Monday, May 14, 2007

Nerd News in Brief

Am I the only one not ridiculously thrilled about the prospect of Paris Hilton facing jail time? ‘Cause, truthfully, I'm finding it hard to give a rat's ass either way.

I mean, does this genuinely mark the moment in time where all painfully rich upper crustaceans become accountable for their misdeeds on par with the rest of us, or are we just being thrown another Martha Stewart-esque bone?

I'm not striving for a genuine social conscience here or anything; I'm honestly asking the question. Just wondering if I should mark my calendar... or... something.

To cleanse the palate, why not get the lowdown on some more lascivious litigation?

And when you're done you can read some Nerd News in Brief.

  • Sincerest for of flattery: Karl Olson has long been known to the nerdcore faithful as Ultraklystron, but he has recently elected to become the new Beefy. Step 1: cover Beefy's iconic “Nerdcore For Life.” I can only imagine that Step 2 involves incrementally raising his cholesterol.
  • Cheer up, emo nerd: I recently received confirmation from my man Antisocial that his first full release Depressed Nerd is nearing completion. The May 18th release date is firm. Plan your weekend accordingly.
  • Light vs. heat: And while it thrives in the eyes of artists like Soc, my Florida brother singed long int asks if nerdcore is not, in fact, dying . Take a read and be sure to share your thoughts with sli. I'd also like to offer this article from The Seminal as a companion piece. Taking both into account, one begins to wonder if it's not merely music as a whole that is wilting under the bright lights of overexposure.
  • No; she's fully clothed: I'll refrain from my standard soap box standin' by quickly shifting gears to some pics of Nursehella's new ink. Apparently ‘Hella is wishy-washy regarding her allegiance. I'm just sayin'.
  • Do people still use the word “Haterade?”: BlogCritics Magazine's Joe Harris doesn't dig MC Frontalot's new release Secrets from the Future . I mean he really doesn't dig it… to the point where he seems genuinely angry about it. I know nerdcore hip hop's not for everybody – and I'll be the first to admit that Nerdcore Rising was a superior overall album – but c'mon, dude: deep breaths.
  • On a five year mission: Lastly, here's a new clip from the ubiquitous ChurchHatesTucker. Church and I are both big No Kill I fans, and I know he put a lot of work into this clip. It shows. Take a gander:


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

w00t! TWO clips on the front page of HP! Personal best!

The SLI article is interesting. There seems to be a couple points there. One is the old inclusiveness vs. quality argument that has been around as long as Rhyme Torrents. I think there's room for both. There probably should be a 'Best of RT' sub-compilation to point the n00bs at. (Come to think of it, that's pretty much what I use RFH for.)

"If radio play is out of our scope, I’m sure TV time is not." Meh, I haven't listened to either for music in at least a decade. The internets is the natural home for NC.

And WTF was up with that Blogcritics review? I try not to feed the trolls, but I had to question why the heck they tapped Joe Harris to review the Front in the first place. That's like getting me to review the newest reality show (or it would be if reality shows kicked ass, and I had no taste.)

Denika said...

Jeez that SFF review was harsh. I haven't listened to album yet but it can't be that bad.

Z. said...

Yeah, Church, you keep ramping up production like this and I won’t have room for anything else! ;) And I hear you regarding sli’s piece. I’ve always seen RT as a really solid starting point that high-C put a lot of effort into; he had a vision - an all-inclusive artist community for nerdcore hip hop - that he saw through and now it’s time for us to do the same: to take the ball and run with it.

It’s all kinds of harsh, Denika. I’m a huge fan of Front, and, while I will say there are a couple of places the album drags, I get the the same impression as Church: that Harris wasn’t exactly the best choice to review it. Honestly, while I think his first album was better overall, this CD does have some of his best individual works. But it’s different strokes for different folks, I reckon.

Anonymous said...

To say that Front has no talent or creativity is either an ignorant statement or a lie. I could understand if he didn't like the music, but seriously, no talent?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link! Interesting comparison to the nerdcore scene. I'm not sure genres can ever really die, but they can certainly lose their spark and effectiveness, waiting for something new to take it in a different direction. We'll see what happens with hip hop in the next few years...h

Z. said...

Thanks for commenting, J-Ro. I feel you made some valid points in your article. The parallel I drew between what both you and sli were saying is that music across the board undoubtedly suffers when the artists involved are more concerned with attitude and posturing than expression and execution. Yeah, not exactly a ground-breaking statement, I know, but I felt it bore repeating.

Geof said...

Wow. Did Front pour sugar in that guy's gas tank one day or something?