Hipsters United

HU Podcast #89: Oceania and the Lucky 13

chris — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:24:24 +0000

As we edge closer to the release of Oceania, and only ~~seven~~ nine days from the band’s first live appearance in 2012, we assembled to talk about the impending album and tour as well as the re-re-revival of the archive project. Let us know if you plan on attending the show in Lisbon and would be willing to be interviewed for a future podcast.

Listen to the whole show (1:00:41)

(download)(iTunes)

Panelists
-Chris, Jason, and Susan

Topics
-We are almost a month away from Oceania hitting stores. Is it the right decision to not release it early to reviewers? While Billy seems to be planning on streaming the album, it’s unclear whether there will be a free, no-strings-attached download like the earlier Teargarden tracks. Is this a big deal? Plus, no podcast is complete without a discussion of fonts! (14:39)

-Billy has some ambitious plans for the Oceania tour, so we give our take on starting every show by playing Oceania straight through in order. Note: this podcast was recorded before the Rock Coast show was postponed. (12:46)

-The latest incarnation of the archive project is revealed to be a group of fan intermediaries known as the Lucky 13. Will the 3rd time be the charm? Plus, I rant at length about the unprofessional state of the Pumpkins’ official website. (26:47)

Song of the Week

-Beautiful, San Francisco, California (February 6th, 1996)

susan — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:22:04 +0000

On tonight’s WFLD Fox Chicago’s 9:00 news, Bob Sirott interviewed Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan, which you can now stream here. Corgan talks about his troubled childhood and how it influenced his development as a musical artist. In the background, you can hear clips of at least two songs from the Pumpkins’ upcoming album Oceania: I can make out “Pinwheels” and “Oceania.”

susan — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:14:25 +0000

James Iha’s video for “To Who Knows Where,” for which a teaser clip was released in March, has been posted to YouTube. However, denizens of the United States cannot watch. If you can watch, feel free to fill the rest of us in with a comment.

susan — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:24:34 +0000

It appears that the Rock Coast Festival, which @SmashingPumpkin was scheduled to play on May 24, has been postponed rockcoastfestival.com—
Hipsters United (@HipstersUnited) May 16, 2012

susan — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:53:33 +0000

An image on the official @SmashingPumpkin Facebook page tips a Fall 2012 US tour: on.fb.me/JeUD8Q—
Hipsters United (@HipstersUnited) May 14, 2012

susan — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:54:34 +0000

Enjoyed reading this really insightful and thoughtful profile of Billy Corgan's @RESISTANCE_Pro wrestling promotion: bit.ly/K3FkzV—
Hipsters United (@HipstersUnited) May 11, 2012

Smashing Pumpkins atop June 14 charity bill at Metro

jjb — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:35:54 +0000

The Smashing Pumpkins will headline a charity concert at Metro in Chicago on June 14, five days prior to the release of their Oceania album.

Baseball men Theo Epstein and Peter Gammons, who have organized an annual “Hot Stove Cool Music” benefit in their native Boston for several years, are bringing a version of the fundraiser to Chicago, doubtless because Epstein is now president of the Chicago Cubs.

Power-pop lifers The Figgs also will perform, and Gammons’s ~~house~~ event band Hot Stove All Stars will knock out some covers. Other guests may yet be announced. VIP ticket packages, which include a seat at Wrigley Field for the Cubs-Red Sox game on June 15, are available now and cost one thousand dollars. General admission tickets to the concert are $50 and go on sale this Saturday at noon CT. Proceeds will go to the Epstein family’s Foundation to Be Named Later.

UPDATE: Billy Corgan bantered about the event on WXRT-FM this morning with broadcasters Lin Brehmer and Len Kasper.

UPDATE (5/9): The Chicago Cubs Twitter account has announced a pre-sale for the tickets beginning May 9 noon CDT. The pre-sale link is here, the password is “HCSM.”

jjb — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:02:16 +0000

Billy Corgan discusses Resistance Pro wrestling and the state of mainstream rock music in a half-hour interview on Sirius XM channel Howard 101′s “Abe Kanan Show.” (HT: Jake Howe)

jjb — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:18:57 +0000

"The rock 'n' roll I grew up in means you care about what happens to everybody." Interview with @Billy, via @Australian theaustralian.com.au/arts/rock-wres…—
Hipsters United (@HipstersUnited) May 03, 2012

Smashing Pumpkins announce shows in Australia and New Zealand

susan — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:11:28 +0000

The Smashing Pumpkins have confirmed the first leg of their Oceania tour, to take place in, well, Oceania. The band, already confirmed as headliners for the Splendour in the Grass festival in Byron Bay on July 29, will also hit Challenge Stadium outside Perth on July 26th, Sydney’s Entertainment Centre on July 31, Melbourne’s Hisense Areana on August 2, and Auckland’s Vector Arena on August 4. For the Sydney and Melbourne dates, the band will be supported by Wolfmother. Tickets go on sale May 9 via Ticketmaster.au and Ticketmaster.nz, but a fan presale (password: TEARDROPS) will commence May 7.

In the press release for the tour, Billy Corgan is quoted, saying: “Australia is the perfect place to usher in a new era of The Smashing Pumpkins, where we look to combine an epic rock show with the latest in visual mapping technology to create a one-of-a-kind experience for our fans.”

Once-disappointed Pumpkins fans “Blissed” with one-track flexidisc

susan — Thu, 03 May 2012 03:32:29 +0000

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.

jjb — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:57:55 +0000

Oceania to be distributed in much of Oceania by Create/Control, a Brisbane-based label operated by a co-promoter of the Splendour in the Grass festival; street date for the album is June 22.