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The NIN/JA tour isn’t supposed to be an exercise in nostalgia,
despite the presence of two ’90s icons (joined by Street Sweeper Social
Club, buzzsaw king Tom Morello’s latest project). But one of the
headliners avoids this trap more convincingly than the other. The two
Jane’s Addiction tracks on a free sampler available at www.ninja2009.com are vintage cuts
heard in new recordings co-produced by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor,
and while “Whores,” in particular, sounds great, it’s also as late-’80s
as can be. (In contrast, the other number, “Chip Away,” recalls the
early ’80s; it’s like an unconscious tribute to Adam & the
Ants.) As for “Not So Pretty Now” and “Non-Entity,” the two NIN
offerings, they’re solid outtakes from the 2005 With Teeth
sessions that prove Reznor has been creating new, high-level material
during the decade in which we actually find ourselves today. Clearly,
he’s looking forward as much as he’s looking back.
