Nine Inch Nails is known for a louder, harder–hitting sound, but I find Reznor’s ballads to be just as evocative, if not more. From the album Year Zero, “Zero–Sum” has a great ghostly piano part paired with strong lyrics that just seem to just pull at your thoughts, memories, and emotions. The song plays like fuzzy old memoir recording, but it works just the same. You can just imagine feeling a bit stranded, and this track playing on a loop after things have seemingly gone all wrong. It’s been stuck in my head for over a month now, so I thought I might share the song and lyrics with you… I hope you enjoy it.
Date: December 10, 2009, Written By: jonny.gotham
Truth arrives with a violent, fiery light
Burning memories to ember, then ash, without mercy in sight.
Guard loving recollections with your body and soul,
But you too will vanish and erase as a whole.
Date: May 31, 2009, Written By: g.h. Ost
With my recent fervor surrounding Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails (NIN), I thought I would give a retrospective on how I became exposed to NIN, and the drive behind my recent consumption and study of any materials related to Reznor’s work and philosophy on music. Whether you enjoy the music of NIN or not, it’s difficult to argue Reznor’s brilliance as an artist and pioneer — the intelligence behind it is at times, astounding.
Date: May 27, 2009, Written By: jonny.gotham
What if I told you the truth, instead of lies?
My flaws, my weaknesses without the alibis.
Would you accept me for who I am or subtly cast me out
Tell me your own version of excuses and reflect upon doubt.
Date: May 10, 2009, Written By: g.h. Ost
Saul Bass was an influential graphic designer, and to a lesser–known degree, filmmaker, whose work extended from 1950’s up through the 90’s. While I won’t attempt to recapture his life and achievements here (as it could never do it justice), I can tell you about my own experience when I came across Bass’s work, and the fascination that ensued.
Date: May 01, 2009, Written By: jonny.gotham
It seemed that all of the sudden, droves of people have begun to use Twitter. While I know that Twitter has been around for quite a while now, I only knew tech–heads to be using it — writing short statuses, keeping in contact during conferences, etc. Now it seems to be the next cultural phenomenon, mentioned on the Today Show, popular websites, and I hear even Oprah is getting in the game. Seriously… Oprah? Twitter is now the third largest social network after Facebook and MySpace, and gaining more and more users every day.
Date: April 18, 2009, Written By: jonny.gotham
What is it to be a Lost Generation? Part victory, part defeat, and an expectation to achieve without outlet for inner passion. After the first World War, a group of notable expatriate writers and poets collected themselves in Europe, disenchanted by what the States had become in its post-war manifestation. In a way, they fled. They fled to foreign soil with notions of cosmopolitan culture to experience that “joie de vivre,” escaping a life void of art and meaning, and searching for something greater.
Date: April 11, 2009, Written By: jonny.gotham
As filled with clichés as they are, there is a lot to draw insight from if you’re looking hard enough. Television shows deal with reality in their own small ways, doing as best they can to highlight aspects we take for granted, and bringing excitement and wonder to the most menial of day to day tasks. We can be certain that most are not so naïve to believe that television is a mirror, but perhaps we’re willing to stretch enough to see it as a magnifying glass… The details are majestic, the imperfections glaring, and the view is so close that it’s hard to recognize the larger picture, the greater scheme… the reality of it all.
Date: December 05, 2007, Written By: jonny.gotham
I was lost. Wandering streets filled with villainous shadow, small glints of light catch my eye. Upon further inspection some light reveals miscellaneous debris, while others shine off of the eyes of hidden transients. The evening wind howled in the empty, and yet not–so–empty streets as I searched for the BLK/MRKT Gallery in Culver City. I’m finally greeted by lights and the low murmur of art patrons, a defiant guard sits at the door — part spook, part usher.
Date: October 24, 2007, Written By: jonny.gotham
The gallery goes dim, flashes from a strobe set the mood, and then a strong, firm beat sets the tone and intro for the evening. The crowd mumbles in anticipation (they have yet to see a piece of work from this famed artist), but if he lives up to half the hype they’ve been hearing about in those art circles they consider themselves members of, it will have been well worth the wait. His humbled voice comes over the speakers… “I just want to thank you all for coming… I hope you enjoy the show.” The music cuts to a startling silence just before the room lights up, there’s a short pause for the awe, and then the music fills the room again. For a solid minute, everyone just stares…
Date: July 21, 2007, Written By: jonny.gotham