One record at a time: 286. No-Man - Returning Jesus

As a number of albums from the No-Man back catalogue haven't been released on vinyl, we are forced to skip to "Returning Jesus" from 2001. Here I am listening to the 2017 remastered version which sounds fantastic.

Things begin with the magical "Only Rain" which recycles the stings from an earlier track called "Watching Over Me". As the song moves through its different phases you can't help but wonder at the invention and beauty on offer. There's some added vinyl noise for the intro of "No Defence" which revolves around Steven's guitar arpeggios and some deliberately listless drumming by Steve Jansen. 

By far the best track on here is "Close Your Eyes" which is capable of sending a shudder down your spine. At the start Tim sings over some basic organ chords and percussion before the synth pads and guitar licks lift the chorus to a new level. In a way this is typical progressive rock as the song builds and builds until it reaches a searing guitar solo that gives way to an extended instrumental - but it sound much better than this description.

"Carolina Skeletons" is a sad and reflective piece that was released on an EP a full three years before the album. The other tracks from the EP are featured on the flip side of the second record and add value to this package. 

"Outside The Machine" centres on jazz influenced piano chords and the superlative drumming of Steve Jansen once again. The tile track, "Returning Jesus" sees Steven Wilson work his genius with tuned percussion and a guitar that sounds uncannily like Mike Oldfield. Songs like "Lighthouse" and "Slow It All Down" give me the feeling Steven is driving this part of the album and as he weaves Hammond organ and Mellotron sounds into the mix, it feels very much like an ode to prog rock. We finish with another single "All That You Are" which once again revolves around Steven's guitar arpeggios and Tim's intimate vocal. Good stuff. 3.5/5

One record at a time: 285. No-Man - Flowermouth

In the summer of 2004 I wrote a long post on my then website about the No-Man album "Flowermouth". It was an unashamedly gushing piece about one of my favourite albums. The original text described the start of the love affair thus:

I bought "Flowermouth" on the back of hearing “Simple” on a demo CD given away with a magazine in 1994. I kept coming back to the song and every time I heard it, I loved it more. I bought the album on a trip into town one weekday and little did I know my life was about to change.

Historically, one of my only laments about this album was that I didn't own it on vinyl. However, I have recently managed to acquire a copy of the double LP at a reasonable price and can review it here. 

The first track "Angel gets caught in the beauty trap" opens with a distinctive harp theme that gives way to the superlative piano and strings which haunt this piece. Bowness’s vocal moves in almost unnoticed like any other musical instrument, “I can not dream for the dirt on my hands”. Ambience and subtlety abound. By the time the songs ends you have just experienced nearly 10 minutes of bliss.
 
"You grow more beautiful" kicks off with beats that will satisfy your yearning for something different. The song moves between dance, rock and the avant-garde in a way no other can. This would have been a great single but I get the feeling One Little Indian had given up on the band by the time this album was released.

Having had your ambient song and your upbeat (ish) single we move on to the kitchen sink drama in the form of "Animal Ghost". Rumbling TR-808 rhythms keep an almost electro edge to a song which even manages to incorporate a flute solo. There's a funky bassline on the brilliant "Soft Shoulders" and the lyrics to "Shell of A Fighter" are endearing and mystifying at the same time. 

One of my favourite tracks is "Teardrop Fall". Electronic riffs move alongside sweeping strings and crunchy guitars. This song is about feelings. Not theirs but yours. Another single that never was. "Watching over me" provides a change of pace and proves that No-Man have more tricks up their sleeve.

"Simple" is the song that started my love affair with this album. Bowness and Wilson felt this was an ordinary pop song until Robert Fripp became involved. Personally I think it would be a masterpiece with or without him. The Lisa Gerrard sample is exactly what you would expect; haunting. The thumping beats combine with the superlative synth lines to make a perfect piece of music. The lyrics are on another level; “No more dreams turn into armchairs again”. The strange thing is, I know exactly what he means; it’s so simple. Things round out with the lament of  "Things change" which is sorrowful and touching.

I love this album and this record is one of the most treasured items in my collection. There hasn't been a repress of this record since it was released in 1994, but I don't love this record simply because it is rare; I cherish it because of the music it contains. More recent CD pressings contain remixes of some songs that were created in 1999. So whilst I pray for a new pressing, I would prefer it to contain the 'right' mixes. 5/5

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2024: So there has now been a reissue of this album (I like to think my pestering of the record company on X had something to do with it), but predictably they have used the 1999 remixes and the credits on the sleeve seem to be wrong in places. On the plus side it is available on red vinyl and comes with a free poster. So now we can all hear this this beauty from vinyl; you have no excuse.

One record at a time: 284. Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch

I remember that producer Gareth Jones once said he had naively assumed "reverb equalled atmosphere" and he had applied it liberally to a Depeche Mode record in search of a more ethereal sound. 

It seems that for this record, Nine Inch Nails had a similar thought but decided to apply distortion to everything to make their record "sound better" (much like Depeche Mode do today ironically). However, there's no subtilty or dynamics here - "Bad Witch" is just a wall of noise.

The first track, "Shit Mirror" is a terrible piece of nonsense - but at least it doesn't last long. Second track "Ahead of Ourselves" would seem to have some good ideas, but everything is buried in so much distortion it is impossible to discern what is going on.

More sonic saturation destroys the aimless "Play The Goddammed Part" which doesn't even have the decency to be brief. By the time I reach "God Break Down The Door" I am feeling tested and the use of saxophone just about finishes me off.

After a short break I resume with "I'm Not From This World" which is a fine piece of sound design but isn't music. There's a trace of a beat on the start of "Over and Out" and it even sounds like the distortion might have been turned down from eleven to...well, at least four. So the last song is reasonably entertaining but this record is a real low point in the NIN back catalogue for me. 1/5

One record at a time: 283. Nine Inch Nails - Add Violence

The EP "Add Violence" starts with the electronic rattling of "Less Than" which has a strong melody and immediate appeal. The first track ends unceremoniously and the percussion of "The Lovers" comes hot on its heels. This is one of those songs where the verse consists of unintelligible whispers/speech but the chorus explodes into a seductive melody revealing the true majesty of the song. "This Isn't The Place" is an atmospheric piece that is largely instrumental and completes the first side without making much impression.

"Not Anymore" relies on the dynamic between the quieter verses and the blazing chorus. Whilst this approach is partially successful, it becomes a little tiring - something the band must have been aware of as the track only last for three minutes.

The remainder of the record is taken up by an eleven minute opus titled "The Background World". Things start out well with ebbing synths pads and a solid programmed beat underpinning Trent's tale of a world "bleeding out". The song proper ends after about five minutes and the remainder of the track consists of a loop with increasing amounts of distortion applied. After a few minutes things simply become a wall of white noise. Why anyone would want to sit an listen to that nonsense for six minutes I have no idea. It's a shame the end of the record is so bad as it drags down the good stuff that came before. At least it came with a free slip mat. 3/5

One record at a time: 282. Nine Inch Nails - Not The Actual Events

"Not The Actual Events" is the first in a trilogy of E.P.s released by Nine Inch Nails between 2016 and 2018. This vinyl edition comes in a sealed bag that contains a black powder designed to leave marks during the production process which means every sleeve is effectively unique. The main music contained on this release is pressed on one side of the LP and three tracks from the "The Downward Spiral" pressed on the flip side. The trick here is that the tracks on the flip side play in reverse.

We begin with "Branches/Bones" which comes in at under two minutes in length but what it lacks in duration it makes up for in noise levels. Second track "Dear World," sees Trent talking over burbling analogue synths until the stripped back chorus injects some more substantial melody. There's more weird noises and effects on "She's Gone Away" which creeps along in the most sinister way. You'd be forgiven for thinking the record was playing at the wrong speed when the chorus kicks which makes for one of the more interesting songs on this collection.

"The Idea of You" is a stilted and traditional heavy rock song that even features Dave Grohl on drums as the final cliche. There's some thinly veiled plagiarism on "Burning Bright" which takes elements of the guitar riff from Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and tortures us with it for nearly six minutes. 

There's nothing too offensive on here, but there's nothing that is going to set the world on fire either. Everything is middling and vaguely unimpressive. I guess this is why the band encourage us to listen to this record loud: the volume might somehow detract from the slightly mediocre content. 2.5/5

One record at a time: 281. Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile: Deviations 1

You may remember that I regard "The Fragile" as something of a middling effort with only a few high points. So why would I chose to buy a four disc, horrendously expensive vinyl edition of the same album that features only instrumental version of those same mediocre songs? To be honest, I have no idea.

I think I purchased this set as it lured me in with promises of exclusive material and stating it was a "one time pressing; when its gone, its gone". Well I'm calling bullshit on this statement as this record was released seven years ago and it is still available from the band's UK web store today. Occasionally it will show as "out of stock", but it reappears a week or two later suggesting they are repressing this ad infinitum.

I'm certain I didn't pay the current £75 price tag seven years ago. Most of the songs on these discs are OK, but turning them into instrumentals doesn't really do much to enhance them. Some songs definitely sound clearer without the distorted vocals, but that simply doesn't justify the cost. Sometimes it's no wonder people steal or illegally share digital files. 2/5

One record at a time: 280. Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks

We have to jump forward a few albums in the Nine Inch Nails discography to "Hesitation Marks" of 2013 as I don't yet own "The Slip" or "Year Zero" on vinyl. Here I am playing the standard double vinyl that was released here in the UK (by Polydor of all people).

This album was one of the first I encountered where the singles were only released digitally. "Came Back Haunted" was released first and gave me hope that the new album was going to be suitably electronic. I've read this song was created using some of the same synths as used on "Pretty Hate Machine", and whilst it may not sound exactly like something from the band's debut, it certainly harks back to a more melodic and rhythmical template.

The second single "Copy Of A" features various rhythmical elements and burbling synths that are augmented by Trent's repeated vocal phrases. Supposedly the great Pino Palladino is playing bass on this track, but I can't hear any bass guitar - maybe my tinnitus is affecting more than just high frequencies.

One of the things I like about this album is that I am not having to endure acoustic drums. "Find My Way" has some great stuttering rhythms and the slowed down funk of  "All Time Low" twists its way around a perfectly monotonous programmed beat.

"Everything" is the first song to feature guitar prominently and has vocal harmonies in the verses that sound distinctly pop. Thankfully the electronic funk of "Satellite" comes to the rescue and provides the perfect introduction for the second disc. Other favourites are "Running" and the impressive "I Would For You" which prove Reznor remains an engaging and original songwriter.

My attention begins to wain as the album approaches its conclusions and with fourteen tracks there is almost too much here. I guess I am too accustomed to ten track albums designed to fit on a single LP. Yet on this album, Trent did almost everything I wished for: he peeled back the distortion, turned down the guitars, got rid of meaningless instrumentals and largely dumped the acoustic drums. It's not "Pretty Hate Machine Part 2" but it's not a million miles away. 4/5