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He's a riot, claiming that to his ears, there's "something musical about noise" after dismissing Einstuerzende Neubauten as "unlistenable," then signing them to his aptly-named vanity label Nothing to unsuccessfully distribute Ende Neu for a few years.
A brief anecdote: whilst living in New Orleans, a former acquaintance and his wife saw the nigh-dwarven Reznor in public many times, surrounded by his entourage. Once, whilst this couple were viewing a film in a theater, Reznor entered with his designated group of hangers-on, sat behind her and set his feet on the back of her seat, drumming to her back and speaking loudly to his friends while doing so. In response, she sat up and turned to glare at him, and he simply stared at the screen as though she wasn't there. Stories abound regarding Reznor's charming deportment, but this is my personal favorite of the lot.
That the teenage moi actually enjoyed his first two albums - and similar releases by the Wax Trax set who Reznor imitated, among others - is a matter of perpetual embarrassment for me, and among my greatest unintentional lapses of taste.
Why the hell would he claim that Ende Neu is unlistenable then try to distribute their material?
Whether Reznor would have signed EN for a single album's distribution had their sound not mellowed so much by the mid-'90s is debatable, but he needed them more than they he; aside from The The, godforsaken Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails, EN were the only truly prominent act to be afforded exclusive promotion in North America (Autechre and Squarepusher were only distributed stateside by Nothing). Incidentally, EN sold more copies of Ende Neu via their independent Potomak label and mailing list than Nothing ever did with limited advertisement in print and on MTV.