... one of my favorite NIN bits of a recent release though was what you got mailed for 'Not The Actual Events' if you chose it-
The album was digital only, which I too was disappointed at. But if you chose to, they mailed something. When you got it, it was this black envelope with a very serious warning that if you opened it, it was going to cause a mess, and they had no liability whatsoever for said mess.
When you opened it, it was some album artwork prints, on cardstock... covered in fine black powder. Just, carbon black powder. With a hefty amount just in the envelope. Similar to laserjet printer toner.
If you handled the stuff, it got all over your hands. Everywhere. You got physically dirty from the album. It truly was a mess.
The only time I saw NIN live, Trent Reznor nearly destroyed his keyboard while putting on the most amazing musical performance. Sweat, dust, dirt, and glitter were everywhere, and probably bits of equipment as well.
Throughout the 90's it was said that during tours they would send someone in each city to various pawn shops and bought up Yamaha DX7's- you could easily find a DX7 in thrift stores for $100 or less in those days, the FM sound was out of fashion and Yamaha built so many of them you could find them cheap. They just used them as MIDI keyboards, with all the actual sounds coming from rack gear off stage.
And then nearly every night, Trent would destroy one on stage by the end of the night.
Which is actually pretty hard to do if you know anything about Yamaha DX7's.
The album was digital only, which I too was disappointed at. But if you chose to, they mailed something. When you got it, it was this black envelope with a very serious warning that if you opened it, it was going to cause a mess, and they had no liability whatsoever for said mess.
When you opened it, it was some album artwork prints, on cardstock... covered in fine black powder. Just, carbon black powder. With a hefty amount just in the envelope. Similar to laserjet printer toner.
If you handled the stuff, it got all over your hands. Everywhere. You got physically dirty from the album. It truly was a mess.
I thought it was awesome.