Friday, October 11th, 2002
Zwan Still Hard at Work on Debut Album
We don't need another "Zero"
Will Bryant and Alan Haworth report:
10,000 times more terrifying than the Thunderdome and twice as shiny,
the luminous noggin of Chicago's own Billy Corgan is about to split
open once more, like Zeus giving head-birth to that trust-fund brat
Athena, and let us all bathe in the brilliance contained within. Or
something like that. Say it with us: Zwan! Zwan! ZWAN!! It's a
frickin' great name, isn't it? Like GWAR, or KISS-- only possibly
with more makeup. Flying-V guitars and Maybelline, Zwan!! It's the
way that annoying tophatted fop from the early 90s Zima commercials
would pronounce every-zing like zis, crossed with your Japanese
friend Zwang's twin brother, it's Smashing Pumpkins slumming with the
Drag City crowd. Iha, Auf der Maur, you still hangin' with Dando and
Adams? Pshaw. D'arcy, I don't see your skinny ass 'round the methodone
clinic no mo'. ZWAN!!
Well, whatever they sound like, apparently Corgan, Pumpkins drummer
Jimmy Chamberlin, Matt Sweeney of Chavez, Paz Lenchantin of A Perfect
Circle, and David Pajo of Papa M are nearing completion on their
as-yet-untitled first album. Corgan had this to say on the arrival
of Zwan: "[The album] is just about done and we are all very excited
and proud that we were able to come together to make this possible.
We've been having a lot of fun, working like wizards under red lights
here in the studio." YES!! With the big Gandalf hats and cotton-ball
beards!! I like it, go on...
"Everyone has worked very hard so we could make the first Zwan record
a reality by the end of this year," Corgan reports. "It looks like we
will probably be playing some shows after Thanksgiving." Geez, Billy
always sounds so freakin' genteel. How can you mock that earnestness?
Come on, guys, let up. They've worked very hard. Or haven't they?
The record, in fact, will not be a reality by the end of this
year...
...Which is precisely why Virgin are raiding the Pumpkins vaults to
re-release the 1994-vintage Vieuphoria collection on DVD, with
new footage and bonus material on the inside but the same cheesy pigs
on the outside.
The DVD boasts 20 minutes of never-before-seen band footage from the
Siamese Dream era, as well as a 10-minute studio interview
titled (we shit you nary) The Unbearable Likeness of Manny, in
which the band trades mock barbs with a 'record executive' played by
a friend. There are rumors that the disc will also include a UK
performance of "Rhinoceros" and the Pumpkins' appearance on MTV's
120 Minutes, where they played three rockin' hits promoting
Siamese Dream. Tracklist:
01 Sinfony *
02 Quiet [live at Center Stage - Atlanta 1993]
03 Disarm [live on The Word - UK 1994]
04 Cherub Rock [acoustic live on MTV's Most Wanted - UK 1993]
05 Today [live at the Aragon Ballroom - Chicago 1993]
06 Bugg Superstar *
07 I Am One [live at Sala Apolo - Barcelona 1994]
08 Pulseczar *
09 Soma [live at the Astoria - London 1994]
10 Slunk / French Movie Theme [live]
11 Geek USA ["Cherub Rock" b-side]
12 Mayonaise [live at Albamhalle - Munich 1993]
13 Silverfuck (Part 1) [live on BBC's Naked City - UK 1993]
14 Silverfuck (Part 2) [live]
15 Why Am I So Tired? *
* previously unreleased studio sessions
For you cheap bastards, the music on Vieuphoria will also be
available on a companion CD called Earphoria. Originally
issued as a promo-only CD in 1994, original copies of the highly
sought-after soundtrack often sold for $60 and higher on eBay--
until the annoucement of this reissue, that is! Should've slapped
a "buy it now" option on that, hflax.
.: Pitchfork Review: Smashing
Pumpkins: MACHINA II/The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music
.: Pitchfork Review: MACHINA/The
Machines of God
.: Zwan: http://www.zwan.com
.: Smashing Pumpkins: http://www.smashingpumpkins.com
.: Some Poor Bastard Getting Taken: http://cgi.ebay.com...
Sonic Youth Get All Arty with Fall Releases
First single "VIII" leaked onto Internet, breakaway hit on TRL
Catherine Lewis and Ray Suzuki report:
Sonic Youth are quite the busy buzzards this fall, what with
an appearance at this weekend's Terrastock festival in Boston,
two experimental new releases, and a handful of recently announced
Thanksgiving shows. The group just wrapped up a number of solo
one-offs and collaborations between Youth axeman Thurston Moore and
improvisateurs Wally Shoup, Paul Falherty, and Chris Corsano, and
another head-to-head with Moore and freshly initiated Youth rookie
Jim O'Rourke.
Just this week, Konkurrent issued the eighth volume in their series
of In the Fishtank mini-LP's, featuring four-fifths of Sonic
Youth (everyone but Kim Gordon), three members of ICP (that's the
Dutch free-jazz collective the Instant Composers Pool, not Insane
Clown Posse), and a handful of other musicians including Terrie and
Luc Ex and percussionist William Winant (who has toured with folks
such as Thurston Moore and Steve Reich). It was recorded in June of
2001.
The Dutch label often sponsors touring bands to stop off in their
studio for a few days to record something-- anything-- that it then
releases as part of its growing "In the Fishtank" series. The series
has featured several collaborations in the past-- most recently,
Duluth slowcore outfit Low with their former tour-partners the Dirty
Three; before that, Tortoise with The Ex, and Willard Grant Conspiracy
with Telefunk-- as well as recordings by bands on their own (e.g.,
June of 44, Guv'ner). The label places no restrictions on the bands,
and their in-studio wankery sometimes works incredibly well (case in
point: Low and the Dirty Three's excellent reading of Neil Young's
"Down by the River") and sometimes works only about as well as you
would expect from 48 hours of studio noodling (well, I'm not going
to name names, as that would be tacky). Tracklist:
01 III
02 IV
03 V
04 VI
05 II
06 VIII
07 IX
08 X
Third-chair guitarist Lee Ranaldo has also released an experimental
record overseas: Outside My Window the City is Never Silent, a
joint release between UK labels Chocolate Monk and Hell's Half Halo,
combines "sounds of forgotten conversations, voices of loved ones,
talks delivered via wire, crosscut with various tone poems (music(s))."
All of which is just a fancy-pants way of saying it's a collage of
studio outtakes, noise, found sound, and audio from "friends, family,
loved ones and other artists" including Ranaldo's Sonic Youth bandmates,
authors Charles Bukowski and Raymond Carver, even the Youth's
Lollapalooza tourmate Courtney Love. The collage, originally
assembled for a 2000 radio broadcast in Belgium, "grows out of
recent works I have been creating dealing with phrases constructed
from various recycled bits of voice and sound, the silences between
them, and the cross-pollinations which occur as they are combined
in different ways," Ranaldo sez.
And finally, the Yoof are wrapping up what has been an incredible year
for the shaggy-dog art-rockers with five more live dates in the
northeast, including two nights at Irving Plaza. Dates:
10-13 Boston, MA - Middle East (Terrastock Festival)
11-22 Northampton, MA - Calvin Theater
11-23 Providence, RI - Lupo's
11-24 Baltimore, MD - Recher Theatre
11-29 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
11-30 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
.: Pitchfork Review: Sonic
Youth: Murray Street
.: Sonic Youth: http://www.sonicyouth.com
.: Konkurrent: http://www.konkurrent.nl
Guided By Voices Touring with Superdrag
Put that boner away-- I said "with," not "in"
Brandon Dameshek and Will Bryant report:
The high-kickin', long-stickin' drunks and punks that comprise Guided
by Voices are kicking off yet another U.S. tour this evening in our
nation's capitol. Bob Pollard and the lads might tip an ale or two
during the festivities, we're told, while simultaneously knocking out
what must be 50 or 60 tunes a night and fending off the inevitable
karaoke-minded stage divers with "Body by Budweiser" t-shirts and
Converse autographed by Superchunk. GbV are wandering across the
unwashed plains of this fine land in support of this year's
homecoming dance favorite, Universal Truths and Cycles, their
first release for Matador since 1997's Mag Earwhig!
And just to make things nuttier than a squirrel's ballsack, Dayton's
finest have recruited Knoxville's Superdrag to come along for the
ride. You can locate their special stew of power-pop can be located
on their latest Arena Rock release, Last Call for Vitriol
(featuring a cameo from GbV's Bob Pollard). Tour dates (all shows
from October 17th on with Superdrag):
10-11 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club (w/ Chino)
10-12 Asbury Park, NJ - The Stone Pony (w/ Chino)
10-17 Columbus, OH - Alrosa Villa
10-18 Louisville, KY - Headliners
10-19 Tuscaloosa, AL - The Chukker
10-21 St. Petersburg, FL - State Theatre
10-22 Ft. Lauderdale, FL - The Factory
10-23 Orlando, FL - The Social
10-25 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
10-26 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
10-27 Knoxville, TN - Blue Cats
How's yer hope hangin'? Well, for those who are members of that
ever-slimming demographic of Pitchfork readers who also watch
"Friends" and/or "Scrubs", you may be delighted and/or appalled
that GbV's 1999 prom anthem "Hold On Hope" is included on the
Hollywood Records soundtrack to the latter. Oddly, this is not
the first time that the realms of indie rock and must-see-TV have
clashed-- the woefully unfunny "Friends" used a hired-gun's
rendition of the riff from Pavement's "Rattled by the Rush" as
transitional music in its second season. Then again, my stoner
cousin Belzer thought they played Danzig's Blackacidevil
continuously through an episode of "Frasier" once, and called to
tell me so before realizing it actually eminated from the dorm
room two doors down.
Lastly, the 'Fork would like to put to rest the rumors that Pollard
and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy have been quietly working on an album
together under the moniker New Verbal Adventurers. Tweedy does
have collaborative albums with the Minus 5 (which has also included
Pollard as a member) and Jim O'Rourke (who should totally produce
the next GbV record) due in 2003, but no collaboration with Pollard
is planned. "There is nothing remotely true in that one at all,"
hardy GbV webmaster Rich Turiel tells us, adding that Pollard is
already hard at work writing songs for the next GbV album.
.: Pitchfork News: Guided
by Voices: Universal Truths and Cycles
.: Guided By Voices: http://www.gbv.com
.: Superdrag: http://www.superdrag.com
.: Matador: http://www.matadorrecords.com
Jay Farrar Touring Europe, The South
Hard to say which has more inbreeding
Aaron Shaul reports:
Alt.country's favorite punching bag, Jay Farrar, is gearing up for a
short tour of Italy and Spain before playing a handful of fall dates
in the South and Midwest. The mini-tourcorresponds nicely with the
mini-album Thirdshiftgrottoslack, which was released earlier
this year. Coupled with the finer moments on last year's solo debut
Sebastapol, the EP finds Farrar on steadier footing than with
his last two efforts with the possibly-defunct outfit Son Volt.
In the meantime, Bloodshot Records inform us that the Farrar-penned
soundtrack to the indie football flick The Slaughter Rule is
mastered and ready to go, but will likely be delayed until 2003
pending the film's distribution situation (it doesn't have any).
Chances are if this little jaunt goes smoothly we can expect a full
blown U.S. tour somewhere down the line, maybe even with a full band!
For now he's just got Mark Spencer of the Blood Oranges tagging along
and helping out on vocal, electric and lap steel guitar duties since
he's got nothing else to do. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Farrar
will also be joined by Uncle Tupelo tagalong Brian Henneman for most
of the U.S. swing. Tour dates:
10-24 Gallarte, Italy - Teatro Nuovo
10-25 Cantu, Italy - 1.35 Circa
10-27 Ferrera, Italy - Auditorium (Farrar in Ferrera? Will he be
ferried by Ferrari?)
10-31 Lavis, Italy - Auditorium
11-05 Vigo, Spain - La Iguana
11-06 Bilbao, Spain - Azkena
11-07 Zaragoza, Spain - La Casa Del Loco
11-08 Barcelona, Spain - La Boite
11-09 Madrid, Spain - Suristan
11-14 Memphis, TN - Old Daisy Theater *
11-15 Birmingham, AL - Workplay Theater *
11-16 Chattanooga, TN - Rhythm & Brews *
11-18 Charleston, SC - Music Farm *
11-19 Orlando, FL - Back Booth *
11-20 St. Petersburg, FL - State Theater *
11-21 Tallahassee, FL - Beta Bar *
11-22 Atlanta, GA - Echo Lounge *
11-23 Louisville, KY - Headliner's *
11-30 St. Louis, MO - Mississippi Nights
* with Brian Henneman
.: Pitchfork Review: Jay
Farrar: Sebastapol
.: Pitchfork Review: Jay
Farrar: ThirdShiftGrottoSlack EP
.: Pitchfork News: Alt-Stars Suit
Up for Indie Soundtrack
.: Jay Farrar: www.jayfarrar.net
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