What our editors saw on the final day of Winter NAMM 2013.
Album Review: Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness—Deluxe Box Set
Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness—Deluxe Box Set Virgin Records With Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, the Smashing Pumpkins pushed the already loose boundaries of the alt-rock
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness—Deluxe Box Set
Virgin Records
If you expect your fans to buy a box set that does include some previously released material, the devil is in the details and Corgan delivers. Along with the remastered original album, there are three full discs of demos, unreleased tracks, and sketches of tunes. And that’s in addition to a DVD of two classic Pumpkins shows from ’96. That’s plenty of new material for even the most die-hard Pumpkinhead. For a collection like this, it almost makes more sense to listen to the albums with the songs grouped together in alphabetical order, comparing and contrasting different versions of tunes in an effort to understand and track the band’s musical direction.
The solo acoustic take on “Thru the Eyes of Ruby” is especially beautiful, and when
you compare it to the seven-minute-plus final studio version, the two editions give you
a pretty good glimpse into Corgan’s more prog tendencies. There’s no mistaking that
even though this was a product of the band in name, Corgan was really the one pushing
the group’s creative direction. Creating lush soundscapes with underpinnings of
fuzzed-out guitars and skin-tight grooves was the mantra for the Mellon Collie sessions,
and this collection serves it up for a new generation to lose themselves in.
—Jason Shadrick
Must-hear tracks: “1979 (Sadlands Demo)” and “Jellybelly (Instrumental/Pit Mix 3)
Arbouretum Coming Out of the Fog Thrill Jockey Imagine an improbable collision of Fairport Convention, the Velvet Underground, and early Jefferson Airplane, and you’ll begin to grasp Arbouretum’s doomy folk-rock
Coming Out of the Fog
Thrill Jockey
Often coated in washes of silvery reverb and beat-synchronized echo, the band’s throbbing pulse runs like a river of mercury below minimalist acoustic piano, spooky synth textures, and occasional pedal steel provided by guest musician Dave Hadley.
When he solos, Heumann takes his sweet time and explores every region of his fretboard. What’s the hurry? With a molasses-thick distortion and a singing vibrato that recalls such late-’60s British blues-rockers as Mick Taylor and Paul Kossoff, Heumann mixes keening bends, chromatic passing tones, and slippery pentatonics into his droning riffs and phrases. It’s a distinctive sound, and in a world where a lead guitarist is often celebrated for speed and overt virtuosity, Heumann makes a strong case for the slow burn.
Must-hear track: “The Long Night”