Two exciting new musical collaborations are hitting the airwaves soon, at least one of which going to be very interesting. When you were wearing a Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt while secretly listening to Hanson on your walkman back in the 90s, did you ever expect those two worlds to collide? Former Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, Hanson brother Taylor, Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, and Fountains of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger have formed a group called “Tinted Windows”:

Take one graying former Smashing Pumpkins ax-man, a Hanson brother-turned-father, a 57-year-old Cheap Trick drummer and the Fountains of Wayne bassist, and what have you got?

Tinted Windows, the music world’s latest, relatively head-scratching supergroup.

That’s right — James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins), Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick), Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne) and Taylor Hanson have joined forces as the curiously named Windows. They even have a MySpace page, so it has to be legit.

And while, sure, it may seem like the oddest grouping of musicians ever, a closer look reveals that maybe Tinted Windows aren’t so random after all. Schlesinger and Iha co-own Stratosphere Sound Studios (along with Ivy’s Andy Chase), where Tinted Windows recorded their debut. And back when Iha was in the Pumpkins, they used to cover Cheap Trick songs (most notably “Baby Loves to Rock”) live in concert. We’re not really sure where the 25-year-old Hanson brother fits in, but, hey, it’s a supergroup … and since when do supergroups have to make complete sense?

MTV

I would love to hear this, I bet Taylor Hanson has gotten even better since his voice broke! The band’s myspace page gives nothing away, and when I tried to google ‘Tinted Windows’ all I got was information on tinting car windows. Perhaps not the most carefully thought out name. Do the superpowers that be think that they will be able to conquer this? The band plan to release their album in spring, and will be previewing their music at SXSW festival in March.

Another interesting collaboration upcoming is one with Bone Thugs N Harmony…and Kevin Federline, who will presumably be featuring under his rap moniker K-Fed, as opposed to ‘that guy that used to be married to Britney’.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony has a great resume when it comes to collaborations including big names like 2 Pac and Notorious B.I.G. Now a new name will be added to that list, Kevin Federline aka K-Fed. In an new interview, Layzie Bone talked about his plans saying “It’s gonna be viewed and doubted by a lot of people,” Layzie stated. “As Bone Thugs N Harmony with a brand new platform, we’re coming to show everybody what type of real hitmakers we are. We’re gonna make a multi-platinum album and party with the paparazzi. We coming to prove y’all wrong TMZ! Kevin Federline is gonna be platinum when Bone Thugs N Harmony is done with him.”

K-Fed even chimed in saying “I appreciate these guys coming and looking at this project for what it is,” K-Fed stated. “All I really want to do is make music.” The song with K-Fed, “Paparazzi Music,” is “a soundtrack for when you’re chasing people down” so says the producer LT Hutton.

Rap Basement

Just in case you were wondering, this isn’t some kind of stunt collaboration to generate interest – Bone Thugs N Harmony have debunked the suggestion that Vanilla Ice (ice ice baby) will be featuring on their album. They would never collaborate with such a musician – not when they’ve got instant publicity using K-Fed.

I’m guessing, despite multi-platinum hopes, that Fed-Ex is going to make more money touring as glorified nanny with the Britney circus than from this venture.

Header of K-Fed outside the studio on 2/11/08 with Bone Thungs N Harmony. Kevin Federline is also shown at an event on 2/5/09, Bun E. Carlos is shown on the drums on 7/31/08, Adam Schlesinger is shown on 2/13/07, Taylor Hanson is shown on 10/20/08 with his brothers Issac Hanson and Zac Hanson. Credit: WENN