The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music

The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music is a Smashing Pumpkins non-commercial compilation album derived from a 60-minute cassette that Billy Corgan gave to a fan in April 2000, five months prior to the band's official release with the same subtitle, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music. The fan was instructed by Corgan to circulate the album. The title for the compilation was based on a conversation they had.

Composition and distribution
In April 2000 while touring in support of the first Machina album, Billy Corgan gave Smashing Pumpkins Fan Collaborative creator Eric Agnew a 60-minute cassette with explicit instructions to circulate the recordings. The songs overran the end of each side of the cassette, so "Here's to the Atom Bomb" and an untitled instrumental (later revealed to be "Cinder Open") are cut short. The tape was received without a verified track list labeled, so Agnew was forced to form one himself based on his knowledge of previous releases and performances.

The online distribution was so successful that when Virgin Records refused to release the follow-up to Machina due to that album's poor sales, Corgan made the decision to follow the previous route of the original Friends & Enemies and released Machina II in a similar manner.

Compilation
With the exception of "The Everlasting Gaze", alternate versions of the songs from the entire first side of the tape would surface on Machina II. "The Everlasting Gaze" is an alternate version of the song that appeared on Machina. "Le Deux Machina" was used in portions in the middle section of "Glass and the Ghost Children" from Machina. A full-length and uncut version of "Here's to the Atom Bomb" would appear as a B-side to the "Try, Try, Try" single. "Real Love" would appear on Machina II and Rotten Apples. "X.Y.U." and "Where Boys Fear to Tread" are live performances of the songs that appeared on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. "The Ethers Tragic" is a live performance of the song that appeared as a B-side to "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" single. "Once Upon a Time" and "Crestfallen" are Sadlands demos from the Adore era, the former appearing on the 2014 deluxe re-issue along with the live tracks "Money (That's What I Want)" and the "X.Y.U. medley".

Track listing
The cassette did not include a track listing, leading confusion as to the title of the final track. The title for "Cinder Open" was not revealed until its official release on the 2012 deluxe reissue of Pisces Iscariot.