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

[thefragile_jake]

Not only is it one of my favorite NIN albums in the last few years, it's easily in my top five this year.

[howdidislipinto]

i never get to read whole threads like i used to, but i assume everyone has been talking about how this is the most inspired piece of music trent and atticus have ever created, right?

because holy shit, what an album.

[Rosethorned]

This was released on my birthday! Amazing album and I went to two shows so far. Want to see at least one more!!

[snaapz]

I think Trent's vocals and vocal techniques, vocal layers, vocal effects etc... are underrated. I enjoy listening and discovering vocals in the background that I haven't noticed before.

'This Isn't The Place' is a great example of several vocal techniques and applications.

Because of this the 3 albums have become some of my favourites.

TR (and AR) are fucking amazing.

It's hard for me to find any current artists whom can put out an album which such a variety of structures, styles, techniques, stories... and I do search.

I believe that physical world things and emotions can be converted into sound/music; TR is the best I've ever come across at accomplishing this; other than Klaus Badelt, John Williams, James Newton Howard etc... the fact that I put TR in the same category as them says a lot about TR.

[wight rabbit]

I've given Bad Witch time to stew. As a concept, I love it, but revisiting it some months later, I continue to find that if it's got one issue, it's that - personally - I find it next to impossible to sit down and play the whole thing front to back, which isn't an issue I have with NTAE or Add Violence.

It's a good work. Challenging. Not a bad track on there, but I find there's just no sense of flow at all. Much, much, much more often than not, I find myself playing tracks in isolation, or two or three in a row, and skipping about. I'll put on everything up to GBDTD - which for my money is one of the single best NIN tracks ever, then go to something else. I'll put on INFTW if I'm on a long trip at night. Or I'll play Over and Out or Shit Mirror in isolation.

I feel like it works much, much better as the closer to the trilogy if I'm thinking about the concept, but as a stand-alone album, as much as I like the individual tracks, it's kind of awkward and disjointed. I find it has that in common with The Slip.

Still great though!

Interesting, it's the exact opposite for me. I seldom find myself wanting to listen to any one song from it like I do with the previous two releases in the trilogy. I find that the Bad Witch material works better for me in context because it has a distinct flow to me.

[loopcloses]

I in fact love the flow of Bad Witch specifically because of its similarities to The Slip. The tight rock songs slowly unraveling into long, open-ended atmospheric pieces.

[CPSmith]

that makes me so sad. i don't remember the last time i listened to a new album and felt the desire to skip a song. it helps that i don't really have the option since my first listen of a new album is almost always on vinyl, but still.

It makes me sad too.

you gotta find some stuff that resonates with you more.

I agree.

[JustARandomGuy]

I in fact love the flow of Bad Witch specifically because of its similarities to The Slip. The tight rock songs slowly unraveling into long, open-ended atmospheric pieces.

I feel like The Slip did this better, also the fact that eventually the aggression comes back with Demon Seed, The Slip has one of the best flows of any NIN album. Bad Witch would work more if it had more tracks to prepare you for the transition, like The Slip did. Slip gradually prepares you for the athmospheric pieces, with Head Down going into Lights In The Sky, which goes into Corona, Bad Witch's transition feels little bit more rushed, going straight from drum'nbassy and fast track like God Break Down The Door to I'm Not From This World doesn't work that well, at least in my eyes

[katara]

going straight from drum'nbassy and fast track like God Break Down The Door to I'm Not From This World doesn't work that well, at least in my eyes

That transition is my favourite part of the album.

[BRoswell]

Bad Witch's transition feels little bit more rushed, going straight from drum'nbassy and fast track like God Break Down The Door to I'm Not From This World doesn't work that well, at least in my eyes

I think it works pretty well. Much like Big Man With A Gun -> A Warm Place on The Downward Spiral, it feels like it represents a moment where the tension breaks and there's a brief moment to collect one's thoughts about the situation at hand, and in both cases, the reflection reveals just how utterly fucked the whole situation is.

[Steven]

The transition from Shit Mirror to ahead of Ourselves gets me so hyped it's not even funny.

[Andallthatcouldhavebeen]

I put my huge headset on and sat down for a break at work. Turned some music on and started scrolling through some online articles about I-dont-even-remember and over and out started playing. I just froze and sat there staring blankly at nothing, and this sounds cheesy of course, but I felt like I could feel this in my soul. If I have one, anyway.

Thank you Trent,
That was magical. I had 2 of my coworkers staring at me asking if I was okay afterwards, and I said yeah and got up to be alone.

[Ribbitman]

What the hell is that droning noise in I'm Not From This World? An animal?


And does anyone else hear labored breathing like someone is dying throughout Over And Out? Kind of makes sense with the ending too, like the peaceful sound of death.

[slopesandsam]

I've given Bad Witch time to stew. As a concept, I love it, but revisiting it some months later, I continue to find that if it's got one issue, it's that - personally - I find it next to impossible to sit down and play the whole thing front to back, which isn't an issue I have with NTAE or Add Violence.

I'm pretty much the opposite to this as well. I've found that I listen much more to random tracks from NTAE and Add Violence (Add Violence in particular has pretty bad flow), whereas BW is so much greater than the sum of its songs, and I only get that effect when I listen to it all in a row. I think the flow on it is great. I still think its probably the best NIN since TF - and I've loved everything they've done except WT.

[captainbeyond]

Don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but some of the dialogue from Detective Rust Cohle in the first episode of True Detective sounds very similar to Trent's explanation about the idea behind Bad Witch...

I think human consciousness is a tragic misstep in evolution. We became too self-aware. Nature created an aspect of nature separate from itself - we are creatures that should not exist by natural law... We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self, that accretion of sensory experience and feelings, programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody, when in fact everybody's nobody... I think the honorable thing for our species to do is to deny our programming. Stop reproducing, walk hand in hand into extinction - one last midnight, brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal.

IN THE END, WHAT FELT TRUE WAS TO SAY THAT WE AS A SOCIETY AND AS A SPECIES ARE PROBABLY AN ACCIDENT, A MUTATION. REALLY WHAT WE ARE IS FUCKING ANIMALS. AND THE ILLUSION WAS ENLIGHTENMENT. THE MORE WE’VE CONNECTED WITH EACH OTHER THE DUMBER WE’VE GOTTEN AND THE MORE WE DECIDE WE WANT TO KILL EACH OTHER. WE’RE NOT SOME ELEVATED TRANSCENDENT BEINGS, WE’RE BACTERIA IN A JAR. I WANTED THE ART DIRECTION OF BAD WITCH TO FEEL LIKE SHADOWS ON A CAVE WALL AND WE’RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IT IS AND REALLY THERE’S NO NICE, CLEAN, SAFE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION. WE’RE JUST AN ACCIDENT. STRING THEORY AND QUANTUM PHYSICS IS A FUCKING TRICK. AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO SUDDENLY ELEVATE OURSELVES INTO TRANSCENDENT BEINGS. WE’RE KIDDING OURSELVES. I KNOW THIS WILL BE AN UNSATISFYING CONCLUSION FOR SOME PEOPLE. IT ISN’T WHAT THEY WANT. THEY WANT IT TO BE FULL MATRIX VIRTUAL REALITY, AND THIS IS THE OPPOSITE OF THAT, THIS IS DIRT AND A BROKEN COMPUTER CHIP AND EVERYTHING YOU BELIEVE IN IS REALLY JUST BULLSHIT.

[snaapz]

Bad Witch, Add Violence, and Not The Actual Events continue to grow and grow on me; every few days they appreciate more in value. Unexpected.

I haven't had this happen since The Fragile.

[Steven]

A small part of me wishes TR/AR would release an album full of I'm Not From This World-type instrumentals, terrifying, dark, dirty stuff much scarier than anything on Ghosts or any of the soundtrack work they've done.

[loopcloses]

A small part of me wishes TR/AR would release an album full of I'm Not From This World-type instrumentals, terrifying, dark, dirty stuff much scarier than anything on Ghosts or any of the soundtrack work they've done.

It seems likely with the rate at which they've been putting out soundtrack work that there will be an auteristic horror film at some point that catches their attention and vice versa. Can you imagine something like It Follows with TR&AR scoring? (to say nothing of how perfect Disasterpiece's score for that movie was, I'm just throwing a tonal example out there)

[sonic_discord]

A small part of me wishes TR/AR would release an album full of I'm Not From This World-type instrumentals, terrifying, dark, dirty stuff much scarier than anything on Ghosts or any of the soundtrack work they've done.

I'd love a short EP of songs in the vein of the Tetsuo theme.

[fillow]

I'd love a short EP of songs in the vein of the Tetsuo theme.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_the_Actual_Events
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Add_Violence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Witch

[sonic_discord]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_the_Actual_Events
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Add_Violence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Witch

I absolutely love all three, but they're not quite the same style.

[snaapz]

Sorry to go on and on... but listen... in my 19+ years of being a NIN.COM/SPIRAL/ETS form member and many HALO releases I've never went on and on like this.


I have a background in radio as a student, I have spent a lot of time around music and radio operations. In middle school I was in the jazz band (bass guitar). I was in my high schools orchestra (double bass). For years I had a home studio and produced my own tunes, for fun. I listen to a shit tonne of music, I have exposure, to all genres.

I consider myself to be trained.


Regarding NIN...


At first I didn't realize it; but Bad Witch, Add Violence, and Not The Actual Events are fucking amazing.

Last night while on the highway I blasted BW, and when 'God Break Down The Door' came on I was transported to some other planet, or something. For the record I've blasted every NIN song multiple times, some 100's and 100's of times. I've never had a feeling like this.

BW is fucking amazing. There is SOOOO MUCH GOING ON with this album. I won't bother with listing my 100 reasons.


TR/AR did good. TR/AR did real good.


Thanks! That will be all.

[snaapz]

I just listened to 'Driver Down' for the first time in maybe 5-10 years... wow... this song could almost be on Bad Witch.

Jump to 3:00 and play the rest, just wait for the sax, the sax almost sounds like the same recording session as with BW (mic, levels, mastering).

[sonic_discord]

I just listened to 'Driver Down' for the first time in maybe 5-10 years... wow... this song could almost be on Bad Witch.

Jump to 3:00 and play the rest, just wait for the sax, the sax almost sounds like the same recording session as with BW (mic, levels, mastering).

Back when God Break Down the Door was brand new, I made the same observation. Bad Witch sounds like the NIN contributions to Lost Highway (Driver Down and the drum & bass feel of The Perfect Drug) mixed with Bowie's Blackstar album.

[dedevoce]

Well, damn. I just noticed part of TR's interview that @captainbeyond copied above.

I WANTED THE ART DIRECTION OF BAD WITCH TO FEEL LIKE SHADOWS ON A CAVE WALL AND WE’RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IT IS AND REALLY THERE’S NO NICE, CLEAN, SAFE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION. WE’RE JUST AN ACCIDENT. STRING THEORY AND QUANTUM PHYSICS IS A FUCKING TRICK. AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO SUDDENLY ELEVATE OURSELVES INTO TRANSCENDENT BEINGS. WE’RE KIDDING OURSELVES.

Kinda makes me wonder if Trent ever read or heard about (since it is all popular and stuffs) Plato's Allegory of the Cave. In summary,

Plato has Socrates describe a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them, and give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners' reality. Socrates explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not reality at all, for he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the manufactured reality that is the shadows seen by the prisoners. The inmates of this place do not even desire to leave their prison, for they know no better life. The prisoners manage to break their bonds one day, and discover that their reality was not what they thought it was.

It seems to fit and he acknowledges philosophical standpoints. Any thoughts, you guys?

[Nellyrific]

Well, damn. I just noticed part of TR's interview that @captainbeyond copied above.



Kinda makes me wonder if Trent ever read or heard about (since it is all popular and stuffs) Plato's Allegory of the Cave. In summary,



It seems to fit and he acknowledges philosophical standpoints. Any thoughts, you guys?

Yup, it was discussed a bit in the older Bad Witch threads. Not sure how far back, sorry


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dedevoce]

Yup, it was discussed a bit in the older Bad With threads. Not sure how far back, sorry

Bah, obviously I missed this in reading it over. Thanks. I'll look back again. Yay, I'm not crazy!! Woot!

[Fred]

The blurb about Bad Witch in the official store also uses the phrase “shadows on the cave wall.” I always viewed it as a Plato reference too.

TR seems like a very well-read, eloquent man. I think he’s sort of had that air about him since his reemergence in 2005, but especially in recent interviews concerning the Trilogy. I also think more research went into these three EPs than we may realize.

[fillow]

Did you guys notice a sax in Shit Mirror too?

[StockAvuryah]

Did you guys notice a sax in Shit Mirror too?

Yeah ! Some of those samples are definitively sax. It's actually everywhere on the album in some form or another I'd guess.