Musical gift from the Smashing Pumpkins

Dec. 20, 2009

Musical Gift From The Smashing Pumpkins
A gift of sorts is on the way soon from The Smashing Pumpkins; they recently announced plans for a new SP album that will only be issued online and free of charge. The songs on the set, which they’ve dubbed Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, will showcase the band’s more melodic and psychedelic roots, and will include 44 (yes, you read that number correctly) new SP songs; frontman Billy Corgan says the plan is to release one song at a time until all 44 tracks are online. Corgan also emphasized that each song will be made available for free to everyone at www.smashingpumpkins.com, with no strings attached, and you can download as many times as you’d like. The music will additionally be sold as 11 different limited-edition four-song EPs, especially for the SP collectors...
Gorillaz fans have been waiting for a new Gorillaz album since Demon Days dropped waaay back in 2005; but fear not, Gorillaz fans - the animated, Damon Albarn-helmed band is set to return with new songs relatively soon. According to a recent interview with Albarn’s manager, Albarn reportedly already has two album’s worth of songs written, and once Albarn’s schedule settles a bit, he’s due to begin work on the new Gorillaz tracks, plan being for the new CD to be released “sometime in 2010”...
Speaking of Albarn - not like the guy’s ever, you know, busy or anything - he also was recently tapped as a leading contender to be the artistic director of the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games, probably due to the recent modern rockin’ success of the likes of the drum show at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Bjork’s performance at the Athens’ 2004 games. Albarn does already have some experience in the Olympic arena, as he and fellow Gorillaz Jamie Hewlett did the music and animations for the BBC’s coverage of the Beijing games - but who knows what amazing things he’ll craft if given free artistic rein of the entire event...

A fourth album from Portishead is on the way, which Portishead’s Geoff Barrow says the band has begun writing and hope to have in-stores in 2010. While the band is currently label-free, Barrow suggests that the new songs may not be released in a traditional album format, but instead may be featured as a “new project from a different angle.” That’s not very specific for Portishead fans, but at least it won’t take another ten years to be treated to new music from the band, as was the case while waiting for their 2008 album, Third...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Ex Pedro the Lion singer David Bazan is offering up the sixth installment of David Bazan’s Christmas Singles via www.myspace.com/davidbazan; the 7-inch will feature Bazan’s arrangements of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” and Wayne Coyne’s “Say It Isn’t Greensleeves,” both of which are more contemporary than Bazan’s previous holiday offerings, which were primarily traditional carols...

MINI BUZZ:
A new cable show that might interest music fans is “Embedded,” the series from new channel Current TV that is an hour-long documentary “day in the life” look at such artists as Silversun Pickups, Ben Harper, Mos Def, Common, and The Decemberists...
Conor Oberst’s hometown newspaper, The Omaha World-Herald, recently reported that Oberst plans to retire his Bright Eyes moniker after one more album...
First Lady Michelle Obama recently told the press what’s on her iPod, her three “most listened to” artists being Sara Bareilles, Trisha Yearwood, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma...
The All Tomorrow’s Parties series just held a well-attended Nightmare Before Christmas event last week, with live performances from the likes of De La Soul, Sonic Youth, and the Sun Ra Arkestra...
Speaking of Sonic Youth, the band’s Thurston Moore has written a new book called simply Grunge that chronicles the late ‘80s-early ‘90s punk scene in Seattle, complete with photos by Michael Lavine...
And a very happy holiday to all Modern Rock readers! Thanks for continuing to read the column, and for all of your emails as well, we appreciate both your compliments and your suggestions...
And here are a few discs on which you might choose to spend your leftover holiday cash... ON CD: Lowell Bram’s Music for Insomnia... Sound Tribe Sector 9’s Ad Explorata... and Alison Iraheta’s Just Like You... ON DVD: The Mike Batt Music Cube... and The Clash’s London Calling 30th Anniversary Disc ... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column or your favorite musicians? Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com