Everyone has a band or singer-songwriter who spans a generation with them; the artist whose career runs through peaks and valleys along with your life. For me, that artist has been Nine Inch Nails.

I discovered the music of NIN as a sophomore in high school in 1991. A girl I was dating gave me a cassette copy of their first album Pretty Hate Machine, and I was immediately hooked. After 1992’s Broken was released, I have followed bandleader and production guru Trent Reznor’s career closely ever since. Sure, there have been a couple speed bumps along the way (i.e. songs like “The Perfect Drug” or “Deep”), but NIN’s hard edged soundscape has always appealed to me.

Outside of the multi-layered textures, pulsing synths, and arrogant guitar power chords that Reznor has woven through his work, I’ve also enjoyed his frequently aggressive and angst ridden lyrics and breathy vocal delivery. So when Reznor released Ghosts I-IV, an album comprised of 36 untitled instrumentals, I was not sure what to make of it at first. I knew I had enjoyed many previous NIN instrumentals like “The Mark Has Been Made” and “La Mer” from The Fragile, or “A Warm Place” from The Downward Spiral— but nearly two hours without a single vocal? It seemed like a recipe for disaster when mixed with an experimental release format via the web only.
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Recap: I had spinal fusion of the L4-L5-S1 vertebrae back in August of 2007 to correct a congenital condition called Isthmic Spondylolisthesis. I was in the hospital for six days, out of work for eight weeks and in a back brace for six months. You can read about that here .

About a month ago my orthopedic surgeon told me that I no longer have to wear my back brace. This was huge! I can’t explain the level of excitement those words created in me. He said that I’m recovering well and he sees lots of bone growth and did I mention…I can stop wearing my back brace? Getting rid of this brace is the most wonderful news. I am usually a very shy person but I found myself talking to everyone on my way out of the doctor’s office. Telling them about my surgery and how my brace was horrible…OK. I’m exaggerating. I really only talked with two people who asked about the brace I was carrying. There is no exaggeration about how big, clunky, and uncomfortable it was to wear the brace. It went against my fashionista tendencies. The brace was not exactly the perfect accessory.

FINALLY! A little more than three weeks ago I started physical therapy. Generally PT is one the most difficult steps in recovery because you have to start using muscles that were previously restricted. I have not felt this sore in a long time. I’m going about 3 times a week for the next 6-8 weeks. They start me off by having me lay down on my stomach with a heat pad on my lower back. This is to relax the muscles. Then the physical therapist comes in and helps me stretch. So, basically she turns me into a human pretzel before putting me on the bicycle for 5-7 minutes. Followed by some leg/back exercises with weight machines then onto some floor exercises and more stretching. Once finished, its back on my stomach for some ice and muscle stim. I think I walk into PT better than when I leave but it should get better…I need it to get better. But right now its just kicking my ass.

Mark & I would like to extend a great big THANK YOU to the host of the B-Sides Concept Album show – Josh Hathaway, who was gracious enough to invite us on his program last night. We had an absolute blast. If you didn’t have a chance to check it out live you can listen to it right here…

Don’t forget to visit Josh at his blog – Confessions of a Fanboy and tune into the B-Sides Concept Album show on Blogtalkradio every Thursday @ 10PM EST.

Yes, believe it or not, M.Sahm & S.Rod have been invited to discuss their podcast Magic Junk Radio tonight, March 13, at 10pm EST on the B-Sides Concept Album radio show, hosted by BC Magazine and BlogTalkRadio.

Here is the direct link to the show’s page. At the BSCA page, once the radio show is ON, there will be a blinking green button that says “Click To Listen”, and you can open a window for the chat room as well.

If you’re having issues with the hotlink above, here is the full site URL for the show:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/stations/bc/bsidesconceptalbum

Hope you can tune in. It should be humorous, or at least as humorous as the banter of Sahm & S.Rod can be. Cheers.

No, there will be no M.Rod or S.Sahm, but rather a merging of the two.

From today on, MagicJunk.com will become Somrod.com. I had started Magic Junk back in 2000, well before I met the lovely Ms. S.Rod. So it was only natural for the site to evolve into something more collaboratively named. We needed a fresh start after a hectic year, and this was definitely a good jumping-off point for us.

For now, outside of some cosmetic changes, the site is still the same. But Somrod Creative will be the launching pad where we hope to bring many new concepts to life. Like GE on ecstasy. Okay, maybe not that good, but we’ll try our best to be productive.

But we didn’t stop there. Blogimus Prime has served me well since 2005, but it was more playful than keeping with the current direction of our sites. However, we didn’t have to look far for a name— only back to a couple of previous blog entries from December 2006 and August 2005. Creative Psychosis fit the general vibe of most of the blog entries, plus it inspired a really kick-ass header graphic (as you can see above).

The only thing that remains the same is Magic Junk Radio, since the MJ name really catered to our podcast style. Speaking of which, we just launched Episode 9 today. Go check it out if you have the chance.

All in all, we’re happy to be working towards our creative goals again. It’s quite liberating to make a rocket of your rust and cobwebs, and launch that mothersucker into space! Cheers.

Up from the cauldrons of spinal regeneration, moldy basements and long commuting jobs, it has been confirmed that the rumblings of a new episode of Magic Junk Radio are indeed true. It’s been a long time, far too long for most to maintain a commitment to a pet project.

But after running through forty conceptual tracks trapped in the Somrod vault over the past fifteen months, eight have banded together for a common theme and have reached sonic completion. All that remains now is the mixing, some last minute revisions, and of course, the joint narration of M. Sahm and S.Rod that glues together their humble composition. Hey, at least we are more productive than that Peter Gabriel guy!

Thus, within the next week, someone will lock their keys in their car, someone you know will get laid (hopefully that person you see in the reflective surface), the Knicks could fire Isiah Thomas, the new Nine Inch Nails album will reach a dozen plays on my iPhone, and the ninth episode of Magic Junk Radio will finally reach the internet. No, really! We swear! We cast your podshake! We cast it up!