and I'm in.

I'd also like Robin to scream into his sax and then destroy it.
Every. Night.

To the tune of



On top of that, every single instance of the word "sex" in any lyric should be altered to "sax." E.g. "I am the sax that you provide" or "it's your sax I can smell."

[azad_ninja]

I really really like The Lovers but I do think it's peculiar that it's been featured as much as it has, it's gotta be the least single-friendly song across all three releases short of the instrumentals. I definitely wouldn't have guessed it would be a live staple when I first heard it.

In a high energy show like NIN, you need a few tracks like this every 6 songs or so to give the band a moment to recoup.

[azad_ninja]

Seconded. I wanna see Trent, Alessandro and Robin up front with a sax each.

TDTWWA circle jerk with saxes instead of guitars

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/BrokenJade...on-max-1mb.gif

[paul_guyet]

TDTWWA circle jerk with saxes instead of guitars

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/BrokenJade...on-max-1mb.gif

"Whoa! Quel courage!"

[iamclassic]

In a high energy show like NIN, you need a few tracks like this every 6 songs or so to give the band a moment to recoup.

It's a welcomed break on the GA floor, too.

[botley]

In a high energy show like NIN, you need a few tracks like this every 6 songs or so to give the band a moment to recoup.

Fun to sing along with the chorus on "The Lovers", too, and now that I've had a while to get the tricky rhythmic component of it under my skin it also makes me want to dance!

I'd also like to hear more from Bad Witch on tour later this year in the smaller venues.

[katara]

It would also be great for a Deviations instalment covering the Trilogy. Just don't pretend to make it a "one-time super-duper limited pressing" and I'm in.

Yes, and please press it to CD this time so I don't have to listen to it on my fucking phone. ♥