3/13/2008 2:22PM
Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I-IV
Converting Angst Into Serendipity



NIN has released a new double-CD called Ghosts I-IV. It is a marked departure from previous NIN releases.

For one thing, NIN has gone the Radiohead route in circumventing the record labels, selling/offering the album on its web site in various configurations.

For another thing, the music does not follow the established format of past NIN releases. In place of the usual NIN screeds about personal and/or societal woes are 36 instrumental tracks, each clocking in at around two to three minutes and arranged into four distinct groups of NINe tracks each. While there is a wide range of stylistic diversity among the tracks, each group of tracks seem to possess a distinct and identifiable stylistic inclination.

The experience of listening to Ghosts I-IV is akin to browsing through an artist's sketchbook. Didactic angst and high concept have here been abandoned in favor of a simpler approach: present a brief musical idea, develop it just enough so its essence is conveyed, and then move on to the next one. There is a spontaneous and, one would say, almost guileless quality to the music, which imparts a sense of intimacy that is a new facet of the NIN canon. Emotional intensity notwithstanding, NIN has had a tendency to make the listener feel as if they are being held at arm's length. With this new work, one gets the feeling that NIN is lowering its guard and letting the listener in a bit and, once inside, things don't seem as bleak or foreboding as one would have otherwise thought.

There have been reports that Mr. Reznor has, over the past two or three years, shed some of his personal demons. Whether this is true or not, Ghosts I-IV is evidence of a newfound sense of both confidence and adventurousness, pointing the way to a new and (in my opinion) most welcome change in NIN's evolution.

(P.S.: In a handful of the photos accompanying the release, it looks like Trent and his pals are having gangs of fun with their Buchla 200e synth, the sonic signature of which you can hear on nearly every track of Ghosts.)

(P.P.S.: One of the configurations for sale on the web site is [was] a deluxe limited edition $300 version with lots of extras and signed by Trent himself. They sold all 2500 of them almost right after they were made available. 2500 at $300 a pop. Do the math. I expect a number of purchasers will turn around and sell them for a tidy profit on eBay. Not counting profits from sales of the other Ghosts configurations, I would expect that this new NIN venture will further solidify its financial independence and security, which in turn should result in further sonic adventures and experiments. Bring it on!)

(P.P.P.S.: Of the three download options for the Ghosts audio, I went with the FLAC [Free Lossless Audio Codec] version. This version is sonically equivalent to standard WAV files, and can be easily converted from FLAC to WAV format using a utility such as the one available here. Once in WAV format, burn your own CDs and then rip them like you would any other CD, if you need to get the music into MP3 or other "lossy" audio format.)