Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust

[Guest Quixote]

Just hope he doesn't try to sing too much on the album..

 

Hrm, almost done my first full listen. This came to mind. This release is something new; unexpected. It's hard for me to even comprehend this as Saul since he is indeed singing in some of these. Sometimes he even sounds like Trent, but maybe that's just because the music does seem to have the same effects as the Fragile, so you just associate that with him. I like it for sure, but how much is going to need more time to sift through and see.

[azatoth]

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2007/...l_williams.html

 

trent also gives his 2 cents on the moo shutdown.

[Rubin Farr]

an obvious tribute to The Bomb Squad.

[Entorwellian]

I didn't know what to expect listening to it, but after downloading the free version I was blown away. It's completely different from anything I've heard, though you can hear Renzor's influence in much of the tracks. Year Zero was pretty awful, but this is some of the best work Renzor has done since The Fragile. I'll probably buy the 5 dollar version next week.

[essines]

wow i take back what i said. when he doesn't have his shitty political agenda .,. man., this is actually pretty good.

[Guest Grizz]

Just bought this, can't wait to listen.

 

Props to Trent for what he says about moo too, I really didn't expect that reaction.

[eh Speedy]

being as i don't really listen to what Trent is saying anyway, this is kinda the same thing he's been doing for two albums now, and thats not a bad thing. the hip hop and Jamaican elements are nice.

[Guest Quixote]

I suppose I was originally expecting Saul's upbeat but almost spoken-word style over some harder beats inspired by Trent. Though he does use his usual style overtop maybe 40% of this, the rest is something that meshes Saul's singing voice up in much the same way Trent manipulates and multi-tracks his voice in NIN. I keep wanting to use the word fresh - this is really something new that will probably end up as my favorite release of the year (unless anything actually happens with BoC or Aphex this year, though that's looking ever more doubtful). This is a good marriage of styles.

 

PS: And listening to this with headphones is an experience as rewarding as the Fragile was for me. Never thought Trent would match that again after the last two.

Edited November 3, 2007 by Quixote

[Guest nene multiple assgasms]

is this coming out on cd?

[Guest CATS]

is this coming out on cd?

WTF? do u liek no wat year it iz?

[Guest nene multiple assgasms]

well people are talking about trent reznor...1995?

[modey]

i like it

[GORDO]

wtf sunday bloody sunday?

 

0/10

[Fred McGriff]

well people are talking about trent reznor...1995?

 

lol

 

so after the fucking rave reviews in this thread i decided to download the free version and give it a fair listen.

 

I can't help but think TR's production detracts from whatever talent saul williams has. it's just shitty, like YZ and With Teeth. there are some good tracks though, i liked niggy tardust (when I say niggy you say nothin), scared money, WTF!, and the ritual. not enough to warrant a purchase.

 

in short, MEH!

[Guest echidna]

you know i used to think reznor was the most brilliant producer ever but then i heard some demos from the downward spiral when they re-released it, and i'm starting to think it was just the engineers he had that could actually polish a turd.

 

i'm still convinced that trent reznor is an amazing producer. apparently, some of the professors here do also, being that his stuff is used as examples in my advanced recording classes.

 

BUT NEWAYZ.

 

this album is pretty hot. some of the songs suck, but some are fantastic. i actually logged on to watmm just now to make a post about this, but found this one instead.

[GORDO]

IT HAS A U2 COVER

[Guest echidna]

which is bad because

[Guest Quixote]

is this coming out on cd?

WTF? do u liek no wat year it iz?

 

year 0

[Fred McGriff]

"WTF!" is really good, it's like what NIN would be with good lyrics. it's comical how much saul williams can whomp the lyrics over trent reznor.

[beneboi]

I didnt like it

 

from that interview:

 

What do you think about moo being shut down?

Trent: I'll admit I had an account there and frequented it quite often. At the end of the day, what made moo a great place was that it was like the world's greatest record store. Pretty much anything you could ever imagine, it was there, and it was there in the format you wanted. If moo cost anything, I would certainly have paid...

[Food]

Hmm of the first 7 trax I like 2 a lot (niggy and black history month). The others are mostly cheeze and that u2 cover is a bit embarassing.

 

Still 8 tracks to go (yeah i am a bit slow). Hope it gets better. But at this point I would say I hope TR doesn't produce the next Saul Williams album. O well.

 

And goddamn some of that singing does sound like the rezo. I hate the rezo's singing, he should stick to sax LOL.

[modey]

Hmm of the first 7 trax I like 2 a lot (niggy and black history month). The others are mostly cheeze and that u2 cover is a bit embarassing.

 

Still 8 tracks to go (yeah i am a bit slow). Hope it gets better. But at this point I would say I hope TR doesn't produce the next Saul Williams album. O well.

 

And goddamn some of that singing does sound like the rezo. I hate the rezo's singing, he should stick to sax LOL.

 

 

actually i found that i like the second half of the album a lot more than the first half.

[Guest Grizz]

I dont like it so much. Saul is way too hung up on Racism, he hasn't changed his tune at all the last few albums and I think Trents input only weakened the release. Last album was a world away from this one

[Fred McGriff]

here's a recent post from trent reznor over at nin.com. he released the sales figures for this album (in bold below):

 

It's a strange time to be an artist in the recording business. It's pretty easy to see what NOT to do these days, but less obvious to know what's right. As I find myself free from the bloated bureaucracy of major labels, finally able to do whatever I want... well, what is that? What is the "right" way to release records, treat your music and your audience with respect and attempt to make a living as well? I have a number of musician friends who are either in a similar situation or feel they soon will be, and it's a real source of anxiety and uncertainty.

I'd like to share my experience releasing Saul Williams' "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust" and what I've learned from the process. Perhaps by revealing of all our data - our "dirty laundry" - we can contribute to a better solution.

 

A quick history: Saul makes a great record that I produce. We can't find the right home at a major label. We decide to release it ourselves, digitally. Saul does not have limitless financial resources so we shop around for a company that can fulfill our needs. We choose Musicane because they are competent and are willing to adapt to what we want. The results are here: niggytardust.com

 

We offer the entire record free (as in totally free to the visitor - we pay bandwidth costs) as 192 MP3s, or for $5 you can choose higher fidelity versions and feel good about supporting the artist directly. We offer all major CCs and PayPal as payment options.

Here's what I was thinking: Fans are interested in music as soon as it's available (that's a good thing, remember) and usually that's a leak from the label's manufacturing plants. Offering the record digitally as its first appearance in the marketplace eliminates that problem. I thought if you offered the whole record free at reasonable quality - no strings attached - and offered a hassle free way to show support that clearly goes straight to the artists who made it at an unquestionably low price people would "do the right thing". I know, I know...

Well, now I DO know and you will too.

 

Saul's previous record was released in 2004 and has sold 33,897 copies.

 

As of 1/2/08,

154,449 people chose to download Saul's new record.

28,322 of those people chose to pay $5 for it, meaning:

18.3% chose to pay.

 

Of those paying,

 

3220 chose 192kbps MP3

19,764 chose 320kbps MP3

5338 chose FLAC

 

Keep in mind not one cent was spent on marketing this record. The only marketing was Saul and myself talking as loudly as we could to anybody that would listen.

If 33,897 people went out and bought Saul's last record 3 years ago (when more people bought CDs) and over 150K - five times as many - sought out this new record, that's great - right?

I have to assume the people knowing about this project must either be primarily Saul or NIN fans, as there was very little media coverage outside our direct influence. If that assumption is correct - that most of the people that chose to download Saul's record came from his or my own fan-base - is it good news that less than one in five feel it was worth $5? I'm not sure what I was expecting but that percentage - primarily from fans - seems disheartening.

Add to that: we spent too much (correction, I spent too much) making the record utilizing an A-list team and studio, Musicane fees, an old publishing deal, sample clearance fees, paying to give the record away (bandwidth costs), and nobody's getting rich off this project.

 

But...

Saul's music is in more peoples' iPods than ever before and people are interested in him. He'll be touring throughout the year and we will continue to get the word out however we can.

 

So - if you're an artist looking to utilize this method of distribution, make of these figures what you will and hopefully this info is enlightening.

 

Best,

TR

[Guest awkward]

We offer the entire record free as 192 MP3s, or for $5 you can choose higher fidelity versions

 

so 192 mp3s were free.

 

Of those paying,

 

3220 chose 192kbps MP3

 

but some people paid for 192 mp3s ?

 

i don't understand that.

 

 

interesting article all the same. seems to me that a lot of people who maybe considered themselves old fans of nin or casual fans would download the free version, most would hate it (because it was offensively shite) and of course not return drooling for $5 flacs. 18% is a great number i think.