Happy Christmas

Hope you all have a great holiday!

Looking forward to the new year & new music.

Cheers.

Terry Bozzio Auditioned for Smashing Pumpkins

That was something I did not know...

I'll keep you posted with any more info from the Drum Channel feature as I watch...

Ah, too much to go into now. Sorry. Fail blog. Twas very good...

But I will just say, based on what Chamberlin says in this interview & everything Jimmy has said since leaving the Pumpkins, at the clinics, on the radio shows; anyone who buys into Corgan saying that Jimmy wanted the band to be an 'oldies' act, is just plain wrong.

Just one last thing > HOLY SHIT the Terry Bozzio / Jimmy Chamberlin drum jam is absolute & pure GENIUS. 

Chamberlin Renames 'THIS' - 'SKYSAW'

Highlights from the Shamon Durek interview...

• 'THIS' is now called 'SKYSAW' will be touring next year sometime > Spring/Summer 2011.
• They have 'inked a deal' with Dangerbird.
• Jimmy has been working with Shaman Durek, on a record. 
• Lots of stuff about resonance, harmony & 'spiritual stuff'... JC is reading, rather, listening to an [audio]book "The China Study".
• JC has been playing the drums for 38 years... :O

So, if you want to listen to it yourself: pick up the Get Real interview, under the downloads tab, or direct link >  right here. Kudos to Sotherbee on Blamo for the grab...

Get Real - Jimmy Chamberlin

Remember this guy, well apparently JC will be on his radio show this Thursday, between 9-10PM PST...

If someone could cap it for us, that would be splendid - I don't fancy getting up at 5:00AM really...

Full Pukklepop Concert

Here it is, in it's entirety.

If you want to download the audio, its always been under the download tab - grab it here

Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, Live at Pukklepop - 2005



















Full kudos to Cosmonautico. Thanks again boss.

Jimmy Chamberlin Complex Live

A little blast from the past. A man, possessing some little technical wizardry, has upped this track from the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex's set at Pukkelpop festival, from all the way back in 2005...

ENJOY



Hopefully the first of more please :)

Cheers M

Edit: Keep your eyes peeled right here for moar

Jimmy Chamberlin on the Drum Channel

Coming Monday December 13th > Interviewed by Terri Bozzio and a performance with Gannin Arnold et al.

My guess is it will be available right here  (though you might will need a subscription...)

JC in Japan...

How's your kanji - mine's not what it was - but as far as I can tell - Jimmy will be joining Gannin (& Tim Landers) on the Japanese leg of his tour next year.

Dates and what not below:

3 / 17 (Thu) - Osaka  JANUS
3 / 18 (Fri)    - Nagoya   The Bottom Line
3 / 19 (Sat)    - Yokohama  Thumb's Up
3 / 20 (Sun)     - Tokyo  STB139
3 / 21 (Mon)      - Sendai   LIVE HOUSE
 
May be Chamberlin will be able to handle his own parts a little better than Taylor Hawkins...

The Beatmasters

Dan Aquliante ranks Nathan Followill (Kings Of Leon), Zax Starkey (The Who) and Jimmy Chamberln as 'today's top three beatmasters in rock'.

Fair comment.

No Offence Taken

Check out the latest Chatcast nee:Podcast from the Mighty HU, in which, amongst other things, they touch briefly on the most unusual 'mistaken' release of [the soon to be renamed] 'This'.

 

Thanks to Rob Paun for the tip

What's In A Name

Consider This...

Since my phone is malfunctioning - I.can't post much - just go here... http://blog.hipstersunited.com/2010/11/05/this-is-not-happening-sources-say-band-will-change-its-name/

Great Civilizations - Not listed on iTunes no more.

THIS - Great Civilizations has disappeared itself from iTunes a day after it is released.
Thanks to xforewarnedx and Jonk over at the mighty HU for the heads up.

It appears that it is still available over at AMAZON, for US customers only...

That is all.

The New THIS EP is Out

I gots to go to work. But you can get it on iTunez or Amazon (if in US) - no sign at Bandcamp!?- hope it's good...

Oh, if you want further info, don't bother with the website yet - i'm led to believe there was a last minute rethink on the design...

Tate Papers - Autumn 2007

Walter Benjamin...

Shamonic Beats???

So, this geezer - 'Shaman Durek' tweeted something interesting the other day -

In studio recording vocals for Jimmy Chamberlin for new meditations.Get ready for something wild. Shabbat Shalom.... Live Love Relax

First I've heard of this and as I'm most 100% sure the THIS record is done, I don't know what this is exactly. It appears that Jimmy is one of this dude's clients... That's all I know.

I guess more music from Jimmy, whatever form it may take, can't be bad, can it...???

Watch This Space

THIS - Speculation...

 

So, as we move ever closer to the first release by THIS, I got to thinking. More specifically, I got to thinking about this interview, where Chamberlin said "[I don't have enough time to sit around and listen to ten songs from an album...]". This, alongside his other, similar, sentiments which he expressed about the record industry and culture, towards the end of his tenure in SP and the drum clinic last year, just made me wonder about what THIS might do different, if anything. 

 

Anyway, I know hardly anyone who comes here comments, but what do you think? Do you think the THIS release will be a straight up album or something different? 

More importantly, what do you hope for...?

((I would like a quadruple box set and a DVD, at least ;) ))

New Jimmy Chamberlin Record THIS Month...

I should have probably highlighted, in the last post, that Better Propaganda mentioned that the new This record, 'Great Civilizations', will be available this month, at bandcamp. Noice.

On the Brink of This...

A Look Inside: The Brink Studio

In the first in their series of "music geek pieces", Better Propaganda  brings us some shots of a studio called The Brink. The space is owned by Mike Reina.  Jimmy Chamberlin and Mike just finished recording the new THIS record there. Although, it appears to me that not all of the album was recorded there... Anyway, here's some words, from Mike and some piccys. Be sure to visit Better Propaganda for the full set of photos and texts....

Mike Reina: "Aside from the obligatory 4 tracking in high school and college, my recording experience was mostly limited to digital until my band got an MCI 1" 8 track. I hate to admit that a machine could have the power to change my life, but there is more than enough evidence in the racks to conclude that It did.

Since then, I have been assembling, disassembling and reassembling my studio with an obligation to keep all of this aging technology alive. There are plenty of people fighting that fight, but I feel an unnerving awareness that it will all slip away somehow, and that it's just a matter of time before it reaches relic status. As melodramatic as all of this sounds, I swear that I am not an analog snob!

I think digital platforms are great, but early on, I stumbled across the realization that the main benefit of tape wasn't it's great, vibrant sound. It was the edge of the canvas that it drew...the guardrail at the side of the highway. Limitation became my favorite influence on creativity. I began to see how limitation had guided my hand in all that I did leading up to this point in my life.

I graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Architectural Design and there, too, limitation was a driving force acting on my work. Recording with a tape machine felt like an extension of the creative process that had been slowly etching a path in my mind since school. In comparison, recording to Pro Tools felt like jumping off a cliff into a vast, blank sky. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face because the limitlessness was blinding.

I got along great with this old gear until one night, the tape wouldn't stop rolling...literally. If I was going to continue working with vintage equipment, I knew I would have to learn how to maintain it. To my own annoyance, I became rather obsessive about it.

The studio is centered around a 42 channel 1978 MCI JH-500 series console. I love this desk because it has Jensen input transformers for the microphones, output transformers, and a four band inductor based EQ section using switches instead of pots for frequency selection and boost/cut. I soldered everything in the studio directly to the back of the console. I record to an MCI JH-24 16 and 24 track depending on the song or project. I mix to an Ampex ATR-100 1/2" 2 track. My tube compressor/limiter collection includes a Gates SA-39B, Gates Sta Level, RCA 86A-1, Collins 26U-1, Collins 26W, (5) Federal AM-864/U, GE Unilevel, (2) Fairchild Model C. I built (2) 1176 clones, and adapted (2) Russian made tube EQs. I recapped and in many cases rebuilt all of the vintage gear in the studio."

Gannin Arnold DVD (Ft. Jimmy Chamberlin) Release Date

Remember when we told you about this, well according to Gannin, on his Facebook page, the DVD will be released in December this year.

You Can't Quit, You're Fired.

Anyone remember this little article in RS, where Corgan claimed to have fired Jimmy Chamberlin from the Smashing Pumpkins in 2009?  As you recall, this was contrary to the previous statement by Chamberlin and indeed, Chamberlin denied Corgan's account himself in the RS article.

Well, guess what, Corgan's recollection of the affair, is a different this time around in a new interview with the Sidney Morning Herald.

"...it was a serious decision for both of us..."

Corgan states about the departure of Chamberlin. Last time I thought about what being fired by someone meant, it had little to do with a decision made by both parties...  

He continues "...we had invested a lot of energy bringing the band back. There was a point where we couldn't see eye to eye". This, at least seems more congrous with Chamberlin's own account. Then, in a reversal of his original "fuck you", Corgan actually echo's Chamberlin's original sentiments towards his one time 'musical soulmate', saying "I wish him the best. He's an incredible musician [the best drummer in the world - by Corgan's own account - DP]".

However, he again wraps himself up in another contradiction as he goes on to complain that his solo record was ignored because it wasn't "Smashing Pumpkins". What basis then does he have to expect something different of his ex-bandmates? But he does; "The stuff they have done (since) is off the radar from the general public."

Now, considering he hasn't spoken to Chamberlin since his departure, I guess he isn't aware that Chamberlin has been working on an new album, by This, this past year.  Maybe this isn't wider public knowledge, but since Chamberlin decided to take himself out of the music hype machine, taking a stance against prolific self-publicisation last year, maybe he doesn't... [deep breath]... care. I'm sure if he did and played by Billy's rules, he would undoubtedly have made an announcement about making an announcement, about announcing how great it will be, well before now... 

But perhaps, just perhaps, he has slightly more important things to do beside coaxing "a wider public knowledge" of his forthcoming record. Perhaps like Jimmy has said, his family means a little more than a bunch of cash and a few gold records.

Today

We learn that a certain record is being mastered ;)

Portnoy Leaves Dream Theater

Just thought I'd post this, as Mike's statement reads a little like someone else's and shares most exactly the same sentiments...

...sadly I must say that at this particular moment, my heart is not with Dream Theater, and I would simply be “going through the motions,” and would honestly NOT be true to myself if I stayed for the sake of obligation...While it truly hurts for me to even think of a Dream Theater without Mike Portnoy... I do not want to stand in their way...I wish the guys the best...

Incidentally, there's already a couple of 'wish lists' on a forum or two, that are mentioning Chamberlin as a suitable replacement...

Machina 2 - 10 Years Young

Genius:

MACHINA II / The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music

Cure JM Win Pepsi Refresh Bid

Sorry for being a little late on this one, but I wasn't able to link this tweet;

Jimmy Chamberlin needs YOU: help him get funding to end Juvenile Myositis, a blood disease affecting his son. http://4wrd.it/JimmyChamberlin

from Yamaha Drums last night.  

Anyway, the good news it the charity, Cure JM Foundation, have won their bid for $250,000 from the Pepsi Refresh Project. So good work everybody who voted on behalf of the Chamberlin family and everyone else affected by the condition.

In case, you hadn't heard of this rare and debilitating auto-immune disease before, go to the Cure JM Website, take a look and perhaps show your support.

__________________________________________________________________

Update: 20:09

From Official Yamaha Drums Facebook;

"A sincere "THANK YOU" to the fantastic brotherhood of drummers and musicians for helping us fund JDM research! It is an honour to be part of such a strong community and I am touched to the bottom of my heart with the response that we received from all of you! God Bless all of you!!!!!!!! Jimmy Chamberlin"

Jimmy 'Chemtrails' Chamberlin

I stumbled upon a nice little track C.Y.T, from the album Help Yourself, by musician Charlie Paxson from back in 2006. It features none other than Chamberlin and his Complex partner Billy Mohler;

"Jimmy Chamberlin played some brushes and layed down some chemtrails, Billy Mohler graced us with some acoustic bass and semi hollowbass"
June 19th 2006

I suspect that you can only listen to it via Rhapsody, if you're in the US...

Anyone know of any other tracks or albums Jimmy has played on, other than the ones listed in the discography section...

GISH DAY !!!

Chamberlin's Gish Snare and a Smashing Pumpkins Gish Box-Set

Ahh, the good old free-floater. 

Turns out that the guy who picked up Chamberlin's Zeitgeist kit also got a hold of the [missing] part of Jimmy's Gish era kit at the same place...

According to Mekong56, the store, who contacted Jimmy, explained that the snare was used both to tour subsequent to the release of Gish and on the album itself.  Read the rest of this story over at the Pearl Drummers Forum.

In other news, good old, Billy Corgan, mentions in a new video interview that he is still working on releasing a Gish Box Set to celebrate the album's 20th anniversary (next year).  But there's only one thing stopping it now. The evil fat cats at EMI aren't letting him do it. So, he's asked for some help - go show you support for the project here. Seriously, please do. 

Rush Fans are like NASCAR Fans...

So says Jimmy Chamberlin.

Don't know quite how long this will be up on teh utubez, but here's the relevant (bits that Jimmy appears in) parts of the afore mentioned Rush documentary, "'Beyond the Lighted Stage";





You should really give the whole thing a watch, if you haven't already. It's very very very good.

Up Close and Personal...

Nowt better to post than this... But it doesn't get much better... enjoy.

Polka Party!!!

We have a nice surprise tonight... 

I have found, what has to be one of the earliest performance's of Jimmy, pre-dating even this performance;




  with Daver.  It's Jimmy playing with the oft mentioned Eddie Korosa on "Eddie Korosa's Polka Party" waaaaaay back in 1982:






"LETS DANCE!!!!"

Jimmy to Drum on New Gannin Arnold DVD

Jimmy Chamberlin will play on a new live DVD, which Gannin Arnold is putting together. No news of a release date yet... but keep your eyes peeled.

Update: 20:14                                                                                                         

Gannin says, hopefully the DVD will be out around December and will be produced by the Drum Channel and feature great musicians like Terry Bozzio.

Update: 11 August

Tim Landers says he'll be recording with, Gannin, Billy (Mohler) and Jimmy this Thursday.

Just a little update to the blog

I've made it a little easier to look back at anything that I've posted here previously  > The little Google search box, to your right, is your ticket to the past... 

Jimmy Chamberlin Snare For Sale...

But probably not the one you think.

Remember when I posted this, a little post about a chap picking up Chamberlin's Zeitgeist kit. No?  ... Well, anyway, it appears that he's already got 3 of Jimmy's snare's. So, apparently according to the ebay blurb, can do without this custom built Akira Jimbo model, which came as a part kit, thus:

This is clearly a unique piece of kit. Go bid now if you want it... If you live in the 'States that is... grrrr

Corgan in Contradiction Shock

In an earlier interview, Corgan appeared to take credit for Jimmy Chamberlin's drumming style. "What???!!!11!111!???" indeed!
But, in another new interview he, again, talks a little about the formative moments of the band...

When we first started the Pumpkins and Jimmy Chamberlin joined and I realized he knew every Rush fill, I was like, 'OK. This is great.'. The prog element of the band is something that not everyone has understood, but Jimmy and I were both really into it.

So how much credit can you really take for influencing someone to play in a certain way, when, before they have even met you, they already know how to play like this?

Not that much.

New/Old - Corgan/Chamberlin Track to be Released

That's right, from the The Fifth Waltz they're covering the Hendrix track Freedom:



Will be good to hear Chamberlin's take on Mitch Mitchell's drumming. Jimmy had previous rocked up John Bonham's Moby Dick at the Fourth Waltz.

THIS Photos

Lurking in the new media tab, you may well notice a couple of pictures of This, from back in Janurary this year. Check out Jimmy, Mike and the one and only Roy Thomas Baker, in Kiku Fukuzumi's photo stream.

_________________________________________________________________________

Update: 29 June 2010

With the kind permission of Kiku, take a look :)

Also check out Kiku's JC Website, it puts my blog to shame.

A Shadowy Flight...

Well, I'm bored. Can't find anything remotely news worthy. So, instead of looking at the present, I had a little look back to 1997/98 when Jimmy was racing cars. And thanks to Mark Windecker, here is a picture of said race car, well one of them anyway (apparently he drove a Porsche at some point as well):

White van, schmite van, Billy.  JC rolls in the KNIGHT RIDER CAR

Updated - 29 June 2010

Jimmy Chamberlin Drum Set Up and Downloads

In the absence of any news on THIS, I thought I'd bide my time by adding a couple of new pages to the blog. If you haven't already noticed, just below the title banner you'll now see the new tabs; Jimmy Chamberlin Drum Set Up, Jimmy Chamberlin Downloads and Jimmy Chamberlin Discography. So there.

Anyway, have a good weekend.

Cheers.

Chamberlin in Rush Documentary

An in-depth look at the Canadian rock band Rush, chronicling the band's musical evolution from their progressive rock sound of the '70s to their current heavy rock style.

Amongst others, JC features in this new documentary. Not that surprising really, considering he's good friends with Neil Peart and SP's penchant for Rush covers...

Redemption Song

Non JC news, but the marvellous Red Dead Redemption's soundtrack features one time 'Pumpkins drummer Joey Waronker.

Check it...



See you in Armadillo friend...

Chamberlin's 'Zeitgeist' Kit - Sold

User mekong56 over at the Pearl Drummers Forum reports that, a little while ago, Jimmy Chamberlin unloaded a couple of drum kits, following his move back to Chicago back in 2008, owing to a lack of space. This makes sense following his spilt from BC - I guess it would be a little awkward to share Pumpkin Land 2.0.

Anyway, a couple found their way to The Drum Pad shop, where Jimmy held a clinic last year.

Here are some real nice images of Chamberlin's kit, coutousey of the Kit's new owner Mekong'.

And a few snippets of extra info:

- It is a Maple Absolute Nouveau. He only used it to record rather than tour...

- The second snare is a 13x7 snare (an Akira Jimbo model w/ JC's name on it)

- It is a very light green that Jimmy said he had custom made, to have a 'soothing effect' in the studio - (a colour that Chamberlin picked out at 'Home Depot' and gave to Yamaha to match. )

- There are 4 bass drums, 22x14, 22x16, 24x14 & 24x16

- They store also had Jimmy's 'Jaguar finished' Absolute kit, which he used with Zwan, thus;

- and his Yammy Phoenix Hybrid Shell - Copper finish. (I can't recall seeing him use this, shame on me)

Hopefully some audio samples will follow... 

Corgan Responsible for Chamberlin's Drumming Style

So says Corgan, in effect, during a new interview with MusicRadar.

"...the style that Jimmy helped create, which is a very fast hands, busy style...was something I kind of had to encourage Jimmy to do through the years."

Granted, of course, there's got to be some oscillation between band members influence over one another. But it seems clear, to me at least, that Jimmy's style is based fundamentally on aspects of the ['very fast hands / busy style'] of most all the Jazz drummers (and indeed some Rock drummers), he has ever cited as his (some formative & pre-Pumpkins) influences, rather than (just) the influence of Corgan.

Also strange that [in the formative period of the band] Corgan had previously explained,

"...it took about two or three practices before I realized that... Chamberlin's playing was something that enabled us to rock harder than we could ever have imagined."

I never knew that realising something was the same as influencing it...

"All kudos to Jimmy..." indeed.  

Auf Der Maur, just as perplexed as the rest of us...

In a new interview with Grunge Report, doesn't know why Chamberlin parted company with Corgan;

...I don’t know the details about Jimmy leaving last year, I mean I was curious because Jimmy and Billy are such an intertwined musical force and it did surprise me...

At least she's not claiming to know anything, unlike some...

Jimmy Chamberlin on New Album by LEILAMORDE

Apparently 'Jimmy Chamberlin drum samples' are on a number of tracks.

Check some of it out here... and here

More info about where these samples originated anon...

(I'd put money on JC drums being on "Qui non c'è gravità"...)

(Update: 12 May 2010) I got in touch with Dom and Marcello from Areasonica Records and this is what they had to say about the samples;

...when we chose the drumsets, we had various options, so we [used] the Jimmy cd-samples/loops* because they fit perfectly for some tracks...Chamberlin was not directly involved, but the jc-drums we used...influenced some tracks...

...yes the track "qui non c'è gravità" ("there's no gravity here") is fully jc. 

...At least five or six of the other tracks have double or triple drum-sets, where only bits and pieces of jc-drumset have been used... Basically, jc is in the first four tracks, track 8 and 10.

* I'm assuming they mean these...

Great to hear Jimmy Chamberlin's influence in another 'genre', other than the ones he's usually associated with...