Tapeworm is the name of a Nine Inch Nails side project, consisting mostly of some of NIN's usual suspects, but featuring a variety of "guest" artists. Relatively few juicy tidbits have surfaced as yet, but Trent Reznor, the brain cell behind NIN, has said that the project is more "collaborative" than his main band, with most of the music being written by longtime associates Danny Lohner and Charlie Clouser.
Other artists whose participation has been supposedly confirmed include:
There is also a laundry list of other possible, but unverified, conspirators, including Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Perry Farrell (Jane's Addiction), Richard Patrick (Filter), and David Gahan (Depeche Mode), among others.
During the 2000-2001 tour of A Perfect Circle, featuring Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan, the band debuted a version of a Tapeworm song entitled "Vacant," said to be the first song completed in demo form. Trent Reznor said in interviews around this time that he was "disappointed" to hear the song make its first appearance this way, because he hadn't considered it a finished work.
The release date of the Tapeworm material has been pushed back over and over, with rumors still continually flying around as to who's participating, who's not, and when we might finally see some product from such an ambitious collaboration.
Update 2003-02-24: As CzarKhan reminded me recently, Tapeworm has been largely dormant since this writeup first hit the streets. Among the few relevant whisperings to surface in the interim is the assertion by Trent that Charlie Clouser is no longer working on Tapeworm — which, if true, would be a shame, because Clouser's talent as a remix artist would seemingly lend itself to a project like this. Remembering the legendary Nine Inch Nails studio perfectionism, of course, makes one wonder if the material will ever see the light of day, but Tapeworm looks so good on paper that the fans still have to hope.
"It's like the sasquatch or something; it's rumored to exist. Every now and then a farmer in Nebraska will spot a riff or a melody..."
-- Maynard on Tapeworm; from Kerrang! by way of 9inchnails.net