Smashing Pumpkins’ “mixtape that went platinum” selling again 11:50 am // Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Posted by jjb in news, pisces iscariot, releases.comments closed
The reissued Pisces Iscariot is on sale today, and its liner notes purport to resolve definitively such often-asked minor questions as “What is the first word of the first song on this album?” and “Who is pictured on the cover?” Excitement abounds; feel free to share yours in the comments.
Marketing push for U.S. release of Iha’s ‘Look to the Sky’ begins 12:58 pm // Monday, July 16, 2012
Posted by susan in james iha, look to the sky, merchandise, record labels, releases.comments closed
After premiering in Japan back in May, James Iha’s video for “To Who Knows Where” is now available for your streaming pleasure here in the United States (and possibly worldwide? Let us know if you have problems.)
Iha has also posted information to his Facebook account about the preorder for the U.S. release of Look to the Sky. The label for the release is listed as Brooklyn-based indie The End Records. You can preorder the album in CD or LP format along with other Look to the Sky branded merchandise; the first 100 orders will also receive a polaroid photo and button hand-made by Iha himself.
UPDATE: The U.S. Look the Sky CD and LP feature an additional track, “New Years Day,” that was not available on the Japanese release. As expected, the Japanese bonus tracks “Diamond Eyes” and “Stay Lost” are not included on either the U.S. CD or LP. However, “4th of July” and “Dark Star,” two album cuts from the Japanese release, are listed as bonus tracks for the U.S. CD and will not appear on the LP.
“The Celestials” promo goes out to U.S. radio stations 10:29 pm // Thursday, June 21, 2012
Posted by jjb in news, oceania, photo, radio, releases.comments closed
(Well, really we can only swear up and down that one station has gotten it, but, come on.)
Thanks to HU reader Kevin for the tip and to HU reader Kevin’s DJ friend for the image.
UPDATE (6/22): Billy Corgan performs “The Celestials” and “One Diamond, One Heart” after being interviewed on KROQ-FM’s ‘Kevin and Bean Show.’
‘Oceania’ is here 11:35 am // Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Posted by jjb in oceania, releases.comments closed
Have you acquired the new Smashing Pumpkins album? Don’t make us wonder how you did so or what you notice or think about it—comments are open.
‘Oceania’ is right on iTunes (as is HU Podcast #90) 7:54 pm // Monday, June 11, 2012
Posted by chris in news, oceania, podcast, releases.comments closed
The Smashing Pumpkins’ second post-revival long-playing record is available for the public to hear, or at least those of us with a certain retail application installed: Listen to Oceania now via the iTunes US platform or iTunes UK.
The comments section on this post is open for your reactions.
After you’ve heard and processed Oceania for yourself, if you are interested in some of our early thoughts on the album, you can check out HU Podcast #90:
Listen to the full podcast (1:03:27—longer than Oceania!!)
(download)(iTunes)
Panelists
-Chris, Jason, Susan, and special guest Stacy
Topics
-Our panelists and guest give their overall impressions of the album as well as the impact of having the full band in the studio. (11:23)
-An in-depth rundown of the songs of Oceania. Which classic Pumpkins tune does “Quasar” remind Jason of? (12:44)
-No single has been released to radio, at least not yet, but which song would be the most likely candidate? Can we identify a hot summer jam for 2012? (7:22)
-I force everyone to compare Oceania with Billy Corgan’s other recent albums. Plus, how does the album fit in with the rest of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope? (12:25)
-Finally, how will the music press receive the album? (13:18)
Once-disappointed Pumpkins fans “Blissed” with one-track flexidisc 10:32 pm // Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Posted by susan in customer service, news, releases.comments closed
For some Smashing Pumpkins fans disappointed by the handling of their orders for the Gish and Siamese Dream reissues last year, a measure of recompense is arriving in the form of a limited-edition flexidisc created by the band.
Fans who ordered physical formats of either reissue through SmashingPumpkins.com did not receive their orders, in many cases, until three or four weeks after the November 29 release date. At the time, a representative for Pumpkins vendor Topspin Media claimed that his company “had absolutely no control over these delays” and that “not enough were manufactured,” passing the buck to BandMerch, a company that was contracted to do the order fulfillment.
Complaints were numerous, and on December 8 an administrator of the official Smashing Pumpkins messageboard posted a note from the Smashing Pumpkins Record Club promising a special gift to those fans who had preordered before November 29. A little over a week ago, an email was sent out with instructions on how to request the free flexidisc. Shipments of the disc began this week, and a few fans have already received theirs.
The record contains one track: “Blissed”, a previously unreleased song that missed the cut for the reissues but does come across like a Gish-era composition. The flexidisc itself is a translucent orange in color and is embellished with a hand-drawn Billy Corgan design in silver foil. Though hard to read, the design contains the song title printed at bottom left beside an abstract flowery design. The disc was produced by Pirates Press, a boutique music media company based in San Francisco. Matt Jones of Pirates Press told Crestfallen.com that 5,000 copies were pressed.
Corgan sifts through the ‘Mellon Collie’ and ‘Adore’ attics 10:57 pm // Monday, December 19, 2011
Posted by susan in adore, mellon collie, news, releases.comments closed
Since wrapping the Smashing Pumpkins’ European tour on December 10, Billy Corgan has been back in the United States and has apparently started working on sorting through material for the reissues of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Adore.
To recap a bit about the status and schedule of the reissue project: The Pumpkins reissued their first two albums, Gish and Siamese Dream, on November 29, and are scheduled to release several more reissues in 2012. In an October interview with the Detroit News, Corgan stated that the reissue of b-sides album Pisces Iscariot was due out on Record Store Day 2012 – that is, April 21, 2012. In a tweet on December 1, Corgan appears to have reinforced the April release date and suggested that around the same time, the band would release, via the Smashing Pumpkins Record Club, all of their pre-Gish demos and many hours of early live shows and rehearsals. As far as the rest of 2012 goes, the Pumpkins’ August press release stated that reissues of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, The Aeroplane Flies High, and Adore were all scheduled for 2012, probably late in the year.
Corgan’s recent comments give the appearance that he is sorting through unreleased tracks from the Mellon Collie and Adore eras, including full length versions of the “Pastichio Medley” clips “Knuckles” and “Zoom,” an alternate version of “Pastichio Medley” itself, and this guy’s remix of “Ava Adore.”
Corgan told attendees of a fan meetup preceding the Pumpkins’ Boston show on October 21 that he is contractually obligated to reissue the band’s back catalog with EMI by the end of 2013.
Previews of ‘Gish’, ‘Siamese Dream’ reissue tracks appear online 10:36 am // Friday, November 11, 2011
Posted by jjb in gish, news, releases, siamese dream.comments closed
Track times and audio clips for each track included on the deluxe editions of Gish and Siamese Dream, the two Smashing Pumpkins albums being reissued this month, are now available for examination, at least through the German retail site Amazon.de.
Among the unreleased material in the packages, the longest track is a new mix of “Starla,” which covers the first 11 minutes of the Gish bonus disc. The shortest cut is “U.S.S.R.,” a previously unheard song taking up 95 seconds on the second Siamese Dream disc.
Smashing Pumpkins “never made the great lost record.” Who did? 2:48 pm // Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Posted by jjb in billy corgan, interview, news, releases, siamese dream.comments closed
As the Smashing Pumpkins’ tour of Europe gets underway in Sweden, Billboard’s Gary Graff has posted a new interview with bandleader Billy Corgan regarding unreleased Pumpkins music and the upcoming reissues of first albums Gish and Siamese Dream. Corgan kicks up expectations for the latter, calling the sound of the remastered Siamese Dream “stunning,” “shocking,” and “a real massive upgrade,” but he warns that unreleased Smashing Pumpkins material may not measure up:
Because we released so many of our extra songs, we’re not sitting on some magic treasure trove of great songs that no one’s ever heard. We never made the great lost record or anything like that. It’s more an insight into the process, or a different take on something.
On October 21, Corgan told fans at a Smashing Pumpkins Record Club meetup in Boston that he is in possession of 65 unreleased songs recorded for his inter-Pumpkins band Zwan. Corgan tweeted last year that “a full list of the songs” for his post-Zwan ‘ChicagoSongs/ChicagoKid’ solo project, nothing from which was released commercially, contained 72 entries.
Reissue formats, tracklistings, prices on SmashingPumpkins.com 11:28 pm // Monday, October 17, 2011
Posted by susan in gish, news, releases, siamese dream.comments closed
The Smashing Pumpkins’ official website now sports a page devoted to the band’s reissue project. The band is offering multiple formats for the Gish and Siamese Dream reissues, including digital downloads, vinyl, CD, and a 2CD/DVD box set, all of which can be pre-ordered now. The release date is confirmed as November 29.
Basic information on the “deluxe edition” boxes matches up with that listed and then delisted on Amazon over the weekend. To recap, each set is priced at $30 and contains the remastered album on one CD, a second CD of bonus tracks, and one DVD, plus extensive liner notes and postcards. Each DVD features the band performing live at Chicago’s Metro: the band’s August 25, 1990 show figures on the Gish disc while the Siamese Dream DVD has the August 14, 1993 show.
The Gish bonus CD contains these 18 tracks (* = previously released):
Starla (2011 mix) | Siva (Peel session) * | Honeyspider (Reel Time demos / 2011 mix) | Hippy Trippy (Crush Music Box demo) | Snail (live radio performance) | Plume (2011 mix) | Bury Me (Reel Time demos / 2011 mix) | Daydream (Old House demo) | Tristessa (Sub Pop single / 2011 mix) | Girl Named Sandoz (Peel session) * | Jesus Is The Sun (Apartment demo) | Blue (Gish sessions demo) | Smiley (Gish sessions demo) | I Am One (Reel Time demos / 2011 mix) | Seam (Suffer / Apartment demo) | La Dolly Vita (2011 mix) | Pulseczar (Gish sessions demo) * | Drown (alternate guitar solo)
Eighteen tracks also make up the Siamese Dream bonus disc:
Pissant (siamese sessions rough mix) | Siamese Dream (broadway rehearsal demo) | STP (rehearsal demo) | Frail and Bedazzled (soundworks demo) | Luna (apartment demo) | Quiet (bbc session/bc mix) | Moleasskiss (soundworks demo) | Hello Kitty Kat (soundworks demo) | Today (broadway rehearsal demo) | Never Let Me Down Again (bbc session) * | Apathy’s Last Kiss (siamese sessions rough mix) | Ache (silverfuck rehearsal demo) | U.S.A. (soundworks demo) | U.S.S.R (soundworks demo) | Spaceboy (acoustic mix) | Rocket (rehearsal demo) | Disarm (acoustic mix) | Soma (instrumental mix)
For $15, fans can purchase the remastered albums alone, with no bonus tracks, on CD. The remastered albums will also be available on 180-gram vinyl, again with no bonus tracks; Gish vinyl is priced at $23 while the 2LP Siamese Dream is $28.
Also on offer are digital download packages for each album and its accompanying bonus tracks. Downloaders must choose between “premium digital” and “high-fidelity digital” options:
Premium digital gives you a choice of Apple Lossless, FLAC or 320 kbps MP3. High-Fidelity digital offers source files in 24-bit/96kHz WAV format.
Fans also must choose to download either the album plus bonus tracks or the album alone. (Our previous reporting indicates there will be no download option for the DVD contents.) Pricing for the downloads ranges from $12 for the remastered album alone in premium digital up to $28 for the album and bonus tracks in high-fidelity digital.
Those who eschew other retailers and purchase any of the reissues through the Pumpkins’ website will receive one extra downloadable track, an instrumental take on “Frail and Bedazzled.”
Two items offered for free on the site are these poetic musings from Billy Corgan:
Recorded in 1990 and 1991, ‘Gish’ represents our first foray into the deep waters of rock and roll. In the music within, I still hear our naivete and fresh spirits asking to be heard, and I miss the times that helped make this music so earnest.
In 1992, with the weight of a perceived world on our shoulders, we disappeared into a parking garage to write the songs that would change the course of our lives forever. ‘Siamese Dream’ represents all of our dreams coming true, while the dreams of a happy band fell apart.
UPDATE (10/18): A press release from EMI Music today supplies some additional information, for instance the involvement of Butch Vig in mixing two of the Gish bonus tracks.
Images and further details on ‘Gish’ and ‘Siamese Dream’ reissues 4:33 pm // Saturday, October 15, 2011
Posted by susan in gish, news, releases, siamese dream.comments closed
The Amazon listings for deluxe editions of Gish and Siamese Dream posted earlier this week have been updated with additional information and photos. Both are listed at $28.99 and are due out on November 29. Both sets include two CDs (one containing the remastered album and the other bonus tracks) and a DVD. The DVDs are to contain complete videos of concerts at Metro in Chicago from 1990 (for Gish) and 1993 (for Siamese Dream). Both sets are also to include postcards; Gish‘s postcards feature six “never-before-seen” band photos, while Siamese Dream‘s feature the original 13 album collages. Finally, both sets feature “reimagined” cover artwork and a 24-page booklet with lyrics and commentary from Billy Corgan and music critic David Wild.
Tentative tracklistings for the bonus CDs were given to fans attending a meetup in Los Angeles on October 5. The tracklistings shown to fans in LA reflected 18 tracks for both Gish and Siamese Dream, but according to Amazon, Gish is to have 15 bonus tracks and Siamese Dream 17.
UPDATE (10/17): It seems Amazon has pulled both listings for the moment. According to fans who attended a meetup preceding Saturday’s concert in Detroit, the listings were not supposed to appear until later, to coincide with their appearance on band’s official site.
Smashing Pumpkins share recording of “Rhinoceros” from 1989 10:25 am // Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Posted by susan in news, record club, releases.comments closed
“Is that that real slow one?” “That’s that real slow one, yeah.”
The Smashing Pumpkins Record Club has released its fourth (or fifth*) free track, this time a version of “Rhinoceros” recorded in 1989. In a video that now occupies the splash page on the Pumpkins’ official website, songwriter Billy Corgan explains how studio owner and engineer Mark Ignoffo contributed a “shitty keyboard solo” (and outro) to the track, using that epithet not to indicate any failing on Ignoffo’s part but simply because the instrument was cheap. Corgan says he prefers this version to another take of “Rhinoceros” recorded at the time that has a guitar solo. Recordings of both takes have long been bootlegged among avid fans.
* The SPRC shared the track by sending first one email and then a correction to its members (join for free at SmashingPumpkins.com) last night. The second email read in part:
We’ve fixed the issues with “Rhinoceros Version 2.”
It appeared the encoding was having an issue in some downloads so we’ve re-uploaded it – a new link is below for you. Sorry about the accidental “extended version.”
Details on Pumpkins’ sales of soundboard recordings for U.S. shows 8:23 pm // Friday, October 7, 2011
Posted by susan in business, news, releases, tour.comments closed
The Smashing Pumpkins, with the help of Aderra Media Technologies, are selling recordings of their U.S. concerts this month. Knowing only that, however, isn’t quite enough to get your hands on the music. Here’s what we’ve managed to learn about the process.
Fans in attendance at the shows can purchase a card anytime during the evening that can be redeemed for a USB flash drive after the show. The flash drive contains a recording from the soundboard in MP3 format and a link to a website that has posters and a video. This website, which can only be accessed by using the flash drive, apparently is not live yet. Fans at the SPRC meetup prior to the tour kickoff in Los Angeles were told that concerts will also be downloadable online for $15 each, but this option would not provide access to the website.
The USB flash drive from the Los Angeles gig is currently on sale for $25 at the band’s re-vamped online store. Users who purchase the USB drive online must pay $10 shipping and handling for the device, which is supposed to ship within 72 hours of the concert’s end. However, no $15 MP3 download is yet available online, and we’ve seen no reference to anyone buying the $15 download at the Los Angeles show. Perhaps the download will be offered via iTunes at a later date, as suggested by Aderra’s website.
Butch Vig, how did you come to work with the Smashing Pumpkins? 9:06 pm // Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Posted by jjb in butch vig, confusing, gish, history, interview, nirvana, vieuphoria.comments closed
Billboard’s Mitchell Peters has a new interview with Butch Vig regarding Nevermind, the famed Nirvana album that Vig produced and that was released twenty years ago this month. An excerpt:
[Peters:] How did working on “Nevermind” raise your profile as a producer?
[Vig:] The record completely changed my life. It opened up so many doors. I had been doing a lot of underground work with independent labels. And all of a sudden, all of the major labels were calling and I was able to pick and choose the projects I wanted to do. It’s safe to say that the record changed the lives of those who were closely involved. Early on it sort of freaked me out, because I realized that I’d never have a record as big and commercially successful. You have to sort of put it over on one side and say, “I still want to make music and move forward.”
If I hadn’t done that record I don’t know if I would’ve been able to work with Sonic Youth or Smashing Pumpkins. And I wouldn’t have been able to start Garbage and do that, because it opened so many doors and allowed me to have an interesting career that I’m still luckily having — knock on wood.
While Vig’s first work for Sonic Youth was on the post-Nevermind album Dirty, he had produced the Smashing Pumpkins both on the 1990 seven-inch “Tristessa” and on the 1991 album Gish, issued on Caroline Records in May that year. On the Pumpkins’ 1994 video release Vieuphoria, Vig explained how he got together with the group:
The first thing I worked with [Smashing Pumpkins] on was a Sub Pop single. Jonathan [Poneman] from Sub Pop called me up and said, “There’s this band from Chicago that is awesome and you’ve gotta work with them.”
Vig also told the hookup story when he appeared in 2008 on “Sound Opinions,” the syndicated radio program hosted by Chicago rock critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis:
Vig: I think even those records [done at Smart Studios in the late 1980s and early 1990s] were fast and kind of down and dirty, I think they sort of did have a vibe, and you could hear the hooks when there were hooks. I think that’s why I got a lot of work, really. And that’s why, I mean, it just sort of snowballed…that whole indie scene led to me, you know, working with…Billy Corgan heard those records, and that’s why he called me from the Pumpkins.
DeRogatis: Corgan comes out there to do that Pumpkins record, and I guess that’s the real superstar…first act that put you on…first time you had a record on the Billboard charts.
Vig: Yeah, and I mean, I loved working with Billy, because he’s very intense and very driven, but when we made Gish, that was the first album where we actually had time…I was like, “oh my God, we have like 30 days to make a record,” and we worked like 14 or 15 hours every day for those 30 days to, you know, just to try to make it sonically…take it to another level.
Smashing Pumpkins cut kicked off “Footloose” soundtrack album 12:36 am // Saturday, September 17, 2011
Posted by jjb in amusing, movies and film, news, releases.comments closed
Contrary to announcements made in August by Atlantic Records and Warner Music Nashville, the Smashing Pumpkins song “Window Paine” will not appear on the soundtrack album for the remade movie “Footloose.”
The album’s twelve tracks can be previewed now at digital music sellers iTunes and Amazon, and eleven of the twelve match up with the advance tracklisting publicized through Entertainment Weekly on August 8. The lone exception is “Magic in My Home,” attributed to Memphis singer Jason Freeman and slotted into the tenth track in place of the expected Pumpkins number. A tracklisting for the compact disc format given by leading U.S. retailer Walmart is no different.
The music of “Window Paine” does see use in the film as screened for test audiences around the country this month, with director Craig Brewer saying “It really works.”
Record Club launches with free demos of “Drown,” “Geek U.S.A.”; L.A. design firm hired to build “the new SmashingPumpkins.com” 10:38 pm // Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Posted by jjb in business, news, record club, releases, smashingpumpkins.com.comments closed
The Smashing Pumpkins Record Club emerged from its cocoon today, busting out with a new SmashingPumpkins.com splash page by Los Angeles design firm Uprising Creative—and that firm says it is on the hook to the band for more than one fancy graphic:
We’re stoked to be working with Topspin and Smashing Pumpkins on both the new smashingpumpkins.com and the new Smashing Pumpkins Record Club (SPRC). SPRC is going to be amazing, with Billy releasing previously unreleased demos, videos, photos, and other content periodically for members-only.
Our first step is today’s launch of the initial SPRC splash page and the release of the “Drown” 8-track demo. In the coming months, we’ll be doing a ton of behind the scenes work getting SPRC and the new site built out.
In a new video embedded on the splash page, Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan discusses the demo recording of “Drown” that is given as a free download to anyone who proffers their email address. Regarding the future of the Record Club, Corgan says, “There’ll be so much free stuff; I’m not even joking.” Also on the splash page, free, and not even a joke is a “secret” download of a nearly instrumental 2-track demo of “Geek U.S.A.”
Topspin Media, the other SPRC partner referenced by Uprising, bills itself as “the most powerful direct-to-fan platform on the planet.” (And before you say “Topspin is just a shopping cart”, ask, does your shopping cart have this?) Topspin’s clients include George Strait, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, Toad the Wet Sprocket, and David Lynch.
Smashing Pumpkins crafting ‘Gish,’ ‘Siamese Dream’ reissues 9:49 pm // Friday, August 19, 2011
Posted by susan in gish, lyrics, news, pisces iscariot, releases, siamese dream.comments closed
Over the last week, new details about the Smashing Pumpkins’ back-catalog rereleases have emerged. Billy Corgan said yesterday that “we’re working hard right now” to ensure that the Gish and Siamese Dream reissues, due out on November 15, will each have special packaging and contain two CDs and a DVD. Other formats, such as the high-grade vinyl mentioned in the initial announcement of the reissues, could also be pending. Corgan hopes to provide his Gish lyrics, which were not previously available, and he has tweeted that he has an extensive collection of his original Siamese Dream lyrics as well.
The band now projects that the Pisces Iscariot reissue (originally slated for this year) will come out in 2012 alongside Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, The Aeroplane Flies High, and Adore. Work for the Pisces reissue has apparently already commenced. Regarding formats for next year’s releases, Corgan still intends to release Aeroplane on vinyl for the first time. 2013 should see Machina I and II combined into one package, and the band’s most recent press release raises the possibility of a “best-of compilation” in that same year.
Corgan declares advent of “Smashing Pumpkins Record Club” 2:37 pm // Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Posted by susan in news, record club, releases.comments closed
Billy Corgan has tweeted that a “Smashing Pumpkins Record Club” is on its way, apparently to be an outlet for the band to release songs from its archives. Corgan says an unreleased demo from 1992 will be given free to anyone who signs up for a (free) membership. The band has also promised a video announcement from Corgan about the project. The Twitter account @sprecordclub has been in existence and operated by the band since February.
The Smashing Pumpkins have discussed many options for releasing archival music to their fans over the last several years, with a “fan club” model being announced as early as April 2009.
UPDATE: Those who have signed up to STAY INFORMED via SmashingPumpkins.com are supposed to receive a “Free [ed. (free)] Record Club Membership!” as well as a password that will help them access concert ticket pre-sales.
Pumpkins offer glimpse into the archives 8:29 pm // Thursday, May 19, 2011
Posted by alex in photo, releases, studio.comments closed
The Smashing Pumpkins’ official Facebook page offered a sneak peek into the band’s archives tonight by posting a picture of an “about to be transferred” 4-track casette tape from the “Gish/Siamese era.” According to the post, over 60 such tapes have already been transferred, presumably for the purpose of identifying material to be released over the next couple of years.
The tracklist on the tape, written in Billy Corgan’s distinctive handwriting, consists of… (more…)
Download “Owata” from SmashingPumpkins.com 2:31 pm // Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Posted by jjb in news, releases, teargarden by kaleidyscope.comments closed
