Just in case downloading it for free was a little too much trouble, Nine Inch Nails will be releasing The Slip as an actual CD later this month. Here’s the release, complete with tourdates and everythang:

Nine Inch Nails’ The Slip, currently available only as a free download at NIN.com, will be issued July 22 as a limited edition physical CD/DVD through the band’s own Null Corporation label.

The CD version of The Slip will be limited to 250,000 copies worldwide, each in an individually numbered six-panel digipak that includes a bonus DVD of performances filmed during rehearsals for NIN’s upcoming Lights In The Sky tour, as well as a 24-page booklet and exclusive sticker pack.

The gatefold vinyl contains one 180-gram vinyl LP and a 24-page booklet, and is neither limited nor numbered.

The Slip is 10 new songs written and performed by Trent Reznor with Josh Freese, Robin Finck and Alessandro Cortini. Justin Meldal-Johnsen will round out this NIN lineup for the upcoming tour, dates of which are as follows:

07/25/08 - Pemberton, BC - Pemberton Festival
07/26/08 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena at Seattle Center
07/28/08 - Edmonton, ALB - Rexall Place
07/29/08 - Calgary, ALB - Pengrowth Saddledome
07/31/08 - Winnipeg, MAN - MTS Centre
08/02/08 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center
08/05/08 - Toronto, ONT - Air Canada Centre
08/07/08 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
08/08/08 - Worcester, MA - DCU Center
08/12/08 - Knoxville, TN - Knoxville Civic Coliseum
08/13/08 - Duluth, GA - Gwinnett Arena
08/15/08 - Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Center
08/16/08 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
08/18/08 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
08/20/08 - St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center
08/22/08 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
08/23/08 - Auburn Hills, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills
08/25/08 - Toledo, OH - Seagate Convention Center
08/27/08 - East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center
08/29/08 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
08/31/08 - Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena
09/02/08 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater
09/03/08 - Salt Lake City, UT - The E Center of West Valley
09/05/08 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
09/06/08 - Los Angeles, CA - The Forum

Industrial rock pioneer(s) Nine Inch Nails (aka Trent Reznor) has released their newest album, The Slip, online for absolutely free.

The album, which became available for download just after 3 a.m. Eastern time on Monday, appears to represent the first time a superstar act has distributed an entire album without any opportunity for people to pay for it. Its release comes two months after the band issued the instrumental album “Ghosts I-IV” and allowed fans to obtain a portion of it for free or the entire recording for $5. Before that, the British rock act Radiohead broke with convention by offering its 2007 album, “In Rainbows,” online under a tip-jar-style setup in which people could name their own price — including zero.

Mr. Reznor’s new offer could serve as another test of how the easy availability of free music online affects subsequent CD sales and other money-making opportunities. “The Slip” will not be sold on CD or vinyl until at least July, according to representatives for the band. But the free digital version could stoke interest for Nine Inch Nails’ recently announced concert tour. Already, radio stations have shown interest in “Discipline,” a song from “The Slip” that was released about two weeks ago.

As with the “Ghosts I-IV,” the new album is being released with a Creative Commons license, an unconventional type of intellectual-property license that allows the copyright holder to specify which rights it does and does not reserve. The band is allowing fans to share or remix the music for non-commercial purposes.

I’m not sure if Reznor is ushering in some newfangled apathy, or if he’s just worried that unless he puts his tunes out for free, no one will ever hear them. I mean, let’s face it, shit hasn’t been the same since the release of The Downward Spiral. And Reznor’s buffness is a tad disconcerting given the fact that he was once heralded as the poster child for skinny Goth America. Whatever though, I get free albums anyway; maybe I’m just bummed that the perks of journalism are now offered to everyone else. Sign of the times, man…sign of the times.

You can add scalpers alongside dog killers on the list of people Trent Reznor doesn’t kick it with. For the band’s upcoming tour, the best tickets to each show will be reserved for a limited NIN.com personalized presale:

Nine Inch Nails has secured extremely limited allotments of the guaranteed best possible seats to every headlining show on the band’s upcoming tour and reserved them for pre-sale via NIN.com. Beginning roughly 72 hours prior to each general on-sale, Nine Inch Nails fans registering under their legal names at NIN.com will be offered exclusive advance access to these prime tickets.
Additionally, in an initiative to protect NIN fans from scalpers and ticket brokers, every pre-sale ticket will be personalized with the purchaser’s legal name printed on the ticket. Tickets will not be available until night of show, at which point they will be waiting for the purchaser and his/her party at designated will calls at separate entrances to be used exclusively by NIN.com pre-sale ticket holders.
Government-issued ID matching the name printed on the ticket will be required for venue entry night of show. NO tickets will be mailed in advance.

Never Forget. Nine Inch Nails is SERIOUS FUCKING BUSINESS

NIN. ITZ SERIOUS FUCKING BUSINESS.

The Lollapalooza lineup was dropped on the Internets today - might I be probably one of many to say “holy shit, that is one hell of a lineup”. Perry Farrell has done it again and with Rage Against the Machine playing that will only fuel more rumors about an actual Rage Against the Machine new album (hey, one can hope right?). Get your hotel reservations for Chicago early… Lineup is after the jump…

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King of crazy Charles Manson released a new record this week via the opensource copyright organization Creative Commons just like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails. What’s Creative Commons? Well…

Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change your copyright terms from “All Rights Reserved” to “Some Rights Reserved.”

You can download it here I’m sure it’s less than awesome.

In other news somewhat related to both crazy and Manson Lindsay Lohan will star in an upcoming movie about Charles Manson aptly titled Manson Girls. She will play Nancy Pitman, one of Manson’s cult followers/whores in the movie. She’ll also be getting naked in front of the camera (again).

Like Nine Inch Nails before them, Radiohead are making the individual tracks to their new single “Nude” available on iTunes for use in crafting homemade remixes. However, the one caveat to this seemingly fan-appreciative jesture is that the “stems”, or individual components, for each song have to purchased separately. That sound you just heard was Thom Yorke’s bank account getting stacked with loot:

Radiohead, iTunes and Garageband are giving fans the opportunity to remix the band’s new single “Nude” at http://www.radioheadremix.com

To make remixing easy, the separate ’stems’* from the song will be available to purchase from iTunes. The ’stems’ available are bass, voice, guitar, strings/fx and drums. Fans can mix them in any way they like, either by adding their own beats and instrumentation, or just remixing the original parts.

Fans who purchase all five ’stems’ from iTunes during the first week they’re available, will be sent an access code to a GarageBand file ready to open in GarageBand or Logic. However, you don’t need GarageBand to do a remix, all the stems are available in iTunes Plus and compatible with several music software platforms.

Finished mixes can be uploaded to http://www.radioheadremix.com where the public will listen and vote for their favourite remix (voting ends May 1st). Fans can also create a widget allowing votes from their own website, Facebook or MySpace page to be counted as ‘mix votes’ back on radioheadremix.com.

Sounds like a lot of work to me. I’d rather just teach my shitty band the chords to “High and Dry” and play that shit for free.