Big mouth Billy Corgan strikes again

SPIN DOCTOR: Nice to see Billy Corgan and his Smashing Pumpkins returning to Australia in July, this time for Splendour in the Grass.

Billy Corgan

NICE to see Billy Corgan and his Smashing Pumpkins returning to Australia in July, this time as one of the headliners for this year's Splendour in the Grass.

He's a man of many talents, is Billy, not the least of which is mouthing off at the industry in which he has been a leading participant for the past 20 years.

Corgan let loose a few times during his stint at the South By Southwest music industry conference in Austin, Texas, a few weeks back, taking the time in an interview to have a go at the Obama administration and YouTube, among other things.

The Chicago-based singer's chief beef, however, seemed to be with performers and their motives for being so. Fame, he said, had become more important than talent. "Don't call it rock 'n' roll," Corgan told a SxSW audience. "I was part of a generation that changed the world - and it was taken over by poseurs."

Perhaps he can help change the world back again when Smashing Pumpkins releases its new album Oceania in June.

Failing that, Corgan might like to retire to concentrate solely on his other passion, promoting professional wrestling, where surely no one could question the authenticity of the participants or their motivation to create art that can change the world. He's also about to open a tea-house in Chicago, just quietly.

Great moments in The Simpsons No 37:

Corgan: "Hi. Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins."

Homer: "Hi. Homer Simpson, smiling politely."

ONE of the unlikeliest collaborations of recent years is that of jazz-country-roots and whatever else diva Norah Jones (see this week's review) and hot-shot producer Danger Mouse, whose credits include Gorillaz, the Black Keys, Sparklehorse, the Shins and his collaborative projects Broken Bells and Gnarls Barkley.

However, that's not the only DM production to hit the stores this week that has raised a few eyebrows. The Grammy-winning producer was also at the controls for Mondo, the debut album of the largely unknown Californian indie duo Electric Guest.

Apparently DM (Brian Burton) was attracted to the project after a friend convinced him to listen to some demo recordings by his little brother, Electric Guest's Asa Taccone.

EG, whose music has shades of soul, disco and electro-pop, is now being tipped for greatness. Meanwhile, Danger Mouse's next project in the studio is the new album by Daft Punk, due sometime next year.

MISSY Higgins gave a preview of what we can expect from her tour, which begins in Adelaide on June 1, by playing songs from her new album The Ol' Razzle Dazzle at an invitation-only shindig at Bondi Pavilion in Sydney on Monday. The singer came back to Australia for the one-off show after doing opening slots on Australian singer Gotye's short US tour.