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Trent Reznor Finally Details Release Of Sprawling 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' Score

Posted 12/2/11 2:35 pm EST by in Movies, Music


By Zachary Swickey

Fans who have been missing Nine Inch Nails since the group’s retirement (at least from the stage) have been anxiously awaiting details on the upcoming Trent Reznor-helmed score to director David Fincher’s newest labor of love, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." The totally badass teaser trailer released earlier this summer features Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) vocally slaying a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” and the fan reactions have been more than positive.

Writing on the Nine Inch Nails website last night, Reznor states, "For the last fourteen months Atticus [Ross] and I have been hard at work on David Fincher’s 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.' We laughed, we cried, we lost our minds and in the process made some of the most beautiful and disturbing music in our careers. The result is a sprawling three-hour opus that I am happy to announce is available for pre-order right now. The full release will be available in one week – December 9th."

So in only one week’s time, fans can pick up the digital album version for $12, a fancy high quality download or CD for $14, or they can shell out $300 for the swank deluxe limited edition (of 3,000) that includes: six pieces of vinyl, a metal packaging cover, the autographs of Trent and Atticus Ross, and even an 8gb razor blade USB pendant that is inspired by Rooney Mara’s similar necklace in the film among other things. If you make any pre-orders, you’ll get the killer Karen-O track for download right now. Read More...

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Five Rock Star Film Scores Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock Can Learn From

Posted 6/29/11 9:00 am EST by in modest mouse, soundtrack


Isaac Brock

By Zachary Swickey

Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock has been busy in the studio working on his group’s latest album – with Outkast’s Big Boi producing some tracks – but the enigmatic singer has just tacked another project on to his to-do list: scoring a film.

Brock has signed on to provide the audio accompaniment to a western comedy film (don’t see those very often) called Queens of Country. The movie is to be directed by Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke – the same fellas who brought us Blood Into Wine, a wine documentary starring Tool’s Maynard James Keenan. Rather appropriate since the singer is set to appear in the film as the antagonist – a bigger role than the cameos he’s used to.

Meanwhile, the lead actors are Ron Livingston, Sex and the City’s Jack Berger and star of the cult classic Office Space, and Lizzy Caplan of my favorite canceled show, Party Down (which was produced by Paul Rudd). The movie focuses on Caplan’s character, Jolene, who finds a lost iPod that she believes belongs to her soulmate. With Maynard playing the bad guy and Ron Livingston (assumingly) as the inevitable love interest, it sounds like the film has potential, and is a perfect match for the quirky Brock.

Bands or music artists providing the score for films is nothing new. Take, for example, Queen’s emotional “Who Wants to Live Forever” specifically being written for Highlander – a film about a sword-wielding warrior who’s lived since the 1500s. Here are five recent collabs that caught our attention and show the trend has no sign of slowing down. Read More...

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'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' Trailer And Others Made More Awesome With Music

Posted 5/31/11 4:56 pm EST by in Movies, Music



By Zachary Swickey

After winning an Oscar and Golden Globe for their first foray into film scoring — David Fincher's "The Social Network" — it's safe to say that Trent Reznor and his digital partner, Atticus Ross, have found a new calling. It's a no-brainer that Fincher called upon their services once again to score his upcoming film adaptation of the Swedish crime/mystery series, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." While the first film of the trilogy is not due until December 21, a bootleg of the trailer has leaked and contains quite the surprising audio accompaniment.

Pounding over the stark images of Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara as Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander is a synth-heavy cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" with none other than the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' frontwoman Karen O giving her best "ah-ha" wail to kick off the song. The guitar mastery of Jimmy Page and drum pillaging of John Bonham have been replaced with an eerie, marching electronic beat that has us longing for new Nine Inch Nails material. The dirty, distorted vocals are perfectly matched with the bleak scenes of the trailer, and will undoubtedly make your skin scrawl. The short clip (1:39 min) is already boasting 1.4 million hits on YouTube, and it's hard to say what fans are more excited about — the music or the film?

Reznor has already taken to his Twitter account and posted that he is "blown away" by the positive response he's received from fans. Of course, the purpose of a trailer is to make you want to see a film, but the musical element can increase said desire by adding a certain emotional depth. Here are some trailers that hold well on their own, but become exponentially more awesome by being paired with songs that fit quite aptly.

M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" in the "Pineapple Express" trailer:
The line "sticks and stones and weed and bombs" may be the sole reason that "Paper Planes" is even used in the trailer for the smoke-tastic "Pineapple Express," but it's a good thing they chose it. The song has a laid-back vibe but features violent lyrics and sampling of gunshots, which matches the "Is it an action or comedy?" vibe of the film itself.
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Author Neil Strauss Shares Thoughts On Lady Gaga, Britney Spears And 'The Dirt'

Posted 3/23/11 10:30 am EST by in Music


By Kara Warner

No matter how easy it may seem to get famous people to talk about themselves (typically their favorite subject), there is a definite art to conducting a celebrity interview. And not many people fully understand the process better than bestselling author and prolific celebrity profile writer Neil Strauss who, over the course of his two decades in journalism, has career highlights that include making Lady Gaga cry, fielding drug offers from Marilyn Manson and shopping for diapers with Snoop Dogg.

In his newest book, "Everyone Loves You When You're Dead," Strauss (who also wrote the pickup artist insider tome "The Game" and the Mötley Crüe biography "The Dirt") combed through the source materials from over 3,000 articles he has written in order to bring fans further inside the minds of celebrities via their inner-most and honest commentary on topics like creativity, spirituality, drugs, aging and the psychological toll of fame.

MTV News was lucky enough to get Strauss on the phone for a few minutes to talk about the book and the crazy, shocking and unbelievable star encounters that fill out its 500-ish pages.

MTV News: Looking back on all the memorable celeb encounters you've had, what were some of the most outrageous or unforgettable?

Neil Strauss: I interviewed Snoop Dogg right after Tupac and Biggie had been shot and he'd just left Death Row records. [He] felt like everyone was saying that he was the next guy to be shot and we were driving around in my car and he was shopping for pampers, sitting in the driver's seat. I'd just moved to L.A. and learned how to drive, and I was like, "Oh man, I'm in trouble."

The first time I interviewed Marilyn Manson, they had a bunch of drugs spread out on the back of the tour bus and were telling me to "go do the dust." And because they kept calling it dust, I didn't know — was it angel dust? What was this stuff? I didn't know if it was cocaine, angel dust or something else, and I remember I did that move where I tried to blow it around with my nose and I ended up blowing it all over the floor and looked like an idiot.

MTV: Have you kept track or kept in touch with any interview subjects? Particularly someone like Trent Reznor, who was unhappy at the time you interviewed him but seems to be doing well now?

Strauss: It's interesting to see where people go, especially because Trent Reznor in the interview said "I'm never going to move to L.A. and marry a model," and he of course bought a home in Beverly Hills and is married to an artist who was a Playboy model. Every musician who has ever said, "I'm never moving to L.A. and dating a model" always ends up moving to L.A. and dating a model.

MTV: Do you ever keep in touch with the people you interview?

Strauss: I'm really bad about it. I never make friends with them, I don't know why. The exception is Courtney Love who, after the Rolling Stone interview, moved in with me.

MTV: What about someone like Britney Spears?

Strauss: Yeah, she did actually call me a year later and invited me over to her house. Read More...

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Trent Reznor Scores An Oscar For 'The Social Network'

Posted 2/28/11 7:35 am EST by in Music


Though it wasn't all that surprising (even in a night that was completely free of twists), the Oscar victory for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for Best Original Score on Sunday night (February 27) was no less satisfying to the rock community. Reznor has been a part of the conversation since he founded Nine Inch Nails more than two decades ago, and he (along with longtime collaborator Ross) has come a long way since his early days.

(Click here for photos of the winners at the 83rd Academy Awards, including Natalie Portman, Colin Firth and Christian Bale!)

And what early days those were. Reznor's acceptance speech on Sunday night was low-key and humble (he sounded genuinely honored to be on the stage and thanked the Academy and his wife), but his public demeanor was not always so measured. In the early days of Nine Inch Nails, Reznor was notorious for lashing out at his own bandmates, his audience and especially his equipment (his philosophy was that if a piece of machinery failed, it deserved to be punished). In fact, MTV News was on the ground during the Phoenix stop of Lollapalooza 1991, where Nine Inch Nails played the second stage. In the midst of a performance of "Sin" (from Reznor's debut album Pretty Hate Machine), the summer heat melted some key components in the band's complicated stage set-up and caused regular power outages. After a few false starts, Reznor finally packed it in.

That Reznor looks like a completely different person than the one who accepted an Academy Award on Sunday night, doesn't it? Still, though he may be evolving as an artist (he and Ross will next tackle the score for David Fincher's adaptation of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"), for a certain segment of the population (like the people who crammed into small spaces to see Nine Inch Nails' farewell tour in 2009), Reznor will always be the guy who gained millions of followers by singing "I want to f--- you like an animal."

What did you think of Trent Reznor's acceptance speech at the Oscars? Let us know in the comments!

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How Oscar Nominee Trent Reznor Could Score His EGOT

Posted 1/26/11 2:30 pm EST by in Music


It's probably too early to call any of the Oscar races, and we won't know who the winners will be until they are read aloud when the show airs live on Sunday, February 27, but it's probably safe for Nine Inch Nails founder Trent Reznor to clear off some space on his mantle for his Academy Award. Reznor is nominated for Best Original Score for his subtle, haunting contributions to "The Social Network" (which was directed by friend and collaborator David Fincher). He is going up against some stiff competition, including previous winners A.R. Rahman ("127 Hours") and Hans Zimmer ("Inception"), as well as four-time nominee Alexandre Desplat ("The King's Speech") and fellow first-timer John Powell ("How to Train Your Dragon"), so it won't necessarily be a walk in the park for Reznor (and partner Atticus Ross).

But considering the pair behind the score to "The Social Network" has already taken home the Golden Globe, Reznor and Ross definitely have a leg up. That would make it especially interesting for Reznor, who already has a Grammy (he scored one for Best Metal Performance for a live version of "Happiness in Slavery," which appeared on the Woodstock '94 album, which means that he'd be half way to an EGOT. The EGOT, of course, is the rare accomplishment wherein one performer wins an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony over the course of one career. Most of the winners are composers (music is versatile like that), so Reznor would fit right in.

So if he takes care of his Grammy and Oscar, how would Reznor go about scoring an Emmy and a Tony? The Emmy might be next, as Reznor is somewhere in the process of developing his "Year Zero" mini-series for HBO. The project is based on the 2007 Nine Inch Nails album of the same name and promises to be a dynamic, ambitious and thrilling bit of television that could easily make for killer awards bait when the time comes.

And while Reznor will probably be distracted by "Year Zero" and his work scoring "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (also directed by Fincher), he may be able to cram a stage show in there somewhere. But what should Reznor do? Is he a one man show kind of guy, or should one of his concept albums get adapted into a stage show a la "American Idiot"? In reality, probably neither of those ideas are good, and Reznor has never cared all that much about awards. Still, the possibilities are there, and no matter what his next move is, there's no doubt that it will be envelope-pushing.

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The 2011 Oscar Nominations For 'The Social Network' Are Full Of Music History

Posted 1/25/11 10:45 am EST by in Music


The excellent year in film that was 2010 is about to formally come to a close, as the nominations for the Academy Awards were announced this morning. As always, there was a healthy mix of the expected ("The Social Network" scored eight nominations, while "The King's Speech" took home 12 and "The Fighter" nailed down seven), the unexpected (after being ignored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, "True Grit" picked up 10 nominations, including a Best Supporting Actress nod for 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld) and some snubs (Ryan Gosling was denied a nomination for his work in "Blue Valentine" and Christopher Nolan was not nominated for Best Director for the mind-bending, envelope-pushing "Inception").

But clearly the highlight for the MTV Newsroom Blog is the nomination that Trent Reznor picked up for Best Original Score for his work on "The Social Network" (with partner Atticus Ross). Of course, "The Social Network" is full of people who have had extensive work in the music world. Director David Fincher (nominated for Best Director) began his career as a music video director (he took the lead on such classics as Madonna's "Vogue," Paula Abdul's "Straight Up," Aerosmith's "Janie's Got a Gun" and George Michael's "Freedom 90") and was one of the first artists to make the transition from videos to feature films. Director of Photography Jeff Cronenweth (nominated for Best Cinematography) started his professional life in music videos, shooting clips like Nine Inch Nails' "The Perfect Drug" and Eels' "Novocaine for the Soul."

Plenty of the people who weren't nominated were involved as well. Star Justin Timberlake of course began his public life as a musician, first as a member of *NSYNC and then as one of the most dynamic solo performers in pop. And co-star Andrew Garfield (who was totally robbed during the awards season) brushed up against the music world when he served as director Terry Gilliam's assistant while Gilliam worked on a live webcast of an Arcade Fire concert in 2010.

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Where Are The Razzie Awards For Worst Music?

Posted 1/24/11 2:30 pm EST by in Music


The movie awards season always sets out to reward the excellence in the film world every year (culminating with the Oscars, whose nominations will be released on Tuesday morning, January 25), but considering most of the movies that come out over the course of a year are middling-to-terrible, there should also be awards that recognize failure as well. That's where the Razzies come in. For 31 years, the Razzies (or rather, the "Golden Raspberries") have been recognizing the worst in cinema every year. Past winners of Worst Picture include notorious busts like "Howard the Duck," "Hudson Hawk," "The Postman" and "Showgirls," and this year's nominees include problematic releases like "The Bounty Hunter," "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," "Sex and the City 2," "The Last Airbender" and "Vampires Suck." There are also awards for Worst Actor and Actress, Worst Screenplay and Worst Director (in addition to the new-this-year Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3-D, which features entries like "Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" and "Clash of the Titans").

But strangely, there's no award for Worst Score or Worst Original Song. It wasn't always this way, as the award was given out from 1980 until 1999 (and then came back in 2002 — apparently just to take down Britney Spears' "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman"). Past "winners" of that award include Frank Stallone's problematic "Peace in Our Life" (from "Rambo: First Blood Part II"), MC Hammer's "Addams Groove" (from "The Addams Family") and Tag Team's "Addams Family Whoomp!" (from "Addams Family Values").

While 2010 was a great year for music in movies (lead by Trent Reznor's score for "The Social Network," which won the Nine Inch Nails founder a Golden Globe and will likely score him an Oscar), but there were plenty of messes over the course of the year. Here are what the nominees should be for Worst Original Song (each of which are taken from the shortlist for the Academy Awards).

Landon Pigg, "Darling I Do" (from "Shrek Forever After")
The "Shrek" series has a history of terrible music (including extending the careers of both Smash Mouth and Counting Crows), but "Darling I Do" is all sugar and no melody.

Alanis Morissette, "I Remain" (from "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time")
Instantly forgettable tune from an overdone mess of a movie.

Dido, "If I Rise" (from "127 Hours")
Another too-ethereal entry that actually ends up distracting from the slow-burning drama on screen.

Most anything from "Burlesque"
No argument needed.

What would you nominate for Worst Original Song? Let us know in the comments!

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'American Idol,' Britney Spears And Trent Reznor's Golden Globe: This Week's Deep Cuts

Posted 1/21/11 5:30 pm EST by in Deep Cuts


It was another short week thanks to the holiday, but it was still a busy one here at MTV News thanks to the premiere of "American Idol," the continued dominance of Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" and the Golden Globes. Also, Friday afternoon has been taken up mostly by a single question: If "The Real World" had a seven person all-legends team, who would be in there? And would it be cool to have both Pedro and Puck in there? (These are the philosophical questions that keep us sharp on slower news days.)

So before you head out to your local cinema to see "No Strings Attached," prepare for the last weekend of NFL playoffs before the Super Bowl and try desperately not to freeze in the open air, be sure to check out everything you might have missed on the MTV Newsroom Blog this week.

» "American Idol" came back and delivered some comedy, some tears and the staggering greatness that is Steven Tyler.

» Look, did we mention how much we love Steven Tyler? Stay tuned all season for more "American Idol" news, opinions, interviews and insight.

» The world also welcomed Coachella back into the fold, as the lineup for the 2011 festival was unleashed.

» Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It's the second time for her and only the 18th time in history.
Read More...

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Trent Reznor Wins Big At Golden Globes For 'The Social Network'

Posted 1/16/11 10:15 pm EST by in Music


In a night full of memorable moments and unusual victories at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards, perhaps the most surreal came when Nine Inch Nails founder Trent Reznor walked on stage (accompanied by working partner Atticus Ross) to accept the award for Best Original Score - Motion Picture. Even Reznor himself was sort of shocked — shortly after accepting the award, he tweeted, "Holy s---!"

His victory was curious and thrilling for a number of reasons. First, the original music he contributed to "The Social Network" — the almost-true story of the founding of Facebook, adapted by fellow Golden Globe winner Aaron Sorkin and directed masterfully by David Fincher — is not your typical film score. Comprised mostly of moody interludes and no real themes, it doesn't so much propel the film as compliment the on-screen action with splashes of moody undertones and mysterious noises.

But it was even more surprising to see Reznor accept the award because of his crazy musical legacy. Though he has obviously evolved quite a bit since the release of his first album Pretty Hate Machine more than two decades ago, Reznor's roots are firmly planted in the raging, computer-assisted aggression of his early industrial rock sound. Pretty Hate Machine, which just got a very fancy deluxe reissue treatment, taps into the darker echelons of Reznor's soul and the jagged darkness that creeps into his worldview. Of course, his work has evolved quite a bit, becoming even deeper, more complicated and — yes — more cinematic over time.

So we congratulate Reznor on his victory (an Oscar cannot be far behind), and we pay tribute to how he got his start: 1989's "Down In It," his first single from back in the day. You've come a long way, sir. Keep evolving.


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