Mp3 • Mp3 Digest: June 18, 2008

After calling Guided by Voices quits just four short years ago, Bob Pollard, the quits-caller, has released about eight solo albums, plus various EPs and albums with side projects (e.g., the Takeovers, Keene Brothers, Circus Devils, etc.). To call him prolific is nearly an understatement, as it’s hard to imagine Pollard having time for anything but recording high-kicking, lo-fi rock ’n’ roll jams all day, every day. He’s recently—presumedly in the two weeks since his last solo album release—been working with a former GBV bandmate, Chris Slusarenko, and John Moen of the Decemberists, among others. The result, a group called Boston Spaceships, sounds like just about everything else Pollard’s ever been party to, so I like it. So do you.

» Listen to “Go for the Exit” at Boston Spaceships’ MySpace


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I’m a sucker for a good cover, and this week’s honorable mention goes to the Acorn, a Canadian group that recently contributed a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Good Enough” for a Coke Machine Glow podcast. Their version softens Lauper’s already nonchalantly pop masterpiece, but the highly emotive lyrics are allowed to cut through, drained of their former cutesy posturing. I only now realize how great this song is. The Acorn is a pretty awesome group that is currently in the running for the Polaris Music Prize (sadly, not associated with Polaris, the band from The Adventures of Pete & Pete), which seems to be an award and a cash prize ($20,000!) that Canadians give to other Canadians because they appreciate how awesome they all are. Once again, America should be ashamed, if not jealous.

» Listen to “Good Enough” at My Old Kentucky Blog


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Only recently was I clued in to Parts & Labor, a Brooklyn-based noise-pop outfit playing at this summer’s Siren Festival at Coney Island. Luckily I heard about the group just in time to find out about member Dan Friel’s solo work, which is mostly instrumental noise pop. Linked is one of the title tracks from his first full-length album, Ghost Town, which came out a little over a week ago. The track begins with accidental-sounding ambient tones and bleeps, the seeming result of leaving too many effects processors and circuit-bent keyboards hooked up and looping over themselves. It meanders, then suddenly gives way to a poundingly poppy melody soaked in distortion and echo. The incidental music and exuberant, electronic pomp should sound comforting to anyone raised, as I was, on video games.

» Listen to “Ghost Town (Pt. 1)” at Pop Tarts Suck Toasted


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At the tender age of 15, Lil Wayne was already becoming something of a trump card in Cash Money’s hand, and Wayne’s Hot Boys group produced some of the more popular singles from the label (cf. “We on Fire” and “Project Chick”). Ten years later, Lil Wayne has far eclipsed his Cash Money contemporaries and is being compared to rap’s greatest stars, living and dead. Though a Hot Boys reunion, reported late last year, has yet to materialize, last week Lil Wayne released his sixth official studio album, Carter III. On the track “Dr. Carter,” Wayne assumes a concerned bedside manner in order to casually and comically dress down the weak skills of his presumed competitors. The understated production (compliments of Swizz Beatz) matches Lil Wayne’s understated delivery and keeps his playful persona front and center.

» Listen to “Dr. Carter” at Fluxblog


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Hailing from Seattle and signed to the cred-dispensing Sub Pop label, Fleet Foxes not only has a really cute name that’s fun to say, they have current and former members of such noteworthy indie groups as Crystal Skulls and Pedro the Lion. What’s better, they hate hippies. Which is a strange position to take considering how, well, acoustic and earthy their music sounds. Their song “White Winter Hymnal,” off their recently released self-titled album, sounds like a bunch of dudes who haven’t bathed in a while sitting around, making with the tunes. As the song moves through its harmonies, it gains a warmth and openness that melts all previous reference to a snowy winter. A wistful, almost lounge-y piano line closes the song, which, in addition to the beautiful cover art taken from Bruegel the Elder, proves Fleet Foxes are indeed a class act.

» Listen to “White Winter Hymnal” at Pop Headwound

—Erik Bryan

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