Billy Corgan Trades Soundtrack For Movie Roll

If you want Billy Corgan to write your film’s soundtrack these days it may come with an added price. At least that’s what video director Jonas Ackerlund found out when he approached the former heart of The Smashing Pumpkins to do the music for his debut movie Spun. Corgan’s request was that in return for the soundtrack, Ackerlund would find a role for him to play in the film. Now sitting along side movie stars Mickey Rourke and Brittany Murphy is Corgan himself, testing his acting chops in a brief cameo as a doctor. Being the consummate professional that he is, the musician even donned a wig to totally transform himself into the part.

In other Corgan news, his newest musical outlet, Zwan, will be releasing their debut album Mary Star Of The Sea on January 28. The band, which was formed shortly after the singer disbanded the arena rocking Smashing Pumpkins due to the pressures of living in a Backstreet Boy world, can be categorized as something of an indie supergroup. With guitarists from Chavez and the legendary Slint, a bass player from A Perfect Circle and former bandmate Jimmy Chamberlain unleashed behind the drum kit, the band seems to have all the right ingredients for both critical and commercial success.

In a handful of debut shows in the Los Angeles/San Diego area (and later in a brief North American tour that included a stop in Toronto), Zwan surprised its audiences by already possessing a large repetoire of original songs. Every show ended up taking on its own unique life, some sonically overwhelming, others more quiet and reflective. Merging their punk and metal influences with acoustic prowess, plus just enough of Corgan’s natural gift for melody, these concerts were generally well received.

Zwan will begin their tour with a few January shows at the Metro in Chicago before embarking overseas with a show on February 1 in Japan.

• Zwan goes forward with new songs, old sound - Chicago Sun Times
• Zwan To Launch Debut Album In Sweet Home Chicago - Undercover Music
• Sunny pop for the zero years - The Globe and Mail
• Billy Corgan In Search Of Personal 'Jesus' On Zwan Debut - MTV.com
• Corgan and Zwan prove they belong - dailyherald.com

666 The Number Of Zwan

Zwan have recorded a cover of the Iron Maiden metal classic 'Number of the Beast'. The Zwan version will be one of the tracks on the forthcoming 'Honestly' single.

Billy Corgan has been prone in the past to interesting covers. The Smashing Pumpkins did Joy Divisions 'Transmission' on their Adore tour but this is about the heaviest he has ever gone.

'Number of the Beast' is a signature tune for Iron Maiden. It was the title track of their 1982 album and follow-up to 'Run To The Hills'.

The 3-track 'Honestly' single will also feature the non-album track 'Freedom Ain't What It Used To Be'.

Tracklisting:
Honestly
Number Of The Beast
Freedom Ain't What It Used To Be

The debut album for Zwan 'Mary Star Of The Sea' will be released at the end of January.

*** stars

Thirty years ago, The Last Poets saw it coming. "White man's got a god complex," they chanted -- and they hadn't even heard the Smashing Pumpkins yet.

The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most demanding bands of the 1990s, not because their music seemed hard to understand but because it seemed so easy. All you had to do was give in, let them take over -- that is, let him take over. Billy Corgan wanted you to feel helpless, if only so that you could feel the way he felt. Maybe he knew his rock & roll messiah pose was ridiculous, but he couldn't resist it, didn't even try: "Emptiness is loneliness/And loneliness is cleanliness/And cleanliness is godliness/ And God is empty, just like me."

You need that kind of attitude if you're going to attempt something like Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a two-disc immersion experience that often achieved the state of bliss Corgan loves singing about. But as the Smashing Pumpkins disintegrated, this attitude came to seem more like a nervous tic. That's what made Machina/The Machines of God so hard to sit through: The songs crashed and faded and built back up again, frantically reminding us of their own grandeur.

Now Corgan has a new band, called Zwan, and he has just recorded perhaps the most religious album of his career, Mary Star of the Sea. Look at the album credits, and here's what you'll find: drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, from the Smashing Pumpkins, alongside an army of post-punk veterans including guitarist David Pajo, formerly of Slint. As for that tall guy with the thin, high voice and the fuzzy guitar, the credits list him as Billy Burke, which also happens to be the name of a Florida evangelist who has dedicated his life to "touching the world with God's power." The frontman is a faith healer. So maybe you should listen to this album the same way lots of people read the Bible: Check out the amazing opening, skip ahead to the part where Jesus comes in, then convince yourself you've just heard the greatest story ever told.

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