November 20 Notable Releases -- FOR THE CHILDREN!!!

Various Artists -- The Brit Box: U.K. Indie, Shoegaze, and Brit-Pop Gems of the Last Millennium. As you've no doubt notice, I'm not in mourning for the Compact Disc nor the record industry. However, I've been a little dismayed by the lack of interesting releases this fall. While there have been plenty of good albums released all year long, the traditional season of the major release has been pretty barren. Smaller artists traditionally avoid releasing albums during this period to get out of the way of the big guys, but this year the big guys have been largely replaced by an even greater number of repacked, re-released and often completely redundant best of collections. This little 4-disc package is redundant for many of those who've crossed over 30 -- but it does have the feel of the best compilations. Atlantic blues reissues sparked British Blues Rock and Nuggets had some influence on punk and then again on garage revival. I already hear a lot of bands with Shoegaze and Brit-Pop influences -- but then, I'd like to hear more and this collection could help inspire that in some impressionable 'yutes.


Nine Inch Nails -- Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D. Trent Reznor has long used his position, money and fame to push the buttons of the record industry. He put raw tracks of songs on the internet years ago and held contests for the best remixes of his work. This latest release, which itself is a remix album of Year Zero material from a wide range of musicians not typically thought of as remixers (Kronos Quartet, Saul Williams). He also includes here every track of Year Zero, which can be remixed in Garage Band if you have a Mac or with the included demo of Ableton Live. Yes the internet will swim in shitty remixes, but somewhere out there, some kid will be able to de-construct the songs and reconstruct the techniques and learn something they could put to good use. This could also be a sign to other artists of something to sell a small, but hungry audience of consumers. Imagine buying every multi-tracked portion of Rumors, Abbey Road or Loveless -- yes it removes the mystery, myth and mystique, but don't rock stars care more about money anyway?

UPDATE: BOOOOOOOOOO!