Billy Corgan just announced that the forthcoming Smashing Pumpkins album, Teargarden By Kaleidyscope, will be a 44-track (!) endeavor that will be released piecemeal over the coming months beginning in October—the songs will be released as four-track EPs, 11 in total. And for those of you who don’t really care about packaging and won’t be acquiring physical copies, the music will be completely free. No opt-ins, no mailing-list signups, no talking orangutans! Billy explains after the jump. MORE »
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The Smashing Pumpkins’ New Album To Be Something Of A Free-For-All
the new model
The People Behind The “Twilight” Soundtrack Mix A Little Cockiness Into Their Sparkle
Pre-orders for the soundtrack to New Moon, the sequel to Stephenie Meyer’s vampiric romance Twilight, opened today, and among the packages is a limited-edition $500 extravaganza that only 50 people will get their hands on. The big hook of the package, however, is ETA: not really something that represents a bit of a bet on the part of Chop Shop Records, the label arm of the music-licensing firm responsible for soundtracking such shows as Grey’s Anatomy, Gossip Girl, and—yes—The O.C. MORE »
the nimbus of her fame
Will Oprah Save The Music Business?
I’ve long wondered if an “Oprah’s Music Club”—an analogue to her beloved-by-publishers Book Club, in which the talk-show host gives a tome her blessing, causing it to actually be stocked in stores in anticipation of sales going sky-high—would be a boon for the music business, particularly in this time of faltering sales and eternally delayed projects. Well, the new season of her signature show bows next week, and its first few episodes will certainly be a test of whether or not she can make her audience feel like buying music once again. MORE »
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The Beatles Get Ready To Clean Up In Aisle 8
One thing that’s been piquing the interest of those who see next week’s Beatles remasters as a sort of last gasp for the recorded-music industry: Where will people in record store-lacking areas of the country (a.k.a. 92ish% of the populace) buy the albums? Mall stores are an ever-rarer breed thanks to the slash-and-burn strategy of Trans World; meanwhile, big-box stores like Wal-Mart and Target have decimated their selections to the barest minimum. Apple Corps has decided to market these reissues through a throwback strategy of its own: Grocery stores! MORE »
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Radiohead Apparently Very Serious About Re-Embracing The Single
Radiohead opened their set at last night’s Reading Festival with their 1992 breakthrough hit “Creep,” which the band rarely trots out these days; Thom Yorke’s vocal delivery was fairly strangled, perhaps because he was acutely aware that he was leading a sing-along more than he was engaging in a performance. One wonders if Radiohead deliberately put that track at the beginning for the benefit of casual fans who wanted to hit the road early, since, according to The Independent: MORE »
upcoming releases
Bentonville Rock City: Kiss To Set Up Shop At Wal-Mart
As rumored, the forthcoming album by Kiss—Sonic Boom, the made-up marauders’ first album in 11 years—will be a Wal-Mart exclusive. Boom, which comes out Oct. 6, will be part of a three-disc package that also includes a “completely re-recorded” greatest-hits CD and a DVD featuring live performances of six tracks. Will the Wal-Mart push be enough to get Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley their first No. 1 album? Given the anemic sales climate of recent months, the official Idolator Magic 8 Ball says… “Signs point to yes.” MORE »
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Radiohead Radiohead Radiohead Radiohead; Radiohead. Radiohead? Radiohead!
The Radiohead song that came out last week, “These Are My Twisted Words,” is now available as an officially sanctioned free download from the band’s site, after a weekend of online lunacy that was sparked by some crafty fan of the band / Internet provocateur deciding to register WallOfIce.com, in honor of the cryptic text attached to the MP3 file that came out last week. As one might expect, the registration of that domain caused a flurry of anticipatory freak-outs, especially when it was merely redirecting to Radiohead’s official online store. (OMG IT’S A HINT YOU GUYS!!) But today, a cautionary tale went up: MORE »
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Radiohead: Still Better Than Anyone At Keeping The Internet Interested In Their Music
Last week, Radiohead fanboys/girls got all upset thanks to someone taking the time to type out part of a Thom Yorke Interview from the July/August issue of The Believer in which the Radiohead frontman said that his band had sworn off the album format. “None of us want to get into that creative hoo-ha of a long-play record again,” Yorke told Ross Simonini. “It’s just become such a drag. It worked with In Rainbows because we had a real fixed idea about where we were going. But we’ve all said that we can’t possibly dive into that again. It’ll kill us.” Some people took this to mean that the band was breaking up and freaked out accordingly, but apparently that statement merely meant that they’d given up on the fusty old model of releasing multiple songs under the same umbrella—because yesterday, a new song by the band wormed its way onto the Internet! MORE »
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Quincy Jones Hoping To Plug “Vibe” Back In
Shorty after yesterday’s announcement that the hip-hop/R & B magazine Vibe had folded, Adrienne Samuels Gibbs at EbonyJet.com rang up the magazine’s founder, Quincy Jones. And he already had a plan: “I’m trying to buy my magazine back now,” Jones told Gibbs. “They just messed my magazine all up, but I’m gonna get it back. You better believe it, I’m’a take it online because print and all that stuff is over.” MORE »
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Pirate Bay Founders Cash Out, Site To Go Legit?
Semi-surprising news: Ever-posturing BitTerrorist haven the Pirate Bay has been sold to the Swedish gaming company Global Gaming Factory X for 60 million Swedish kronor (about $7.8 million). In a blog post hedging about the sale, the Pirate Bay honchos are still full of bluster about the righteousness of their mission, saying that “If the new owners will screw around with the site, nobody will keep using it.” A nice idea, but one that would seem to not square with the opinion of the site’s new owners, whose CEO is talking about paying content providers for having their works made available to the Torrenting masses. Blasphemy! MORE »
