queens of the stone age
Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan on Gish Influencing Pearl Jam and Nirvana
Billy Corgan is only too happy to talk about the influence the Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish LP — 30 years old this year — had on the burgeoning alt-rock scene. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Corgan said, “I remember having a conversation with Eddie Vedder when we were on tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He told me how much of an influence Gish was on their first record.” Others, too, were fans of the Chicago foursome, Corgan said. “Through the years, I’ve talked to many, many people who really pointed to Gish as the game-changer in their mind about how to approach guitar and how to record.” Gish, produced by Butch Vig and Corgan in 1990-1991, “had a lot to do with how Nevermind was recorded,” Corgan says. Vig produced that album for Nirvana, also in 1990-1991. ...
Gone Is Gone Is No Mere ‘Supergroup’ on If Everything Happens For A Reason… Then Nothing Really Matters At All
Gone Is Gone may be billed as a “supergroup” of sorts, but the Los Angeles-based quartet sure doesn’t want the negative connotations that go along with the title. For bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders (Mastodon), drummer Tony Hajjar (At the Drive-In), guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen (Queens of the Stone Age) and multi-instrumentalist Mike Zarin (composer and founder of Sencit Music), the almost-cinematic rock group is just another project they get to work on when their dayjobs don’t monopolize their time. After announcing themselves with a self-titled EP in July 2016 and a debut full-length not too long after, it would’ve been understandable if the group decided their schedules would never allow for a second album. But four years later, they reunited for If Everything Happens For A Reason… Then Not...
Michael Stipe, Billie Eilish, Foo Fighters and More Cosign New Planned Parenthood Voting Campaign
Following the speedy confirmation of Justice Amy Comey Barrett and fear of losing health care rights, Michael Stipe, Billie Eilish, Foo Fighters and other musicians have signed onto a new Planned Parenthood campaign to urge people to vote. Entitled “We Need Every Voice,” the full-page ad will appear in six newspapers at six key states: Arizona Republic, Detroit Free Press, Tampa Bay Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Austin American Statesman, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Everything is on the line with this election,” Alexis McGill Johnson, President, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement. “Voters across the country understand that we need leaders who will fight to protect our rights and access to health care in every branch of government – that’s why tens of millions of Ame...
The 50 Best Songs of the Year 2000
The year 2000 looms large in pop culture history: the Y2k non-scare, the Seinfeld “Newmannium” episode, the “In the Year 2000″ sketch from Conan O’Brien’s original late-night show, the Hulu series PEN15. And just like, say, the grunge-defined 1991, the year immediately conjures specific sounds: gleaming teen-pop, earnest radio rock, the Neptunes and Timbaland. There’s never a bad time to revisit this music. But in the middle of a pandemic, with America on the verge of collapse, it feels extra comforting — a blast of nostalgia for a time when you could safely exit your home, visit your local mall’s Sam Goody and buy Mystikal’s “Shake Ya Ass” CD single. For this list, our only criteria was that the songs appear on albums or soundtracks released in 2000. Here we go. 50. Papa Roach, “Last Reso...
