Interesting music news...

Haven't been surfing recently Here's what caught my eye over at Pitchfork.

Smashing Pumpkins Reunion Is a Go

Amy Phillips reports:
"It's official, the Smashing Pumpkins are currently writing songs for their upcoming album, their first since 2000. No release date has yet been set, but the band plans to begin recording this summer."

Well, there you have it-- the latest update on the Smashing Pumpkins reunion, taken straight from the band's official website. That's all. Nothing else to report, sorry!

No, we don't know who exactly is in the band now, although we assume it's some combination involving Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain, since Billboard.com reported earlier this year that the pair signed a management deal under the Smashing Pumpkins name.

Well, bravo for you, Mr. Potatohead! Your angsty teenager fans in the mid-90's have all grown up to be yuppies with higher disposable incomes in the new millenium! Congrats! Start that world tour already and milk us for all we are worth!!! We are ready!

Sparklehorse Nab Waits, Danger Mouse for New LP

Dave Maher reports:
Continuing their tradition of providing Pitchfork with the same news story every two years*, Sparklehorse have announced details of the follow-up to 2001's It's a Wonderful Life. This time, however, the record is finished and scheduled for a tentative September release. (Hello, 2008!)

The band's website reports that most of the currently untitled album was made "in the style of VivaDixie/Good Morning Spider by Mark [Linkous, songwriter and Sparklehorse leader] alone in Static King Studio." The rest of it was "mixed at Smart Studio in Madison, Wisconsin with Danger Mouse and engineered by Alan Weatherhead and Beau Sorenson." With all those details, how could it possibly be postponed?

And like a kindergarten report card that includes the comment "plays well with others," the album features collaborations with Danger Mouse, Christian Fennesz, Sophie Michalitsianos, Johnny Hott, Scott Minor, Stephen Drozd of the Flaming Lips, and super-producer/past collaborator Dave Fridmann as well as an unreleased song from It's a Wonderful Life with Tom Waits on piano. Whoa!

Yes, it's just like kindergarten, a kindergarten full of music icons.

I'm not a Sparklehorse fan by any chance. In fact, I barely remember any tunes. I'm just surprised that they are around but the frontman collaborated with Nina Persson of The Cardigans on her solo project A Camp. And check out that list of contributors/ guests. Impressive! Better than The Love Choir!

In some music unrelated news, the list of the cast in Michael Bay's 'Transformers' is out. From CHUD.

Michael Bay's future blockbuster Transformers is getting ready to film, and we're starting to hear names of the people portraying characters whose alternate forms aren't cars and radios and oversized handguns.

Gawky youngster Shia LaBeouf (Holes, Constantine) will play the main fleshling caught up in the war between Autobots and Decepticons, huge intelligent robots who can change shape into various vehicles and household objects with a familiar “hmm-hee-haa-hoo” noise.

Filmforce must be holding on to Optimus Prime's toolbox, since they've managed to expose a lengthy list of other actors apparently planning to interact with the CGI contraptions, including veteran Jon Voight, man-mountain Michael Clarke Duncan, high-haired Las Vegas hunk Josh Duhamel, plus Bernie Mac, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, and several other vaguely non-robotic beings.

The megabudget Dreamworks/Paramount project, which as a Michael Bay movie will presumably feature energetic editing and periodic detonations as well as giant friggin' robots punching each other, was penned by Alias scribes Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and starts shooting soon with the intention of hitting theaters July 4th next summer.

I feel my childhood is being pummelled and raped... Sigh.