the slip

Yesterday, Trent Reznor (NIN) introduced his new album, The Slip, on his official website by providing a download link and the following statement: "(thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one's on me)".

If you follow the links and provide your email address, you will indeed be able to download his new release (for free) in a variety of formats, including MP3, lossless (FLAC or Apple) or even "better than CD" 24/96 WAVE. The download also comes with a PDF of the album artwork and liner notes.

Song-list...

01 999,999
02 1,000,000
03 letting you
04 discipline
05 echoplex
06 head down
07 lights in the sky
08 corona radiata
09 the four of us are dying
10 demon seed


It's worth a listen. After a 6-year hiatus between releasing the mediocre "The Fragile" (1999) and the slightly better "With Teeth" (2005), Reznor seems to be undergoing some kind of creative revival. Last year's "Year Zero" is a very strong and interesting concept album, certainly his best work since "The Downward Spiral". He is also clearly embracing new distribution models, a la Radiohead. Sharing of the new album is actively encouraged:

"the slip is licensed under a creative commons attribution non-commercial share alike license.

we encourage you to remix it
share it with your friends,
post it on your blog,
play it on your podcast,
give it to strangers,
etc."

This, obviously, is pretty sweet and, dare I say, the shape of things to come.