90s alternative rock-- hard-rock, grunge, the Singles soundtrack-- faded as quickly as Perry Farrell break-danced his way into the new Millennium. Rap-rock substituted the waxed angst that groaners like Chris Cornell could no longer endure and eventually the 80s power ballad began to resurge, except now drawn by the stylistic terminology of Nu-Metal (Disturbed, Godsmack; bands who don't mind military ads in the backdrop of their shows but critically can never explain why. Red bull does crazy things).

I felt weird watching the Smashing Pumpkins the other night on Live Earth. They made alt-rock, for the first time ever, seem incredibly passe. Of course, we are dealing with Billy Corgan. At one point during the show he gave credit to his own lovely Grateful Dead spirit by stating to the audience that they should buy the new SP album, Zeitgeist, and "not download it like you did all our other albums." This comes after the Pumpkins disbanded in 2000, playing their last concert in Chicago and charged their fans over $1,000 to see the grand finale. Corgan wore a white dress, played three hours, cried onstage, and then drove home and began writing his own reviews for his upcoming poetry book. Oh yeah, and then Zwan.

Technically, Zeitgeist is not an official SP record. It includes the same members of SP as the Journey-inspired Zwan did (Jimmy Chamberlin on drums). Corgan has always been a model for that some ol' pseudo-goth, Antichrist strategist that's kept Marylin Manson in business for years. Zeitgeist embellishes this heart-on-the-sleeve warriorism, going as far as even including chopped pictures of Paris Hilton in their liner notes, and with clean rocked-out riffs on the Tool side of the hemisphere, eager fans "probably" won't be disappointed. It does what you ask it to do.

Yet, vocally Corgan's ear-pitching cackling themes about, well, "Me", "the all encompassing Me", "God, country & Me" is nothing new to the odes that SP's fuzzed Machina brought. When Corgan proclaims over & over we need "Revolution" it appears more like a popular slogan than a genuine belief-- an entertainment value with a catchy lyric that would actually benefit a chorus being instrumental. Smashing Pumpkins. The 90s Marillion.

carson

hey all!
Ian and Roger from Northampton here, sharing some random thoughts on a lovely randomly rainy sunday afternoon.
hi, Ian here. So that new Spoon record is as good as everyone says. It's totally great. We've also got it on LP in our new arrivals section, just in case you want to be way cooler than anyone in the world.
We just finished listening to Prince's "3121". It was funky, needless to say, and it's getting us pumped up for "Planet Earth." We think the title comes from Prince realizing that he rules the entire world. With merciless, funktastic party beats. Additionally, no one has accepted the Turn It Up! / Prince Challenge, in which a person learns every instrument and plays them rad thanks to a custom boxset of 9 instrument instructional videos for 5$. This is literally the best deal in town, and a cheap way to make yourself more like Prince.
How about that new Gogol Bordello? The dude from that band lives just over the border in VT and one time he came in the shop. He had the same pants on as he does on the cover of the album, confirming our suspicions that he owns one pair of pants. Busted!!!
I've got the blues lately. Bad. I highly recommend coming in and checking out our blues section. There's nothing like it for sitting on your porch and tappin' your toes.
Roger here. So, I've been on a serious Stones kick lately. You know, The Rolling Stones? I believe I've listened to every album we have here in the store twice over, including "Jamming With Edward". It's easy to listen to them all, when the store you work at has ALL the albums on CD. Nice. Makes me wonder why every person in the Pioneer Valley isn't listening to "Between The Buttons" at THE SAME TIME. Why aren't you???? So, come in, buy some Stones, put on Beggars Banquet", make believe you're at Altamont Speedway December '69, (minus the poor security, acid freakouts, and random violence), and just groove brothers and sisters!!
You want some Wilbury's? As in THE TRAVELIN' WILBURYS'? We got the new boxset compiling the two albums by the laid back supergroup. It's got all the hits plus bonus tracks that'll have ya whistlin' through the day. Roy, Jeff, George, Tom, and Bob, (can't forget Jim Keltner) will rock your socks off!!!
Did we mention Gallagher? Well, yeah, his autograph is on our wall. Check it out. It's LOUVRE worthy.
So, I think that's all. It's Sunday, and we're rockin' Northampton like a hurricane!
rbk, and ir