Tricks, Treats & Terror

I am a creature of habit.

Any who regularly read Hipster, please! have no doubt come to anticipate my unique brand of consistency. Nerd News in Brief posts always start with a dash of unrelated bullshit, and each item contains a smart-ass headline. My interviews both begin and end with sweeping vignettes about the featured artists. My album reviews typically try to avoid calling themselves "reviews" (at least until I run out of synonyms). Shit like that.

Even my podcast, Radio Free Hipster, is a veritable bastion of unswerving structural anal-retentiveness.

But sadly, for things uncomfortably out of my OCD-plagued control, things change.

There was a time when holiday-themed compilations were the norm. They were legion, and I truly looked forward to their annual appearance. Unfortunately, many have fallen by the wayside, particularly with regard to Halloween comps. Thankfully, the Rhyme Torrents community continues to come through for me.

This year's effort, simply dubbed Rhyme Torrents Halloween v4, is exactly the type of eclectic mix of nerdcore hip-hop you've surely come to expect from RT. Seventeen tracks strong (plus an extra-long bonus track), it was handily produced by Conyeezy and Don Vito, which gives it an extra coat of polish.

The individual tracks themselves are a mixed bag, with a song for every taste. It kicks off with Magitek's high-energy fright fest "Killer Nocturne," and amply mixes shit up from there. Stops along this spooky musical train ride manage to hit everything from nerdy existential angst (Antisoc's "My Server is Down") to new takes on well-worn internet memes (Shamus Oddish, Mister B-Type, MC Wreckshin & Chozo Ninpo on "Three Wolves Howling at the Moon") to Halloween-flavored musical fanfic (the nigh inexplicable "Caught in the Grip of the Silent Hill Madness.")

There really are a lot of stand-outs, but I found myself coming back to a few in particular. The Antisoc industrial remix of Brad Sucks's "Thanks for the Add" is charmingly sinister, while Fanatical (who makes numerous appearances on the comp) ably reps the Doctor Girlfriend set above a clever Tales from the Crypt beat on "Sexy Supervillian." Also, while it's far from my favorite Billy the Fridge track and equally far from my favorite modern horror property, I do have to give it up for "Jigsaw" for pure intensity. Hell, even tracks that should seem out of place, specifically "Perfect White Knight," Ultraklystron's Twilight-themed love ballad that ends to album, manage instead to add interesting new levels to the project.

If you're anything like me, your Halloween playlist has always got room for a few more good tracks, so I'm gonna highly recommend that you plumb the depths of Rhyme Torrents Halloween v4 to help fill those holes. I am certain you'll find something therein to help quell your inner demons.