There’s a scene in “The Simpsons” in which a group of children is brought in to serve as a focus group to give their opinions on the long-running cartoon “Itchy and Scratchy.” Naturally, the kids want the show to remain true to its origins, but they also want the…

Twenty-two years ago, in the legendary “Homerpalooza” episode of The Simpsons, Bart, listening to The Smashing Pumpkins, remarks, “Making teenagers depressed is like shooting fish in a barrel.” The question before Billy Corgan and three-quarters of the original Pumpkins is whether Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP:…

Photos: Alessio Neri OAKLAND — Nineties alt-rock superstars Smashing Pumpkins brought their Shiny Oh So Bright quasi-reunion tour to the Oracle Arena on Monday, with a marathon three-hour setlist that mined the band’s hits, deeps cuts and frontman Billy Corgan’s often idiosyncratic cover song selections. The Pumpkins’ set began with…

There’s another excessively long longlist this week. You’re going to have to put up with these until I’d gotten out of high school and decided all new music was stupid. It’s an immutable human law, isn’t it? Music stops being good upon graduation from high school. Sure, there are…