Radio Free Hipster Special Edition: Once More, With Feelings (2013 Parsec Awards Sampler)

So I was nominated for a Parsec Award for Best Speculative Fiction Music Podcast! Again!

I'm not sure who keeps tossing my name into that hat, but, given my small but dedicated following, I certainly have some ideas. The thing is, no matter who did it – or, for that matter, why – I'd just like to say thank you. It was a dash of good news that came along when I needed it most.

Download Radio Free Hipster Special Edition: Once More, With Feelings (2013 Parsec Awards Sampler) Size: 14.3 MB Running Time: 10:29

Show Notes:

Intro: Baddd Spellah – "Radio Free Hipster Theme (feat. Beefy)"
It always feels weird to find myself talking over this.

Track 1: Wordburglar – "Fred Broca"
From RFH ep. 143, 10/26/12. I didn't do my usual year-end round-up back in 2012, but this was easily one of my favorite songs from that year.

Track 2: Andrew Allen – "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
From RFH ep. 139, 8/31/12. I ain't exactly a jazz cat, but Andrew's key-heavy Star Trek tribute instantly charmed me.

Track 3: Dethlehem – "Circle of Deth"
From RFH ep. 134, 6/15/12. Dethlehem? Them's my boys!

For those of you keeping score at home, I've won two of the four Parsecs thus far awarded in this category. Would I love a third? Sure, but – as cliché as it sounds – just being nominated, especially as the RFH project has sort of run its course, is truly an honor.

Radio Free Hipster Ep. 147: The Living Bookend

It's hard to live here in modern America and not think about political divisions. Shit, it's practically all we think about.

At the core I believe the real difference comes down to two simple ideologies; those at the farthest point to the left want everything to change, while those at the farthest on the right want nothing to change. And while I lean more toward the former with regard to actual socio-political philosophy, I can be pretty damn right-wing when it comes to my own life—almost staggeringly inflexible.

I am content to do the same things in the same ways not just because it helps to dull my perpetual anxiety, but also because it's easy. Sadly, things seldom stay easy.

Right now things are especially not-easy, so I'm stepping away from some projects for a while. Hopefully just a short while more, mind you, but the podcast—at least as I left it last year—seemed particularly… unfinished.

So let's just call this a better end point, temporary as it may be.

Download Radio Free Hipster Ep. 147: The Living Bookend [hosting provided by Antisoc] Size: 83.9 MB Running Time: 58:45 Subscribe to RFH

Show Notes:

Intro: Baddd Spellah – "Radio Free Hipster Theme (feat. Beefy)"
Not everyone can say they have a Beefy/Spellah-penned theme song.

Track 1: Adam WarRock – "GRWN UP KDS"
I've been bumping this track since the week before the EP actually dropped. Continually.

Z's 1st interlude: "Great big adolescents."
Which is, I should point out, not the name of my Adolescents tribute band.

Track 2: The 88 – "At Least I Was Here"
I started to play the full version, but this truncated cut seemed more impactful.

Track 3: Marcus Coronel – "Bacon Pancakes vs. Empire State of Mind"
For this one I specifically played the full version. Because bacon pancakes.

Track 4: R_Garcia – "Indifferent Times"
Definitely check out No Holds Bard. Garcia always manages to impress, but this one is especially engaging.

Track 5: Illbotz – "Michael McDonald's Crunk Classics (skit)"
If my life is gonna be a Michael McDonald song it's damn well gonna be one sung by Big Perm.

Track 6: Stenobot – "Welcome Home"
I dream of an R_Garcia/Stenobot collab. It would surely be a chip-rock masterpiece.

Track 7: Reel Big Fish – "Ask"
A last-minute addition to the play list, but one I'm definitely happy I included.

Track 8: Anchorman dialog / The Police vs. Jungle Brothers – "Lonely Jungle Brothers"
Call this one a throwback to the earlier days of the 'cast.

Track 9: Dual Core – "Staring at the Last Star"
Don't give me none of that "all the feels" shit; admit that this song made you cry!

Z's 2nd interlude: "Another gorgeous composition."
I never got around to reviewing All the Things, even though I rightly should have. Suffice it to say it's excellent, and you oughta own it.

Track 10: The Grammar Club – "Phonin' It In"
I actually pushed this show back a bit so as not to step on Bioavailable's release date. Didn't wanna let this track slip out before you could actually make it your own.

Track 11: DJ Earworm – "United States of Pop 2012"
This one should have been a part of my year-end podcast, which sadly never happened.

Track 12: Psycosis – "United States of Clop 2012"
See above.

Track 13: melodysheep – "Secret of the Stars"
Neil deGrasse goddamn Tyson.

Track 14: Marc with a C – "Daddy, Make the Sun Come Out"
Marc's Popular Music does some strange and wonderful things, but this track is a personal favorite.

Z's final interlude: "The best thing, the strongest thing about this community—about this culture—is you."
File under: Cheesy But True.

Track 15: Optimus Rhyme – "Daryl Hannah"
"How will you feel with an expiration date?"

Before this goes any further I'd just like to thank you all for your kind words and support over the past few weeks. They've meant a lot. More than you could know.

Now as for what happens around here, well, that's still being discussed. It seems that, while my need for some time off was understood and unanimously supported, my plan to let the land go fallow was, well, less so. I've had a number of allies inquire about minding the blog while I see to moving and whatnot, and even some parties interested in keeping the podcast going in my stead.

And I like that idea. I like it a lot.

Pining for the Fjords

"I know a dead parrot when I see one!"

How does one, as a blogger/podcaster, tell the world that he's taking a break from blogging/podcasting? I mean without writing a blog post or making a podcast about it?

Such is the dilemma with which I've been wrestling for the past two months. In the meantime I've been doing very little to get the word out regarding where the hell I am and what I'm doing.

Which I reckon is an answer in itself.

In that time I've slept on a number of amazing moments in geeky music, from another Vocalist/Producer Challenge to Frontalot hitting basic cable to a sweet new Dual Core video to Nursehella's second coming to, Christ, probably a cool half-dozen new EPs from Adam WarRock. I've let it all pass by unremarked upon, internet. Because I'm tired—oh so tired!

It wasn't until a friend asked if I had closed up shop here at Hipster, please! that I began to consider my answer to a question that, it turns out, was being asked by more than a few of you. Up until that point I thought that the project was merely resting. Like the Norwegian Blue.

Pithy Python references aside, I'm still not sure what's to become of Hipster, please! and Radio Free Hipster. I only know that I, as the proprietor, have wearied with age and circumstance.

I am currently stretched thin emotionally, financially and, given the toll it's obviously taken on my output, creatively. I'm finding my way into a new life that may or may not include this as a part of it. My gut instinct is to bookend things, to wrap up the podcast—which has really become the focus in recent years—for the sake of closure.

The thing is as much as I consider this site a pet project, a one man show, it's not. There have been, since the earliest days, folks behind the scenes providing art assets and story scoops and moral support and pretty much propping me up at every turn. And just because their names aren't beside the posts doesn't mean they don't have a stake in this too.

The site itself is in dire need of some housekeeping, a redesign and, y'know, regular content, and it's not something I can do myself right now. Whether that means I let things ride while I attempt to get my shit together, write the whole thing off as another faded internet relic or bring in some help to run the store remains to be seen. But whatever the outcome I simply wanted to take a moment to say how very much I've enjoyed the experience, and that I genuinely hope to have the luxury of enjoying it again in the not-too-distant future.