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An Update on Things Getting Out of Hand

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on April 14, 2009

in General Communique, Publicity Stunts and Super Swingin' Mix

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heartyoubillycorgan An Update on Things Getting Out of Hand

No doubt that regular readers are familiar with the satirical Billy Corgan Twitter gimmick. It’s really taken off in a ways that I could not have foreseen, and I have to assume that you all might be interested in an update. First, Corgan himself has acknowledged its existence.

Official statement from the Pumpkin King, found in paragraph six of his mission statement thesis:

I do plan on doing other things coming up though. I have notions to start 2 other bands and also release some more solo work. I would love to get into more details on those projects but I would like to secure the domain names first because I don’t want to have to fight to get them back later. It’s bad enough that I have someone posing as me on Twitter LOL…the general idea is the work of the other groups and solo may intertwine with the SP album as far as a release schedule would go. But I’m all ready ahead of myself there

Yes, it is bad enough.

It’s hard to glean exactly how he feels about it, though. I mean, he does finish the sentence with a hearty lol (in ALL CAPS). So perhaps he has a sense of humor after all. Or… it could also be the type of lawl that’s more along the lines of “heh heh… cute. Kill him.” That remains to be seen, but I’ve gone on and removed my mailing address from this blog.

At the very least, of course, I’m thankful that fake Billy is still around to discuss his drama (today Billy is bummed because Dave Grohl won’t drum with him, claiming he doesn’t play in one-man bands… not to mention he also sat on his bucket hat by accident).

A lot of people get the jokes and are as entertained by these web 2.0 antics as I am. However, I’m quite dismayed at how many people still really think they’re talking to Billy – despite the fact that the bio line reads “completely satirical,” despite the fact that the profile picture is an image of Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series, despite the completely insane things said on there, despite Billy’s own acknowledgement that the account is indeed a fake. That’s insane, ya’ll.

And now radio stations are reading the Corgan Twitter!

Marco is a DJ for Star 98.7 in Los Angeles, as well as the beloved KEXP, which of course, I listen to all the time for them hott Lykke Li remixxxes lolz.

notmarcocollins@Billy_Corgan Wondering what you think about The Silversun Pickups? Damn, their new CD sound familiar…
Billy_Corgan@notmarcocollins I have no idea who they are. I really only listen to Taproot and my music, save for all the drummers next weekend
987LA Hey fellow tweeters, It’s @notmarcocollins. At 11:50am, I’m gonna play the new Silversun Pickups & read a tweet I got from @Billy_corgan!

I didn’t hear it myself, but its announcement was confirmed:

ltldollclaudia@Billy_Corgan Some jackass on the radio quoted the wish remark today, saying” Listen to what Billy tweeted. Wow, how deep.” LOL
ltldollclaudia@Billy_Corgan He doesn’t know it’s satire, apparently. What a Johnny Douche.

And of course, there’s the fans as well. Wishful thinking, I assume, is the catalyst for the cognitive dissonance. I hope I’m not being too big of a jerk by messing with these people.

Stoked this bro shared his MySpace with me:

Edwardgug@Billy_Corgan yo billy! my favorite album of yours is your solo album
Billy_Corgan@Edwardgug Really? Shit, I don’t even like TheFutureEmbrace.
Edwardgug@Billy_Corgan why not man? its one of your best I think! Still one of my favorite records! Im a musician too myspace.com/edwarduglielmino

Billy instructing people how to properly parent:

Barbie1492@Billy_Corgan You rock Billy!!! My 5 yr old daughter and I love ya. You are our favorite.
Billy_Corgan@Barbie1492 Your 5 year old shouldn’t be listening to my music. Don’t you know that I cuss?!

This has to be my favorite conversation. Here Billy demonstrates prose similar to what’s found in his poetry book Blinking With Fists. At least this dude’s trying to do his homework, though:

kylespringford@Billy_Corgan Loved Blinking With Fists, are you thinking about releasing another poetry book in the future?
Billy_Corgan@kylespringford Does a bear wear a funny hat? Does the Pope shit in the woods?
kylespringford@SmashingPumpkin is @Billy_Corgan fake?

At first I thought I was a little harsh, but after some consideration, I think Corgan really feels this way:

jaqroy@Billy_Corgan hi billy i was at your show november 15th at the wang! great show, loved everything! your music changed my life!
Billy_Corgan@jaqroy Thanks for the support, but the existence of Smashing Pumpkins does not rely on whether you all come to our shows or not.

Not much more to add – this entry sorta wrote itself. Stay tuned for more news and merriment as it develops. It’s worth sharing a few of my favorite exchanges from people that do get it, just to keep things balanced…

eillumination@Billy_Corgan I didn’t even know you wore pants anymore. I’ve only seen you in dresses, skirts, and sun-god costumes lately.

Billy_Corgan: Fuck you guys. Tila Tequila is an amazing young woman whom I respect a lot. Pants-Off Dance-Off is an incredible, groundbreaking show, too.
FloppyNono@billy_corgan but did u get hed?
Billy_Corgan@FloppyNono Oh, indeed I did. Her specific pleasures we lovingly call “Tequila Sunrise.” But you didn’t hear that from me *WINK*

I HEART YOU BILLY CORGAN! Here’s my “Heart You” Mix, brah.

MP3 :::
The Free Design – Love You
Boredoms – (Heart)
Numbers – I Love You ‘Til I Don’t
West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – Funny How Love Can Be
Pia Fraus – Loveloops
MV & EE with the Bummer Road – Drive is That I Love You
Ciccone Youth – Addicted to Love

About the Prank Yesterday Afternoon

Published

Kenny Bloggins

on April 2, 2009

in General Communique, MP3 and Publicity Stunts

. 0 Comments

vamps About the Prank Yesterday Afternoon

Well sheeit, if I knew that so many people were coming over to see me and peep the Vampire Weekend demos, I would’ve cleaned up a little more around here. Ya know, some fancy animated GIFs, better karaoke performances, cOoL vIdEoS, vacuumed a little, etc.

A couple of thoughts on the prank/social experiment yesterday:

1) I knew Vampire Weekend was popular, but holy shit, I had several thousand visitors within a couple of hours. I have ambivalent feelings about this. On the one hand, the exposure of The Decibel Tolls to a new, wide audience was great. On the other, it’s disheartening that a lot of better bands and artists don’t receive those nice perks of the massive hype machine that the Vamps were able to produce. Sad on the inside. But whatever, that’s how the world works, right? I forget who said it, but I always enjoyed the quote “morality is the way the world should be and economics is the way the world actually is.”

2) The Vamp crowd is decidedly a younger crowd, yet seems more mature than many of the people I encounter through other stunts this blog has produced. The responses I received yesterday all showcased people with a pretty good sense of humor. Whereas the fake Billy Corgan Twitter yields a lot of flame mail from the Pumpkinheads, an older crowd, I received a lot of good responses in the comments and my inbox that made me say “touché.” Thanks for being good sports, ya’ll.

Now, some people were curious about what exactly the tracks really were. Here’s the revelation:

“Tube Socks and Trust Funds” – Oh… oh, you thought it was the Vamps at first, but then realized… fuck, it’s “Gumboots” from Paul Simon’s Graceland. FML.

“Cape Cod Shuffle” – This is Captain & Tenille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together” (a staple of the Keep Louisville Smooth DJ set). This was included because, I think, if Vampire Weekend increased their coolness by 400-500%, they would probably come pretty close to the good Captain and his shipmate Toni Tenille.

“Just a J Crew Holiday” – This is my friend Mark Evans with an old project of his called Lesbian Peanut Butter (I caught that reference, Mark). They wrote original music as well, but this track is their riverboat folk cover of KoRn’s “Blind.” When discussing KoRn, do you have to type in toggle case? Is that AP style? Anyway, thanks again, Mark. That song rules!

“Hello to You, Africa!!” – Nope, not Merzbow. It’s Kites, from his 2006 album Peace Trials, which is probably my favorite power electronics noise album. The composition of this song represents my feelings that the Vamps probably don’t really care that much about Africa. Since there was some interest in this record, I’ve included additional MP3s below for your consideration. If you dig it, you can grip that album over at Load.

“Country Club Blues” – this is ol’ Kenny Bloggins doing a one-take a capella karaoke of Collective Soul’s 1994 smash hit “Shine,” with a little spread chorus and reverb added for effect.

MP3 :::
Kites – Dirt
Kites – Flag Torn Apart

BRAND NEW unmastered, unheard VAMPIRE WEEKEND demos

Published

Kenny Bloggins

on April 1, 2009

in Publicity Stunts

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zomgpireweekend BRAND NEW unmastered, unheard VAMPIRE WEEKEND demos

I am so psyched to get a hold of these clutch gems. A good friend of mine in New York City who’s in and out of the circle of trust within XL Records and a few other labels passed me on a pretty exciting, exclusive sneak peak at what Vampire Weekend’s been up to. This friend, obviously, will remain unnamed so he/she doesn’t lose his/her job. Be sure to check them out NOW, as it’s only a matter of time before I’m asked to removed these.

Turns out that Warner Brothers is shopping around and is considering adding Vampire Weekend to their roster. The group quietly entered the studio for a couple of days and recorded some unmastered demos that will (probably) comprise some of their next album for the label execs to hear.

cellcapture BRAND NEW unmastered, unheard VAMPIRE WEEKEND demos

These are the working titles as labeled on the master tapes. My friend sent me a quick cell phone image (above) as these were being passed around the office. I’m really pleased to present these to you, and I have to say, what I’ve heard so far I like. I always applaud a different direction or approach to a signature sound like Vampire Weekend’s. If these demos are any indication, the next album is looking really good from here!

MP3 :::
Vampire Weekend – Tube Socks and Trust Funds
Vampire Weekend – Cape Cod Shuffle
Vampire Weekend – Just a J Crew Holiday
Vampire Weekend – Hello To You, Africa
Vampire Weekend – Country Club Blues

How to Piss Off teh Intarwebz in Less Than a Week

Published

Kenny Bloggins

on March 23, 2009

in Publicity Stunts

. 0 Comments

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I created a fake Billy Corgan Twitter. My friend Josh back in Chicago had started a hilarious Jean Claude Van Damme Twitter (”ate all the pancake batter. im going to have to do a lot of crunches today”), and I decided to join the fray. I wanted to create a Twitter of someone that wouldn’t be a cliche (such as, say, Twittering Jesus Christ or something), someone who had enough “personality” to properly satirize, someone who I had some biographic knowledge of, and a public figure who truly fascinates me. Billy Corgan fit.

Growing up, Smashing Pumpkins were my favorite band. Billy never seemed like a rock star – he rocked a schoolboy haircut and donned tacky polyester shirts and corduroy pants. He was totally rad. Then sometime in the latter ’90s, Corgan came back from outer space with a shiny head, ghoulish veneer, black tunic, and moon boots; his ability to write music unfortunately decimated upon entering the chrono-synclastic infundibulum. It was weird. Even weirder, he turned one of the best mainstream rock bands of recent memory into a really sad joke, and no one else can be blamed but Corgan himself. Hence, he’s gotsta get a satirical Twitter. However, what started out as pure entertainment (with a slight bit of commentary, of course) took off and turned into something truly interesting. Continue reading ‘How to Piss Off teh Intarwebz in Less Than a Week’

The Brian Jonestown Massacre vs. The Decibel Tolls

Published

Kenny Bloggins

on December 8, 2008

in Publicity Stunts

. 0 Comments

The Brian Jonestown Massacre vs. The Decibel Tolls

It really was accident, or at least it wasn’t my intent to provoke a fight, but I guess that’s what happens when you poke a sleeping dragon in the eye. I did not mean to get in an online nerd fight with Anton Newcombe. I love the Brian Jonestown Massacre. I can prove it, just look at my Last.fm, they get mad play… just like me, HEY-OH!

Anyway, here’s the story of the infamous pissing contest between myself and Anton Newcombe by way of the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s MySpazzz that I’ve been promising for quite some time. It’s a good one.

I realize that I have just forfeit my ability to ever interview Anton by publishing this, but this story is just too good to keep in limbo. A caveat: I do feel kinda bad that I claimed he wasn’t doing anything before I was aware that My Bloody Underground was already in the works. However, it was never my intent to be mean, I just felt that there was a correlation between the advent of MySpace/YouTube/et al. and the sudden dropoff of BJM’s output. I still think that’s fair. Here’s the original write-up I did describing the conversation which happened almost one year ago today… Continue reading ‘The Brian Jonestown Massacre vs. The Decibel Tolls’