You've gotta have a code. And, for years, a good one that's never failed us is TRUST JAMES IHA. The ex-Smashing Pumpkins and sometimes Perfect Circle guitarist knows things, and when word got out that fiery Brooklyn punk outfit Hunters were in the studio with Iha, well, we knew too. We put them on t ... More >>
Here are the 10 best concerts around the city this weekend, in no particular order.
Hey: Albums! In case people still care about these things, here's a batch of potentially interesting releases arriving in the calendar year.
Better than: No Smashing Pumpkins. Billy Corgan just kind of does whatever he wants. The Smashing Pumpkins frontman--and now sole remaining member of the band's original lineup--has been making music for about two decades now. He's written love songs, hate songs, double LPs, masterpieces, and then ... More >>
By Neph Basedow Poet e.e. cummings said, "To destroy is always the first step in any creation." For Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, destruction and creation are a way of life. "A good artist is willing to die many times over," Corgan says. "What's funny is, I've died so many times." The l ... More >>
The Women's Music Summit is a two-day conference at the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian where accomplished players like Marnie Stern, Melissa Auf Der Maur, and Meshell Ndgeocello will lead master classes, jam sessions, roundtables, and opportunities to connect, and it's scheduled to take place on Aug ... More >>
If you don't think Butch Vig's almost singlehandedly invented two decades of alternative rock as we know it, just look at his resumé: Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, Foo Fighters, AFI. That's without mentioning his membership in the still-cool Garbage or the fact he prod ... More >>
To supplement this year's Pazz & Jop launch, Sound of the City asked a few critics to expand on the reasonings behind their voting. Here, Michael Tedder breaks down his entire ballot, and along the way he talks about about the operatic heights of Fucked Up, the shredding ability of Annie Clark and R ... More >>
Gish-era Smashing Pumpkins: Reissued in 2011, so it counts! Reports from the holiday-party front indicate that 2011 was another long and lonely year for the fiction writers and memoirists of New York, who were kept company at home all day long mainly by various "internet friends" and related ... More >>
Every day I'm shufflin'
In the above video, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar slam-dunks a pumpkin in honor of the Smashing Pumpkins, because the Internet demands absurdist content to feed its perpetual-motion machine. I would have preferred a recreation of the Airplane! scene where some smartass kid starts smack-talking Kareem-in-disg ... More >>
Our corporate siblings on the other side of the country have the line on "Owata," the newest--10th, if you're counting--song to surface from the Smashing Pumpkins' 44-track Teargarden By Kaleidyscope. "Owata" finds alt-rock superheel Billy Corgan and his mates (Mike Byrne on drums, Nicole Fio ... More >>
Local rock with a lovey-dovey core
Katy Perry used "E.T." as the perfect opportunity to dress up in flowy-costumes and to float through space, before falling in love with a nice robot boy before they walk off into the sunset. There're kaleidoscope-effects, Kanye West, and cuts to National Geographic-style clips of animals going at i ... More >>
On April 12th, Epitaph will release No Devolución, the sixth album from New Jersey basement warriors turned post-hardcore poster-children Thursday. Like their once-howling peers Cave In, the band's increasingly gone the mellow route--more singing, less screaming, more atmospherics and space, ... More >>
Make it count this timeask her out!
Everybody wants to be a star on a Tuesday night. Pics by Rob, more below.Smith Westerns/Ducktails/Bass Drum of Death Glasslands Tuesday, January 18 Better Than: Well, certainly staying at home sulking about missing another Prince show at Madison Square Garden. Every Smith Westerns lead-guit ... More >>
"Yes, it's really gonna happen." Pics by Rob, more below.Urge Overkill Mercury Lounge Monday, October 4 Better Than: Most other 15-year reunions Of all the song titles shouted at the stage this evening, no one offers "Sister Havana" or "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon," and nobody plays them. ... More >>
On Friday Cee-Lo debuted a delightful new song with the simplest, most uncouth title possible: "Fuck You." It immediately joined the upper echelons of a surprisingly crowded genre -- from 50 Cent to Pharoahe Monch, the Avengers to Pussy Galore, Lil Kim to Atmosphere, there are lots of songs n ... More >>
Shoegazer shoes Butterfly Explosion March 17 Habana, Austin, Texas When you go see a band because they're labeled "shoegaze," you get a smile on your face when you see them set up 19 different foot pedals on the stage. You don't need to double-check your SXSW schedule. You know you're in the right ... More >>
Next week, Regina Spektor will release her first new album in three years. What we've heard of Far is more cinematic than her often bare 2006 breakthrough, Begin to Hope, which may or may not be a good thing. Take a peek at the Beacon tonight. Loudon Wainwright III, patriarch of the venerated Wai ... More >>
--Krist Novoselic is running for public clerk in Washington as a member of the Grunge Grange Party, a community service-driven group that was popular among farmers in the 1870s. Novoselic, who is the chairman of the Wahkiakum County Democratic Party, is not running to win, but to promote the party. ... More >>
Big Black established Chicago's Touch & Go Records, Butthole Surfers nearly undid it, and Ted Leo stuck with the indie for far longer than anyone expected. But there's also a whole roster of lesser-known, weirdo, commercially doomed T&G releases that likely contributed to yesterday's announcement ... More >>
The Smashing Pumpkins survive 20 years, sort of
No R.I.P. for the rock album just yetSonic Youth's seminal Daydream Nation lives again at McCarren Pool.
More righteous cherub rock, thank God
Celebs who won't let you take their picture are bad; non-celebs who demand you do are worse.
Tsunami benefits and political parties, oh my! Stars shine.
James Iha and John Cameron Mitchell take a break from the daily grind
Chicago Is Not Tucson, Unless It Is
The Expanding Role of Theater Sound Design
Five Corporations Cope With Content
How Could You Leave This Behind?
Country Cuts the Crap
Sonic Youth in Occupied America
