Cashville411.com

Back in November, CASHVILLE411 reported that Adrian Belew (left) would be joining Trent Reznor for sessions in Los Angeles at the beginning of December to contribute to the new Nine Inch Nails record. On the evening of March 2, without any advance marketing or promotion, Reznor quietly released the results of those sessions through NIN.com, and it turned out to be four records, not one.

Ghosts I-IV contains 36 instrumental tracks representing nearly two hours of music. Belew, who Reznor once called, “the most awesome musician in the world,” contributed his signature guitar virtuosity to 14 of the tracks and was cowriter on two of those tracks.

Reznor is making the four-volume Ghosts available in a variety of formats, ranging from a free download of the first nine tracks to 2,500 ultra-deluxe limited edition sets, a $300 package which sold out within the first 48 hours.

The 36 tracks are nameless, identified only by their sequential number, and range musically from ambient piano pieces to electronic percussive grooves and psychedelic guitar jams. Besides Belew, Reznor’s primary collaborators on the project were Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder. Alessandro Cortini and Brian Viglione also contributed.

Writing on his website, Reznor described the process that resulted in Ghosts I-IV: “We began improvising and let the music decide the direction. Eyes were closed, hands played instruments and it began. Within a matter of days it became clear we were on to something, and a lot of material began appearing. What we thought could be a five-song EP became much more. I invited some friends over to join in and we all enjoyed the process of collaborating on this.”

Belew wrote about the sessions on his “Elephant Blog.” He described Ross as the “keeper of the insane,” and “a computer magic performer.” Of Moulder, he wrote about their daily, “four-handed guitar romps,” during which, Moulder would add “a variety of spicy wild pedals” to his guitar set-up and ”squeeze their knobs with delight” while Belew “wailed away.” The result was “crazy things erupted from the speakers in what became a kind of performance art piece.”

In announcing the release of Ghosts I-IV, Reznor stated: "I've been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn't have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective — dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I'm very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference."