A newly launched website for the new Smashing Pumpkins movie (can I call it that?) lists exactly 43 U.S. locations (hmm…) at which “If All Goes Wrong” can be seen on November 6. Australian and British showings are on tap for Nov. 7 and Nov. 25, respectively.
Back in February the Pumpkins were supported for a gig in Glasgow by locals Twin Atlantic. Seven months later, singer Sam McTrusty gives Metrothe truth, right here:
You recently supported Smashing Pumpkins. How did you find the notoriously difficult Billy Corgan?
There’s the truth, right there. We had to load in behind a black curtain while they did a closed soundcheck. Our guitarist, Barry, walked round the front and some guy screamed: ‘Get out of here.’ We weren’t treated very hospitably.
As reported by Food Standards Australia New Zealand, a small company in New South Wales has just issued a recall on one of its dairy products. That’s never good for publicity, but it could theoretically get worse if the web posting draws international attention to the company’s rather unoriginal name:
Smashing Pumpkins
Yoghurt Sultanas Tubs
Use by: 15.09.08
Smashing Pumpkins wishes to advise its customers that they are conducting a voluntary consumer level recall on the above product due to an undeclared allergen as the product contains peanuts not declared on the label…
Smashing Pumpkins apologises to its customers for any inconvenience caused by this recall.
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the only Smashing Pumpkins concert in Russia (yes, SPFC, the answer is “once”), and YouTube user IkeSnopes remembers it by uploading this relevant four-minute video. The clip was sourced from Moscow-based TV6 (the now-shuttered independent television network), which soundtracked its footage with a slowed-down “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” (sorry, it’s the studio version!). Billy Corgan is shown being interviewed for about 45 seconds; he was apparently asked a political question, but it is hard to make out his answer over the dubbed translation.
At their February 29 (8th anniversary of Machina, dude!) show in Oslo, the Smashing Pumpkins attempted an encore performance of the Scorpions song “The Zoo”. Despite Jeff Schroeder’s considerable effort on the talkbox-augmented guitar, frontman Billy Corgan told the Norwegian audience that his band had just flopped:
Yeahhh. That was a song by the Scorpions. Do you feel all right, Jeff? …Honestly, that was the only song we were going to play, but that was so bad, we’re going to play another song. Well, actually, you don’t want to hear another song — thank you good night! …Now you want to hear another song. Would you like to hear a sensitive…sensitive song? Would you like to hear a ski-jumping song?!
Apparently there is a secret meaning to “Cherub Rock”, possibly to be revealed by Billy on the upcoming 15th anniversary of Siamese Dream…
Here’s freshly surfaced audio of the Pumpkins’ “Zoo”…
In a little over an hour, the Dutch digital TV station 3VOOR12 will be broadcasting a video stream of the Smashing Pumpkins’ performance from the May 28th, 2007 Pinkpop Festival. The show, running at about an hour and forty-five minutes, will be live broadcast via the following links:
For those of you in the US, it should start at approximately 2PM EST / 11AM PST. Thanks to Netphoria for the heads-up and to Rolling Stone for the picture above.
UPDATE: I know people are having access problems; I’m getting the Pumpkins’ set via this link or by visiting the main website and clicking “Live webtv 3VOOR12 Central”.
This month I travelled to Bulgaria, and at no time during my one week there did I encounter anything Pumpkins- or even Zwan-related. I didn’t go looking for it, either, but they (”they”?) do play a lot of American music. I heard “Jeremy” and “Psycho Circus” on the radio; whoever was civilly authorized to blast music down the Knyaz Aleksandar I street in Plovdiv got away with “Bitch” by Meredith Brooks; and, randomly in restaurants and bars and other public places, I heard “Hazard” by Richard Marx three times.
I’m sure it’s quite possible to get through a week in America without Billy Corgan invading one’s consciousness, so I’m not trying to say anything…just thought a report was in order.
This week we pondered the idea of the Pumpkins as a “collective”, speculated on whether the band will have another mainstream hit, and reviewed last year’s acoustic Berlin secret show. See the end of the show notes for a chance to take part in a future episode of the podcast.
News
-In yet another post-RockWalk interview, Billy and Jimmy introduced the possibility of the Smashing Pumpkins as a collective of rotating band members. We discuss how that may affect future plans. Plus, Jason starts the drum circle and Andrew clues us in on the lifestyles of the rich and the German. (13:59)
In-Depth Discussion
-Could the highest-charting Pumpkins single still be yet to come? Jason has some compelling reasons why while Andrew maps out a plan to make it so. Plus, Jill groups the Pumpkins in with Boyz II Men and Celine Dion, and I realize that I definitely do not have my finger on the pulse of mainstream youth. (20:26)
Concert Review - Zitadelle Spanau; Berlin, DE June 5th, 2007
-We review this very special acoustic show. Jason fires me from the podcast, Jill gives us the fangirl perspective, and if you listen carefully you can hear the 10:00 PM trucks slithering by. (16:28)
This Week in Pumpkins History
-Andrew brings us down on the 12th anniversary of the unfortunate death of Bernadette O’Brien, and I attempt to cheer everyone up with a call for audience participation. (3:38)(
Song of the Week
-Tarantula, June 5th, 2007
As I mentioned at the end of this week’s show, in honor of the upcoming 10th anniversary of the release of Adore we are planning an entirely Adore-centric show for the end of May. If you would like to be part of the show, record yourself giving your thoughts on the Adore album or tour and email the audio file to (chris at hipstersunited dot com). Please keep the file less than 60 seconds and limit background noise as much as possible. You can be pro- or anti-Adore, but I will pick my favorite questions and comments to play and discuss during the show.
The second multipart YouTube extravaganza to feature Billy Corgan and Uli Jon Roth — together — has arrived, and yes, it is the full and professionally edited “Durch die Nacht mit…” mandate program. After bouncing around for a few days on sketchy torrent sitez, today it showed up in six parts on the well-known Google-owned streamin’ behemoth:
Speaking of old news, James Iha has collaborated with the Japanese musician Leo Imai on his major label debut album Fix Neon, which was released in Japan at the end of February. The album has two songs “feat.” James. A clip of one of the songs is available in the previous link. Leo also posted two videos to myspace featuring he and James having something of an international webcam conversation about James’ continued monolingualism, Tokyo, New York, Godzilla, and dogs among other things.
Certainly not “Today”, as it is now known that the Smashing Pumpkins track is among 30 included on the PlayStation 3 hardcopy version of international karaoke timekiller “SingStar”, screens from which may or may not look something like this:
I think it’s been awhile since the Smashing Pumpkins made the cover of any stateside mags for youth (please prove me wrong if I am!), but this appears to be the cover of the April 2008 issue of a Mexican periodical called Q’Pex.
The band may be ending their touring and going into hibernation, but the HU podcast is just getting started. Thanks to everyone who listened last week and welcome to those just now finding us from one of the many places on the web I’ve shamelessly plastered the URL. This week we kept our technical difficulties mostly in check so that we could discuss recent band news, the end of the tour, and the future of the Pumpkins.
If you’ve fallen into the clutches of the Cult of Steve Jobs, you can now subscribe to our podcast through the iTunes Music Store, or you can always listen to or download the entire show right here.
News
-The Pumpkins get inducted into the Rockwalk, high honor or shameless PR? (7:48)
-Got Milk? Milk has the Pumpkins, along with a totally radical teen-oriented website. (3:33)
Tour Roundup
-The tour ends, but not before Jason educates us on the finer points of mariachi outerwear and discusses the evolution of United States. (9:26)
In-Depth Discussion
-What’s next for the Pumpkins? I give Andrew and Jason $100 to wager on the band’s next move. Will they put it all down on a return of the Audio Vanguard Association? Plus, I drop all pretense and beg for a pre-Gish tour. (18:57)
This Week in Pumpkins History
-The Zero single is released, leading to years of Pastichio Medley timecode debate. Plus, the Arising! tour ends and Andrew assigns blame for the breakup of the band. (5:59)
Pablo Alvarado captures the Smashing Pumpkins onstage (background) and festivalgoers standing to the side of the crowd (foreground). More from his Flickr page.
A newly launched website for the new Smashing Pumpkins movie (can I call it that?) lists exactly 43 U.S. locations (hmm…) at which “If All Goes Wrong” can be seen on November 6. Australian and British showings are on tap for Nov. 7 and Nov. 25, respectively.
This week we pondered the idea of the Pumpkins as a “collective”, speculated on whether the band will have another mainstream hit, and reviewed last year’s acoustic Berlin secret show. See the end of the show notes for a chance to take part in a future episode of the podcast.
