The one and only Saul Williams has been working with his pal Trent Reznor (yes, that Trent Reznor) on his third full-length album. After much anticipation, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! is finally complete and will be available much sooner than expected via the FADER Label. Following the lead of Radiohead, Williams will be offering a DRM-free download of the album starting on October 31. He is giving you the option to either snag the tunes for free, or you can offer a $5 contribution.
Leave it to Saul for coming up with something like NiggyTardust. About the ideas behind his new concept record, he said: “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! is the lovechild of Trent and me. The Niggytardust concept sets me free to do more on stage with costume, etc. than one might expect from a regular Saul Williams show. It allows me to put my theatre training to use. I’ve also thought long and hard about all the discussion surrounding racial epithets etc. and chose this title as a means of furthering the dialogue while also showing how creativity will outlive and outshine hatred of any kind.”
People bitched a bit about the file quality of Radiohead’s In Rainbows, so here are the options you’ll have with NiggyTardust!: 192kbps MP3, 320kbps MP3 and Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC). About following Yorke & Company’s business model, Saul added: “There are obvious similarities in how Radiohead just released their new record and the way we’ve chosen to. After thinking about this way too much, I feel we’ve improved upon their idea in a few profound ways that benefit the consumer.”
You can pre-register for the Trent Reznor-produced album starting now. Saul Williams is a one-of-a-kind artist, so get ready! We’ve already pre-registered, which you can do this very second on the album’s official website.
The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
01. “Black History Month”
02. “Convict Colony”
03. “Tr(n)igger”
04. “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
05. “Break”
06. “NiggyTardust”
07. “DNA”
08. “WTF!”
09. “Scared Money”
10. “Raw”
11. “Skin of a Drum”
12. “No One Ever Does”
13. “Banged and Blown Through”
14. “Raised to be Lowered”
15. “The Ritual”
