The Smashing Pumpkins will be headlining the Summer Sonic Festival in Mihama-ku and Osaka Japan. The festival takes place on Saturday, August 7th and extends to Sunday, August 8th. Other headliners include Jay-Z, The Offspring, The Pixies and Dream Theater. This is the first performance that has been announced for The Smashing Pumpkins in 2010.

Act IV and Siva have teamed up to bring Pumpkins fans an exclusive digital EP entitled, Ghost Children/Machines of God. The EP includes a preview track from Ghost Children 2, along with a track from the Act IV/ThePumpkins.net Zeitgeist Cover Song Contest, and three previously unreleased tracks by artists from Act IV past and present. 

People who purchase the Ghost Children 2/Friends and Enemies charity compilation will be e-mailed a unique username and password to gain exclusive access to this new digital EP. Ghost Children/Machines of God is FREE to those who purchase Ghost Children 2 and it is not available in stores or anywhere else.

Tracklisting: 
1."Set The Ray To Jerry"-The iOs (Ghost Children 2 album version) 
2."Ma Belle"-Julio and Jessica (Zeitgeist contest entry) 
3."Stand Inside Your Love"-Laden Angel (previously unreleased Ghost Children 2 outtake) 
4."Meladori Magpie"-Analogue (previously unreleased track from Act IV 2002 alumni) 
5."Soma"-Lindsey Kuper and Tanny Phillips (previously unreleased track from Act IV 2001 alumni) 

In addition to the free EP, people who purchase Ghost Children 2/Friends and Enemies will be getting the charity compilation for a reduced price of $7 USD! Furthermore, with the bonus tracks on the EP, fans will be now be getting 17 tracks for the price of 13. All covers are by original artists and Pumpkins fans inspired by The Smashing Pumpkins, and the covers included span the Pumpkins back catalog. 

To check out preview tracks and purchase Ghost Children 2, please go to the Act IV site, as well as the Act IV Myspace and Facebook pages.

All profits from the sale of Ghost Children 2/Friends and Enemies will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois.

From Blabbermouth.net:

With the news that the SMASHING PUMPKINS bassist Ginger Pooley has left the band to raise her new baby with her husband, Billy Corgan has announced that he will look for a new bassist in the same manner as he found new drummer Mike Byrne last year: via an open audition process (see below for details). Corgan also says that auditions will be held (again, see below) for a new keyboardist who is a fan of — and can play in the prog-rock style of — Jon Lord and Rick Wakeman. Until a new bassist is found, Mark Tulin of THE ELECTRIC PRUNES — with whom Billy toured last year in SPIRITS IN THE SKY — will fill in on an interim basis. Look for the PUMPKINS to soon announce a world tour, including dates in the U.S. Says Ginger, who toured the world with the band in 2007 and 2008: "With sorrow and yet with much thankfulness for the opportunity to have played in the PUMPKINS, I am sad to say that I can no longer tour with the PUMPKINS.

"Although I've been blessed beyond belief over the past few years through playing with the PUMPKINS, my priority now is to keep our little family unit together, which includes my husband and my baby. "Although I do plan on continuing to do music in different forms, my priority is for neither for my husband nor myself to be apart from our daughter so that we can raise her together. "I wish Billy all the best and look forward to seeing the PUMPKINS in the near future. I would also like to thank all of the PUMPKINS fans for all of their support. I will see you at the PUMPKINS shows!"

Says Billy: "Although I am heartbroken that Ginger is leaving the group, I really respect her decision to put her family first. I appreciate everything that she has contributed to the SMASHING PUMPKINS, and I'm proud of her for being such a great musician and friend. "We were lucky enough to find drummer Mike Byrne through an open audition process," Billy adds, "so why not open the doors again to anyone who might be interested for the bass or keyboard position. "As you can see from our past and present, age, race, or a person's background is not an issue. Everyone is truly welcome to audition."

Audition info: Bassists and keyboardists looking to play with the PUMPKINS should send their background info (including age, a resume of any bands/recorded work), photos and performance web links via email only, either to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Note: only musicians with video clips can be considered. YouTube.com-type posts are perfect — that's how Mike was found. Final date for submission is March 31.

In the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Billy Corgan sheds light on the occurances that lead up to the departure of Jimmy Chamberlin from the band.

The new song from Teargarden by Kaleidyscope is now available to be streamed and downloaded on The Smashing Pumpkins SoundCloud profile.  Written by Corgan in 2008 while on tour supporting Zeitgeist, "A Stitch in Time" is the third release from the ongoing 44 song project.  In a press release, Corgan describes the song in more detail:

"The song came in during a stream of consciousness moment while sitting backstage at a Pumpkins concert in those wee, still hours between soundcheck and the show. The lyrics came just as surprisingly fast as the music, and the whole process took about 20 minutes. I recorded it on my phone, and so for a year it was the only document I had of the song. But the song stuck with me and I put it in my back pocket as something worth coming back to later. When I drew up the list of the first 4 songs to record this one easily made the cut because I think it has a signifying effect of what the album stands for, not so much musically but energetically and thematically."

Click here to read the rest of the press release.

From insound.com:

Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol. 1 | Songs for a Sailor is packaged in a silk-screened wooden box (7 1/4" tall x 8" wide x 1.05" thick). Each box contains: a 4-song CD (with four new Smashing Pumpkins songs and instrumental intros), a 7" vinyl single (containing a new song and a B-Side), and a hand-carved "leopard stone" obelisk, about 2" tall, similar to marble. Tracks include the guitar squealing "Song for a Son," "Widow Wake My Mind" - a jagged-chorded, keyboard-buttressed ballad; "Astral Planes," and "A Stitch in Time." Billy Corgan is playing and recording almost everything himself, with studio help from long time collaborator Kerry Brown and new drummer Mike Byrne.

Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol. 1 is the first release in a series of eleven, comprising forty-four songs, to be anthologized in four song EPs in limited and elaborate packaging. The concept for Teargardenis based around four Tarot cards: the Child, the Fool, the Skeptic and the Mystic.

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Widow Wake My Mind, the second song from Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, has been released to the public through SmashingPumpkins.com. It is set to become the first radio single from the ambitious the 44 track album, and will be included with the first EP along with Song For a Son, Astral Planes and A Stitch In Time.

Smashing Pumpkins Studio version of Song For a Son is available to be listened to online now check it out

I'm happy to finally announce the plans for the new Smashing Pumpkins album.

Recording began yesterday, September 15th, 2009 on the new record which will be entitled 'Teargarden by Kaleidyscope'. The album will feature 44 songs, 4 of which are now being recorded. My desire is to release a song at a time beginning around Halloween of this year, with each new release coming shortly after until all 44 are out. Each song will be made available absolutely for free, to anyone anywhere. There will be no strings attached. Free will mean free, which means you won't have to sign up for anything, give an email address, or jump through a hoop. You will be able to go and take the song or songs as you wish, as many times as you wish.

We will however sell highly limited edition EP's (of 4 songs each times 11), and details of how those EP's will be made available are still being worked out. Because the songs themselves will be free, the EP's will be more like collectors items for the discerning fan who will want the art itself, along with the highest possible audio quality available. The EP's will be more like mini-box sets rather than your normal cd single. We may also offer other variations for sale, say for example a digital single with a demo version of a song. The commitment that is most important is the one I'm making to you: that the music of 'Teargarden by Kaleidyscope' will be available for free to everyone. All 44 songs: free for ALL.

When the entire album is finished, it will be compiled into a deluxe box set which will also be made available for sale. Those who have bought the EP's need not worry, as the box set will not be a recompilation of the limited edition pieces.

The story of the album is based on 'The Fool's Journey', as signified in the progress of the Tarot. It is my intention to approach this by breaking down the journey of our life here into four phases as made by these different characters; the Child, the Fool, the Skeptic, and the Mystic.

The music of 'Teargarden by Kaleidyscope' harkens back to the original psychedelic roots of The Smashing Pumpkins: atmospheric, melodic, heavy, and pretty.

I already have 53 songs written for the record, so I am quite confident that I already have much of the material that I would need to undertake such an extensive project. I am very committed to seeing this album through to its completion and very, very excited about the prospect of delivering new Smashing Pumpkins music to you in a unique and exciting way.