Lots of changes in the life of Trent Reznor. The newly wed has put NIN aside for a moment to start a new side project with his wife Mariqueen Maandig (formerly of the West Indian Girl) and musician/producer extraordinare Atticus Ross.

A few weeks ago the band’s official website went live with snippets of audio followed a few days later by their first single, “A Drowning.” Over the next few days the band released two more tracks “The Spaces in Between” and “The Believers,” sending fans cruising the internet in search of the new tunes. The band’s 6 song EP (which you could “order” for free) went live at midnight last night, arriving in inboxes, including mine, at an ungodly hour. Rather than wait until this morning to take a listen, I stayed up a few extra minutes to take a sneak peak and ended up playing the bloody thing on repeat for nearly an hour.

My favourite track off of the EP: “The Spaces In Between” which features Maandig’s gorgeous melodic voice. It’s a haunting little track and one I can’t stop listening to. NIN fans seem, so far at least, mixed on the release some loving the soundscapes (I’m in this camp – I was always a fan of Trent’s non-vocal tracks) while others find it too much of a deviation.

I’ve tucked a few videos after the break. If you like what you hear, I suggest downloading your own copy of the EP from the official website. The web makes being a completionist way too easy.

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Summer is almost upon us and with it a plethora of nights filled with books thanks to the lack of good television. This is the time of year when show seasons end and we enter the depths of reruns, syndication, and perhaps catching up on what we may have missed over the last few months.

It’s not all bad though. True Blood is set to return on June 13th but there’s something else to get excited about, especially if you’re a fan of sweeping epics. If that’s the case, things don’t get much better than Sergio Mimica-Gezzan’s adaptation of Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth, the story of the building of a cathedral in Kingsbridge, England.

I first caught wind of the book and the production when doing some poking around Matthew Macfadyen’s upcoming projects and stumbled on what seemed like a promising one. The eight part miniseries with a budget of $40 million dollars, was definitely destined to look good but I was more excited to see it thanks to a cast that includes Ian McShane, Eddie Redmayne, Hayley Atwell, Alison Pill, Rufus Sewell, Donald Sutherland and Gordon Pinsent it’s certainly one I wasn’t going to miss. Thankfully, the trailer suggests that this could very well be the next John Adams.

Pillars of the Earth premieres on Starz on July 23th.

Trailer after the break!

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I‘m not sure what’s most exciting about this. The fact that it features an Edmonton group who remind me a whole lot of Daft Punk and whose sound I’m digging and who I’ve never heard of before, the beat or the cool video.

Spin had this to say:

What do you get when you take an electro-rock sextet from Edmonton, Alberta , and add a twenty-four-year-old rapper who has been called Canada’s Dizzee Rascal? Flames!

Personally, all I can think is: where can I buy this track?

For the most part, hip-hop isn’t my thing. It’s too bass heavy, I can’t understand what the artists are saying and outside of the stuff I listened to in the 90s, there are few new artists that get my attention (over the last few years, the only one I can stand is Jay-Z).

Earlier this week a friend sent me over this song after I thanked him profusely for his help. I listened to it once and then again. Not to be sucked into buying an album that only had one song I liked, I cruised You Tube for more of this guy’s stuff and discovered that most of it is this style of melodic hip-hop and to boot, he’s an artists that promotes the positive rather than violence.

Meet Lupe Fiasco. Reading later that he is a contemporary of Jay-Z and a man who has been called a “hip-hop Generation Next vanguard” comes as no surprise since listening to his latest album “The Cool” was a bit of a revelation. It’s a type of concept album, each track – starting with the declaration “Baba Says Cool for Thought” – encourages listeners, youth, to think twice about what they think is “cool.” This type of lyricism is what I liked from the earlier days of hip-hop and I’m happy to see it’s making a comeback. I can’t wait to get my hands on his first album, the critically acclaimed “Food & Liquor.”

Even if hip-hop isn’t your cup of tea, give this guy a listen. It’s likely to surprise you.

Discovered via Twitter, it took all of 20 seconds for me to realize that this band was something I needed to be listening to. A sound that reminds me of everything from Joy Division to Keane, this British outfit is currently on heavy rotation, buzzing in my ear and making me wonder which rock I’ve been living under that it’s taken me this long to uncover them.

Their debut album “The Back Room” is nothing short of spectacular (“Munich” is an instant favorite) and their follow up “An End Has A Start,” is equally fantastic (it’s no surprise “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors” was a hit). Having listened to this new single half a dozen times, I’m convinced that their new album, due for release on October 12th, will be phenomenal.

Loads more on the band, the music, current tour and more videos at their official website. For now, check out the video for “Papillon”.

In 2006, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová appeared, not really out of no where but close enough, with a film and soundtrack which took everyone by storm. Once was a beautiful, lyrical quasi-romance which was sweeter and more fulfilling than most bona fide romance films and the accompanying soundtrack was spectacular, so spectacular in fact that it won an Oscar.

Hansard and Irglová turned their on-screen near romance into a real life romance and have even continued to work together. As a bit of a surprise, I recently discovered that they have been performing and even recording a new album but don’t look for it under the names of Hansard and Irglová instead, they have a band called The Swell Season.

“Strict Joy”, the duo’s first album as The Swell Season, will be released on October 27th (though you can purchase the first single “In These Arms” on iTunes) and they have also announced a new North American tour which kicks off in Milwaukee on November 1st. A few new tunes are available for streaming on the band’s website along with a list of tour dates.

In case you need a reminder of why you need to see them perform live, this should help. I’m looking forward to the Vancouver show later in November.

And it’s awesome!

“Expansion Time” features the first of what I hope to be a few more guest appearances from Wil Wheaton and, ewwwwwwwwww, lots of making out.

Stay tuned to the official website for the next episodes.

Volcano Choir may not mean much to you yet but come next year, it may well be on everyone’s lips. A recently created project made up of Justin Vernon (AKA Bon Iver) and Chris Rosenau of Collections of Colonies of Bees fame, the duo have created this new project, which Vernon has described as “experimental, textural and landscapey.” The first album, titled “Unmap” is scheduled for release in September and word now is that they’re also working on a film score.

This news would still be great if it was for a new film but it’s even more attention grabbing when the score in question is for a film classic. Volcano Choir is working on a score to Charlie Chaplin’s comedy classic The Gold Rush, a score which will be performed on January 21, 2010 at the New York Guitar Festival. For more details on the event and to purchase tickets, check out the Guitar Festival’s website.

No clips of Volcano Choir in action but I’ll share this instead, one of my favourite songs from “For Emma, Forever Ago”.

Whoever said wedding ceremonies are boring?

I recently installed Songbird in my newly revamped home PC and inadvertently used up my free trial subscription to Last.fm Radio. I loved it so much I thought to subscribe for a month and see how much use I get out of it and so far, it’s nothing short of awesome. Like Pandora, you pick your musician, style or even just a keyword, hit play and the site creates a radio station specific to whatever your criteria was. Pretty awesome.

But the story doesn’t end there, it only starts there. I was listening to Xandria and clicking through from one thing to another, Twittering the entire time of course, when a friend (thanks TheWeeJenny!) recommended I check out this band called Korpiklaani. Let me tell you, I was in shock when I noticed that they’re listed as “Viking Folk Metal”. I know what you’re thinking: what on earth does Viking Folk Metal sound like? Well, it sounds like these guys. I think of it as Celtic music on heavy drugs and I can’t stop listening. And seriously, with songs titled “Beer Beer”, “Happy Little Boozer” and “Let’s Drink” how could you NOT love it? Seriously, I listen to this and I want to run down to the local pub, buy a pint, pop these guys in and jump around.

I dare you to put either of these tunes on at the next party. It’s bound to bring down the house. These are what I call drinking songs done right!

I‘m not quite sure how effective this is as a recruitment tool but it sure make for some awesome cars.

In an effort to draw in the gear heads (I assume), the U.S. Air Force launched the Super Car Project in which they took a Ford Mustang and a shiny Dodge Challenger and tuned them to Air Force specs. The result are two of the sweetest looking rides I’ve ever seen.

They’re mean looking cars and I’m curious to see if they’ve done any mods to the engine (I’m assuming they have) but on looks alone, these are the two baddest rides I’ve seen in a while.

All of the photos and video have been compiled at Sub5Zero in a flash-lite version or alternatively, you can check out the project’s official page for loads of images, video and behind the scenes and building-of images.

The two images above are from the Dodge Challenger Vapor – I’m biased to the LX vehicles.

I have to admit that when I saw Anvil! The Story of Anvil (our review), I never imagined the documentary would take off the way it has. Yes, it’s good and very highly recommended but Anvil! seems to be everywhere at the moment which, I’m sure, the group’s members are thrilled about.

There’s talk that the band has recorded tracks for the ever popular “Rock Band” video game, and in the past few weeks the movie has culminated into a bit of media hysteria popping up everywhere including CNN. Yes, that’s right CNN.

I love Lipps’ t-shirt. Where can I get one?

That’s not the end of it though. The folks at IFC.com had the boys in studio a while back and have put together a great little video about how to be a heavy metal rockers. It’s a funny video but I can’t help but think of the irony that we’re getting tips on being rock stars from a couple of guys that never quite made it. Still, it’s a fun video and in all honesty, Lipps and Rob are super nice guys (who I had a pleasure of meeting when they were in town with the movie last year).

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Twitter has hit the mainstream. The “social media” tool recently celebrated its third birthday (congratulations if you remember last years Macworld event which killed Twitter and introduced the “Fail Whale” to the masses. If you remember that, you’re officially a Twitter grandfather/mother) but it seems as if recently the micro-blogging application has picked up steam and folks you’d never expect are now talking about Twitter like it’s the next best thing. Soon your cool grandmother who knows all about YouTube is going to want in on the action.

So how do you explain the inner workings of Twitter? Why, you show them a video of course! This one is pretty funny and features a hysterical interpretation of the previously mentioned Fail Whale. This is classic people. Classic I tell you!

When it comes to watching good TV on its initial run, I’m not the best consumer. A look at my track record reveals show after show that is now cancelled and that I fell in love with on DVD. Sometimes I do try to make the effort but it simply doesn’t work out; I either lose interest of life gets a hold of my schedule and I’m never home to see the show. That said, the internet now makes it quite easy to catch up with shows if you miss them at their regular air date and I have a recommendation that has me working overtime to watch on a weekly basis.

“Castle” premiered on ABC a few weeks ago and two episodes in and it’s safe to say that I’m a fangirl in the making. The show stars the great Nathan Fillion (in a non FOX show which means the odds of it staying on the air for longer than ½ a season are pretty good) as Richard Castle, a best selling mystery author. When hard nosed detective Kate Beckett notices that the murders match the deaths in three of Castle’s books, the author is brought in for questioning and in a round about way, ends up assisting the police in their investigation (after all, no one knows the crime scenes better than the guy that wrote them).

It’s obvious from the get-go that the success of the show will rely on the relationship and chemistry between Castle and Beckett but how do you keep the two working together on subsequent episodes? The show actually does a fairly good job of setting up the relationship though I have a hard time believing that something like that would happen in real life, the show focuses on a lifestyle most of us are unfamiliar with so the details are easily glossed over. The appeal of the show so far is the combination of the writing and Fillion.

Anyone that’s seen him in action (particularly in “Firefly”) knows that the man does the mix of comedy and drama well. He has the “likable asshole” act down packed and the writers are making great use of it. The show has a great combination of drama and comedy and Fillion fits the bill of cocky writer to a tee. Add in the physical humour the show has displayed so far (particularly in episode two which features Castle trying to break out of handcuffs) and this has winner written all over it.

Mysteries are not my thing and neither are dramedies but two episodes in and I’m a fan. Here’s hoping that the show has enough viewers and love to keep it alive past the first season.

Have you watched “Castle”? What do you think?

If you’re flying in Canada, everyone knows that WestJet does things a little differently but even they haven’t come to this (that I know of at least – it’s been a while since I’ve flown). In the US, someone else is doing things a little differently.

From the looks of things Southwest Airlines is trying to mix things up a little too. I’m assuming that the OK comes from management but some airline attendants are making your flight a little more interesting. Who actually listens to the pre-flight announcements? Everyone knows about the exits and we’ve all joked about the hand signals that have been around as long as people have been flying commercially but at Southwest, they’re shaking things up just a little.

There are a number of videos kicking around of David, an attendant for SWA that delivers his pre-flight information in a rap and it’s pretty entertaining. Who knew on board entertainment could be this good? Check it: