Last week we got all ecological on you, with the cover story "Let the Sun Shine In" lauding the pursuit of solar energy and Madison's sustainable bent. We were leading up to last weekend's Green Day celebration at Monona Terrace, which, predictably, was once again successful, with over 100 exhibitors and an estimated 3,000 attendees. We're very thankful to our sponsors, the public and the weather for a great Green Day.
This week we have something completely different: Welcome back, Garbage. Everyone knows about Garbage, right? They were Madison's contribution to the pop world of the 1990s and ended up selling 12 million records over 10 years with five releases, the last original one coming in 2005. Now, seven years later, they are popping another one, Not Your Kind of People. Contributor Andy Moore checks in with the group, who are no longer working out of Madison but who can still be considered of Madison.
Gone is the seminal studio that gave rise to Garbage, and also hosted other influential groups like Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins. Or almost gone. Smart Studios generally closed two years ago, but has been winding down behind the locked doors. The principal producer and group drummer Butch Vig took his act from East Washington to East L.A. The others in the band scattered to different parts and different projects, but they've come together to produce their fifth original album. (There is one greatest-hits release in their catalog.)
The band that started out as local rockers Spooner in the '70s, then morphed into Garbage with the addition of Scottish singer Shirley Manson, has come a long way, even contributing a James Bond theme for the movie The World Is Not Enough. These guys aren't kids, and they've developed their careers at a measured pace. Now here they come once more, trying to capture the world's attention again.
