Stubby Member
The background world certainly is interesting but i don't see myself listening it to it all that often, especially not ever outside of a full album listen. Besides that I'm super impressed with all the other tracks. I'm really excited to hear the last part of the trilogy and see how it all ties together but so far these 2 EPs are definitely among Trent's best work since AATCHB IMO.
Last edited by Airbornefeline; 07-19-2017 at 08:13 PM.
Administrator
I just split off all the download link begging. Let's not do that.
K THX BYE
Throbbing Member
Less Than, TITP, TBW and Not Anymore are so good.
I haven't given Lovers a good listen yet.
Stubby Member
First impression is that this is better than NTAE
Throbbing Member
"Challenging" is often used to describe music. In this case, looks like the term fits.Originally Posted by tony.parente
Hairy Member
It's strange how differently Less Than is mixed than the rest of the songs. Almost sounds like it's from a different album.
Throbbing Member
I've listened to the entire EP on repeat at least a half dozen times. First, the anxiety thing was there for The Background World "outro." However, over time, I've come to like the fuckery of it all. Looks like Trent has finally taken my soul and I'm okay with that.
Throbbing Member
Is there a reason why the melody that plays to the end of THE BACKGROUND WORLD pauses before continuing? It's kinda annoying.
Throbbing Member
I think it sounds cool, like the track is skipping in error. My three year old was listening and his reaction was "there's something wrong with this song. . . "
Throbbing Member
Hitting the reset button over and over and over, until it's all just disintegrated into noise.
Throbbing Member
Background World sounds like something S U R V I V E would do..well, the first four minutes..I don't know what the fuck is going on with the last 7mins of the track but I LOVE IT!
Hairy Member
The EP was pretty great. I want to listen with headphones before I pass final judgment but I think Not The Actual Events was better. The ending of The Background World was honestly kind of annoying and I wish it were its own track separate from the rest of the song (which I loved). Standouts for me would be Less Than and that first part of The Background World.
Throbbing Member
Me after the 7th replay:
Throbbing Member
Background Worlds is one weird ass track. While I understand it's to fit the theme but was hoping it was a gradual build up to something. After about the second minute I gave up on that idea. Stuck through until the end though
Active Member
I cannot believe how impacting that that ending is for me.
If you listen to NTAE and then this thing it's like you're only left with faint memories of songs like “Branches/Bones,” brief lines of lyrics from “The Idea of You” and “Less Than,” hints of melodies on “This Isn’t the Place,” a small echo of the noise of “Not Anymore.”
You are left experiencing exactly what this concept is articulating – a sense of uncertainty, of despondence, of not being sure of things anymore, of having a noise so enormous inside of and clouding your head that you can’t trust in anything now.
Everyone who bitched that Hesitation Marks was too "generic" or safe or that Less Than was a sign that we were getting an ultra-poppy commercial effort had better be thrilled by what we're now in the middle of in here. This is the culmination of NIN as it's always been in my eyes.
Where do they even fucking go from here for the third one? How do you follow this? What space is left for them to go? Pretty much every era and sound from the band has had some sort of representation across these EPs. I cannot remotely imagine what it could sound like and that has me unbelievably excited. I would genuinely be content if this was the finish line for the band. It obviously won't be, and I certainly hope it isn't, but it feels like Trent decided to take every single concept, idea and project he'd ever worked on and perfect it all into one gigantic multi-segmented magnum opus. This feels like both a summary and peak of what NIN is.
Hairy Member
If you use iTunes, you can inspect the song, and put a check mark on Stop and put in 4:04 and you'll never hear the outro again.
(Unused symbol)
In the latter part of Background I can't help but envision someone engaging a simulation (in reference to panel K) and resetting it to make it worse / more destructive. Again and again and again and again...
(posted this in the other thread like a dummy)
Flaccid Member
I hear the bass/synth of 14 Ghosts II in The Background World around the "are you sure this is what you want" part. Anyone else?
Throbbing Member
Reminds me of loading up a level in a game and then the computer freezes, but it constantly loops just the sound.
Banned
I've thought of something.... ADD Violence... ADD Attention Deficit Disorder..... The violence of the ADD induced by modern technology... particularly the internet and smart phones. We're in a continuous state of super focused attention on our devices...but the scary part is that our minds are in total ADD mode... flipping through... flipping flipping switching... Physically locked in place.... mentally scattered..it's a form of imprisonment.... I believe these recent EPs are commenting on this mass disorder. we are literally fusing with our devices. and forget ourselves we do.. we think we aren't..but we are... after hours have passed... all that time..just fucking browsing pages, youtubes... facebook... snapchats..whatever it is... locked in.
Last edited by cashpiles (closed); 07-19-2017 at 08:56 PM.
Hairy Member
just got home, this is first on my agenda, right past the gf making dinner and to my audio setup! The lovers seems very much like a HM leftover, not that its a bad thing, beautiful song, but it really seems to fit right in with that set of songs. This isn't the place is more a year zero sound palette. Less Than is more With Teeth The Slip, I wonder if that is what he was going for is to correlate the sound to an already existing body of work. That would make more sense as to why This isn't the place makes a clear reference to Year Zero but so far the rest of the tracks do not. Not Anymore is like PHM with the vocal reverb style it has or kinda like broken. The Background has a very Ghosts feel to it. Just an opinion with no real merit. I am more excited to hear all three albums and how they will compliment add to each other once the third one is complete. I would imagine thats what he intends, to have that effect, where all of the sudden everything fits feels completed or more complete with the addition of the third ep.
Last edited by Inthemoment; 07-19-2017 at 09:00 PM.
words.exe
God this EP is amazing. The second half of The Background World is so unsettling.
It's also kind of funny how the EP might lure someone in with a commercial track like Less Than at the start and then dump the rest of this nightmare on that unsuspecting person.
Stubby Member
Man despite how much I love everything on these last 2 ep's I think This isn't the place is my favorite and maybe one of my top songs in the catalog.
Active Member
Not getting the last 7 minutes of The Background World...
Seems like a cheap dial in. I guess in a concept of YZ it makes sense but...for an album listen...kind of annoying. Did we really need SEVEN minutes of that? I have a damn headache from it because i was determined to listen to the entire thing in case it changed.
Rest of the ep is great though.
Stubby Member
My birthday is today (the 19th), and today we all have the EP. So I guess I win, but really we all win :-)Sweet, looks like TR is giving me a Birthday gift after all!
C'mon July 13th! (I'll also accept the 12th or the 14th)
Active Member
I like the EP though prefer the sound of the first EP, but still good. I do feel the whole ending to The Background World was kind of a waste and could have been more interesting. I was expecting more from Zane's description than just turning the wet slowly up to 100% of the feedback/distortion knob.
Stubby Member
It's 3am where I am. Just got home from work and listened to the whole thing with headphones in the dark.
The Background World has me unsettled as fuck.
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
Active Member
On my first listen so far ... oh man, The Lovers is driving me insane. This is so so so so good.
Throbbing Member
Yeah, I'd love an edit of the song with that down to about a minute. I like it in the context of the story. But not for listening. Rest of the song is so good too
Throbbing Member
The first time I listened to Add Violence, having avoided any of the songs until the full EP's release, it was a frankly disquieting experience that I wasn't sure what to make of, and I knew the first thing I had to do was hear it again. This may be the most challenging thing Nine Inch Nails has ever released and I mean that in the best possible way.
Less Than and the shotgun-blast-to-the-face banger that is Not Anymore were the tracks that immediately grabbed me but The Lovers may be my favorite. On my first listen I just found it disorienting but on my second pass it floored me. A devastating track that perfectly mixes beauty and grace with something truly frightening. And The Background World...definitely one of the most experimental tracks I think we've ever heard from Trent (and Atticus) and I don't know if anything could sound more in-tune with the Add Violence art thus far glimpsed than it does. Sounds like the frequency of the human race is being modulated into hellish stagnation. Or, as another listener put it:
Spot on.
Even This Isn't the Place, my least favorite right now, is so emotionally naked and depressing that it reminded me of Still. These EPs have been so out there and conceptually motivated, avant-garde and adventurous, and more than ever I feel very fortunate that Nine Inch Nails isn't just still making music - it's making some of most distinctive and creative music it has ever produced.
Last edited by Deacon Blackfire; 07-20-2017 at 12:40 AM. Reason: typo d'oh!
Likes: 
Faceplams: 
Reply With Quote
