Radio Free Hipster Ep. 86: The Ugly Truth

For this edition of Radio Free Hipster, I've decided to forego the voice modulation process I've applied to each and every one of my previous podcasts to this point. This decision was not an easy one, primarily because I've used it as a way to keep my family safe from the evils lurking on the webternets.

But this need for safety has turned to fear, and if X and Twiggy ever expect to become world class champions in order to win my love, then I had better start toughening them up. I've even gone as far as to put them on this very podcast, thus giving the stalker and ne'er-do-well community a proverbial "bring it on" gesture, my fists firmly placed at my sides.

What you'll find within, besides the courage that has lived inside you all along, are songs not chosen to placate a theme, but rather a roster of the finest audio clips meant to join together as an almost unholy alliance (due mostly to the involvement of Schaffer The Darklord). Bask as these most heroic of tunes provide you with buffs and much needed healing as you battle the harsh realities of day to day life. Dragons. Corrupt Armies. Mowing the Lawn. All will bow before the might of this podcast!

Take charge my minions! Take to the skies and rain down upon our enemies with such vengeance they will question the very Gods themselves!

Also comment if you like. Thanks! 

Download Radio Free Hipster Ep. 86: The Ugly Truth [hosting provided by Antisoc] Size: 53.4 MB Running Time: 58:25

Show Notes:

Intro: Z's first intro

Actual Intro: Baddd Spellah - "Radio Free Hipster Theme (feat. Beefy)"
The best part of the show. 

Z's 1st interlude: "GeekDad Told Me"
Meet the crew. It's a family affair 

Track 1: Shael Riley - "Music Of My Groin"
X insisted on this one. I can't tell him no. He looks like a tiny me! 

Track 2: MC Frontalot - "Your Friend Wil"
I have never once been called a dick. I must not have great friends. 

Track 3: Kirby Krackle - "Ring Capacity"
Oooooh! It's about Green Lantern! I get it now. 

Track 4: Dual Core - "The Game"
This was based on my life in the early 2000s. "Z" isn't my real name. It used to be Victor. 

Z's 2nd interlude: "That Orgy Was A Mistake"
Including a fifth would have been nice. 

Track 5: mc chris - "Awesome Fucker"
I have to assume this song is also based on my life. 

Track 6: Tenacious D - "Double Team"
I don't know why, but this song always reminds me of Just Another Lazy Podcast. You should go check that out. 

Track 7: Weezer - "Undone (The Sweater Song)"
Someone told me this song was a metaphor for a relationship. I thought it was a cool song about sweaters. I f'n hate metaphors! 

Track 8: The Lonely Island - "Metaphor"
These guys have mastered the art of subtlety. Truly wonderful. I f'n love metaphors! 

Z's 3rd interlude: "Huge Boobs"
After all these years I finally break down and get way honest, yo. 

Track 9: MC Lars - "This Gigantic Robot Kills"
Ska is not dead. It's been lost in time fighting a dragon to save us from the Negas'rife headed for Earth. 

Track 10: Futuristic Sex Robotz - "Hey, Ladies"
I put this in here because I like the intro right after Lars' song about killer robots. 

Track 11: Optimus Rhyme - "Calm Down"
All joking aside this is a gem, usually hidden to those not in the know. 

Track 12: Schaffer The Darklord - "Pixilated Vixen"
I too would totally bone a videogame lady. 

Z's 4th interlude: "Giant Shoes I Could Never Fill"
My son does not like Beefy. He is grounded. 

Track 13: Wordburglar - "Hermaphromic"
Due to Canadia's honor system in the prisons, The SJ can still tour. So that's good for him. Bad for frightened words. 

Track 14: MPFM - "Kool-Aid"
Once I level up a bit more I'll cast a resurrect on MPFM. So fear not. 

Z's final interlude: "I Just Want To Give Z Pokemon!"
The truth finally comes out. We really love you Z! 

Track 15: Beefy - "Uncanny [f. MC Lars]"
Coming up on With Sprinkles. Beat by Mustin. Sex appeal by Beefy.

***SPOILER WARNING***

You fools! Little did you know that the man you thought was Z was merely the cunning guise of none other than Beef Thompson himself! How could you have been to easily misled? Your lives are now forfeit!

This has been an April Fools podswap! Oh snap! There's no possible way you saw this coming! Jones, Steve, and I really enjoyed wasting your time today. Please note that anything negative we said in the podcast we didn't mean (except in the case of Jones McFly. It's not that everything Jones says is true, it's just hard to separate the fiction from the mega-fiction.) So thank you boys and girls, and don't forget to check back next week for your usual dose of Z. Also check out the podcast he did for us over at Just Another Lazy Podcast!

The Darkness Grows as all Light Dies

This week marks the triumphant (we hope) conclusion of DC's Blackest Night crossover. You know; the one where we discovered that the Green Lantern Corps is only a single heroic hue of the cosmic Skittles Rainbow.

To mark this auspicious occasion, our friends from The Nerdy Show have launched another Song Fight! style competition.

Between now and April 30th, you are encouraged to write, record and submit a song about the Blackest Night event for a chance to have your song featured on played on the Nerdy Show's forthcoming "Blackest Night Song Fight" podcast, a $100 comic book shopping spree and the chance to be the opening act at the 2010 Nerdapalooza pre-party!

Peep the specifics:

The Challenge:

Compose an original song about some aspect of DC’s Blackest Night. It can be in any genre and any style. There have been a lot of tie-in books to the event, and the plot line has been building up for years now – so needless to say there’s a lot of material and a lot of angles to come at this. Ska, techno remixes, folk rock, death metal, chiptunes, gangsta rap – anything, even an instrumental can work. The possibilities are infinite.

The Prizes:

1st Place: $100 shopping spree on A Comic Shop’s Online Store and the opportunity to kick off Nerdapalooza 2010 by performing YOUR Blackest Night song at the A Comic Shop pre-party (headlined in 2009 by Schaffer the Darklord).

2nd Place: A copy of the Eisner-nominated Atomic Robo Volume 1 Graphic Novel signed by author and Nerdy Show host, Brian Clevinger, an original 1984 Super Powers Hal Jordan action figure from the collection of Aaron Haaland (the artist/writer of Nerdy Strip), a Nerdy Show Amber Lamp Corps shirt and cap, and both the 2008 and 2009 Nerdapalooza albums.

3rd Place: A copy of the currently- ongoing Atomic Robo Volume 4, issue 1 signed by author and Nerdy Show host, Brian Clevinger, the 2008 and 2009 Nerdapalooza posters, and a Nerdy Show Amber Lamp shirt.

Upon announcing the winners, all submissions will be hosted on nerdyshow.com for listening/ downloading. 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place winners as well as note-worthy runners up will be played during a forthcoming episode of Nerdy Show.

There are a few other stipulations, of course.

Submissions must be original, Blackest Night-themed compositions of no more than 4 minutes in length. Audio files are to be submitted at a bitrate of at least 128kbps, and the related email message must include your name/handle, song title and any relevant notes.

So give your audio tribute to the Care Bears various Lantern Corps some thought, and feel free to hit up contest@nerdyshow.com with any additional questions or comments.

Sex Bob-omb

By now you've all seen the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World trailer. Multiple times, I'll wager.

Pretty awesome, innit? I know I'm excited.

What's more exciting is that the Former Fat Boys are holding a little contest related to the film.

From now until April 17th, fans are asked to promote the band's new single "7 Evil Exes" via Twitter. In a very particular manner.

Copy and paste the following tweet as many times as you like between now and then for a chance to win some pretty sweet prizes:

@edgarwright @nigelgod PUT @formerfatboys song “7 Evil Exes” on Scott Pilgrim soundtrack! Listen HERE: http://bit.ly/9VZSJA #ffbvsworld

I'll let FFB explain the specifics:

Edgar Wright (@edgarwright) = the director of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (and such classics as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz)
Nigel Godrich (@nigelgod) = arguably the most famous music producer in the world. cough Radiohead cough.

Make sure to include #ffbvsworld, that's how we're keeping track of the entries. Tell your friends, post a link to formerfatboys.com/scottpilgrim on your Facebook as well. Enter as many times as you want. It'd be insane to get this to be a trending topic.

Prizes:
-Posters
-Rocky Loves Emily (Our First CD)
-Roostledoodledoo (Our Ringtone Album)
-Wii Wiish You A Merry Christmas (Our Christmas Album)
-I'm A Dinosaurus, Hard Corey, Barack Out With Your Cock Out, and Former Fat Boys logo T-Shirts
-The Enormous Adventures of the Guys Gone Wild (Our sketch comedy DVD)
-$157 Cash Grand Prize

BONUS PRIZES THAT CAN BE UNLOCKED WITH ACHIEVEMENTS:

If your tweet is retweeted by @edgarwright or @nigelgod, you will instantly unlock a prize of $207.

If we get notice from @nigelgod and @edgarwright that they're checking out the song it will unlock a prize of $207.

If the song makes it into the movie by some magic luck, we'll give one winner $777.

So there you go. Help the Former Fat Boys promote their new joint and maybe, just maybe worm their way on the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack. You'll be glad you did.

The Sound

This site is all about nerd music.

Wait, kids, there's even more earth-shattering declarations ahead! ;)

Seriously, though, I spend a good chunk of my free time seeking out, reviewing and promoting nerd art not because it's fun (although it is) or lucrative (which it assuredly isn't), but because it is my passion. That tiny intersection of music and nerdery is the cozy little place I call home. It is my hobbit hole.

I try to invite the rest of you around as often as I possible because I love the company and because I know that your share that passion.

The problem is I am only one man. A tiny man with big responsibilities that lie well outside this particular stratum. As such, you typically get what's left, what little scraps of time that I can devote to writing and researching and recording. Often that's not a lot.

Thankfully, there are others who share my noble mission. There's the Rhyme Torrents community, OverClocked ReMix, the Nerdapalooza crew, EMPulse and Scrub Club, not to mention my blogging brethren at sites like Game Music 4 All and Wizrocklopedia. But, just like me, their time and resources are sorely limited.

But what if there was a way that we could all chip in? What if there was a dedicated place where artists could share music, fans could discover new acts and everyone connect on their own?

That's exactly the project that's been suggested by my friend Snipeyhead.

I think you all know Snipe. I've spoken of her a number of times here at the blog, and she is a veritable fixture on the nerdier side of Twitter.

She recently outlined her idea for a literal nerd music community, a place that's essentially a finely-tuned last.fm or t61 just for us. A place where nerd artists can share their songs, stories and shop links, and where listeners can discover new shit and share their thoughts.

Here’s an overview of planned features for the user:

• one-stop shop (literally) for all manner of geeky music
• artists are searchable by name, sub-genre, etc
• user-ratings help guide new visitors towards the best music, even if that music isn’t well-known (yet)
• commenting/feedback options (maybe)
• callout area for newest music, new artists, and top rated

Overview of features for the artists:

• bio area obviously
• links back to your website/myspace/facebook/twitter/etc
• links to buy on your own site, amazon, itunes, cdbaby, etc
• flash player to play all or samples of your tracks – this will include an mp3 upload option, or you can link back to your own-hosted mp3s
• import your show schedule RSS feed for display on your profile. If you don’t have one just for shows, an admin interface to add them is likely
• generated RSS feed for each artist that aggregates your blog posts, show schedules, new tracks added, etc.
• ability to copy+paste links to your YouTube vids for inline display
• widget to put on your own websites (if you want?) for your visitors to vote you up on the site
• generated “become a fan” functionality to tie into your facebook fan page
• possible option to auto-truncate songs in flash player so you can offer partial samples without having to cut a separate track

Snipe, who is the consummate coder girl, is looking from input regarding the project, so please proceed to her blog to check out the deets. (Important: The password for the previous link is nerdcore.) You can also check out a wireframe mock-up to give you an idea of where it's going.

I know a lot of us have kicked around the concept of a full-on nerd music storehouse, but Snipe genuinely has the chops to pull a huge undertaking like this off. All she needs from you is your suggestions, and, of course, your kind attention.