Monday, May 5, 2008

This Week's (Belated) Shameless Budgeteer Plug + FREE NIN ALBUM!

Homegrown '08 pictures, Brian Matuszak's Rubber Chicken Enterprises, a soul-baring column (about video games), Dane Schmidt from Jamestown Story/Sing It Loud and ... Amnicon Falls again (I guess). Couple these stories with my appearance with the Duluth News Tribune's Ann Klefstad on KUWS's "Final Edition" Friday evening and it was a busy week indeed!

"Matuszak Bounces Back with Rubber Chicken" :: Renegade Comedy Theatre’s ousted executive and artistic director (and founder) is already back with a new venture: Rubber Chicken Enterprises. The well-known funnyman answers our questions.

"Unleash Your Inner Video Game Dork" :: The monumental release of "Grand Theft Auto IV" last Tuesday has this Xbox 360 fanboy looking back at his formative years (of playing video games...).

"Share Your Homegrown '08 Memories!" :: Whether it's a picture of your favorite band or your pick for the festival's best set, we'd like to hear how you spent the 10th anniversary of Duluth's largest music festival. -> Or, if you're shy, just check out my pictures of Cars & Trucks, Giljunko, Number One Common, the Surfactants and Greg Cougar Conley.

"Success Won't Change Dane Schmidt" :: While one of his groups, Sing It Loud, recently signed to punk powerhouse Epitaph Records, Duluth native Dane Schmidt still plugs away at his first recording project, Jamestown Story. This Q-and-A is exclusive to DuluthBudgeteer.com. (p.s. Look for a review of Jamestown Story's new EP, "The Prologue," in this weekend's Budgeteer!)

"Discover Duluth: Amnicon Falls, Vol. II" :: Like the majority of its Northland counterparts, Amnicon State Park outside Superior is alive with the sound of raging rapids. For this online exclusive, my photo essay series returns to one of my favorite area parks for a special "spring thaw" edition. (Includes one shot, "Play Misty for Me, or: Get Your Spring Thaw On," that landed on the cover of last weekend's Budge!)

And, as promised, information on Nine Inch Nails' new studio album, "The Slip," which is available as a free download at NIN.com (information courtesy of the band):

Trent Reznor to Fans: "Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years. This one's on me."

As of 12:01 a.m. PST May 5, Nine Inch Nails' brand new full length album The Slip is available as free download at NIN.com.

Unlike NIN's recently released Ghosts I-IV, there are NO paid options available for The Slip, nor are there any retail partners. At present, The Slip is available exclusively as a free download at NIN.com. A physical configuration on CD and vinyl is in the works for a July release.

The Slip marks the first time Nine Inch Nails--or any artist of NIN's stature--has made its new album available completely and exclusively for free as a DRM-free digital download. The Slip is available as a high-quality MP3 or in a variety of lossless formats including, for the first time, a higher-than-CD quality 24 bit 96k version. All downloads include a PDF with credits and artwork.

Like the free single "Discipline" released last week to terrestrial radio stations and their websites and the track "Echoplex" appearing on iLike, The Slip is a classic straightforward NIN album, featuring Trent Reznor on vocals and various instruments as well as Josh Freese, Robin Finck and Alessandro Cortini. The record was produced by Reznor, Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder. Art direction by Rob Sheridan.

As with previous Nine Inch Nails releases Year Zero and Ghosts I-IV, the complete multi-track files to The Slip will be available free at launch, allowing anyone who wants to create his or her own remixes and reinterpretations of the songs. As always, the Remix.NIN.com community will provide a sire and infrastructure for fans to upload, share, stream and download these various remixes as well as the original masters, all free of charge or restrictions.

The Slip, like Ghosts I-IV, is being released under a Creative Commons license, allowing fans to distribute the songs and files freely and without fear of copyright infringement. More details regarding this license can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

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