by lisa livingston

've never had anybody leave my band and join the circus
before," Trent Reznor is said to have remarked.

Yes, the rumors are true: Robin Finck has left NIN to join Cirque Du Soleil. His duties will include playing guitar and other stringed instruments, including violin and cello. (Reports that he has donned a clown suit are completely erroneous.) He's joined the Cirque's touring company, not the troupe based in Las Vegas, so look for him in Montreal, Toronto, and California over the next several months.

Robin's departure is only a leave of absence, however. He still will assist in recording the new album and probably will tour with the band again when the record is finished.

And speaking of Halo 11...there is no working title for the next release. Official NINsiders tell me Trent never names a record before it's complete. So all the speculative titles that have been floating about the Net (Impossible Pain, Now I'm Nothing, Music For Titty Bars, etc.) are just rumors. The live record and video have been shelved as well; there are no plans at this time to release either one, and the band is not working on them. That's really disappointing news, but official sources say that a Reznor/David Bowie duet disc from the Outside Tour is already in circulation. It's called Children Of The Night, and it was sent to radio stations only. Many of you have spotted the KTS bootleg of the same name -- it's almost certainly a knockoff of this official, limited release.

rent is also producing two tracks for the next Pop Will
Eat Itself record. Presumably, this took place when the Poppies returned from their brief trip around the U.K. in mid-February. And you've probably already heard the MTV News bite that Rick Rubin will help produce the next NIN record.

Finally, if you're joining us late, the Reznor's Edge Website is, indeed, bogus. The "personal homepage of Trent Reznor" that has caused such a flap is in reality an elaborate prank conceived and executed by Blackrose, a frequent poster to alt.music.nin and the various #nin IRC channels. If you wrote a letter to Blackrose thinking he was Trent, don't feel bad -- a lot of people have been fooled by the joke. Nothing Records was not amused, though, and has asked him to take the page down. Blackrose has stated publicly that he will do so if Trent Reznor himself asks him to. I don't know about you, but that seems to me like a hell of a way to get an autograph.

Until next time....