I remember an article from a few months back where superproducer Timberland was asked who is the producer he respects the most and he answered Trent Reznor. On the surface this seems surprising; However, if you listen to Timberland and Reznor’s production style they are quite similar. They both use a combination of drum loops and an amalgam of samples combined together. For example, if you listen  to the new NIN song Survivalism the background beat of bloops and bleeps sounds like it could be part of one of Timberland production on the Justin Timberlake album. Even the beat from NIN’s classic song Closer sounds like it influenced a lot of the minimalist beats that Timberland did with Aaliyah.  On a side note, it should be noted that lyrically NIN new song Survivalism in an environmentalist anthem. Check out the NIN song on their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/nin