Found a message from Trent Reznor in my inbox this morning. You may have, too. On a short break from Nine Inch Nails’ current Lights In The Sky tour, he put together a survey to find out more about the habits and methods of his audience, undoubtedly to fine tune his communication and marketing tactics.

Since only self-absorbed sociopaths like myself would spend the ten minutes or so it would take to answer all the questions, Trent offered a video performance of 1,000,000 from their recent show at Red Rocks in Colorado as incentive.

No copyright infringement here, kids. Trent’s got no illusions of keeping it exclusive. In fact, he’s upping the ante to make it worth your time…

Since hitting the scene with a debut EP in 2004 and a follow-up full length album in 2006, 8mm have hit their stride and are finally getting some well-deserved attention. Their songs No Way Back and Forever And Ever Amen were featured on a December 2006 episode of the WB show One Tree Hill. The exposure’s worked wonders for the band, and last year was a busy one- they covered Carly Simon’s Nobody Does It Better for the Mr. & Mrs. Smith soundtrack, were featured as one of 2007’s “Top Bands You Need To Know And Love And Worship” by Alternative Press and have had their songs on various MTV shows that, like nearly all shows on MTV, have nothing at all to do with music.

But to hell with all that. The brass tacks are that 8mm is a standout independent band doing things their own way, and we love what we’re hearing. That’s why we called up Sean and Juliette last week for a ranting, impassioned discussion about their inspirations and aspirations, the chaotic state of the music industry and Axl Rose’s joke-telling prowess.

While rappers running out of things to say are still telling anyone who’ll listen that “hip-hop is dead,” Giant Panda’s busy bringing living proof to the fact that nothing could be further than the truth. As part of a new revival of socially-conscious rhymes that don’t have anything to do with guns, bitches and bling, Giant Panda (Alex Newman, Jamaan “Maanumental” McLaren and Chikara “Chicaramanga” Kurahashi) sets a bold example for others to follow in the world of hip-hop, through total commitment to vibe and flow- not some masturbatory self-promotional rhyme laid over an uptempo club beat.

After releasing their instant-classic debut Fly School Reunion in 2005, Kado and Superbrush moved on to other projects, thinning the group to the trio it is today. The album was adored by critics and fans alike, emboldening Giant Panda to step up their sample-heavy sound even further for their tremendous sophomore album, Electric Laser, released in May. Despite splitting down to three members, Electric Laser is evidence that the flow has been anything but compromised; the group’s ability to feed off one another has only been honed over time.

We caught up with Newman recently to discuss the new album, how he became an MC, and why you shouldn’t be afraid to write bad songs.

The limited edition Nine Inch Nails CD/DVD now in my hands may be brand new, but the music on it isn’t. We reviewed the album, entitled The Slip, when mastermind Trent Reznor first made it available as a free download in May- making a few headlines in the process, and reminding us once again that whether or not he knows where U.S.S. Music Industry is headed, or if it will even stay afloat, he is one of the new captains on board.

There’s no point in talking about music you’ve surely heard for yourself by now, but this release is noteworthy to me at least because it represents the first time I’ve bought a physical CD in a long time.

A couple of weeks ago, I responded to an interview request from London-based Record Of The Day. They publish a digest of music industry news, in PDF format. These weekly newsletters go out to paid subscribers only- not casual jerkoffs, but industry insiders who have a tangible interest in the content. It was an email interview, so I considered it a perfect opportunity to voice my opinions on (and concern for) the music industry in a greater depth than I’ve done so far here, and be sure that it would make it into the ears of the people who might actually be able to do something constructive with the insight.

What I’m posting here today is the uncut version, as I delivered it. I find it interesting that a particularly damning paragraph- on how a certain major record distribution company dropped the ball- was cut from the published version. I put a little red box around it. There was a large amount of dead, blank space after my interview, so I can’t imagine it was to save paper.