Smashing Pumpkins announce Mellon Collie deluxe reissue - 10.02.2012


Smashing Pumpkins are in the middle of an extensive reissue campaign which has already seen newly expanded releases of Gish, Siamese Dream and Pisces Iscariot. Next up is Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, which will be available on 4xLP vinyl, 2xCD, digitally, or as a deluxe 5xCD+DVD box set with 106 tracks. Good heavens that's a lotta Pumpkins! It's out Dec. 4 via EMI. Do I hear stocking stuffer?

The five-disc box includes demos, alternate takes, unreleased tracks and other gems from the Melon Collie era. It will come packaged in a velvet disc holder inside a 12-inch by 12-inch box with "reimagined cover art," and two books featuring liner notes, lyrics, and collages, along with (cough) a "Decoupage kit for creating your own scenes from the Mellon Collie universe."

Lastly, the expanded box set version will contain a DVD with a live show at London's Brixton Academy, and a performance from German TV show "Rockpalast".

Tracklist:

1 Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
2 Tonight, Tonight
3 Jellybelly
4 Zero
5 Here Is No Why
6 Bullet With Butterfly Wings
7 To Forgive
8 An Ode to No One
9 Love
10 Cupid De Locke
11 Galapogos
12 Muzzle
13 Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
14 Take Me Down

Twilight to Starlight (CD2):
1 Where Boys Fear to Tread
2 Bodies
3 Thirty-Three
4 In the Arms of Sleep
5 1979
6 Tales of a Scorched Earth
7 Thru the Eyes of Ruby
8 Stumbleine
9 X.Y.U.
10 We Only Come Out at Night
11 Beautiful
12 Lily (My One and Only)
13 By Starlight
14 Farewell and Goodnight

Morning Tea (CD3):
1 Tonight, Tonight (Strings Alone mix)
2 Methusela
3 X.Y.U. (Take 11)
4 Zero (Synth mix)
5 Feelium
6 Autumn Nocturne
7 Beautiful (Loop version)
8 Ugly
9 Ascending Guitars
10 By Starlight (Flood rough)
11 Medellia of the Gray Skies (Take 1)
12 Lover (Arrangement 1 demo)
13 Thru the Eyes Of Ruby (Take 7)
14 In the Arms of Sleep (Early Live demo)
15 Lily (My One And Only) (demo)
16 1979 (demo)
17 Glamey Glamey
18 Meladori Magpie
19 Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Home Piano version)
20 Galapagos (Instrumental)
21 To Forgive

High Tea (CD4):
1 Bullet With Butterfly Wings (demo)
2 Set the Ray to Jerry (Vocal Rough)
3 Thirty-Three (demo)
4 Cupid De Locke (BT 2012 mix)
5 Porcelina of the Vast Oceans (Live Studio rough)
6 Jellybelly (Instrumental/Pit mix 3)
7 The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)
8 Jupiter’s Lament (Barbershop version)
9 Bagpipes Drone
10 Tonight, Tonight (Band Version Only, No Strings)
11 Knuckles (Studio outtake)
12 Pennies
13 Here Is No Why (Pumpkinland demo)
14 Blast (Fuzz version)
15 Towers of Rabble (Live)
16 Rotten Apples
17 Fun Time
18 Thru the Eyes Of Ruby (Acoustic version)
19 Chinoise
20 Speed

Special Tea (CD 5):
1 Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Nighttime version 1)
2 Galapagos (demo)
3 Cherry (BT 2012 mix)
4 Love (Flood rough)
5 New Waver
6 Fuck You (an ode to no one) (Production Master rough)
7 Isolation (BT 2012 mix)
8 Transformer (Early mix)
9 Dizzle
10 Goodnight (Basic Vocal rough)
11 Eye (Soundworks demo)
12 Blank
13 Beautiful (Instrumental-Middle 8)
14 My Blue Heaven (BT 2012 mix)
15 One and Two
16 Zoom (7 ips)
17 Pastichio Medley (Reversed extras)
18 Marquis in Spades (BT 2012 mix)
19 Tales of a Scorched Earth (Guitar Overdub mix)
20 Tonite Reprise (Version 1)
21 Wishing You Were Real (Home demo)
22 Thru the Eyes of Ruby (Pit mix 3)
23 Phang

Sufjan Stevens announces Christmas box set - 10.02.2012


Sufjan Stevens has recorded more Christmas songs -- original, standards and public domain -- than most contemporary performers, and definitely more than any indie rock artist. And that's not going to stop anytime soon. On Nov. 6, Stevens will release Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Volumes 6-10 via Asthmatic Kitty in both physical and digital formats.

There is a long list of collaborators on the collection, including National's Aaron and Bryce Dessner, Arcade Fire's Richard Reed Parry, Age of Adz collaborator Cat Martino, Inlets' Sebastian Krueger, Gabriel Kahane, Vesper Stamper, Raymond Raposa of Castanets, members of Danielson and more. We still don't know how Kitty Pryde fits into all this, but we'll figure that out soon enough.

The full tracklist is here, though it does not detail which musicians are on each track. The box set will include stickers, temporary tattoos, a holiday ornament, an "apocalyptic" poster, lyric sheets and chord charts, and music for playing along, "hallucinogenic photographs and psychedelic graphic design" by Sufjan himself, and liner notes. And the vinyl edition will also contain a coloring book, with some pretty ridiculous pages, including one of Santa Claus getting tattoos.

Xmas is going to be a little ridiculous this year, apparently.

Baroness post lengthy, hopeful update on website about bus crash, future - 10.02.2012


In August, members of Baroness suffered injuries after a terrifying bus crash in the UK, while touring behind new album Yellow & Green. Bassist Matt Maggioni and drummer Allen Blickle ended up with fractured vertebrae, while singer/guitarist John Baizley broke an arm and a leg. In an update on the band's website, Baizley gives a thorough explanation of the situation, while also offering up his thoughts for the future.

His injuries, it turns out, were a lot more intense than originally described: " My right arm was covered in burns, blood and broken glass, but working well enough. My left arm was crushed beyond belief, broken in the middle of the bone in my upper arm (humerus), and hanging 90 degrees backwar ds, with many spurs of bone poking through muscles and sinew at the surface of my skin. The bone was shattered into seven free-floating pieces, and my wrist and hand were swinging behind my back, spasming freely."

Baizley goes on to describe the steps taken toward recovery, including an eight-hour surgery, which involved rebuilding his arm with two titanium plates, 20 screws and one long wire. But for all the graphic descriptions of the harrowing incident, Baizley's post is, above all, hopeful about the future of the band. While he is still recovering from his injuries, he noted that he is still able to play guitar, and that the band, while still healing, will continue on as planned, more motivated than ever:

"We can do nothing but attempt to make something constructive and beautiful out of all this disaster, and we are well on the way to becoming active again. I have used this time, stuck inside my own head, to consider the importance of music and Baroness in my life. I can say, after nearly 6 weeks of reflection, that I feel more resolute and passionate about our music than ever. I have come to realize the importance of time in this particular equation, that is, I have none to waste and none to spare. There is no better moment than now, broken and in physical stasis, to devote ourselves more fully towards our art than ever. We cannot allow the traumatic fallout of our crash to cripple us internally. It seems simple: the shows we have cancelled we will reschedule and play in the future. It isn’t going to happen next week nor will it be next month. But it will happen. We will be back on tour as soon as we possibly can."

Read the long, touching message in full over at the band's website.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor announce first new album in 10 years - 10.02.2012


Godspeed You! Black Emperor have been actively touring throughout 2012, and last night the band announced the upcoming release of their first full-length album since 2002's Yanqui U.X.O.. On Oct. 16, the band will release ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND!, via Constellation Records. The image above is its cover, and the vinyl edition of the album will come with a 7-inch and a poster (side note: are any of their songs short enough to fit on a seven-inch?).

The band is already selling the album at shows, should you happen to catch them at any of the dates below.

Tracklist:

1 MLADIC
2 THEIR HELICOPTERS' SING
3 WE DRIFT LIKE WORRIED FIRE
4 STRUNG LIKE LIGHTS AT THEE PRINTEMPS ERABLE

Tour:

10/1 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
10/2 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
10/3 Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live
10/4 Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle
10/5 Atlanta, GA - Buckhead Theatre
10/6 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
10/7 New Orleans, LA - Tipitinas
10/9 Austin, TX - The Mohawk
10/10 Austin, TX - The Mohawk
10/11 Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
10/12 Nashville, TN - Cannery Ballroom
10/13 Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall
10/14 Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
10/15 Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
10/28 Porto, Portugal - Amplifest
10/30 Madrid, Spain - Teatro Kapital
10/31 Barcelona, Spain - Sala Apolo
11/1 Bordeaux, France - Le Rocher de Palmer
11/2 Nantes, France - Lieu Unique - Soy Festival
11/3 Lille, France - La Condition Publique
11/4-5 London, England - Kentish Town Forum
11/7 Brussels, Belgium - Cirque Royal
11/8-9 Berlin, Germany - SO36
11/10 Dresden, Germany - Reithalle
11/11 Prague, Czech Republic - Lucerna Music
11/12 Vienna, Austria - Arena
11/14 Ljubljana, Slovenia - Kino Siska
11/15 Zurich, Switzerland - Rote Fabrik
11/16 Bern, Switzerland - Dachstock Reitschule
2/13 Brisbane, Australia - The Tivoli Theatre
2/14 Sydney, Australia - The Enmore
2/15 Melbourne, Australia - Forum Melbourne
2/16 Alton, Australia - ATP's I'll Be Your Mirror