JAMES IHA
''LOOK TO THE SKY''
SEPTEMBER 18 2012
49:12
1/Make Believe
James Iha/2:43
2/To Who Knows Where
James Iha/4:19
3/Gemini
James Iha/3:52
4/Speed of Love
Niclas Frisk / James Iha/3:18
5/Till Next Tuesday
Niclas Frisk / James Iha / Andreas Mattsson / Vanessa Quinones/3:49
6/Summer Days
James Iha / Nathan Larson/3:35
7/Appetite
James Iha/4:10
8/Dream Tonight
James Iha/3:13
9/New Year's Day
James Iha/3:45
10/Waves
James Iha/3:36
11/A String of Words
James Iha/4:19
12/4th of July
James Iha/3:40
13/Dark Star
James Iha / Nathan Larson/4:53
Arjun Agerwala /Producer, Vocals
Tim Byrnes /Trumpet
Neal Casal /Vocals
Rudyard Lee Cullers /Producer
Danielle Farina /Violin
Alexis Fleisig /Drums
Niclas Frisk /Guitar
Mike Garson /Piano
Jon Graboff /Pedal Steel
James Iha /Bass, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Piano, Producer, Synthesizer, Treatments, Vocals
Julia Kent /Cello
Nathan Larson /Bass, Guitar, Horn Arrangements, Producer, String Arrangements, Synthesizer, Treatments
Josh Lattanzi /Guitar
Kevin March /Drums
Andreas Mattsson /Strings, Vocals
Maxim Moston /Violin
Jon Natchez /Horn, Woodwind
Michael Nesci /Producer
Karen O /Vocals
Nina Persson /Vocals
Kelly Pratt /Horn, Woodwind
Sara Quin /Vocals
Pete Remm /Piano
Geoff Sanoff /Bass, Producer
Adam Schlesinger /Bass
Adam Tilzer /Producer
Tom Verlaine /Guitar
Nick Zinner /Guitar
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
James Iha's 2012 album Look to the Sky is the former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist's long-awaited follow-up to his 1998 debut, Let It Come Down. On his previous effort, Iha revealed a passion for '60s-influenced melodic folk and '70s-sounding soft rock. While those aural touchstones are still the core of Iha's solo work, here he delves into some light electronic flourishes that add a kind of low-key take on '80s new wave and goth. In that sense, Look to the Sky has a bit more in common with his work with the Pumpkins, and feels like he is finally owning his legacy as a '90s alt-rock pioneer. Iha himself has long championed his idols, even working with his soft rock forebears America on their 2007 comeback album, Here & Now. On Look to the Sky, Iha's songwriting celebrates an earnest, heart-on-his-sleeve quality, which is bolstered through appearances by other, similarly inclined artists, as musicians like Tinted Windows bandmate Adam Schlesinger, Television guitarist Tom Verlaine, and the Cardigans' Nina Persson add their talents to the album's late-afternoon, introspective vibe. To these ends, tracks like the plaintive "To Who Knows Where" and buoyantly melancholy "Summer Days" mix sparkling electric guitar riffs with soft-focus synth lines that bring to mind Wish-era Cure. Elsewhere, Iha keeps things melodic and personal, with tracks like the leadoff "Make Believe" and the languidly cinematic "A String of Words" drawing upon the more dreamy side of the Velvet Underground. With Iha's sweet and gentle vocal style set against tiny little bells, arpeggiated guitar, and percolating synthesizer, many of the songs here sound something like murmured lullabies sung in wistful recollection of long-lost teenage loves. Ultimately, if Let It Come Down was Iha's sun-dappled West Coast folk-rock break from the creative turmoil and personal squabbles of the Pumpkins, then Look to the Sky is his more austere, if no less captivating, look back from the sun and toward the dark moon of his alt-rock '90s past.
BIOGRAPHY
by Greg Prato
Throughout their existence, the main focal point of the Smashing Pumpkins was undoubtedly singer/guitarist Billy Corgan -- due to the fact that he was the group's main songwriter, as well as his penchant for colorful quotes in interviews. But of course, there were other members of the band, and behind Corgan, the one who contributed the most in the songwriting department was guitarist/co-founding member James Iha.
Born James Yoshinobu Iha in Chicago, IL, on March 26, 1968, he found himself playing in several obscure local bands during the late '80s (including such names as the Feds and Snake Train), before meeting Corgan through a mutual friend in 1988. Playing its first few shows without the aid of drummer (a drum machine kept the rhythm), the duo eventually formed the Smashing Pumpkins, with D'Arcy Wretzky and Jimmy Chamberlin filling the bass and drum slots, respectively. Melding together psychedelia, alt-rock, and heavy metal, the group had a sound and look (thrift-store clothing) that was completely different from its competition at the time.
The band eventually signed on with the indie label Caroline and issued its debut full-length, Gish, in 1991, which included the Corgan/Iha co-penned highlight "I Am One." Touring alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, the Pumpkins were poised for a breakthrough with their next album, but inner-band turmoil almost split the band up. Despite the fact that Corgan supposedly played nearly all the instruments on 1993's Siamese Dream, the album catapulted the group to the top of the charts, and once more, Iha had co-penned some of the album's best tracks along with Corgan -- "Soma," "Mayonaise," and "Spaceboy" -- in addition to singing lead on a European B-side, "Blew Away" (the first song completely penned by Iha to appear on a Pumpkins release). Up next for Iha and his bandmates was a bombastic double album, 1995's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, which made the band one of the biggest rock acts on the planet, and included another tune sung and penned entirely by Iha, "Take Me Down."
Iha and bandmate D'Arcy formed their own record label the following year, Scratchie Records, which over the years issued recordings by the likes of the Frogs, Fountains of Wayne, and the Sounds, among others.
In 1998, Iha found the time to issue his debut solo album, Let It Come Down. Somewhat of a departure from the alt-rock of the Smashing Pumpkins, the album revealed Iha to be a fan of '60s-influenced melodic folk-rock and '70s soft-rock. Although it did not make a huge impact commercially, with its sweet romanticsm and sunny melodies, Let It Come Down developed a cult-following over the years and pointed the aesthetic direction for much of the work Iha would involve himself in outstide of the Pumpkins.
After releasing 1998's Adore and 2000's MACHINA/The Machines of God, the Pumpkins called it a day with Corgan and the original members going thier separate ways. (Corgan eventually regrouped the Pumpkins with Chamberlain and a new line-up in 2005.)Subsequently, Iha kept a low profile, but appeared on albums by Brookville, Fountains of Wayne, the Sounds, Whiskeytown, and in 2003, toured as a member for Maynard James Keenan's A Perfect Circle (however, he did not play on the album they were supporting, Thirteenth Step).
In 2009, Iha, along with Hanson's Taylor Hanson, Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger, and Cheap Trick's Bun E. Carlos, recorded and toured as the supergroup Tinted Windows. The band's debut album featured a melodic power pop sound that fit well with Iha's long avowed love of '60s and '70s guitar pop.
Finally, in 2012, Iha returned to his own work with his second solo album Look To the Sky. Although it was Iha's singing and songwriting that were the album's focal point, Look To the Sky did feature a handful guest musician's including Schlesinger, Television guitarist Tom Verlaine and The Cardigans' Nina Persson, among others.
''LOOK TO THE SKY''
SEPTEMBER 18 2012
49:12
1/Make Believe
James Iha/2:43
2/To Who Knows Where
James Iha/4:19
3/Gemini
James Iha/3:52
4/Speed of Love
Niclas Frisk / James Iha/3:18
5/Till Next Tuesday
Niclas Frisk / James Iha / Andreas Mattsson / Vanessa Quinones/3:49
6/Summer Days
James Iha / Nathan Larson/3:35
7/Appetite
James Iha/4:10
8/Dream Tonight
James Iha/3:13
9/New Year's Day
James Iha/3:45
10/Waves
James Iha/3:36
11/A String of Words
James Iha/4:19
12/4th of July
James Iha/3:40
13/Dark Star
James Iha / Nathan Larson/4:53
Arjun Agerwala /Producer, Vocals
Tim Byrnes /Trumpet
Neal Casal /Vocals
Rudyard Lee Cullers /Producer
Danielle Farina /Violin
Alexis Fleisig /Drums
Niclas Frisk /Guitar
Mike Garson /Piano
Jon Graboff /Pedal Steel
James Iha /Bass, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Piano, Producer, Synthesizer, Treatments, Vocals
Julia Kent /Cello
Nathan Larson /Bass, Guitar, Horn Arrangements, Producer, String Arrangements, Synthesizer, Treatments
Josh Lattanzi /Guitar
Kevin March /Drums
Andreas Mattsson /Strings, Vocals
Maxim Moston /Violin
Jon Natchez /Horn, Woodwind
Michael Nesci /Producer
Karen O /Vocals
Nina Persson /Vocals
Kelly Pratt /Horn, Woodwind
Sara Quin /Vocals
Pete Remm /Piano
Geoff Sanoff /Bass, Producer
Adam Schlesinger /Bass
Adam Tilzer /Producer
Tom Verlaine /Guitar
Nick Zinner /Guitar
REVIEW
by Matt Collar
James Iha's 2012 album Look to the Sky is the former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist's long-awaited follow-up to his 1998 debut, Let It Come Down. On his previous effort, Iha revealed a passion for '60s-influenced melodic folk and '70s-sounding soft rock. While those aural touchstones are still the core of Iha's solo work, here he delves into some light electronic flourishes that add a kind of low-key take on '80s new wave and goth. In that sense, Look to the Sky has a bit more in common with his work with the Pumpkins, and feels like he is finally owning his legacy as a '90s alt-rock pioneer. Iha himself has long championed his idols, even working with his soft rock forebears America on their 2007 comeback album, Here & Now. On Look to the Sky, Iha's songwriting celebrates an earnest, heart-on-his-sleeve quality, which is bolstered through appearances by other, similarly inclined artists, as musicians like Tinted Windows bandmate Adam Schlesinger, Television guitarist Tom Verlaine, and the Cardigans' Nina Persson add their talents to the album's late-afternoon, introspective vibe. To these ends, tracks like the plaintive "To Who Knows Where" and buoyantly melancholy "Summer Days" mix sparkling electric guitar riffs with soft-focus synth lines that bring to mind Wish-era Cure. Elsewhere, Iha keeps things melodic and personal, with tracks like the leadoff "Make Believe" and the languidly cinematic "A String of Words" drawing upon the more dreamy side of the Velvet Underground. With Iha's sweet and gentle vocal style set against tiny little bells, arpeggiated guitar, and percolating synthesizer, many of the songs here sound something like murmured lullabies sung in wistful recollection of long-lost teenage loves. Ultimately, if Let It Come Down was Iha's sun-dappled West Coast folk-rock break from the creative turmoil and personal squabbles of the Pumpkins, then Look to the Sky is his more austere, if no less captivating, look back from the sun and toward the dark moon of his alt-rock '90s past.
BIOGRAPHY
by Greg Prato
Throughout their existence, the main focal point of the Smashing Pumpkins was undoubtedly singer/guitarist Billy Corgan -- due to the fact that he was the group's main songwriter, as well as his penchant for colorful quotes in interviews. But of course, there were other members of the band, and behind Corgan, the one who contributed the most in the songwriting department was guitarist/co-founding member James Iha.
Born James Yoshinobu Iha in Chicago, IL, on March 26, 1968, he found himself playing in several obscure local bands during the late '80s (including such names as the Feds and Snake Train), before meeting Corgan through a mutual friend in 1988. Playing its first few shows without the aid of drummer (a drum machine kept the rhythm), the duo eventually formed the Smashing Pumpkins, with D'Arcy Wretzky and Jimmy Chamberlin filling the bass and drum slots, respectively. Melding together psychedelia, alt-rock, and heavy metal, the group had a sound and look (thrift-store clothing) that was completely different from its competition at the time.
The band eventually signed on with the indie label Caroline and issued its debut full-length, Gish, in 1991, which included the Corgan/Iha co-penned highlight "I Am One." Touring alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, the Pumpkins were poised for a breakthrough with their next album, but inner-band turmoil almost split the band up. Despite the fact that Corgan supposedly played nearly all the instruments on 1993's Siamese Dream, the album catapulted the group to the top of the charts, and once more, Iha had co-penned some of the album's best tracks along with Corgan -- "Soma," "Mayonaise," and "Spaceboy" -- in addition to singing lead on a European B-side, "Blew Away" (the first song completely penned by Iha to appear on a Pumpkins release). Up next for Iha and his bandmates was a bombastic double album, 1995's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, which made the band one of the biggest rock acts on the planet, and included another tune sung and penned entirely by Iha, "Take Me Down."
Iha and bandmate D'Arcy formed their own record label the following year, Scratchie Records, which over the years issued recordings by the likes of the Frogs, Fountains of Wayne, and the Sounds, among others.
In 1998, Iha found the time to issue his debut solo album, Let It Come Down. Somewhat of a departure from the alt-rock of the Smashing Pumpkins, the album revealed Iha to be a fan of '60s-influenced melodic folk-rock and '70s soft-rock. Although it did not make a huge impact commercially, with its sweet romanticsm and sunny melodies, Let It Come Down developed a cult-following over the years and pointed the aesthetic direction for much of the work Iha would involve himself in outstide of the Pumpkins.
After releasing 1998's Adore and 2000's MACHINA/The Machines of God, the Pumpkins called it a day with Corgan and the original members going thier separate ways. (Corgan eventually regrouped the Pumpkins with Chamberlain and a new line-up in 2005.)Subsequently, Iha kept a low profile, but appeared on albums by Brookville, Fountains of Wayne, the Sounds, Whiskeytown, and in 2003, toured as a member for Maynard James Keenan's A Perfect Circle (however, he did not play on the album they were supporting, Thirteenth Step).
In 2009, Iha, along with Hanson's Taylor Hanson, Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger, and Cheap Trick's Bun E. Carlos, recorded and toured as the supergroup Tinted Windows. The band's debut album featured a melodic power pop sound that fit well with Iha's long avowed love of '60s and '70s guitar pop.
Finally, in 2012, Iha returned to his own work with his second solo album Look To the Sky. Although it was Iha's singing and songwriting that were the album's focal point, Look To the Sky did feature a handful guest musician's including Schlesinger, Television guitarist Tom Verlaine and The Cardigans' Nina Persson, among others.