Billy Corgan Offers Five-LP ‘Siddartha’ Box Set

In 2014, Billy Corgan performed an eight-hour interpretation of the Herman Hesse novel Siddartha at Madame Zuzu’s, the tea house the Smashing Pumpkins frontman owns in the Chicago suburbs. Now, he’s releasing the entire set in a limited-edition box.

The performance, which combined ambient music he created on the fly on keyboards with readings of selected passages from Hesse’s novel, has been pressed onto five 180-gram clear vinyl discs. The box also comes with a hand-numbered print by Linda Strawberry, an artist and musician who has worked with Corgan on numerous projects over the years, a Stylophone pocket synthesizer and a black baseball cap with Corgan’s WPC logo. Corgan is charging $375 for the box.

Production of Siddartha is limited to 500 copies, all of which are hand-numbered and signed by Corgan. You can order the box set at Madame Zuzu’s website, where those who order both the set and some loose tea will also be entered in a raffle to win a “Christmastime” Crosley record player that has been customized by Corgan. The drawing will take place Dec. 24.

Last month, Corgan parted ways with TNA Wrestling barely three months after becoming its president. The move was preceded by his unsuccessful attempt to take control over the company via a lawsuit. Corgan claimed that terms in loans he made to the company allowed him to strip chairperson Dixie Carter of her power, but a judge ruled that the agreement was legally non-binding. He has since settled the lawsuit.

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