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A weekly roundup of unreleased songs, new singles, and assorted musical detritus as it trickles out to the Web.
Smashing Pumpkins: “FOL”
During the mid-90s Subaru tried to suggest that the Outback Impreza was “just like punk, except that it’s a car.” Maybe Hyundai’s marketing people were trying to make a similar statement by debuting this Smashing Pumpkins tune during a commercial for the Genesis Coupe during last night’s Super Bowl. Arguably, this song suggests the opposite, however: that Corgan’s take on punk rock is alarmingly car-like. “I got the skull and bones, I kiss the polished chrome,” sings Corgan over some sleekly designed fuzz-guitar riffs and a rhythm that, well, drives.
Lotus Plaza: Red Oak Way
On this track from his upcoming solo CD The Floodlight Collective, Deerhunter guitarist Lockett Pundt, aka Lotus Plaza, weds bubblegum-pop beats to an ocean of woozy atmospheric effects that slurp and gurgle. So basically, it sounds just like Deerhunter.
Meg Baird: “There Was a Boy”
Meg Baird, a one time member of Philadelphia psych-folk collective Espers, delivers an understated and gorgeous cover of this song by sort-of-forgotten folk singer Kath Bloom. The song’s sorta hippie-dippy lyrics are a little forgettable, but Baird’s intricate piano arrangement and rich take on Bloom’s voice, not so much.
The Flaming Lips: “Anything You Say I Now Believe You”
Drawn from the soundtrack of psilocybin-endorsing indie-flick Know Your Mushrooms, this Flaming Lips song finds the band returning to the kind of cranium-unfolding territory they so effectively worked way back in the Transmissions From the Satellite Heart days. “Why aren’t we all crushed to death by the moon?” sings Wayne Coyne, pondering the cruel realities of the universe over layers of chiming acoustic guitars and sudden jolts of noise. Perfect for fans of Echo & the Bunnymen and Carlos Castaneda.