Smashing Pumpkins at Brixton

Ever since Billy Corgan announced the return of The Smashing Pumpkins without founding members James Iha and D'Arcy Wretzky back in 2006, a lot of criticism has been leveled at him, some fair, some not. Of the former: Yes, he is incredibly arrogant with his head wedged firmly up his ass - although I have to add that this has always been the case. Yes, ever since he's joined Twitter his insanity is becoming more and more clear, from his rants about climate change being a fraud despite all evidence to the contrary, to his jumping on some even weirder conspiracy bandwagons (chemtrails, Billy? Really!?). And yes, he does tend to take himself far too seriously.

Of the latter: No, it's not impossible for a band to keep up its high standard with only one or two original members. No, the comeback album, 'Zeitgeist' was not the disaster that it has been portrayed as. No, a band shouldn't just go out and play the hits once they reach a certain age, and no, when selfish people decide to leave a show early because they're playing new material, he was not wrong for berating them. Especially when the new material is of the quality showcased last night at Brixton Academy, where they played a perfect mixture of old ('Window Paine', 'Geek U.S.A.'), new (six tracks from the soon-to-be-released 'Oceania', and two from the work-in-progress 'Teargarden By Kaleidyscope'), familiar ('Siva', 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings') and obscure ('Starla', 'Frail And Bedazzled') tracks. In fact,take a look at the setlist in full:

Quasar (from Oceania)
Panopticon (from Oceania)
Starla (from Pisces Iscariot/I Am One B-Side)
Geek U.S.A. (from Siamese Dream)
Muzzle (from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness)
Window Paine (from Gish)
Lightning Strikes (from Teargarden by Kaleidyscope)
Soma (from Siamese Dream)
Siva (from Gish)
Oceania (from Oceania)
Frail And Bedazzled (from Pisces Iscariot/Siamese Dream outtake)
Silverfuck (from Siamese Dream)
Pinwheels (from Oceania)
Pale Horse (from Oceania)
Thru The Eyes Of Ruby (from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness) - this song featured an extended outro which included parts of I Am One
Cherub Rock (from Siamese Dream)
Owata (from Teargarden By Kaleidyscope)
My Love Is Winter (from Oceania)
For Martha (from Adore) - one of the most epic moments of the night

ENCORE
Zero (from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness)
Bullet With Butterfly Wings (from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness)

People hoping for a greatest hits set were surely disappointed, but anyone just willing to take in whatever the band were willing to throw at us appreciated an epic set combining hard riffs (from both guitars and drums), soaring guitar solos and gentle balladry as only the Smashing Pumpkins can. The perfect example to draw from here is the rendition of 'For Martha', which seamlessly combined all of these elements into one of the most awe-inspiring and grand moments of the night. I was worried when I'd seen that the band had been ending the regular set with a track from the ultra-mellow electronica-tinged 'Adore', but they created an arrangement worthy of the rest of the set.

When the band first appeared with two tracks from 'Oceania' followed by a rarely played live B-Side, I thought that whereas Billy and the band which now includes guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Nicole Fiorentino and drummer Mike Byrne were firing on all cylinders, I'd be extremely disappointed by the reaction of the crowd. Fortunately however, it seems that their timid response was largely due to their lack of familiarity with the songs, and not through a lack of appreciation, as as soon as the first chords of 'Geek U.S.A.' rang out the energy picked up, and soared even higher as they went into 'Muzzle'. This subsided whenever new material would be played, but unlike the shows in the U.S.A. in which people would leave whenever a new track was played, the crowd at the Brixton Academy would listen attentively and genuinely seemed impressed with the tracks from 'Oceania' - which if live performances are anything to go by, could possibly be the best Pumpkins album since 'Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness' - although the two tracks from the much less accessible 'Teargarden By Kaleidyscope' didn't seem to go over quite as well. If people haven't heard those songs, yet, they should head over to http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/ and download the ten tracks released for that project so far (they're all free!). They really do grow on you after a while.

Unlike Guns N' Roses - a band in a similar position what with only having one original member left - who make sure almost everyone in the band gets a spot of their own to showcase their skills, the Smashing Pumpkins prefer to let their performance of the songs themselves do the talking for them. Almost every song featured at least one solo from either Billy or Jeff, with the pair of them duelling on a couple of occassions, and channeling Scott Gorham and John Sykes in a guitar duet. For the 21 year old Mike Byrne, his moments came in the heaviest parts of the set - most notably 'Silverfuck'. As the replacement for Jimmy Chamberlin - previously the only original member other than Billy to still be around - Mike had a lot to prove, and I can safely say that I actually didn't miss Jimmy one bit. Finally, the beautiful Nicole Fiorentino got a chance to let loose during the extended outro of 'Thru The Eyes Of Ruby' with the riff from 'I Am One' (also the riff from Black Sabbath's 'Zero The Hero'... also the riff from Guns N' Roses' 'Paradise City'). Nicole really impressed me both with her bass-playing (I believe she's a much more proficient bass player than D'Arcy Wretzky and can't wait to hear what she brings to the table on 'Oceania'), but also for her backing vocals during the new tracks.

The encore which included 'Zero' and 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings' came complete with the warmest crowd reception of the night. Feedback overheard when leaving the venue was incredibly positive. I have a feeling that at least in Europe, 2012 could be a big year for this band.

On another note: during 'Siva', I'm pretty sure Billy ad-libbed the line "Billy Corgan's bald and can not sing". I'm not sure though.

#27: Jay-Z/Kanye West - Watch The Throne

No Church In The Wild (West, Carter, Njapa, Dean, Breaux, Nash, Wright, Manzanera, Brown, Roach)
Lift Off (West, Carter, Bhasker, Dean, Williams, Hernandez, Samuel)
Niggas In Paris (West, Carter, Hollis, Dean, Donaldson)
Otis (West, Carter, Woods, Campbell, Connelly, Robinson, Hammond, Brown, Roach)
Gotta Have It (West, Carter, Williams, Brown, Roach, Pinckney, Wesley)
New Day (West, Carter, Diggs, Dean, Bricusse, Newley)
That's My Bitch (West, Carter, Fareed, Bhasker, Vernon, Brown, Byrd, Lenhoff, Lordan)
Welcome To The Jungle (West, Carter, K. Dean, M. Dean)
Who Gon Stop Me (West, Carter, Joseph, Dean, Simmonds, Kierkegaard)
Murder To Excellence (West, Carter, K. Dean, Griffin Jr., Mescudi, Jones, Mason Jr., Rosenbaum, Semenya, Summers, M. Mordorcea, G. Mordorcea)
Made In America (West, Carter, Joseph, Dean, Breaux)
Why I Love You (West, Carter, Dean, Cerboneschi, Blanc-Francard, Camillo, Sawyer)

Frank Ocean - guest on 'No Church In The Wild' and 'Made In America'
Beyonce - guest on 'Lift Off'
Otis Redding - guest on 'Otis'
Mr. Hudson - guest on 'Why I Love You'
Produced by Kanye West, 88-Keys, Mike Dean, Jeff Bhasker, Q-Tip, Pharrell, Don Jazzy, Hitboy, Anthony Kilhoffer, The Neptunes, RZA, Ken Lewis, Swizz Beatz, Shama Joseph, and S1

Label: Roc-A-Fella/Roc Nation/Def Jam

Though this has been billed as the "first collaboration" between hip-hop behemoths, Jay-Z and Kanye West, the two have actually been working together pretty consistently for over a decade at this point, with West always producing at least one track on each of Jay's albums in that time.
This is however the first time the two of them have created a full album together, with both of them sharing vocals throughout and West co-producing most of the tracks.
As you would expect from two of the hip-hops sole shining lights in the 21st century, this is tightly packed with some great moments, and though there are a couple of things I would regard as mistakes - the sample of 'Try A Little Tenderness', complete with vinyl pops and sputters in 'Otis' make the raps recorded crisp and clear sound out of place - but this is largely a very impressive album. I hope to hear more of what these two can do together in the future.

(Apologies if you've been waiting for this... I found that doing it every day was really burning me out for finding things to say, so decided to give it a rest for a while).

#28: Jimi Hendrix - Valleys Of Neptune

Stone Free
Valleys Of Neptune
Bleeding Heart
Hear My Train a Comin'
Mr. Bad Luck
Sunshine Of Your Love
Lover Man
Ships Passing Through The Night
Fire
Red House
Lullaby For The Summer
Crying Blue Rain

All tracks written by Jimi Hendrix, except 'Bleeding Heart', by Elmore James and 'Sunshine Of Your Love', by Brown, Bruce and Clapton

Jimi Hendrix - vocals, guitar
Noel Redding - bass (except 'Stone Free', 'Valleys Of Neptune', and 'Bleeding Heart'), backing vocals on 'Fire'
Mitch Mitchell - drums (except 'Bleeding Heart')
Billy Cox - bass on 'Stone Free', 'Valleys Of Neptune', and 'Bleeding Heart'
Rocky Dzidzornu - percussion on 'Sunshine Of Your Love', and 'Crying Blue Rain'
Roger Chapman - backing vocals on 'Stone Free'
Andy Fairweather Low - backing vocals on 'Stone Free'
Juma Sultan - percussion on 'Valleys Of Neptune'
Rocky Isaac - drums on 'Bleeding Heart'
Chris Grimes - tambourine on 'Bleeding Heart'
Al Marks - maracas on 'Bleeding Heart'
Produced by Jimi Hendrix, Chas Chandler, Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer and John McDermott

Label: Legacy

Mainly recorded in 1969, 'Valleys Of Neptune' is the other posthumous release that I spoke of in the entry about 'Michael'. Unlike that album, these recordings were actually intended to be used on the unfinished follow-up to the final Jimi Hendrix Experience album 'Electric Ladyland', rather than a collection of outtakes from previous records.

Looking through the tracklist, there are a number of tracks that you'll think that you've heard before. They aren't as you remember them, however, but rather alternative versions of tracks from previous albums. The versions on here of 'Stone Free', 'Fire', and 'Red House' don't replace the original versions in any way, but it's nice to hear another interpretation of the tracks, even if they are pretty unnecessary. The real gem of this album is the title track, that had remained unavailable for the 40 years following Jimi's death - I wasn't born at the time, and even I can't believe that it's been 40 years.

There's enough here to keep any Hendrix fan without the patience to sift through the numerous bootlegs available (like myself) happy.

Listen Here: Jimi Hendrix Experience – Valleys Of Neptune

#29: Pearl - Little Immaculate White Fox

Rock Child (Aday, Wilson, Blake)
Broken White (Aday, Wilson, Blake, Colt, Ian)
Nutbush City Limits (Turner)
Check Out Charlie (Aday, Wilson, Blake)
Mama (Aday, Wilson, Blake)
My Heart Isn't In It (Aday, Wilson, Blake)
Nobody (Aday, Wilson, Blake, Ian)
Worth Defending (Aday, Wilson, Blake)
Lovepyre (Aday, Wilson, Blake)
Whore (Mother Superior)
Anything (Colt, Aday)

Pearl Aday - vocals
Scott Ian - guitar, backing vocals
Nalle Colt - guitar
Marcus Blake - bass, backing vocals
Dominique Davalos - bass, backing vocals
Matt Tecu - drums
Eric Leiderman - drums
Ted Nugent - guest on 'Check Out Charlie'
Jerry Cantrell - guitar on 'Anything'
Produced by Joe Barresi

Label: Megarforce Records

The first time I heard of Pearl, the band featuring Meat Loaf's daughter Pearl Aday, Anthrax's Scott Ian and members of a band called Mother Superior was when I had the pleasure of seeing them play on Velvet Revolver's last UK tour. That was the tour in which I learned three things... firstly, if you want a badass rock show, sometimes chemistry is no match for the entire band being so pissed off with each other that they're taking it out on their instruments. Let's take a moment to thank Scott Weiland and co for a truly memorable show.
Secondly, I learned that the Dharma Initiative responsible for a lot of the shit that went down in Lost (and most of the characters supplies) also apparently makes guitars. (Just imagine that this statement was followed up by a picture of Scott Ian's custom guitar that I used to have, and seem to have lost, damnit!)

And thirdly I learnt that Scott Ian is married to Meat Loaf's adopted daughter, who has lungs that seems to call into question everything we know about genetics. Can it still be hereditary even though they don't share any actual DNA? Apparently so!

The debut album 'Little Immaculate White Fox' is one of the best pure hard rock albums in recent memory, with fantastic tracks like 'Whore', and a note perfect cover of Ike and Tina Turner's 'Nutbush City Limits'. It's the kind of fist-in-the-air stuff that is hardly ever made any more. Coincidentally, when it comes to music like this, I don't think there's been anything that's been this fun without just being shallow and ultimately disposable since Velvet Revolver's 'Contraband'. And if that isn't recommendation enough, I don't know what you need to hear. Give it a listen! If you don't like it, you probably don't like rock 'n' roll... that's all.

Listen Here: Pearl – Little Immaculate White Fox

#30: Serj Tankian - Imperfect Harmonies

Disowned, Inc.
Borders Are...
Deserving?
Beatus
Reconstructive Demonstrations
Electron
Gate 21
Yes, It's Genocide
Peace Be Revenged
Left Of Center
Wings Of Summer

All tracks written, performed, produced, engineered and orchestrated by Serj Tankian

Mario Pugliarulo - bass
Troy Zeigler - live drums
Vincent Pedulla - additional orchestrations
Dan Monti - additional guitars on 'Borders Are...', 'Electron', and 'Wings Of Summer'
Brain - live drums on 'Left Of Center'
Shana Halligan - additional vocals on 'Beatus' and 'Wings Of Summer'
Ani Maldjian - operatic vocals
David Alpay - solo violin on 'Wings Of Summer'

Label: Reprise/Serjical Strike

Inspired by a live collaboration with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra, Serj Tankian's follow-up to the brilliant 'Elect The Dead' features full orchestration on all tracks. Rather than being a classical album or what has become known as "symphonic metal", this still sounds like a Serj Tankian record.

System Of A Down are a great band, but Serj sounds far more comfortable singing his own songs than Daron Malakian's, and the result is a usually superior end product to his band. 'Imperfect Harmonies' never reaches the same heights musically as 'Elect The Dead' or SOAD's debut album, but it's always very good to listen to. Even if there is a bit of a failed experiment with electronics on 'Deserving?' which can be best described as "disco rock" and them promptly forgotten.

Lyrically nothing has changed. Serj is still singing about the same subjects he always had. So we have yet another song about the Armenian genocide, etc. It's not a huge problem, but I do wish he'd find something else to write about sometime.

'Imperfect Harmonies' isn't an easy listen, and sometimes it can be quite frustrating, but if you're in the right mood for it, it's oddly effective, and surprisingly mellow-sounding compared to his other output.

Listen Here: Serj Tankian – Imperfect Harmonies

#31: Die So Fluid - The World Is Too Big For One Lifetime

Figurine
Mercury
Storm
The World Is Too Big For One Lifetime
Hearts Are Hollow
Raven
Themis
How Vampires Kiss
If Wishes Were Bullets
What A Heart Is For
Sound In Colour

All songs written by Die So Fluid

Grog - vocals, bass
Drew Richards - guitar
Al Fletcher - drums, backing vocals
Produced by Mark Williams

Label: DR2/Global Music

Die So Fluid are an alternative metal band from London. Their music combines the crunchy riffs of most modern metal, combined with female vocals from Georgina "Grog" Lisee. Despite how that sounds, this isn't another band in the vain of Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, Evanescence, or Nightwish. The vocals are quite a bit rougher than that, but still just smoothe enough to be fun to listen to - none of the Arch Enemy style growling here. 'The World Is Too Big For One Lifetime' is the band's third and by far their best album.

Listen Here: Die So Fluid – The World Is Too Big For One Lifetime

#32: Me First And The Gimme Gimmes - Go Down Under

Never Tear Us Apart (Farriss, Hutchence) - originally by INXS
All Out Of Love (Russell, Hitchcock) - originally by Air Supply
Friday On My Mind (The Easybeats) - originally by The Easybeats
Have You Never Been Mellow (Farrar) - originally by Olivia Newton-John
I've Done Everything For You (Hagar) - originally by Rick Springfield

Spike Slawson - vocals
Chris Shiflett - guitar
Joey Cape - guitar
Fat Mike - bass
Dave Raun - drums
Produced by Me First And The Gimme Gimmes

For those of you who don't know, Me First And The Gimme Gimmes are a pop-punk supergroup consisting of members of Swingin' Utters, NOFX, Foo Fighters and Lagwagon. With every release, the band perform pop-punk covers of songs based on a particular theme. The theme for this E.P., is Australia and was released within a couple of weeks of Amanda Palmer's similarly titled album.

I've got to admit, I've never heard the original versions of any of these songs, and based on the artists that did them I don't particularly care to. All that matters is that these songs are done in a light-hearted manner, and are above all fun to listen to. They've succeeded on both counts, and that's enough to please me in this regard - the band were never meant to be taken seriously, so judging it on anything more than that would just be silly. They've since released a similar E.P. titled 'Sing In Japanese' that I've yet to hear.

Listen Here: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – Go Down Under - EP