Radio Free Hipster Ep. 19: For Dorks About to Rock

What can I say? I love nerdcore hip hop and mash-ups. I dig the hell out of chiptunes and electro. I adore cheesy television theme songs and oddly placed dialogue clips from funny movies. But this episode isn't about all that.

This ep. is, if you'll forgive my forwardness, all about the rock . (Not to be confused with this guy.) And not just any type of rock, mind you: nerdy rock.

What differentiates nerdy rock from other types of nerd music, and, indeed, what differentiates nerdy rock from regular ol' run-of-the-mill rock ‘n' roll is up for debate. I apply my own logic to it, and I hope you'll find it suitable. What is and is not nerdy seems to be a hot-button issue of late, and I suppose I tend to have a bit more relaxed criteria than most.

That's just how I roll.

Download Radio Free Hipster Ep. 19: For Dorks About to Rock [mirror provided by Antisocial] Size: 43.1 MB Running Time: 47:06

Show Notes

Intro: Baddd Spellah (feat. Beefy) – “Radio Free Hipster Theme”
Rock or not, you just can't fuck with Spellah and Beefy!

Track 1: Rush – “Fly By Night”
As a rule, I hate prog rock. Rush is a notable exception.

Z's 1 st interlude: “With guitars.”
There's an awful lot to rock 'n' roll, all things considered, but I elected to stick with more guitar-driven tracks. There are, of course, a couple of notable exceptions.

Track 2: The Four Eyes - “Compucore”
Not exactly the most lyrically florid track, but a pretty solid place to start a set, I think.

Track 3: No Kill I - “Bonk Bonk on the Head”
A great band named for the Horta's decree in that seminal Trek episode “The Devil in the Dark.”
Track 4: Stovokor - “Life in Exile.”
I'm by no means an avid Trekkie, but I am fast becoming a real Stovokor fanboy.
Track 5: Hidari - “Natto”
It appears as though phreakymonkey has actually joined Hidari. Good for him!
Track 6: Cars Can Be Blue - “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”
Given that the new TMNT movie premiered last week, this track seemed oddly topical.
Track 7: Fourteen Year Old Girls - “Release Date”
I would like to reiterate that your life will be summarily enriched if you purchase their album Strategy Guide.

Track 8: Year 200x - “Bad Dudes Level 2”
Speaking of wise purchases, Year 200x has a new demo/t-shirt combo available at an unbelievable price. See their MySpace for details.

Track 9: The Dead Milkmen - “V.F.W.”
R.I.P. Dave Blood.

Track 10: The Gods of Antiquity - “American Haircut”
A fun song by a great couple of guys. The Gods have nerdier tracks, but I've already specifically tagged one of those for another project I'm currently working on.

Z's 2 nd interlude: “Some rock is nerdy because of content or intent, and some is nerdy just because the people who make it are nerds.”
Then, of course, there's the impenetrable force known simply as "nerd appeal."

Track 11: The Fine Print - “Gravity Well”
I've only got a handful of Fine Print tracks in my collection, but they're all amazingly good cuts.

Track 12: Glenn Case - “Hurry Up”
I finally got around to playing a song by Glenn that's not a cover! Be sure to download the entire album here.

Track 13: Chris Maquire - “Professional Princess Savior”
I know little about Chris save that this track is a demo, and a damn good one at that.

Track 14: The Advantage - “Ghosts ‘N' Goblins.”
I had to make sure video game music was well represented in this ep, and The Advantage are one of my game rock favorites.

Track 15: The Mudbloods - “Ginny and Me”
Lyrically, The Mudbloods offer some of the best Wizard Rock tracks I've had the good fortune of coming across.

Track 16: The Remus Lupins - “Looking for Trouble”
And the Lupins' melodies are phenomenal. This song has such a great feel to it!

Z's final interlude: “Both those acts go for the emotional subtext.”
Last episode ended with a pair of Wrock tracks, and I decided to follow suit this time as well. Much like nerdcore, the genre is growing by leaps and bounds and it really has a lot to offer.

Track 17: Alice Cooper - “Escape”
This episode had a lot more “mainstream” content than most, but I felt it important to include songs from the breadth of the (nerdy) rock spectrum. Like I said, nerdy music isn't exactly a new phenomenon.

Outtake: “I just can't prete-e-e-e-enda!”
This is a fuck-up from an earlier incarnation of the all-rock episode that got scrapped. Sometimes I have a couple of drinks when I podcast. Sometimes I sing along to some of the tracks I play to pass the time. Sometimes I do both and forget the mic is live and ruin a perfectly good transition. ;)

I've done a lot of theme podcasts of late, and I think I'm gonna back off that for a bit. Maybe I'll do a couple of nice, free-form ‘casts next month as we ease into spring. But don't, y'know, hold me to that. There's always a chance that I'll get a wild hair up my arse and decided to do an ep. where all the song titles start with “R” or other such silliness. At any rate, thanks for listening, and be sure to hit me up with your comments, show ideas, song suggestions, and thinly-veiled death threats.