There was a time when that question was proposed to me almost daily. Now? Not so much.
I mean, between my two podcasts and the near constant stream of music-related nonsense I spout via
Twitter, I reckon most of you know what I am digging at any given time. Of course the
Cardinal app [plug] which is currently available for free [/plug] has streamlined that process by letting me tweet my song-of-the-moment directly from my iPod, but that's neither here nor there.
Because, you see, while I can very easily tell you what particular track or artist I am listening to/singing to myself in the can, it's a bit harder to elaborate on
all the songs currently vying for my mental real estate.
I'm serious, kids; it's fuckin' nuts in there with all these albums vying for the prized position at the top of my dome!
So, in an effort to
make the voices stop alleviate this particular problem, I'm going to give you a proper rundown of my current picks. Don't worry about taking notes, as everything is all hyper-linked for your convenience.
Zero Day
Obviously I am presently enthralled by Front's new release. My cohorts at
Wired called it his nerdiest album yet, and I concur. If you've digested the long-ago leaked "
Your Friend Wil" or sampled the current tour set (which includes new shit like "
Jacquelyn Hyde" and "
Spoiler Alert"), you've heard a little of what
Zero Day has to offer. But there's more. Oh, so much more!
"
Disaster" further refines the posse cut genius of his classic "
Nerdcore Rising" while taking a cue from Dual Core's epic "
Fantastic Four" and kicking the cross-MC-give-and-take up a notch and "
First World Problem" puts a conscious spin on his own geeky brand of lyricism. And there's also "
Better at Rapping," which boasts some of Frontalot's most fearless instrumentation to date. (Goddamn banjo!)
Between an even more refined sound and a number of standout guests stars, it's not an album to be missed.
Oh, and for the record "
A Little Bit Broad" pretty much answers all questions/criticism concerning nerdcore as a style. So there.
E for Everyone
In my
GeekDad review, I called the new Kirby Krackle album the year's first must-buy, and I stand by that statement.
While painting themselves as a comic book rock band, Kirby Krackle are actually more broadly defined as all-purpose geek rockers. With an album that kicks off with a highly groovable joint about
Fallout 3 and closes with a touching ode to
con life, it's sort of hard not to love them.
From broad conceptual pieces that deconstruct notable archetypes ("
Henchman" and "
Secret Identity") to good natured lampooning of everyone's favorite loser superhero team ("
Great Lakes Avengers"),
E for Everyone is 11-tracks of awesome wrapped up in a Jim Mahfood cover.
And you just can't fuck with that.
Unlimited
News from the Scrub Club tends to come out in these veritable eruptions. I mean, there's the odd solitary happening now and again, but more often than not it is one bombshell after another in brilliant succession. A recent trio of big items from the Club includes news of a shift in ZeaLouS1's
stylistic direction, the recent acquisition of Florida ninjas
Krondor Krew and the release of Dr. Awkward's
first full-length.
While the former are interesting developments, the latter is what's really grabbed my attention. Awk's
Next Gen was the perfect hip-hop EP; it satisfied without overstaying its welcome. It was, at the risk of getting all cliché, all killer and no filler.
At 15 tracks,
Unlimited isn't quite so cleanly pruned as its predecessor. Still, it amazes start-to-finish.
Even on those rare occasion when I found minor faults,
Unlimited sounds amazing, and Doc takes his entire aesthetic, from his unique blend of sharp flow and smooth sing-alongs to his soulful musical presentation, to the aforementioned next level.
Pound for pound, "DualShAwks" is the track most indicative of the strength inherent in the good Doctor's newly polished release – and I'm not just saying that because I inspired a tiny bit of it – but the whole thing is required listening for studious hip-hoppers.
It's free, and cheap at twice the price.
Anomaly
And while I'm talking about cats breaking new ground, Norrin Radd's recent Pause release
Anomaly is a fucking beast. While there are a number of important acts integrating the spirit of thrash and death metal into VGM (Year 200X and NESMETAL to name but two), Radd's new album emulates the style to a tee.
A chiptune opus concerning an unfortunate protagonist who finds himself face-to-face with the existential horror of infinite space,
Anomaly apes everything from the downtuned leads and double bass to the guttural lyrical delivery.
Okay, admittedly that's not gonna appeal to everyone, but I urge readers with the slightest inclination toward heavy music to give it a go.
It's really the kind of thing that needs to be experienced to be believed, so head over to Pause Music for a
free download. And maybe consider ponying up the ten bones for a physical copy if the spirit moves you.
Shit That Ain't Even Out Yet
I try not to tease y'all with stuff you don't yet have access to, but the final pair of albums in my current rotation are pre-release goodies from some friends of mine.
You've already heard a new selection from
Antisocial's forthcoming
Future Hop release – assuming, of course, that you've downloaded my recent
Doctor Who tribute – but he was nice enough to give me the whole thing early.
Antisoc is an artist that I've been fortunate enough to follow since his most tentative steps into nerdcore hip-hop, and as a result I've seen him evolve firsthand. This album is different, however, in that it at long last fully realizes his musical potential. Antisocial is a guy doing geeky rap who comes from a very industrial/
futurepop background, and, while his previous efforts have seen a mix of dark instrumentals scattered amid more typical nerdcore fare, the aptly named
Future Hop finally combines them into a genuinely amazing sonic soufflé.
Look for it this
Towel Day.
And lastly, a copy of
Beefy's long-awaited
With Sprinkles also recently made its way into my inbox and… well…
DAY-YUM!
Beefy's another guy that I've been following for a long time, and between his recent work with
The Grammar Club and some amazing guest spots on other artists' albums it's become apparent that he is mining a pretty powerful musical vein at present.
With Sprinkles exploits this issue to the fullest. With some new tricks (as yet unheard-of flows, sharper lyricism and some dazzlingly bright production from cats like
Mustin and
c64) and all the stuff you've come to love (hijacked samples and smart-assery abound), it's easily my most anticipated release of the coming year!
And now you know that.
Apparently it is shameless plug week here at Hipster, please! But then again, when is it not shameless plug week around here?
. This book is slated for release early next month – May 4th, to be exact – but it's already available for something you kids call "pre-order."
. 
