Originally Posted by
Kid Charlemagne
This isn't even the first time P4K has streamed an album and promoted it then gave a less than glowing review. FIDLAR's album was up for streaming on the site and got a similar review, as did Sonic Youth's "The Eternal" three years ago. I also thought the comparisons to Purity Ring and Gold Panda, with the former putting out a similar but much better album last year. While I do think the focus was too much on Reznor, I think the review is spot on to my opinion on the album. It's pretty divisive and I think an album only diehards (like the clientele on this site) are going to enjoy much more than your normal guy who hasn't been following Trent like you guys (myself, sometimes) does.
Also, I'm really puzzled on Reznor's relationship with Pitchfork. It's no secret that I back Pitchfork, and read it a couple of times to day, so it's odd to see Reznor announcing NIN's reformation on the site and having this album stream on their site considering they've given him low scores before and NIN/HTDA aren't exactly projects your normal Pitchfork reader is excited to hear. I remember Reznor being stoked when they gave the PHM re-release a glowing score and with his tweet today (and I recall him being similarly pissed off at another review for one of his projects), it's tough to see the connection. I guess he figures, whether we like it or not, that Pitchfork is THE source for alternative music or am I reading too much into this?