Similarly to the The Hand That Feeds boxset, I got a box (#672/2000?) to store the 9" singles that the band released from their With Teeth follow-up, Year Zero. I had high hopes for Year Zero, having enjoyed With Teeth quite so much, but it was less my thing - it was a concept album and heavily relied on electronic sounds, so it was really everything that I was glad With Teeth wasn't. It had some highlights, but overall wasn't as strong.
However, I did love the alternative reality story that sat alongside the album - the effort that went into that was crazy. I won't go into all the details - I’m sure they're well documented across the internet, but there were messages hidden on t-shirts, billboards, hidden USB drives containing songs and clues and endless websites of back-story; it was genuinely very cool - I bored some friends a few times with my excited stories re-telling what I'd read online (sorry).
The single doesn't do a whole lot for me - it’s a fine NIN song, but nothing to write home about. The b-side is unexpectedly interesting though (given that most NIN remixes aren't great): Saul Williams and Thavius Beck remix Survivalism but, crucially, add a lot. In particular, Saul sings the choruses, which is great. In a lot of ways, it feels closer to a Saul Williams cover of NIN than it does a NIN remix, which is cool. This was all happening around the same time as Trent Reznor producing Saul's Niggy Tardust album, so I guess they were spending a lot of time together. Nine Inch Nails were the reason I got into Saul Williams in the first place, since they had him support them at their Brixton Academy shows just before I went to Australia.
Format: 9", numbered, boxset
Tracks: 2
Cost: £3 new
Bought: Virgin Megastore, Cardiff
When: 14/04/07
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
