YEAR ZERO ALBUM REMIXED: STEPHEN MORRIS, BILL LASWELL, KRONOS QUARTET, SAUL WILLIAMS, OLOF DREIJER, THE FAINT AND MORE
REMIX IT YOURSELF: EVERY MASTER MULTI-TRACK MADE AVAILABLE
"I'm very pleased with the way it turned out," says Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails' Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D (Interscope Records). "Remix records can be disposable garbage (of which I myself have been guilty to some extent) but this collection feels good to me."
Spun off from Year Zero, the #2-charting album issued in the spring, Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D features a stunning diversity of remixers, from Joy Division and New Order's Stephen Morris to classical crossover pioneer Kronos Quartet and hip-hop poet Saul Williams; from avant-garde leader Bill Laswell, electronica's Olof Dreijer from The Knife, Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino and post-punk revivalists The Faint to an unknown fan who submitted a remix via the Internet.
"I reached out to heroes, friends and strangers," says Reznor. "I encouraged those I approached to do anything and insert themselves as much as possible into the track. Some of the stuff that was done earlier led me to choosing other people to balance things out. The Pirate Robot Midget mix is a fan's work--I thought it was great, it filled a need and I asked permission to use it here. It's always interesting for me to hear my work reinterpreted--I hope it is for you as well."
In fact, purchasers can even reinterpret and remix Year Zero themselves. The CD package for Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D includes a DVD-ROM containing every track from Year Zero in multi-track format (Mac and PC). Perhaps for the first time, the master multi-tracks for every recording on a major album are being made available to the public. The tracks are pre-formatted for Apple GarageBand and Ableton Live (Mac or PC); the DVD-ROM also adds the demo version of Ableton Live (Mac or PC) and generic WAVE files at 16 bit 44K that can be loaded into any audio editor.
A special Web site, remix.nin.com, will debut upon Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D's release date. Says Reznor,"Remixes and fun encouraged."