If you're not already following nindivinedebris on Instagram, you should. And if Reddit's more your thing, he's posted a UK press kit there in high resolution, which gives the interesting perspective of the 1991 release of Pretty Hate Machine by Island Records. It's an interesting illustration of how different the music industry was over three decades ago: Nine Inch Nails had been touring for three years at this point, and the album had only been available overseas as an import.
On Threads, Rob Sheridan reflects on reimagining the artwork for the 20th anniversary edition. It's a bit of a recap from the longer story he tells on his Patreon page, about how the original artwork was lost.
And on the Bluesky account for the NIN Hotline, I shared the solution to an old question: What exactly is that on the cover of Pretty Hate Machine? It is, unmistakably, a huge diesel generator from the 1930s. Is it the one that's on display in Vista, CA? Hard to say, as it's entirely possible one of these monsters was kicking around the ruins of Cleveland in the late 80s - but maybe Gary Talpas made a stop on a road trip between LA and San Diego.
Okay, okay, I'll get to the headline. On Echoing the Sound, a post showed up today asking if these clips on Soundcloud are rare. The clips in question are of a demo version of Sin, but a different clip from the one Martin Atkins provided all those years ago. Much more interestingly though, is what sounds like a studio recording of "Maybe Just Once" - which has previously only been known as a "live in the studio" performance on the bootleg most commonly known as "Purest Feeling" - named after another pre-PHM NIN track that appears on that album.
Just when I think there's nothing else out there to chase down... there's always more. Do you know anyone who has early NIN or pre-NIN stuff that's not out in the wild?
Happy birthday, Pretty Hate Machine.