How enjoyable you find this ‘career spanning’ collection depends on how seriously you take your music. MC iPod – a.k.a. Ian Perry – plays ‘nerdcore’, a mix of samples, Chiptune-ish tinkering, and rap that unashamedly rips off MC Lars. Unashamedly because it’s right there in the lyrics to ‘Intro To iPod 2010’. There’s a tongue firmly in cheek here, so don’t expect deep, philosophical renditions of masterpieces here. Those without a sense of humour need not enter.
‘The First Five Years’ collects tracks from iPod’s previous releases throwing together a collection of originals, covers, and pop-culture samples. Need a snap-shot? A cover of ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’ is segued into ‘Inbreds’, a tune about, well, inbreeding, via a Simpsons sample. Busy stuff. The songs on offer are mixed in quality at best, and the almost sardonic delivery takes some getting used to.
There are a couple of beauties on this record though. ‘Your Band Sucks’, an obvious live banger, speaks to anyone that’s ever had their inbox flooded by gig requests. ‘Dawson And Joey (My Fears)’ is a smile inducing tale that milks ‘Dawson’s Creek’ to new levels. ‘The Summer Of “I Win At Life”’, perhaps the standout track, is an ode to spending all your money on gigs and not caring because it was “rad”.
Ultimately, MC iPod‘s not likely to change your world but for a little bit of entertainment you could do a lot worse. File this one in alongside Arse Full Of Chips and Kunt And The Gang (who guest here), although rated 15 rather than 18.