The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!

I didn't quite know what to expect when i heard this album. I had heard the clips (and in fact encouraged people to download the tracks) but my cynicism kind of got the best of me. I didn't think this record could possibly be as strong as the two "leaked" tracks.

Yeah, I took a huge shot of STFU in the mouth when the album dropped. This is by far the most genre bending album I have heard in a very long time. It's (to quote the NY mag) as if "...NIN meets Gnarls Barkley meets Justice..."

All of the noise that Trent brought with Year Zero (which imho is spectacular) combined with the social consciousness of a Fear of a Black Planet era Public Enemy.

Best part about it? No RIAA. $5.00 if you want a lossless copy of the album. Free if you just want to have it at 192kbs.

I decided to try and play a track from the album last week at the local Goth night. It was Saul's cover of U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday The response? VERY favorable. (I dropped it during a post punk set that included joy division, and a little smiths new wave action. Everybody wanted to know who it was, and more importantly how to get the album.

The album is just fantastic. From the very industrial influenced Black History Month, Niggy Tardust, and the Ritual to the really modern hip hop sounds of Tr(n)igger which samples the aforementioned Public Enemy) this album breaks so many musical boundaries that one can only hope that more "producers" (and I use that term very lightly for folks who do little more than sample a hook and add some modulation) will look outside of their tunnel vision and really make the kind of record that can make an impact on more than a limited time fickle audience.

I give this album an unconditional stamp of approval and implore every who has read this entry to download the record. The most it would cost you is $5.00. You will not be disappointed. I promise.

Purchase The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust from NiggyTardustdotcom

The Sultan's Elephant

Sometimes a video and it's audio are so well meshed that the two of them embed themselves very deeply in your psyche.

Such was the case when I clicked on a bulletin a friend of mine posted to myspace this weekend. Here is is for your enjoyment:



The video was taken from a part of a show by the Royal Deluxe Theatre company called The Sultans Elephant what struck me about the video was not just it's very obvious mastery of puppetry, but the song that was used in conjunction with the video decollage by the French band Les Balayeurs du desert is so perfect that it was almost as if it was written specifically for the video. (edit- it may very well may have been. The band is apparently very closely tied to the theatre company)


download decollage from the album Jules Verne Impact