See You At The Show: Nine Inch Nails, Hollywood Palladium, September 2, 2009 & NIN Cancel Tonight's Show at Music Box @Henry Fonda Theater

NINE INCH NAILS CANCELS MUSIC BOX AT HENRY FONDA THEATER TODAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

First of all, did I ever get lucky. I have the worst news for all you NIN fans chomping at the bit to see their last L.A. shows before Trent Reznor says hello to marriage and a long hiatus...Nine Inch Nails has cancelled tonight's show at the Music Box @Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, CA due to Trent being ill with influenza. Here's what's posted on the front page of nin.com:

"We're very sorry to announce that Trent is ill, and on his doctor's orders we will not be able to perform tonight's show at the Henry Fonda Theater. This is the only information we have at this time, we're posting this early announcement as a convenience for those of you who had plans to attend. Reimbursement details will be posted as soon as we figure them out; likely within the next 24 hours. We wish this wasn't necessary and we're very sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding."

Bummer. Trent did mention at yesterday's incendiary Palladium show that he was feeling poorly and apologized to us for the condition of his voice (which I thought sounded great in spite of), remarking that it sounded like "the inside of an AM radio" to him. Poor, poor Trent.

For more on this depressing matter, check out the LA Times music blog.



NINE INCH NAILS, HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM, SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

As far as yesterday's show at the Hollywood Palladium -the first in the L.A. series of NIN "Wave Goodbye" tour shows- well, it was bloody hot, for starters, as evidenced by the above photo of Trent courtesy of the LA Times. In the smaller atmosphere of the Palladium (compared to the ginormous ampitheatre and arena venues like the Verizon Wireless Ampitheater and The Forum, at which I had previously seen Nine Inch Nails in the past couple of years), NIN glowed and burned like a fire that caused us all to sweat bullets. It was a pretty magnificent night for black-clad industrial and rock music fans.

Nine Inch Nails' 1995 tour supporting The Downward Spiral was my first concert ever. Nassau Coliseum out on Long Island. I was fifteen, and though I was stuck in the nosebleed section, it was and remains one of the best shows I have ever seen. Dripping wet and ecstatic yesterday, seeing Trent the right way, up close and personal, brought me back to that initial fervor I felt for the band as a teenager.

Oddly enough, yesterday's show was all about that seminal album. It really should have been called "The Downward Spiral Tour," because with the album played impeccably and in its entirety (even including ambient moments like "A Warm Place"), it was the highlight that every true NIN fan has been hanging in there for. Trent and his band played LOUD and with metallic gusto, but also with incredible nuance and delicacy on songs like "Hurt" and especially "Lights In The Sky," from 2008 album The Slip, a song that I can't say I had ever really appreciated until now.

All this plus some old-school jams ("Head Like A Hole," "Terrible Lie," "Burn," "Suck") and the surprise guest, '80's electronic music stalwart Gary Numan (who rocked out his songs "Metal" and '80's Karaoke Night jam "Cars" in his black eye makeup, blacker hair and pale skin, looking like some kind of cool goth man-insect), NIN's funeral was instead a kind of celebration of a bygone era of angry, darkwave electronic music.

Don't take my word for it, though...LA Times can hook you up with another perspective.

Here are some live videos from the "Wave Goodbye" and "NIN/JA" tours, starting off with a couple from yesterday's Hollywood Palladium show...we can only hope that Trent isn't serious about the "goodbye" part; maybe just "until later":

Upcoming Show: The Prodigy at The Hollywood Palladium, Hollywood, CA - May 27, 2009

THE PRODIGY - INVADERS MUST DIE TOUR - HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM, HOLLYWOOD, CA - MAY 27, 2009

Ooh boy, if you live in Los Angeles, this will be a special treat for you...Tomorrow night, yes, TOMORROW, so step on it if you're interested, UK electronic music giant The Prodigy will be rocking the Hollywood Palladium (6215 Sunset Blvd.) at 8pm. It's their "Invaders Must Die" tour, which be the name of their new album, of course, which features my close, personal friend Dave Grohl on drums for the track, " Run with the Wolves," btw.

My email username in college in the 90's was "Firestarter." Even my Mom liked "the little crazy clown" in the video for "Firestarter," who would shake his two little green tufts of hair around in a paroxysm of firestarting emotion. I somehow managed to miss them live back in the day, so I am super-psyched to see them tomorrow.

The Prodigy, who are mainly comprised of founder/songwriter/DJ/keyboardist Liam Howlett, dancer/vocalist/clown Keith Flint, and MC/vocalist/contact lens-wearer, Maxim Reality, have been in the business of tripping you out since 1990, and following the release of their excellent 1992 rave disc "Experience," The Prodigy's status as real anarchic barnburners in the electronic/dance music world was established.

For serious, if you love some hard-edged techno, check out "Experience" and 1994's "Music For The Jilted Generation,"(which was re-released in 2008 as "More Music For The Jilted Generation") both groundbreaking albums for the UK/US rave scenes.

Their 1997 album "Fat of the Land" was their true breakthrough album in the States, debuting on the Billboard chart at number one and eventually going double platinum. "Firestarter," "Breathe" and the controversial "Smack My Bitch Up" are all featured on this record, expanding their sound from their tightly-wound techno rave style into a more rock-oriented, guitar-laden sound. There is much to say about this album, so look out for a I Can't Believe You Don't Own This F%#kin' Record post coming your way soon.

So I've got a video for you from each 90's-era Prodigy record, enjoy:



The Prodigy - "Wind It Up" (from their 1992 album, "Experience")



The Prodigy - "Their Law" (from their 1994 album, "Music For The Jilted Generation")



The Prodigy - "Firestarter" (from their 1997 album, "The Fat of The Land")

Yessss! You know this is what you really wanted to see. You're welcome.

Upcoming Show: The Orb at The House of Blues, Anaheim, CA - June 10, 2009

THE ORB - HOUSE OF BLUES, ANAHEIM, CA - JUNE 10, 2009

90's electronic music stalwarts The Orb (co-founded by former KLF member Jimmy Cauty) will bring their ambient house stylings to the House of Blues , located in the House of Mouse (that be Disneyland to you non-Californians), this summer. Click here to buy tickets.

The Orb was first brought to my attention, as I'm sure this was the case with a lot of newbie electronic music fans back then, with the 1990 single "Little Fluffy Clouds" featured on their 1991 album, "The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld." This peculiar song features samples of folk songstress Rickie Lee Jones, from an interview on her 1989 "Flying Cowboys" album, kind of blissfully ruminating on what it was like to grow up in Arizona, especially the beautiful skies, hence the "Little Fluffy Clouds" of the title. This made no sense to me when I was thirteen or fourteen, but I loved it. I eventually moved on to Orbital, but The Orb are forever.

Please enjoy a couple of videos from this seminal chillout group:



Steve Reich and Ennio Morricone are all up in this piece as well. Google those names if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Good stuff.



The Orb - "Toxygene" from their 1997 album, "Orblivion"

This song rocks.

Soundtrack of Your Life: Depeche Mode - The Bottom Line

DEPECHE MODE - THE BOTTOM LINE from their 1997 album, "Ultra"

"Ultra" saw Depeche Mode at a low point in their career after the 1995 departure of keyboardist and songwriter Alan Wilder (who was a DM founding member and, later, Erasure founding member Vince Clarke's replacement after his departure in 1981) for his own project Recoil. He was acknowledged by fans and critics to be an important (if not lower-profile) contributor to the evolution of DM's sound. Dave Gahan also managed to live through a suicide attempt in 1995 and a drug overdose that landed him in Cedars-Sinai in 1996. This did not bode well for a new album of the superlative quality that was expected of them.

Unfortunately, to my ears, "Ultra" somewhat under-performed as feared. Though I had a hard time choosing either "Sister of Night" or "The Bottom Line" for this post, I found many of the songs on this record to be rather slow and dreary. "The Bottom Line" always stuck in my head, however, because it was connected to the first time that, as a young, wild innocent, I had to meet the M-word face-to-face. No, not mortality. Marriage.

A high school friend of mine made what seemed to be a poorly thought-out decision to get engaged to her boyfriend. We were all about 17 or 18 at the time. Though I liked both sides of the equation and wished them well, I could not fathom what in the Sam Hell could compel them to make this momentous, earth-shattering decision at our jobless, directionless age. Then I went to their engagement party, and their song, "The Bottom Line" played as they swayed in formalwear on the dance floor; practice for the real thing, I guess.

This song almost made it possible to believe that these two were doing the right thing. The lyrics may help you understand this intense song of loyalty and slavish devotion, once again sung by the angel Martin Gore:

Like a cat
Dragged in from the rain
Who goes straight back out
To do it all over again
I'll be back for more
It's something
That is out of our hands
Something we will never understand
It's a hidden law
The apple falls
Destiny calls
I follow you


Like a pawn
On the eternal board
Who's never quite sure
What he's moved towards
I walk blindly on
And heaven is in front of me
Your heaven beckons me enticingly
When I arrive
It's gone
The river flows
The wise man knows
I follow you


I'm yearning
I'm burning
I feel love's wheels turning


Like a moth on love's bright light
I will get burned
each and every night
I'm dying to(o)
The sun will shine
The bottom line
I follow you

I would follow Martin Gore through five football fields full of horse-puckey like Tim Robbins in "Shawshank" if he sang these words to me in his lilting tenor. I can see why my friends made this foolish decision if this was the soundtrack. They didn't make it to the altar, but this song lives on in their memory.

Here is a live video of Martin Gore tearing up this song:



Yes, it is a rather dark song for a wedding. We were full-on goth back then. My husband and I got married to U2's "All I Want Is You," personally.

Soundtrack of Your Life: Depeche Mode - One Caress

DEPECHE MODE - ONE CARESS from their 1993 album, "Songs of Faith and Devotion"

I wrote in the Soundtrack of Your Life featuring "Enjoy The Silence" about the wonderful play in opposites that lead singer Dave Gahan and chief songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and singer Martin Gore's voices are in Depeche Mode. If "Enjoy The Silence" is Dave Gahan's consummate vocal showcase, then "One Caress," on their second official album of the 90's, "Songs of Faith and Devotion" is his.

"Songs of Faith and Devotion" saw DM going in a similar musical direction as their song "Personal Jesus" from 1990's "Violator," continuing to adapt to the raw rock sound that pervaded the top of the charts and incorporate electric guitars into their own electronic sound, as well as taking full advantage of Dave Gahan's raspy growl. Dave's aggressively unpretty voice was comfortably matched by the aggressive guitar arrangements, a 90's coup that catapulted its "I Feel You" and "Walking In My Shoes" to the top of singles charts in the U.S. and the U.K.

While I totally respect all of the above, it was "One Caress" that I looked forward to each time I popped "Songs" into my Walkman.

Martin Gore's "Counterfeit e.p." (1989) was a much-loved, much-discussed, much-passed around item with my black kohl eye makeup and fishnet-wearing cohorts. We yearned to hear more of Martin's clear-as-a-bell, sweet tenor. "One Caress" made our goth dreams come true. I'm also a weak one for string arrangements in pop and rock music, so I was all over this overwhelmingly romantic tune. It is radically different than anything else on "Songs of Faith and Devotion," and I love it.

Please enjoy the weird video (complete with snakes and bugs and whatnot) to this singular song:



Can we please, in the next racial draft, claim Martin Gore for African-Americans? He is half-black. For serious, he is!

Soundtrack of Your Life: Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence

DEPECHE MODE - "ENJOY THE SILENCE" from their 1990 album, "Violator"

I was just watching clips of Depeche Mode in the studio for their new album, set to be released in the US on April 21, "Sounds of the Universe" (which you can check out on their website, depechemode.com) and I stumbled upon the great video for their inimitable 1990 single "Enjoy The Silence." How much do you love this song? How much?

Me and my goth friends could not get enough of this track in the 90's. What else can be said for a song that speaks for itself? My husband and I were talking about the quality of frontman Dave Gahan's voice versus DM resident genius Martin Gore's, and while I believe Martin's is technically brilliant and pure, Dave's voice has a raw, naked quality that represents Depeche Mode's dark worldview quite nicely, thank you very much. "Enjoy The Silence" is the ultimate expression of that quality, IMO.

By the way, Depeche Mode's Tour of the Universe 2009 in support of their new album hits the States beginning July 28 in Washington,DC and wends its way around to the Hollywood Bowl in L.A. for two nights, August 16 and 17. For tour dates in other parts of the country, click here for the info. In celebration, I'll post a "Soundtrack of Your Life" feature of a song off of each of DM's 90's albums, beginning today with 1990's "Violator."

After the video for "Enjoy The Silence," please check out the very twisted video for "Wrong," the first single from DM's 2009 album, "Sounds of the Universe":

Baby I Love Your Way: The Secret Handshake - I Wish

THE SECRET HANDSHAKE - "I WISH" from the 2008 album, "Punk Goes Crunk"

I ran into this looking for the video for Skee-Lo's 1995 hit single "I Wish" on YouTube. It's a cover by Texan electronic musician Luis Dubuc, who goes by the moniker The Secret Handshake, for the 2008 compilation record "Punk Goes Crunk" on Fearless Records.

I don't know anything about Mr. Handshake, but unlike many hardcore devotees of Skee-Lo on YouTube who felt this was the "white people version" of the song, I thought this was an interesting riff on what was an already languidly atmospheric electronic production. In other words, don't hate on an electro-pop update. Judge for oneself:



Though I agree that this is in no way better than the original, it is fun to imagine T-Pain performing this song in one of those top hats he's into wearing. He's on a boat, mamma-jammas!

I Can't Believe You Don't Own This F%#kin' Record - Meat Beat Manifesto - Satyricon & Upcoming Show

MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO - SATYRICON (1992)

UK DJ Jack Dangers (AKA Meat Beat Manifesto) is the man. He will be appearing at the Knitting Factory on Hollywood Boulevard on Thursday, December 4 (my Dad's b-day!) in support of his new album, "Autoimmune." Here is a very efficient review of said album cribbed from Allmusic.com. Amoeba Records' blog has a nice article here chronicling the last 20 years for Mr. Dangers. I recommend that you try your very best to see this amazing electronic artist live. In the meantime, let's discuss his excellent record, "Satyricon."

Where to start? I was mad over Meat Beat Manifesto in the 90's. Through industrial music and more mainstream techno like Prodigy and Chemical Brothers, I was becoming more and more drawn to soundscapes and experimental noise. It's an ongoing journey, which has led me into the hands of composers like Steve Reich and John Cage, and dub/ambient geniuses like Bill Laswell and Lee 'Scratch' Perry. I found Meat Beat Manifesto because 'zines like Industrial Nation often filed it under a genre called "Industrial Hip-Hop." I found this intriguing and gave a listen to what I think was Jack Danger's "99%" album. From the track "Psyche Out," I was hooked:



Meat Beat Manifesto - "Psyche Out" - 99% (1990)

I made a co-worker buy "Satyricon" for me, as I can recall. Some kind of Secret Santa nonsense. Whatever. All I knew was I needed that sweet, sweet, head-pounding noise. Jack Dangers is awesome because he manipulates an impressive number of conflicting sound elements, but it never sounds totally incoherent. The bassline groove is never lost in the mix either, keeping the anthems fist-pumping enough that you wonder why he wasn't name-checked in the Streets song, "Weak Become Heroes." Check that out here. (Make sure you watch an unedited version of this song. I don't know what they're playing at deleting all the drug references in this tune. In non-90's news, Mike Skinner, AKA, The Streets, has a new record out on Vice Records called "Everything is Borrowed." If you're a fan of UK dance music, I'd say go for it. He was great live.)

I hate dancing about architecture, so here's a video for "Mindstream" off this record. Unfortunately, I cannot show it to you here at my blog, but you need to hear it, believe me. Oh my god, PLUR...I'm just reading the comments to this video, they're too funny and spot on. Here is "Original Control (Version 2):



For the converted, here is an interview (by Blogcritics.com) with Jack Dangers himself:



Interview with Jack Dangers (Meat Beat Manifesto) - Blogcritics.com 04/2008 - Part 1



Interview with Jack Dangers (Meat Beat Manifesto) - Blogcritics.com 04/2008 - Part 2