We received several emails regarding this month's Tool Newsletter, where Blair (perhaps jokingly) quipped:
There are other things I plan on delving into next month, including the possible HellBoy or Doom 3 movie/sound track, the Carey/Claypool/Belew project, the status of "Tapeworm", the glossy little square on the Salival cd/dvd booklet and the symbolic meaning of the lower case i on MJK's forehead in an old band photo.
Next up, Danny Lohner and Wes Borland did an interview with Kerrang! magazine. You can read the full text of the interview (and further comments) at Echoing the Sound.
Now, we've been hearing rumors about Nine Inch Nails playing the Coachella Festival out west. Every year Coachella comes around, every single band of any worth is rumored to be playing, thus we don't really give these rumors any creedence. We don't really give much thought to what DJs say about Nine Inch Nails either, since more often than not, they don't know what they're talking about (nothing personal, if you're a radio personality) and they never tend to cite their sources, but since there's no news, I thought I'd add this.
A few people have reported that the San Diego, CA station FM949 has told someone that NIN is actually playing Coachella. If you have a second, and want to join in some fun, why don't you email and ask them where they heard it from, and get back to us about it. The '04 Coachella Festival, by the by, is May 1 & 2, 2004.

We've been a little slack in keeping up with Telefon Tel Aviv lately, but that doesn't mean we have any less love for them. Due out January 27th, Map of What Is Effortless is their new album available through Hefty Records. It will be available on both CD and a 2xlp gatefold vinyl release.
If you are not already familiar with Telefon Tel Aviv, they have done remix work and sound design for Nine Inch Nails on Things Falling Apart, assisted in remixing A Perfect Circle, released their full-length debut Fahrenheit Fair Enough to great critical success.
The new single from the album, My Week Beats your Year, is now available through iTunes on the cheap, and I can only recommend you check them out. You can pre-order Map of What Is Effortless on HeftyRecords.com, where vinyl copie of the My Week Beats your Year single is also available - limited to 200 copies, initialed by the band. We'll be posting more about the new album soon, so keep checking back as we get more!
**edit** Would you look at that, I spent entirely too much time writing that up. I've already been scooped!

NIN friends, Telefon Tel Aviv, have their new album up for preorder. To get a copy of Map of What Is Effortless click here. The new single, My Week Beats Your Year, is also available for download at iTunes. Map of What Is Effortless will be released Tuesday, January 27th.

Jeff wrote in...
I picked up the new David Carson book 'Trek' and it has several NIN items in it. It even has original uncropped photos from the 'Fragile' on the inside cover flap. Additionally, there is 'And All That Could Have Been' packaging, alternate covers as well as alternate names. He spoke at my school a few weeks before 'AATCHB' came out. We were the first public audience to see footage from the dvd. He showed us several alternate covers for the cd and dvd, along with printer proofs for the 'We're In This Together' promo single. Thanks!

In anticipation of the April 20 release of the new album by Tweaker, 2am wake-up call, new promo photos of Chris Vrenna and Clint Walsh have been posted on the tweaker message boards.
The new album has been mixed, mastered, and advance copies are being sent out for review in April/May issue music magazines, and for play on college radio. 2am wake-up call features guest appearances by David Sylvian, Mellowdrone, Jennifer Charles, Will Oldham, and Robert Smith.
Speaking of his work on the moody, shuffling track Pure Genius, David Sylvian had this to say:
"I was surprised by the number of people who commented enthusiastically on the collaboration between Chris and I first time around. I believe 'Linoleum' worked well but I personally feel happier with this, our second joint composition.
Chris was generous enough to allow me the pick of the album when it came to which track I'd like to work with. I loved the feel of this particular track, the strut and swing of the rhythm, the odd time signature. It set a narrative running in my mind.
The internal, self-delusional, dialogue of a bedroom genius which I felt lent itself to Chris' working title for the project."
Chris Vrenna played with Nine Inch Nails from their inception up until a few years ago, when he split off to continue working on his own music and becoming a prolific remix artist. The full length album 2am wake-up call is being released through Waxploitation Records on 4/20/2004. An instrumental version of the song Ruby is available on the signed and limited edition of The Xiaolin Showdown 7" vinyl release. The album version of Ruby has Will Oldham performing vocal duties. Will was also on the first tweaker album, the attraction to all things uncertain, singing Happy Child.

I hadn't posted anything about this movie before, because when I read the description of it on the imdb a while back, I took it to be internet absurdist hoax humor:
THE MACHINIST is the story of TREVOR REZNIK, a lathe-operator who is dying of insomnia. In a machine shop, occupational hazards are bad enough under normal circumstances; yet for Trevor the risks are compounded by fatigue. Trevor has lost the ability to sleep. This is no ordinary insomnia...
When I saw the poster, it really only solidified my belief that this was a goofy joke, what, with the backwards N and such. But then today I saw a trailer for it, and it's real. An industrial worker named Trevor Reznik (who operates a lathe) goes through a personal downward spiral... yeah. I've been running sites like this for too long. Here's a review of the movie posted on Reuters this morning.

I'm only posting this because there are enough of them now that it's a little interesting, and even if they don't come through, it's nice to pretend, right?
The first rumor we heard was that Nine Inch Nails might be playing the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, sometime in February. Looking at the calendar now, it appears that this is unlikely. Keep that in mind considering the next couple of notes.
We got an email saying that NIN might be touring very soon, and that they would be playing in "Ottawa, ON, Canada on Feb. 24th." That's all we know about that.
And we've received two unrelated emails about a NIN playing in Vegas. Specifically, "I hear rumours going around that Trent is having a gig at some shitty little club in Las Vegas Nevada on the 23rd of January. He has a room booked for him at Cesars' Palace as well."
If you happen to have any more information on the origin of these rumors, and could help us clear things up, that would be great. However, as far as I'm concerned at this point, these things are not happening, and are strictly rumor.

We've received lots of emails concerning the rumor that NIN will be playing at Coachella this year. As it stands now, they are just rumors, and the same rumors crop up with every other major festival. When we get word that they are actually playing anywhere, we'll certainly be posting it, but don't hold your breath about Coachella.

According to Cinescape, Danny Lohner has helped former NIN keyboardist Charlie Clouser out recently on the soundtrack for the movie Saw.
From Cinescape:
Earlier this week the news broke about a horror film titled SAW that had been picked up for distribution by Lions Gate Films. Now comes a scoop from an anonymous sender concerning the film's soundtrack and its connection to alternative industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. The scooper tells us that the score for SAW was composed and performed by Charlie Clouser. Clouser contributed a cut to last year's UNDERWORLD soundtrack and David Lynch's LOST HIGHWAY soundtrack. The SAW soundtrack also will reportedly feature Helmet's Page Hamilton and another member of NIN, Danny Lohner, on guitars. Thanks to Jesse and Gareth.
Lohner tells TNH that "Saw is cool and has a psychological thriller vibe." In addition to Saw Danny has lent his talents to the Underworld OST and the upcoming Hellboy. So make sure you check out all these flicks!
Also on the horizon look for Danny Lohner to contribute to remixes for APC and begin more work with friend Wes Borland for Rob Zombie's next album. We'll keep you up to date on these and any NIN musician-related projects.

On Friday, January 16th at Noon (PST), Waxploitation Records will release a limited edition vinyl split 7� featuring Chris Vrenna's theme song to Warner Bros. Animation�s new television series �Xiaolin Showdown" as well as an instrumental version of "Ruby" from the upcoming Tweaker album.
"Animation has always been a big influence on me, so I am really very picky about what I like,� said Vrenna. �'Xiaolin Showdown� was something pretty dynamic with intense action, so I was very motivated to compose an equally dynamic theme for it.�
Side B features the Tweaker instrumental titled "Ruby". The (extremely awesome) vocal version of the song, featuring Will Oldham, will appear on Vrenna's upcoming Tweaker CD "2 am wakeup call" out 4/20/04 on the iMUSIC/Waxploitation label.
Vrenna will sign and number the first pressing of 500 copies. For more information, please visit Tweaker.net and Waxploitation.com.

January's issue of SickAmongThePure is out, featuring the third installation of the history of Nine Inch Nails, more discussion on the mp3 download controversy, NIN and the Joy Division Connection, and much more!

Bleedthrough has been labelled as one of MTV's most anticipated albums of 2004 in a recent article posted on MTV.com. There is no new information regarding the album in this article. But, the article does state that Reznor is recording in Los Angeles.
The official MTV prediction for Bleedthrough: "Reznor is one of the most talented composers of his generation, but as time goes by, fewer people are still interested in buying his albums." (like that last LP that was #1 on the Billboard Charts?)