Unyielding Commissioning Wanes Nostalgically

Your City To Burn - Jim DeRogatis is in full-on nostalgia mode with the Smashing Pumpkins' (kinda) reunion tour blowing through Chicago. First, he looks back on the four biggest Chicago acts of the early 90s and laments that they're not bringing the good rawk nowadays. Jim talked about this on Sound Opinions back in August, but is bringing it up in more detail this time. Money quote:

Whatever mistakes they might make... from the perspective of the mid-'90s, it was hard to imagine the bands of the alternative moment ever becoming the artistically stilted, cash-hungry or pathetically reactionary dinosaurs that preceded them.

Sadly, the argument can be made that that's exactly what's happened.

Hey, it happens. Most bands don't age too well after four years. How many musical acts truly have legs? It's a rare thing. Going beyond Chicago and looking at the entire early-90s alternative scene, I can only name the following bands that put out anything remotely interesting post 2000:
Dinosaur Jr.
Fishbone (playing the Double Door on 11/22!)
The Flaming Lips
Nine Inch Nails
Tool
Radiohead

But Jim then goes one step further and pulls up four previous columns he wrote on the Smashing Pumpkins. There was a time when I would have pored over every word, but now I feel like I'm too busy. Or I don't care that much (perhaps because I live in South America and can't exactly see these shows). And today, he reviews last night's show. Sounds like it had its moments, but was far from mind-blowing. Greg Kot review is here.

Great Scott! - Christopher Lloyd's house burned down. Bummer.

Still Good Dudes - Your every-so-often update on the two main characters from Hoop Dreams. Seems like they're both doing pretty well and are, like, even older than I am. Weird.

Cleared for arrival - Stereogum checks in on Andrew Bird's progress. The new album doesn't come out until mid-January.

Somewhat Frightening - Another quiz from Mental Floss. This time it's name actresses in bad horror movies early in their careers. I think I got around 85% or so, but I can't even remember anymore.

Shaken, not good - Scene Stealers presents the Top Ten Worst Bond Movies. There have only been 23 Bond movies and the fact that they can make a top ten worst (and still receive complaints about what was omitted) tells you why Mike Myers had such a successful experience spoofing them.

Hear his train a comin' - Mitch Mitchell passed away last week at the age of 61. He and Noel Redding were often blasted as not being talented enough to share the stage with Jimi Hendrix, but one could then ask for a list of people that would meet such a standard (the list in its entirety: Stevie Wonder, James Brown). Mitchell didn't pound as hard as Keith Moon or some of his other contemporaries, but his wild, aggressive style perfectly set the table for Jimi's frenetic riffing. Yet, on the tunes that weren't trying to run you over, such as "Wait Until Tomorrow", his agile rhythms and deft approach served each song perfectly. I've been spinning nothing but Hendrix for the last week and appreciating Mitchell as much as ever. Here's Dan's unique take. But now, watch Mitch go to work: