First thing is first, this last Friday, we released the new single "Everlasting" during a live stream chat and listen through! What is the single about?
In the early evening, during the pandemic... we were starting to get into Spring... the sun was slowly setting, and there was a little bit of snow falling and blowing around. Looking to the West, I experienced something that has never happened before in my life. The light, the sun, the clouds... it looked gold, and I didn’t want it to end... I had never seen anything like it before. There was beauty... It kinda felt like a moment of, we will eventually get back to living our lives, even though things have changed... probably for the rest of life, I realized at some point we will get through this, we will eventually overcome these obstacles. I’m not sure what it will look like after, but we will change and adapt! I felt peace and hope. I didn’t take any pictures, but I was inspired to write “Everlasting” to capture what I was feeling... and share it with whoever wants to listen! Even when things are dark, there is still light within that.
You can purchase Twitch's new single "Everlasting" here!
We are also doing a live stream performance on our Twitch Facebook page here on Thursday, October 22nd/2020 at 7pm - 8:30pm (MST)! So be sure to join us for that! We might be playing some old, and some new... and there might be some surprises... we'll see!!
("Everlasting" A Dance Party - Live Stream)
We hope you folks are staying well!! See you in the live stream!!
Yes, we received this in the mail not too long ago... popped it in and started listening...
...this is PRONG's comeback album after their "Scorpio Rising". This album is a lot heavier and it sounds like Tommy Victor is a lot more angry on these tracks.
(Inner sleeve; Part 1)
I will say this album veers more heavily in the metal direction... but still has some industrial and darker elements to it.
(Inner Sleeve; Part 2)
PRONG has always been on the edge as far as industrial goes... they are not strictly industrial... but they kind of crossover into it on various albums and songs... Personally, I think PRONG is more of a crossover band than a strictly industrial metal band.
(CD Artwork)
I would say the tracks that stand out for me are... "Looking For Them", "Pure Ether", "Power Of The Damager", "The Banishment", and "Spirit Guide"... I think "The Banishment" is probably my favorite track off the album!
(Back Cover)
If you are curious about industrial music history and in particular industrial metal... I would consider this as a part of that history, and being that the main songwriter Tommy Victor has worked with bands like Danzig during his industrial phase (Blackacidevil), as well as played and toured with Ministry...
...Prong has long crossed the line between metal and industrial I will recommend picking this up and adding it to your collection! Digging into this stuff, you realize there's all these little connections in the history of industrial music... and bands that you thought weren't related are actually related and have had members play in the various industrial bands or related bands in the scene...
Wow, when you thought online live streamed festivals couldn't get any better, COLDWAVES put together an amazing festival!! A lot of the other festivals were basically just live streamed band performances, but this festival (granted a lot of this stuff was pre-recorded)... amazing... there's all kinds of amazing videos, performances, music video commentary (Chris Vrenna, Martin Atkins, and what I do believe is the director for both "Down In It" and "Head Like A Hole" video(s), talk about Nine Inch Nails "Head Like A Hole" as well as "Down In It" and the stories around the videos and how they were made, and kinda what happened around the filming of those videos)... even premiers of new music videos and all that kind of stuff... great!! I honestly think this is the best live streamed festival so far!! Makes me want to actually be at a future COLDWAVES! If you missed it, you really missed out!! Plus, they are trying to raise funds for the Darkest Before Dawn charity... the blurb says this:
"Welcome to Darkest Before Dawn. We are a new non-profit, based in Chicago and Los Angeles, with one simple yet urgent goal: to provide resources, support, and community for our nightlife, restaurant and music venue industry, who's late hours and isolated commutes leave them susceptible to depression, addiction and suicide. Recent data points to a high rate of chemical dependency and suicide for this demographic in our country, especially in the very industries built to provide excitement, leisure and happiness to everyone else. They are the people heading home in the early morning hours, when businesses are closed, the streets are empty, and it truly is the darkest period of time before the dawn."
I realize this is a U.S. charity, but for folks who read this blog that are from the U.S., you can check out Darkest Before Dawn here!
Here's a Canadian Musician charity... it's called UNISON! Here's a little blurb about them:
"Unison Benevolent Fund is a non-profit, registered charity that provides counselling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community. We are here to help professional music-makers in times of hardship, illness or economic difficulties."
Yes... it's been quite sometime since I've given Nine Inch Nails a good listen. I found that during this pandemic, the lyrics are a little too depressing to really focus on it and enjoy listening to it, but last night "Head Like A Hole (Soil)" randomly came on my playlist... and it reminded me, that first I love Nine Inch Nails, and second... I love industrial music... not sure why, the mix just really clicked, and I felt inspired! So, the rest of yesterday and today I've been listening to NIN's back-catalogue... and really enjoying it. Not sure what changed there... but it seems to be what I want to listen to right now.
I thought I would share what tracks in particular are inspiring me right now:
(Nine Inch Nails "Head Like A Hole (Soil)")
I remember when I first heard this track, total inspiration, has a bit of a hiphop vibe:
(Nine Inch Nails "Closer (Deviation)")
This particular track, I remember when I first got this CD, loved it! Lot's of inspiration, and I actually prefer this mix of "March Of The Pigs" rather than the original mix:
(Nine Inch Nails "All The Pigs, All Lined Up")
It's really a lot of fun right now being back to having NIN in the playlist, there's sooo many memories, and reminders of why I love industrial music in general, and there is so much inspiration. I remember when I was first jamming with my first band Adam Hates You, and we would listen to stuff like this... and take inspiration from it. There were so many ideas, and truthfully speaking, I was finding my voice (vocally, and musically) and even though we didn't really go anywhere with it (and a lot of it was, us really jamming out), there was a lot of fun... I remember at the time, going into the music instrument stores in the area (H.E.L. Music), and checking out synthesizers and figuring out what I really wanted in a synth, and how I was gonna translate the stuff that I was creating into a live show. I remember looking at initially, the Alesis Q synth if I'm not mistaken, and testing it out, and playing with the sounds and stuff... and there were some patches in it, that kind of sounded like NIN patches... there was another synth I checked out (I can't remember for the life of me, what the name of it was), but ultimately I decided not to purchase either of them... I remember walking into Mothers Music (just down the street from H.E.L), and playing around with another synth, and it looked like a really cool synth... and I looked at the price tag... and at the time I thought "At that price ($2500), it's gotta be a good synth", for some reason the name of that synth stuck with me (Yamaha EX7)... and then eventually I ended up picking it up (years and years later)... and I still have it!
(Nine Inch Nails "The Art Of Self-Destruction, Part One)
Lot's of memories from that time. There was a little goth/industrial scene in that city (Saskatoon) at the time, and a lot, if not all of my friends were doing industrial music in some way... Adam Hates You had a rotating roster (basically whoever showed up to jam), and even though I ended up dissolving that band and moving to Calgary, Alberta... it was really a time of exploration, and my first foray into writing industrial music, and kinda figuring out what exactly I wanted to do. A friend had given me a copy of a freeware DOS program called Impulse Tracker... and that's how I wrote my first track... really experimenting, finding my voice and sound, and then eventually some of those tracks ended up turning into Twitch's first "Self-titled" release.
(Nine Inch Nails "The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)")
Definitely, not feeling nostalgic, definitely don't want to go back to those times, but definitely reminded of why I love industrial music, and what got me into it in the first place!
I hope you folks are doing well, I hope you are staying safe, I hope you are staying positive!
Shayne "Daemon_w60" Lawrence / Twitch / Trippingonacable Records
(Your Canadian Goth/Rivethead)
P.S.: We got this live stream show coming up on September 24th/2020 on our Twitch Facebook Page, which you can confirm your attendance here!
If you saw our video here, you would know recently we received in the mail from Wax Trax! Records, two Chris Connelly releases, the first one being "July", and the second one being the album "Phenobarb Bambalam". I used to have both of these in my CD collection waaaaay back in the day, when I was 19 or 20 or something like that. I got rid of them when I was trying to build extra cash for my move to Calgary. I don't regret getting rid of them, but after all these years I realized I missed having them in my collection, and I'm trying to grab stuff from the recently brought back to life Wax Trax! Records label.
(Chris Connelly's "July")
So, a little bit about these releases: when I originally received these when I was 19 or 20 from a friend, he had passed them on from a local goth/industrial DJ in Saskatoon at the time. Then I eventually sold them... I didn't want to, but I had to get rid of things that weren't essential in my collection at the time... and I needed to raise some funds (I sold a lot of stuff that I'm in the process of recollecting now).
("Phenobarb Bambalam" disc)
("July" disc)
My initial thoughts about the releases when I originally received them were, I enjoyed them... it was a little different from the stuff I was normally used to, but I thought they were still good! I also felt a little bit of a connection to Mr. Connelly, cause in the album artwork he has dreads, and at the time I had dreads as well.
(Back of "Phenobarb Bambalam")
(Back of "July")
Listening to them now... I remember what I thought when I had heard them for the first time... On these releases, Chris Connelly definitely has a Bowie vibe going on. I'm not sure if that was what he was going for, but he certainly sounds like Mr.Bowie... nothing wrong with that! I would say at least on these albums Chris Connelly sounds like a industrialized David Bowie. I still am enjoying this stuff! I would say the production values on the album, as well as the mixing and mastering are quite different from the regular Wax Trax! stuff... and I think that that might be because Al Jourgensen had nothing to do with these releases. The mixing and mastering is solid though... very clear... nothing seems buried in the mix. Listening to them again, I don't think I had the same appreciation for the music back then that I do today... I'm glad I purchased them again, and supported the label directly! I'm glad they are back in my collection, and I will say, if you are interested in industrial music history... Wax Trax! Records played a very large role in the American goth/industrial scene and were pioneers when it came to bringing European bands like KMFDM and Front 242 to the American scene as well as played a large role in the industrial metal movement (Ministry being one of the first acts to incorporate metal elements with industrial music), so head over to their website here! and order some industrial music history!!
Yeah, I remember purchasing the first Ohgr release waaay back in what I think was 2001. If I'm not mistaken an old friend introduced me to the project while I was visiting my home town for the holidays or something like that. Now if you are unfamiliar with Ohgr, Ohgr is a collaboration between Nivek Ogre (of Skinny Puppy), and Mark Walk. Here's the wiki's if you are interested on Ogre and Ohgr!
My interest in Ohgr initially was that a friend of mine thought my second release had similarities to Ohgr's album "Welt". At the time I could hear some of the similarities... and after hearing Ohgr for the first time, I thought that it was a great project! I think the one thing that attracted me to actually purchase the album, was there was a lot of pop structure in the songs, while still having a bit of the Skinny Puppy sound. It sounded "lighter" but still had that industrial stream of thought vocal play that Ogre was known for in Skinny Puppy. If you did take a look at the above wiki's you would know that Ogre structured the music around the lyrics when creating the songs on "Welt"... which I think makes Ohgr, Ohgr. There is a "magic" to it... the way the words are strung together... when listening to it, it's like opening a gift or watching a magician perform an illusion, or sleight-of-hand trick. Everything is strung together in such a way, that it is like magic. You wonder how the music fits so well with the lyrics, but they do!
I remember purchasing it and opening up to find the weird artwork... what was the inspiration for this album... there were no lyrics in the CD booklet, just artwork and credits... It's only as of recently that I've looked up some of the lyrics for the songs... is he telling a story..? are these life events..? I don't know, and can't seem to find any interpretation of what they are online! Still excellent lyrics though!
Over the years I've picked up the various albums "SunnyPsyOp", "Devils In My Details", "Undeveloped", and "Tricks"... each of them having their own characteristics, I will say as time has gone on, the albums seem to have gotten darker, and maybe more aggressive. I love each album, but if I were to pick one, I think "Welt" is probably my favorite!
So, what is it about Ohgr, what makes the project sooo captivating... is it his vocal delivery..? the pop elements..? the way the songs are structured around his lyrics..? the orchestration of the whole thing, and how each song is constructed..? the sound design and programming..? Is it the way Ogre presents the project in the live spectrum..? I will say, I was fortunate to see Ohgr perform a show here in our city, and it was an amazing show (although, I will say, it wasn't very well attended... odd being that it's fucking Ogre, as well as Lead Into Gold, and Omniflux on the bill, but maybe not enough people in our city know of Ohgr [or Ogre], or of the history of Lead Into Gold, and that whole era of industrial music). The funny thing about all of this, when Ogre was younger, he wanted to be a magician, apparently he wasn't very good at it, but he went on to create the magic that is Ohgr... with his wordplay in his lyrics and the amazing music. The one thing about magicians is, we always ask... how do they do it? Often times, we are left with no answers... all that we are left with is awe and amazement... and that my friends is magic!
So, what do you think of Ohgr? Do you think the music and lyricism are magic? Have you seen the project perform live? What were your thought's on the performance?
P.S.: ...and if you are curious what we sounded like in our early days (around the "Welt" era)... check out our second album "We Are Here To Dance!"
Ok, so most of you know, if you've been reading our blog (or you have the digital booklet for our "20 Years of Twitch" retrospective), that we are heavily influenced by Nine Inch Nails, but what is our favorite Nine Inch Nails album..? I could tell you where it started, how I initially got into NIN... I can't quite remember how I came across them in the beginning, but something influenced me to pick up "Pretty Hate Machine", I may have seen the video of 'Head Like A Hole' and that is kinda what started me into the downward spiral 😉 of trying to find and purchase anything I could get my hands on! I loved NIN, and still do!
I could tell you how I purchased "Further Down The Spiral" by accident, thinking it was "The Downward Spiral"... and then putting it on and realizing it was not what I thought it was... but decided to keep it anyway! Then, a little while later I picked up "The Downward Spiral"... and then somewhere between purchasing "The Downward Spiral" and purchasing the "Closure" VHS tapes, I picked up the "March of The Pigs" singles, as well as the "Closer" single, and also somewhere in there "Broken" and "Fixed"...
...I could tell you sometime after moving to Calgary a friend of mine gave me a copy of the "Broken" snuff video... then moving to London, England for a 4.5 month stint, I was thinking about Nine Inch Nails, and was hoping that they would release something new, not knowing that I would randomly walk into a music shop there like 10 minutes later, and found the "The Day The World Went Away" single that they just released, and it would carry on like that, I found out they were releasing a new album "The Fragile" and picked that up as well...
...then I came back to Calgary, and found "Things Falling Apart", then "And All That Could Have Been" live album... then a few years later, I was wondering if they were going to release something again, initially called "Bleedthrough", "With Teeth" was announced! I managed to win a contest at a club here and won the CD and a poster as well... a little while after that, I picked up "Every Day Is Exactly The Same"...
...Then the next year "Year Zero" came out, and the "Survivalism" single... course I don't have everything NIN... I don't have all the Halo's, but I do have a large chunk of them in physical copies... I also managed to get the "And All That Could Have Been" live DVD, as well as the "Beside You In Time" DVD as well...
...I downloaded "The Slip" when it was available online (I would like to find the CD though), I ended up with a collectors edition of "Hesitation Marks" and picked up digital versions of the "Head Like A Hole" and the "Down In It" singles (would love to find this in CD as well), I also have the CD version of "Add Violence" and "Bad Witch", and I managed to get the special black package of "Not The Actual Events" (that was a lot of fun to open, lol)!!.
There's other things I have too like "Ghosts: I - IV", and "Still"... there's quite a few pieces I don't have... but I figure I'll find them someday... soooo, what Nine Inch Nails album is my favorite, and why? To be honest with you, I can't pick one... everything Trent has put out, I love, and I think every album speaks for the time that they were created... and I think each and every one, has their own character and sounds different... the only exception was the last 3 EP's that they did; "Not The Actual Events", "Add Violence", and "Bad Witch", I thought they were great, but I didn't feel Trent (and Atticus), where moving in new territory... I do understand that Trent was feeling nostalgic at the time, and wanted to honor the early days with these EP's, and they are great in that context, but like I said... they weren't really breaking into new territory, and I just felt that it has already been done, but I still do think they are great, just not the best in the Nine Inch Nails spectrum! So, there you have it, now you know what is/are our favorite album(s)!
I've gone on a very long stint, of not listening to Nine Inch Nails... but the last couple of days, I've been really enjoying them! I think it was probably good that I hadn't listened to them in a while, cause listening to Nine Inch Nails these last couple of days is reminding me why they are my favorite band of all time! Today, I was listening to "The Downward Spiral" and the various singles and EP's that came off this album... and something that came up in the playlist was "Further Down The Spiral"... now, "Further Down The Spiral" is a remix album... but as it came on... I realize I really enjoy this... when I was younger, I remember hearing "The Downward Spiral" at a friends place, and when I went to go and purchase it, I couldn't remember the title of the album, and mistakenly picked up "Further Down The Spiral"... I remember popping it into my CD player and realizing it was not "The Downward Spiral", I didn't return it to the music store and exchange it though... I kept it, cause I liked it.
The first thing that stood out for me, was the abrasive sound it had throughout the album... it was noisey! (A side story: After I purchased it, I remember taking it over to an girlfriend at the time, parents place and popping it into the CD player, and her mom said "...wow, they must have been on some serious drugs to write something like this!”)... This remix album has several collaborators on it, including Aphex Twin, members of Coil, J.G. Thirlwell, as well as Nine Inch Nails live members! Now listening to this remix album... it really is further down the spiral... like I feel like it takes the songs off "The Downward Spiral", and really fucks them up! I feel like this is the last statement of "The Downward Spiral", and pushes the songs into a deep and dark territory! Kinda like a last gasp of breath before drowning.
So, I guess... I'm just really enjoying it, and remembering why I like this remix album... I kinda feel like out of all the remix albums that Trent has done, this one stands out, cause there was a list of collaborators, as well, I feel like... when you listen to traditional remix albums... there really isn't an artistic statement associated with it, typically it's just other bands doing remixes and that's it... with "Further Down The Spiral" I feel like there's an artistic statement, that takes the story of "The Downward Spiral" and expands on it... and goes deeper.
Yeah, really enjoying it right now!
What do you folks think of "Further Down The Spiral"?
Well, while we are on the topic of Prong, I thought I would talk about my favorite Prong album... "Rude Awakening"... why do I like this album, well... first of all... the first time I saw this album, was in a music store in Saskatoon, SK... I saw it, and I thought the cover artwork looked cool! There was no doubt in my mind that this album was going to be excellent... If I'm not mistaken, I think I first heard and saw the video for the song "Rude Awakening" at some point after I had moved into a step-dad figure's house in Saskatoon (1996 or 97). I found out soon after that it was directed by Rob Zombie, who is also a favorite artist of mine! It wasn't until years later that I would pick it up digitally (wish I actually picked up the physical, cause I would've loved to have the booklet and all that shit)! This album really stands out for me cause, it was very angsty, very dark, they were going in a more industrial metal direction... more so than their previous efforts, I feel this album was probably their best! I love the way the guitars sound, the bass in it is nice and chunky, everything is down-tuned... It had all the industrial tropes for the time, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand... Tommy Victors trademark voice. If you read our last blog, you would know that we really love the guitar sounds that Tommy has produced over the years... especially the dissonant chords and such! I think my favorite song off this album is "Rude Awakening", it sounds soo dissonant, and Tommy fuckin howls out the lyrics... yeah, love this song!
(Rude Awakening)
(Caprice)
For a crossover band, they are definitely, excellent! I would love to see them live at some point!
Well, here's a band I've been into since my mid teens... I think the first album I heard of their's was "Cleansing", of course the first song I heard was "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck", matter of fact, I probably saw the video for "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" before actually listening to the album. The one thing I noticed and remembered from this album, is they really had a semi-thrash kind of sound mixed with a darker feel. Something I didn't realize until my adult years, was that Prong, maybe not in their early days, was influenced by darker, industrial sounds... they started to add samples and synths and such to their albums (around the "Prove You Wrong" era), and the "Cleansing" album was definitely influenced by industrial metal (I loved this album as a teenager)... and then they would carry on and go deeper into the dark angsty industrial metal sound with their album "Rude Awakening" which is probably my favorite album by them. I just love the way it sounds... so dissonant and so bleak. The main man, Tommy Victor (vocals and guitars) would end up working with Danzig as a live guitarist, and eventually as a co-writer on an album (You can see him in the Danzig video "Sacrifice"), Tommy Victor would also end up falling into the Ministry camp with Al Jourgensen as a live guitarist as well as a co-writer on "Rio Grande Blood" and "The Last Sucker".
(Who's Fist Is This Anyway?)
Why do I like Prong..? They've always been on the periphery of industrial music, and Tommy Victor has influenced a lot of bands in the scene... granted they may not be the most popular band in the industrial scene... but they've always kinda been doing something in the background, whether it was releasing their own albums, or Tommy playing roles in Danzig, or Ministry... they were even influenced by post-punk band Killing Joke... I know a lot of folks may not consider them a part of our scene, but I really do think they belong there at least as a crossover band... like I said, they've always been on the periphery. They've even influenced our own sound in the past... I love their guitars, not really sure how to describe them... they're kind of dissonant, and when you hear a Prong song, you know it's Prong, just for the sheer fact that they kind of have their own sound, and Tommy Victor's trademark vocals! Yeah, even though Prong is more on the industrial music periphery, and they are more of a crossover band, I do like their sound and darkness!
(Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck)
Would you fit Prong in the scene? Where do they land on your periphery?
There are a lot of record labels that I'm fan of, but are my three top labels that I'm a really big fan of... So, let's just get to it... here are three labels I'm a really big fan of:
1. Metropolis Records:
Now I've been a fan of Metropolis since the early 2000's I think my first purchase of a band on their roster was Covenant "Dreams of A Cryotank"... now there is sooo many memories associated with this particular album (I first saw them when I was living in London, England), and after I had returned to Canada from England, it was shortly afterward that I picked up their album! Love that album, it's probably one of my favorite Covenant albums! After Covenant it was, if I'm not mistaken Assemblage 23 "[contempt]" still love that album, then Wumpscut's "The Dried Blood of Gomorrah"... and then it just spiraled after that... first of all, there are sooo many great bands on Metropolis... and Metropolis broke a lot of new bands or picked up bands right when they were breaking into the scene! Metropolis's roster is massive... not only do they have a lot of the major modern electro/industrial/ebm bands on their roster, they also had or still have some of the major bands that pioneered the scene way back in the day, that they eventually signed to their label, including: KMFDM, Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly... and countless other acts!
If you've read any of my blogs lately, you would know, I'm a huge fan of Wax Trax! Records, simply for the fact that sooo many industrial bands that were pioneers in the industrial scene came off this label; KMFDM, Revolting Cocks (and countless other side-projects of Al Jourgensen), Chris Connelly, Front 242, VNV Nation, Front Line Assembly, Chris & Cosey, Lead Into Gold... sooo fuckin many bands! Now, Wax Trax! Records sort of has an afterlife, Julia Nash (daughter of Jim Nash), has made a documentary about the label and her father (Jim Nash) and fathers partner (Dannie Flesher), and they've had a couple of one off releases (Cocksure 12-inch single, as well as a Front 242 7-inch), and they've done a pop-up store and such... but as far as activity goes, not a whole lot... but that is ok, I still expect there to be stuff coming in the future, just kinda... here or there!
Now this isn't a label per se, but it is what Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has been releasing stuff under for his various endeavors. As far as I know, he hasn't released any other bands on this new imprint, but it's Nine Inch Nails...soo, being that they are my favorite band of all time... that's why it makes it on this list!
If you would like to know a little bit more about the Null Corporation... here is the NINWiki!
Here's Nine Inch Nails "Less Than":
That's it... these are the three core labels that I'm a fan of... obviously there's a lot of other labels that I do enjoy, but I thought I would list the top three, what are your folks favorite labels? Leave them in the comments, and maybe a little bit as to why they are your favorite label!
(Note: I did delete the original post; I felt it was a little too focused on music I don't particularly enjoy... and would rather focus on the stuff I do enjoy... so, here you go here is: Guitar Driven Industrial Music That We Were Influenced By!)
There are many a guitar driven industrial bands out there, some of you know that we are huge fans of Nine Inch Nails... we were heavily influenced by them in the early days! Here's "Down In It":
Here's "Virus" off our first "Self-Titled" album:
Ministry (I'm adding them as a general influence, cause how many industrial metal bands can't say they were influenced by Ministry... I mean, they basically started that sub-genre)! Here's probably our favorite song from"The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste" album:
Another guitar driven industrial band that we were highly influenced by was Prong, now they aren't strictly industrial metal/rock, but their album "Rude Awakening" was highly influential to us, as that is the album they had a lot of industrial influences and was generally darker than their previous efforts:
Here's our track "The People We Meet" off our album "ant":
Over the years newer bands have influenced the Twitch sound... I, Parasite, Relic, Acumen Nation, and some older stuff as well SMP, PWEI in particular their album "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos", even some Marilyn Manson (not sure where to put them, they definitely have industrial elements, and they are rock, but are they actually industrial rock.?? Definitely shock rock, but... I think they are kind of on the line...), yeah... lot's of influences and lots of inspiration!
If you are curious, here's Relic's track "Zero Sum":
and our track "The End Game"
Hope your year is going well so far, I mean we are 10 days into it... I hope you are taking the right steps to make this year your best year yet!!
Well, if you haven't read my blog post about record labels that I wish were still around, you can find that here! If you have read that, you would have noticed a record label called NOTHING Records that I mentioned that I wish was still around, well today's blog is about NOTHING Records and my favorite bands that were signed to that label, other than Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails. So, here's my favorite bands that were signed to that label:
1. This one is pretty obvious, their mix of pop, hiphop, and electronics I find highly inspirational and may not have influenced Twitch in the early years, but definitely in the recent years is: Pop Will Eat Itself! I remember when I first came across this band... I remember listening to them in a music store for the first time from one of their earlier albums (before they were signed to NOTHING), and they didn't really jump out at me, and I thought it was kinda funny that they were called Pop Will Eat Itself, and their music was kind of poppy and catchy... it wasn't until many years later (sometime in the early 2000's) that a DJ at one of the local clubs here played "Ich Bin Ein Auslander" and after hearing that for the first time I loved it! It was such a good song... so eventually I went and purchased the album "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos"... It's too bad they dissolved after this album, I felt like this was probably their strongest album. I would have liked to see them produce more stuff, with Clint Mansell as their lead vocalist. I know the other vocalist Graham Crabb eventually restarted the project... and released a new album (I haven't heard it yet), but yeah... this was one of my favorites off the NOTHING Records label. If it wasn't for "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos", I wouldn't have started to pick up what's in their back-catalogue, even though initially it didn't seem to stick out to me, and kinda was more poppy than their NOTHING release. If you haven't checked them out, I would highly suggest picking up "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos" and take a listen! Here's "Ich Bin Ein Auslander":
2. Here's another band that was a favorite off the NOTHING roster; Prick! Now, I had seen their music video for "Animal" when I was younger, probably on a late night show on Much Music or something like that. Initially, I thought it was good, but at the time I felt the video was a little weak, and didn't really fit the NOTHING roster... then a few years ago, I was searching for stuff on Youtube, and I came across a playlist containing their full first "self-titled" album. I took a listen to it, and I realized I actually really liked them. I think what turned me off initially with the video for "Animal" was that I felt like everyone was jumping on the Industrial Rock bandwagon (it was getting very popular at the time), and I felt like it wasn't dark and angsty enough... but after listening to the full album a few years ago (probably 5 or 6), I realized they were actually pretty good, and I think I was too young to really appreciate the music and videos for what they were, when I initially heard them. If you haven't checked Prick out, here's "Animal", I suggest taking a really good listen to their stuff, especially their first "Self-titled" album:
3. Ok, the third band off the NOTHING roster might be a surprise to you folks, they didn't actually stick around for too long, but the music is excellent... it is Rob Halford's 2wo. Loooooong time ago (1998 sometime), I first heard 2wo, after my girlfriend at the time had returned from Germany, and she popped it into the CD player, I had no idea that it was Mr. Halford, and once again thought it was another artist jumping on the industrial rock bandwagon, because that what was popular at the time... but I quickly learnt, that it was Rob Halford, and that a lot of the production on the album was actually Reznor and Dave "Rave" Ogilvie adding elements after the songs were actually completed, and they kinda rebuilt the tracks... and that is why the tracks had that industrial element to them. Even though I initially thought it was another artist jumping on the industrial rock bandwagon, I actually thought, at the time, it wasn't all that bad. After all these years listening to this again, it really isn't all that bad, and it was kinda cool that Rob Halford did this, it was so different from Judas Priest, and really strayed off the path for most of his artistic output, but yeah this was definitely a favorite! Here is "I am a Pig":
These were my favorite bands off the label besides Mr. Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) himself, and Marilyn Manson. What are your favorite bands off NOTHING Records?
