Quick Picks

We're less than a month out from Nerdapalooza 2011, and my excitement is building. Earlier this week I did my first piece of promo for the festival over at GeekDad, and, in lieu of hosting Hex and the boys on Radio Free Hipster for the umpteenth time, I'm planning to have the Nerdapalooza crew on the next edition of my Wired.com podcast HipTrax.

What can I say? Supporting NAP has long been a personal mission of mine.

I think the most intriguing thing about this year's event is the wider variety of artists and styles represented. Nerdapalooza 2008, my first geek-centric music festival experience, leaned very heavily toward nerdcore hip-hop. Last year's iteration, however, made serious strides to include significantly more geek rock and VGM artists.

Nerdapalooza 2011 has continued this trend, and, while the absence of regular headliner MC Frontalot makes me a bit wistful for year's past, I think this new direction is the right move. That's not to say that the pendulum has already swung the way of the rock, mind you. In fact I'd argue the lineup strikes a nice balance, with Dual Core contrasting nicely against Sci-Fried and so on.

The roster of debut performers is especially impressive, and I've spent a great deal of time pondering over whom I'm most excited to check out. On the off chance that you actually give a shit, here are my top picks for must-see Nerdapalooza newbies:

• The OneUps - Bringing an ample serving of jazz-pop to the typical grinding guitars of Videogame Music is exquisite Arkansas-based collective The OneUps. Both a pleasant surprise and a totally logical choice, this is one featured act that will surely stand out from the crowd.
• Consortium of Genius - Comedy music (specifically from the Funny Music Project community) is well represented this time around, but New Orleans's mad scientists Consortium of Genius are a personal favorite. Renown for both their stylistic flexibility and their over-the-top stage show, I am fully expecting to be wowed by the pure power of their COGitude.
• Metroid Metal - Last year aggressive geek music came to us courtesy ofThe BossFights and local legends Sci-Fried. This time around they will be joined by both the metal majesty of Arm Cannon and the epic concept rock of Metroid Metal (featuring founder Stemage and Arm Cannon's own danimal.) I've been waiting ages to catch this crew live, and Nerdapalooza 2011 has finally afforded me the opportunity.
• Illbotz - As evidenced by the frequency with which they're played on my podcast, the Illbotz are my boys. In fact, they're possibly my most anticipated new act of NAP 2011. I am looking forward to both catching their live performance and getting totally shitfaced with them immediately thereafter.
• Adam WarRock and Tribe One - I've been an Adam WarRock fan since the first verse of "I am Him." The good news is Adam rolls through the Atlanta metro area regularly. The bad is that I'm never on that end when he does. Once again, Nerdapalooza is enabling me to see one of my favorites perform live for the first time.