Saul Williams is releasing his album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! online next week a la In Rainbows. The album was produced by Trent Reznor and mixed by Alan Moulder. Similar to Radiohead, Williams is asking for a $5 “I want to directly support the artists involved in the creation of this music” contribution or if you’re a tightwad, you can also get it for free. News to please audiophiles – it will be available for download on November 1st as 192Kbps MP3, 320Kbps MP3 or FLAC lossless audio. Non-paying fans get the 192 MP3 version.
Truth be told I’m much more excited to hear this album than I was for In Rainbows. I remember playing “Talk to Strangers” in a car journey to people I hardly knew and everyone there was blown away. He’s the genuine article. A modern poet that has more insightful things to say about the world than most people you will meet in your entire life.
NiggyTardust! is essentially a collaboration between Williams and Reznor and also features CX Kidtronik, and Thavius Beck. Williams says the theme of the album will allow him use his theatrical background in a live setting. So expect costumes at least. The title for the album was also chosen to further the dialogue around racial epithets with a view to “showing how creativity will outlive and outshine hatred of any kind.” Tracklisting below.
Pre-order the album here >>
Tracklisting
1. Black History Month
2. Convict Colony
3. Tr(n)igger
4. Sunday Bloody Sunday
5. Break
6. NiggyTardust
7. DNA
8. WTF!
9. Scared Money
10. Raw
11. Skin of a Drum
12. No One Ever Does
13. Banged and Blown Through
14. Raised to be Lowered
15. The Ritual
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
Cool. Don’t know much of anything about this guy, so I’ll go with the free download.
If I like it, I’ll definitely tell my friends and might just buy it too.
This is a great way of releasing an album, imho.
Aww man, this is going to be class! I adore Saul Williams, I could listen to him all day. He’s got possibly the best love poem I’ve ever heard, which is called “A Love Like”. Genius. Think I’m going to have to pay for it though, couldn’t let myself take something like that for free!
FUCKING BRILLO
Telegram & List of Demands are incredible.
Probably the most interesting, intelligent & ridiculously optimistic person I have ever met in my life.
His announcement of it was quite incredible:
“This morning I woke up invigorated and charged with the sort of energy that might only come to someone waking up in a city surrounded by fire. I felt alive and every instrument ever whistled by the wind surged symphonically through me. I knew that today, whether by nature or by will, I would be forced to reckon with what water could not quench.
The fire that burns in me is labeled poetry and music. Men in uniform have tried to put it out. But every now and then, I blaze through hearts at nature’s whim…
how clouds of ash
so easily shade
gray clouds of doubt…
I’ve decided to put my new record out.
In hopes of quenching fires…
The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
Written and Performed by Saul Williams
Produced by Trent Reznor
Mixed by Alan Moulder
pre-order now at NiggyTardust.com or SaulWilliams.com.com”
I’m in agreement with Michael up there, I don’t really know much of Saul Williams. He’s one of those names drifting around in the big pond of music I scrabble to keep up with…so fair fux to the man himself for making himself so much more accessible to the world. I really think that this new wave of distribution may well be the drumstrick to break the Label-donkeys backs. It’s gonna seperate the doers from the dreamers, those who say they’re in it for the tunes, not the megabucks or group sex…
Anyway, I get most of my music free, just to listen to. When it’s good, I do my bit by purchasing the pretty CDs. So thanks Niall, hopefully there’ll be a new one joing the rack-ranks soon….
as you said,
this guy is the genuine article,
seen him live a few years ago and he was earth shakingly good
Now THIS is how to do a release over the internet properly. I paid him the $5 for the FLAC version which given the $ rate is only about 3 quid.
Yeh its excellent quality. Plus, I feel warm inside for giving money directly to the artist.
Super tag Nialler9, thanks for pointing it out, was not aware of Saul until this and for $5 its hard to argue, great album and great way to do things.
Just got €3 worth of solid gold. Seriously, seriously impressed by this {shit}…except I can’t even bring myself to say that in jest. Staggeringly good, the snip and crunch clarity of sound is remarkable and lyrics to break the hearts of men and gods. Jesus is weeping over an iPod somewhere….
i’ve been reading alot of “albumn of the year” reviews and found them wanting. I hope this albumn isnt released to late to make the lists because once again i find myself completely enamored by it. The depth that Saul Williams and Trent Reznor have created is something i’ve had no luck quantifying for my friends. Every single one has come back to me after listening to the albumn talking about the myriads of sounds they find within the music. This speaks volumes to me in todays music seen where it seems so easy to pin down the influences of the past on an artists most recent offering.