Some new & old music from Mr James Iha

A news update on JamesIha.com has given us the following exciting news about what 2012 holds for James:

Happy holidays everyone! James is ending 2011 with some good news: aside from (finally) finishing his solo album (it’s only been, like, forever!!), EMI Japan will be releasing his first solo record, Let It Come Down. It’s been remastered and contains 2 bonus tracks not included on the original album. Additionally, the Japanese label has signed on to release the new solo record in 2012. We’ll keep you posted on this, as well as the album’s release worldwide, in the new year. 

ACT IV and ThePumpkins.net present ‘SP: The Early Years’ cover song contest

Four years ago, Act IV and ThePumpkins.net collaborated on the successful Zeitgest Cover Song Contest, where fans were asked to submit covers of their favorite Zeitgeist era tracks to win some cool Smashing Pumpkins-related prizes. Now, with the recent re-issues of the first two classic Smashing Pumpkins albums, Gish and Siamese Dream, Act IV and ThePumpkins.net are collaborating to once again bring the fans another special contest. 

The SP: THE EARLY YEARS COVER SONG CONTEST will be along similar lines to the Zeitgeist cover song contest. But this time around, fans are asked to submit covers of their favorite Pumpkins originals spanning the early part of The Smashing Pumpkins’ career (1988-1994), from the earliest pre-Gish demos to Pisces Iscariot and Vieuphoria. In addition to winning some great Pumpkins-related merch, the winners of the contest will earn a spot on an extended version of Ghost Children/Machines of God, a digital EP being given away as a free incentive with the Ghost Children 2/Friends and Enemies charity compilation. Two spots are up for grabs, with the ‘Best Cover Song’ being awarded by selection committee, and the ‘Fan Favorite Cover’ being selected by you, the fans!

The winners of both the ‘Best Cover Song’ and ‘Fan Favorite Cover’ selections will receive:

1) A copy of the Deluxe CD/DVD re-issues of both Gish and Siamese Dream
2) A spot on the extended version of the Ghost Children/Machines of God digital EP.
3) A copy of the Ghost Children 2/Friends and Enemies charity CD, the Ghost Children/Machines of God digital EP, and a recently unearthed original CD copy of the Ghost Children compilation, not available to the public for nearly 10 years!

For the contest, organizers have reached to out all corners of The Smashing Pumpkins Fan Community for help. We are pleased to announce exciting partnerships with our Pumpkins fan site sponsors, Blamo.org/Siva, Crestfallen.com, Ozphoria, SPFreaks, and Starla.org, who will be celebrating their 15^th anniversary in 2012. Act IV also would like to welcome back, Neil Main, the creator of the popular, original Ghost Children charity compilation, to the fold. Neil was also an integral participant and collaborator with the Act IV organizers during the two Act IV charity concerts at the legendary Metro in Chicago in 2001 and 2002. The organizers also welcome, Ashley Fahey, former webmaster of the Smashing Pumpkins UK fan group.

In addition, we have developed a special partnership with Tranquilizer Records, an online record store specializing in indie music and its sister organization, Tranquilizer Radio, an online radio station and fan community. All contest entrants are invited to join their fan community and contact Tranquilizer to explore the possibility of having your cover and your original music featured on the radio (where applicable), being interviewed on air, and much more!

Depending on the success of the contest, organizers will consider the possibility of future contests and digital releases. So keep CD quality versions of your covers available, just in case! Please note that covers of songs the Pumpkins covered themselves will not be accepted. Before uploading your cover, please carefully review the Contest Rules.

Submissions will be accepted starting on December 21, 2011 and the contest will run until February 21, 2012. After the submission deadline passes, voting will commence. The winners are tentatively set to be announced on March 17, 2012.

For more information about the contest, please visit ThePumpkins.net. If you wish to know more about the Ghost Children 2charity compilation and all things Act IV, please visit the Act IV website. Act IV is currently celebrating its 10^th anniversary. 

Billy heading to Australia for Christmas holidays.

According to this post on HipstersUnited.com:

“After Portugal, frontman Billy Corgan has said he plans to spend the winter holidays in Australia with his girlfriend, Jessica Origliasso of The Veronicas. The Pumpkins are then said to be heading for Los Angeles in January to record new demos.  On January 13, Corgan plans to attend Resistance Pro’s second event in Chicago.”

Read the full Hipsters’ article here.

The great delay in Smashing Pumpkins Reissues

Many fans, including us at Ozphoria HQ, have been more than disappointed with the news that the Smashing Pumpkins reissues we pre-ordered through smashingpumpkins.com have been delayed not by a few days but by over 2 weeks now.

We know that especially here in Australia around Christmas time even if the items are to be shipped soon the likelihood of us receiving them before the year ends are slim. It wouldn’t hurt to be given a free digital download in the meantime … just a suggestion. 

However, since good things come to those you wait Smashing Pumpkins have sent out the following communication:

Dear Smashing Pumpkins supporters,

We are sincerely sorry for the delay in shipping the reissues of Gish and Siamese Dream. We put so much effort into them from start to finish for you - the fans - and to have them not be in your hands first is very disappointing to us.

Between manufacture to shipping there were multiple delays that were caused by red-tape and integration issues. These are the reasons although we feel there are no excuses. Rest assured that we are doing whatever we can to ensure everything has been shipped or will ship in 24 hours. In fact, many have been shipped already but it is not triggered in the system that sends you confirmation – so don’t be surprised if you get it any second.

Although it doesn’t make up for it, we are going to create a special product just for those of you that had pre-ordered Gish or Siamese Dream physical product (Deluxe/CD/Vinyl) through www.smashingpumpkins.com before Nov 29th. We are working very closely with Billy to find and manufacture something specifically for you that no one else will have. We will update you on this as soon as possible and keep you in the loop from the beginning.

We have learned from this and hope that you will give the SPRC another chance at direct purchase in the future. While we appreciate our retail partners- it is always nice to know that the fans are willing to buy directly from the artist and we plan to continue the SPRC with special content and offers.

Once again, we sincerely apologize to you for the delay.

- Smashing Pumpkins Record Club

Billy Corgan talks Gish & Siamese Dream with Matt Pinfield

The Smashing Pumpkins: Billy Corgan Talks Gish & Siamese Dream by FMQB Productions

What gear have the Pumpkins been using this tour

There is a fantastic detailed article on Hipsters United (now with information from Jeff and Nicole) about all the gear the Smashing Pumpkins have been using on the recent US tour. 

Check it out here: US Tour Recap: Gear!

Will my reissue Smashing Pumpkins DVD’s work in Australia?

We’ve had a few non-US fans ask about the reissue DVDs and if they’d work in international players. So we got in touch with EMI and the SP Record Club who gave us the answer below:

“According to EMI ‘these are all-region, NTSC DVDs. Playable in any NTSC compatible player”