“A walking, living, breathing contradiction” 12:49 pm // Thursday, March 11, 2010
Posted by jjb in billy corgan, interview, john mayer, scary.81 comments
So did Mike Schiller of PopMatters label Billy Corgan in his (excellent) 2007 review of Zeitgeist, and outtakes published today from Corgan’s recent Rolling Stone interview do more to justify Schiller’s assessment than, well, just about anything ever. (more…)
9:23 pm // Friday, March 12, 2010
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Kerry Brown blogs about hearing the new Hole song “Skinny Little Bitch.”
2:12 pm // Friday, March 12, 2010
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Pitchfork wisely gives Nitsuh Abebe a monthly column.
HU Podcast #57: A Stitch in Time, Rolling Stone Article 7:09 pm // Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Posted by chris in billy corgan, magazines, podcast, teargarden by kaleidyscope.63 comments
We were planning on podcasting this week anyway to discuss the release of A Stitch in Time, but then the Billy Corgan feature in Rolling Stone was released and consumed the discussion on HU. So we start out talking about the new song, but the bulk of the podcast is devoted to the article.
Listen to the whole show (1:03:00)
(download)(iTunes)
Note: Those trying to subscribe to the podcast through iTunes will be unable to for the near future. We’ve identified the problem and are attempting to work around it. I apologize for the inconvenience.
This week’s topics:
Panelists
-Chris, Jason, Jill, and Andrew
-A Stitch in Time reactions. There seemed to be a positive consensus on this one, and we were no different. (6:12)
-The Jimmy Chamberlin firing. Why does Billy seem to protect people in the short term but throw them under the bus in the long term? (17:05)
-Billy’s nontraditional beliefs pop up again in the Rolling Stone article. How hard is it to separate the man from the music? (9:07)
-Miscellaneous Rolling Stone comments. Why do some fans give up on the band whenever Billy says something a little unusual? Why would Billy volunteer for this in the first place? (25:59)
Song of the Week
-A Stitch in Time, Visalia, CA August 26, 2009
5:15 pm // Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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Jessica Simpson is a guest on “Late Show with David Letterman” tonight.
2:58 pm // Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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The Guardian interviews Melissa Auf der Maur.
8:45 pm // Tuesday, March 9, 2010
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Sunny Day Real Estate to tarnish its legacy record new album.
8:30 pm // Tuesday, March 9, 2010
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A list of the followers of Yahowha has appeared online.
8:25 pm // Tuesday, March 9, 2010
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Music writer Nitsuh Abebe: “The way adolescents start situating themselves in relation to music is, first and foremost, social, ‘cultural,’ all about these exciting politics of cool. Deciding what you like and what you think is cool will always be informed by your self-image and aspirations, who you want to relate to, which tribes you want to be part of, etc.”
Help wanted! Smashing Pumpkins looking for bassist, keyboardist; Ginger Pooley leaves to spend time with family, Mark Tulin to fill in 2:45 pm // Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Posted by jjb in ginger reyes pooley, lisa harriton, mark tulin, news.32 comments
Bassist Ginger Pooley, who played with the Smashing Pumpkins since their revival in 2007, is leaving the group according to a press release. She says in part:
With sorrow and yet with much thankfulness for the opportunity to have played in the Pumpkins, I am sad to say that I can no longer tour with the Pumpkins. Although I’ve been blessed beyond belief over the past few years through playing with the Pumpkins, my priority now is to keep our little family unit together, which includes my husband and my baby. Although I do plan on continuing to do music in different forms, my priority is for neither for my husband nor myself to be apart from our daughter so that we can raise her together.
Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan is quoted in the release as being “heartbroken” over Pooley’s departure but he says respects her decision. Mark Tulin, the Electric Prunes and Spirits in the Sky bassist who has worked on recent Smashing Pumpkins studio material, may “fill in on an interim basis.” Corgan says he will launch a fresh round of auditions to find more help:
We were lucky enough to find drummer Mike Byrne through an open audition process, so why not open the doors again to anyone who might be interested for the bass or keyboard position? As you can see from our past and present, age, race, or a person’s background is not an issue. Everyone is truly welcome to audition.
The press release offers this guidance to aspiring Pumpkins:
Bassists and keyboardists looking to play with The Pumpkins should send their background info (including age, a resume of any bands/recorded work), photos and performance web links via email only, either to pumpkinsbass@gmail.com or pumpkinskeys@gmail.com. Note: only musicians with video clips can be considered. Youtube.com type posts are perfect — that’s how Mike was found. Final date for submission is March 31.
A keyboardist who “can play in the prog-rock style of Jon Lord and Rick Wakeman” is sought to succeed Lisa Harriton, who toured with the Pumpkins alongside Pooley but is (when not backing Adam Lambert or Ke$ha) focusing now on serious jazz music.
World finally hears Corgan-Simpson collaboration 1:57 pm // Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Posted by jillysp in billy corgan, jessica simpson, news, radio.19 comments
Last night, Jason mentioned that the Jessica Simpson song “Who We Are” was scheduled to debut this morning on KIIS-FM. As he speculated, this was indeed the premiere of her studio collaboration with Billy Corgan, pictured at right, hard at work [photo via the lovely Kristin Burns]. She spoke at length with host Ryan Seacrest, and you can hear the recorded interview here or below:
Simpson, on the inspiration for the song:
Simpson, on working with Corgan:
And if you don’t have time to listen to the full interview, People Magazine excerpts this key soundbyte:
“I can’t find good enough words to speak about Billy,” Simpson said. “He’s a very, very dear friend. For him to give his time and his talents and share them with me, it was a great experience. And I hope we can do more music together.”
The track is available free to download on the interwebs here. Summer jam, y’all?
UPDATE (3/10): Corgan and Simpson reportedly share the songwriting credit with Evan Bogart and Shari Short; Kerry Brown has the producer credit.
2:11 am // Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Posted by jjb in postchildren.3 comments
Jessica Simpson song “Who We Are” to debut this morning on Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM. [ed. Kerry Brown tweeted about this and "Papa" Joe Simpson says it's a song for Jessica's show "The Price of Beauty," so this may be (the?) one that Brown and Billy Corgan worked on, but we'll see...]
2:30 pm // Monday, March 8, 2010
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Foo Fighters enlist Butch Vig to help them garage-rock out. (HT: Marco)
12:21 pm // Monday, March 8, 2010
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Pitchfork assigns Pavement fanboy Matthew Perpetua to review the band’s greatest-hits album, which Perpetua gives a 10.0 despite having previously expressed quibbles with the tracklisting.
1:31 am // Monday, March 8, 2010
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@CourtneyLoveUK directs a slew of tweets to Billy Corgan, starting around midnight CT.
12:21 am // Monday, March 8, 2010
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The New York Times runs an update on the terrestial-radio performance royalties legislation.
Corgan’s father reflects: “I’ve blown it a few times.” 3:57 pm // Sunday, March 7, 2010
Posted by jjb in billy corgan, billy corgan sr., courtney love, interview, magazines.6 comments
After briefly outlining Billy Corgan’s rough childhood in a new profile, Rolling Stone associate editor Brian Hiatt noted the 2008 arrest of William Corgan Sr., using it as a stepping-off point to consider Corgan’s dealings with his father and others who have used drugs. Here is an excerpt:
On January 1st, 2008, police in Tampa, Florida, found his 60-year-old father unconscious in his car, a heroin needle in his left forearm. Not for the first time, Billy stepped in to help his dad, bailing him out of jail and paying for rehab. “Billy saved my life so many times,” says Corgan Sr. “I’ve been given more than my fair share of chances to be a human, and I’ve blown it a few times. I grew up in a house of no love or emotion – it kind of sticks with you. You end up passing it on to your kids, and we’re hoping that we maybe broke the chain.”
Corgan has spent enough time in therapy to know it’s no accident he created a new dysfunctional family in the Pumpkins. He surrounded himself with addicts, from Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin to former lover and collaborator Courtney Love. He’s tried to sever every one of those relationships. “If I love somebody, I’ll look the other way,” says Corgan, “and stand there and walk them through their addiction. Maybe because of my father I learned how to do this at a young age.”
He worked with Love on song for her new album, but he wants nothing to do with her now – and if she releases the songs, as it appears she will, “it would be a real big problem, because I haven’t given my permission,” Corgan says. “I have no interest in supporting her in any way, shape or form. You can’t throw enough things down the abyss with a person like that.”
8:59 pm // Saturday, March 6, 2010
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Linda Strawberry writes on the SmashingPumpkins.com message board about the Rolling Stone article.
8:49 pm // Saturday, March 6, 2010
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Seven pictures of the Pumpkins playing the Double Door in February 1995. (HT: redbull)
1:15 pm // Saturday, March 6, 2010
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Jon Pareles and Carles ‘review’ Animal Collective at the Guggenheim.
