Nerd News in Brief

Winter has again returned to the Deep South. This is rather unfortunate for me because today is also comic book day. This means, of course, that no matter how much I might want to stay indoors, I am honor bound to journey out into the greater world.

But before I freeze my ass off for the sake of Teen Titans, New Warriors, and the obligatory X-book, here’s a super-sized edition of Nerd News in Brief.

• Nerd Ink: The Next Generation: I’m tempted to say that this Green Gadgets Design Competition concept that Church found will be the ultimate in Nerd Ink. That is when these things become reality.
• Vote Gilderoy: Also from Church, geek politics got elevated this week as well, in the form of this piece from The Vindy. I’m always amazed that folks don’t invoke Harry Potter as a go-to allegory for the current political climate more often. The roles into which this particular piece casts certain players, though, makes me wonder if my books may’ve been misprints.
• Compliments of a little bird: I recently got a leak of a new (mostly) finished track from nerdcore supergroup the 8 Bit Boys and I simply must make a statement regarding its awesomeness. While I can not divulge any info concerning the song itself, I can tell you that 8 Bit Boys includes Entity, YTCracker, The Ranger, and TyT, four of the scene’s finest. You can learn a bit more about the project and get some samples at the 8BB MySpace profile and at the Rhyme Torrents forums.
• Sounds from Down Under: And the aforementioned group ain’t the only thing that The Ranger has been into of late. Earlier this week he dropped “Rap Bukowski” over at RT. The track uses a beat from another Australian artist, Diabolik, and the lyrical style combines some of Ranger’s finest with an all-to relatable hard-living pastiche.
• Straight Outta Belcompton: In turn, Diabolik and his partner in crime Pinky will be performing at The Basement in Belcompton (which I assume is in/around Canberra Australia) on Friday, March 14th. Doors open at 9:00 PM and the price is $10 Aussie.
• Get twitterpated: Likewise, Entity is also dropping some new tracks backed up by none other than DJ Snyder. The new single is called “Thumper,” and you can even pick up a bundle of the original, the instrumental, and the acappella if you have the urge to noodle with it. It too is made of win.
• In my America: American Gamer now has a proper home, compliments of co-producer Macross. Check it out for full tracklisting, individual song downloads, and info on the parties involved.
• I really hate to trip: My pal Antisocial recently released another cover; this time it’s Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise.” Though the original was never a favorite of mine, Soc does an excellent job and really brings that sort of borderline futurepop sound that he’s becoming known for. This should keep you well entertained while he works on more original material.
• Find Your Way: Snake Eyes, who some will remember from the CDD and the rest of you were introduced to earlier this week, hipped me to a really interesting post over at Canadian video game site Angry Robot. Contributor Nadine wrote a fantastic piece about composer Nobuo Uematsu (of Final Fantasy fame). It’s definitely worth a look by you rabid VGM fanboys – I’m talking to you, Anthony – as well as more casual listeners.
• “I didn’t want to be that person.”: Geek music icon and professional Internet celebrity Jonathan Coulton recently got some face time over at Yahoo! News’s People of the Web segment. The video is great and the written accompaniment is equally illuminating. Thanks to my home-skillet funky49 for hipping me to this one.
• Defense philosophy: For those not following the story till now, mc chris has recently been further courted by a number of record labels. The recounting of his recent meeting with Interscope was particularly entertaining, as mc really explained his take on the situation and his feelings toward the meeting's outcome aptly .
• It could get elevated: In festival news, more info concerning the post-Nerdcore Rising SXSW premiere gig has surfaced. Front and company will proceed to get down with their bad selves on Sunday, March 9th at Latitude 30 in Austin “sometime around midnight.” Prince Paul is still slated to spin records. (Holy fucking shit! Again!) And, according to Frontalot himself, everyone is invited.
• So check this: In other festival news, the recently released video for MC Lars’s “Hipster Girl” has been accepted into the Garden State Film Festival. The Jersey adjacent can catch its showing on Saturday, April 5th. Additional info can be found in Lars’s recent blog post.
• Every button tells a story, don’t it?: Last weekend, Anthony from GM4A was nice enough to direct me toward what's become my new favorite chiptune release, Controller 1 by Shnabubula. The album’s a free download, which should make it a no-brainer, but let me reiterate; you’ll wanna check this one out.
• All we are is dust in the wind: Matt just let me know that Kansas is getting its own mega-Wrock fest in the form of The Hallows and Horcruxes Ball. The event will be held Saturday, March 8 at the Kansas State University Student Union in Manhattan, Kansas, and, in true Wizard Rock fashion, all proceeds will be donated to First Book. This one features The Remus Lupins, The Parselmouths, The Ministry of Magic, The Moaning Mrytles, Ginny and the Heartbreakers, and the Mudbloods: a heavy-hitting lineup, to be sure!
• You can’t take my best friend’s sister: To take us home, here’s another jewel from the Wrock scene. It’s Welsh Wizard Rocker Peeved’s minimalist reinterpretation of “Save Ginny Weasley” by Harry and the Potters. After watching this, immediately go to his MySpace and check out his phenomenal remix of RiddleTM’s “Ode to Voldemort.” Then politely welcome your new musical overlord.