For a time Rage Against The Machine ruled my life. I got into my first car accident while listening to “Killing In The Name Of.” Had to stash the driver’s bong before the police showed up…

Then Audioslave happened. Yep. Kinda ground my teeth through that one.

All the while vocalist Zach De La Rocha was working on his seemingly never to be released solo album.

Rage fans ready to be stoked? The wait is over with the announcement of…no, not the solo album, but an EP from the new band One Day As A Lion, featuring De La Rocha and Jon Theodore, formerly of Mars Volta.
Seems like a good match. On 7/22, the One Day As a Lion EP will be available on Anti- Records.

From Artist Direct:

The endless wait for Zack De La Rocha’s solo album will finally come to a pseudo halt on July 22 with the release of One Day As a Lion’s debut EP. A collaboration between De La Rocha and ex-Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore, the duo has completed five songs for their self-titled disc. None of which feature DJ Shadow, Trent Reznor, or ?uestlove of The Roots—artists that have been tied to De La Rocha’s long-rumored solo recordings.

“It’s a sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask,” the group explained in a statement.

In other De La Rocha news, Rage Against the Machine has seven festival dates lined up for this summer, including an appearance at Lollapalooza on August 2.

One Day As a Lion:

1. Wild International
2. Ocean View
3. Last Letter
4. If You Fear Dying
5. One Day As a Lion

For cryptic info on the band, check out their (currently music-less) MySpace profile.

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.

Yesterday Trent Reznor released Ghosts I-IV and we gave you an overview of the variety of way you can purchase the new material.
Well - looks like Reznor just made a quick $750,000 - in about a day - by completely selling out of the Ultra-Deluxe package.
According to the site:
Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition Package
We have SOLD OUT of the 2500 Limited Edition Packages.

Next up is the $7,500 Radiohead limited edition deluxe box set of In Rainbows.

Nine Inch Nails ended their relationship with Interscope when their record contract expired in October 2007 so Trent Reznor decided to pull a Radiohead and just released Ghosts I-IV via his Nine Inch Nails website.

You can check out the whole thing here.

Ghosts I - IV is a brand new 36 track instrumental collection. Clocking in at right around two hours of new music that was - according to Trent Reznor “composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I - IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain. I’ve been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn’t have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I’m very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts.”

There’s a few different ways to get your new NIN - here’s the breakdown:

1. Free downloads of the first nine tracks from the Ghosts I-IV collection as DRM-free MP3s, plus the 40-page PDF.

2. $5 download: All 36 tracks in a variety of digital formats, plus a 40-page PDF.

3. $10 two-disc set: A double-disc set, packaged in a Digipak with a 16-page booklet, to be shipped on April 8. Includes immediate download of album.

4. $75 deluxe edition: Ghosts I-IV in a “hardcover fabric slipcase containing two audio CDs, one data DVD with all tracks in multi-track format, and a Blu-Ray disc of Ghosts I-IV. Ships May 1. Includes immediate download of album.

5. $300 “ultra-deluxe limited edition package”: Deluxe edition plus a four-LP set on 180-gram vinyl, which is packaged in a fabric slipcase. Two limited-edition Giclee prints are included; package is numbered and signed by Trent Reznor. Limited to a run of 2500, and one piece per customer. Ships May 1 and includes immediate download.

I went with option 2 for the $5 since I hate CD’s. Option 5 is pretty sick though but that’s a lotta Euro’s at this moment. I ordered my downloadable copy last night and still haven’t been able to actually download it thanks to what must be a shit load of traffic. The whole album is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States which means there should be some sick remix’s floating around the internets sooner or later. Also worth mentioning is the last line of the NIN Ghosts FAQ that mentions “an exciting partnership and experience regarding this release.”