“Life,” a slutty Sally Field once told a mongoloid Tom Hanks, “is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
The same can be said for remix compilations.
You spend months pinning down just the right vocal tracks from just the right artists only to turn them over to motley group of producers - what amounts to a rabid band of mad scientists looking for a wild weekend at a convention somewhere far away, like, say, Tahoe - and you just don’t know what you’re to receive in return.
Sometimes you get a reimagining so perfect as to seem almost unbelievable, something that is both true to the original and yet a wholly different beast altogether.
Sometimes you get… nothing.
I got my fair share of both as I assembled my second foray into the wonderful world of compilation albums, now presented to you as Old Nerd Bastard: Geeky Music Remixed.
This project, as the regular reader of Hipster, please! will no doubt know, was slated to be released back in February, on Leap Day, to be precise, but the Fates conspired against me in that regard. And so we find ourselves here, nearly three months later. But such is life, and, truth be told, I think the comp is all the better for the extra time.
Sadly, a number of the contributors originally touted were unable to participate, but, again (and with the utmost respect to those who bowed out), the resulting injection of new blood served to uniquely strengthen and diversify the project. Or at least that’s my little opinion.
The ensuing round of musical mayhem is a collection of remixes, mash-ups, and re-orchestrations of geeky tracks from across the spectrum. There’s nerdcore, of course, and Wizard Rock, geek rock (or, grock, as it’s come to be called in some circles) and even a dash of foreign language goodness on the menu, reworked by a delightfully eclectic collection of DJs, producers, and musicians. I owe each of these participants an equal measure of thanks, as this is really their album.
I also have to give it up for another quintet of individuals without whom I would have never gotten this sucker off the ground. Specifically, my longtime supporters and good friends Matt and Church; Lizz from Wizrocklopedia, a woman who knows the ins-and-outs of WRock far better than a hundred Zs; Anthony from Game Music 4 All who is, I must add, almost pathologically encouraging; and my one-woman design team Denika, who managed to prank me in such a blatantly obvious way with her cover illustration that I couldn’t help but be amused.
I’ve got more praise to heap, but that’s what liner notes are for. So, without further ado, here’s the skinny.
-- Right-click, Save As, Enjoy! --
The whole shebang in a tidy RAR
1. Baddd Spellah – “99 Balloon Flights (The Grammar Club vs. Nena)”
2. The Weasel King – “Red Hair (2DefMice Nerdy Gospel Mix)”
3. Snake Eyes – "Transformer (Sara Connor's Wild Ride Mix)(Maja vs. Lou Reed vs. Traci Chapman vs. Brad Fiedel)”
4. Random – “Robot City (feat. YTCracker and JonBap) (Larry Legend Remix)”
5. Ginny and the Heartbreakers – “Halloween at Hogwarts (D-Form Bass Mix)”
6. nYgel – “6 MCs (and 1 DJ) Who Like Schoolly D (Commodore 64 vs. Beastie Boys vs. Bloodhound Gang)”
7. Optimus Rhyme – “Just Forget It (Cheeks Remix)”
8. YTCracker – “In My Time (Dumbledork Remix)”
9. Brad Sucks – “Sick as a Dog (Antisoc Remix)”
10. Harry and the Potters – “Felix Felicis (Dumbledore's DS Mix by Paradise Dan of Monsterface Industries)”
11. MC Frontalot – “Braggadocio (killsaly's Super Saiyan Remix)”
12. MC Hawking – “Why Won’t Jesse Helms Just Hurry Up and Die (Smoke 'Em if You Got 'Em Remix)”
13. Trier Music – “Hyphy Sunglasses (MC Lars vs. ZZ Top vs. John Bonham vs. Phish vs. Vanilla Ice)”
14. The Whomping Willows – “This Arboreal Coil (TrierMusic deathstepWTFLOL mix)”
15. Hidari – “Clambon (Glenn Case Campfire Singalong Mix)”
16. Dual Core – “Orbit (Remix)”
17. Schaffer the Darklord – “Nerd Lust (Peeved Remix)”
18. The Evolution Control Committee – “Pwn Monkey (Jonathan Coulton vs. ... well, everyone)”
The same can be said for remix compilations.
You spend months pinning down just the right vocal tracks from just the right artists only to turn them over to motley group of producers - what amounts to a rabid band of mad scientists looking for a wild weekend at a convention somewhere far away, like, say, Tahoe - and you just don’t know what you’re to receive in return.
Sometimes you get a reimagining so perfect as to seem almost unbelievable, something that is both true to the original and yet a wholly different beast altogether.
Sometimes you get… nothing.
I got my fair share of both as I assembled my second foray into the wonderful world of compilation albums, now presented to you as Old Nerd Bastard: Geeky Music Remixed.
This project, as the regular reader of Hipster, please! will no doubt know, was slated to be released back in February, on Leap Day, to be precise, but the Fates conspired against me in that regard. And so we find ourselves here, nearly three months later. But such is life, and, truth be told, I think the comp is all the better for the extra time.Sadly, a number of the contributors originally touted were unable to participate, but, again (and with the utmost respect to those who bowed out), the resulting injection of new blood served to uniquely strengthen and diversify the project. Or at least that’s my little opinion.
The ensuing round of musical mayhem is a collection of remixes, mash-ups, and re-orchestrations of geeky tracks from across the spectrum. There’s nerdcore, of course, and Wizard Rock, geek rock (or, grock, as it’s come to be called in some circles) and even a dash of foreign language goodness on the menu, reworked by a delightfully eclectic collection of DJs, producers, and musicians. I owe each of these participants an equal measure of thanks, as this is really their album.
I also have to give it up for another quintet of individuals without whom I would have never gotten this sucker off the ground. Specifically, my longtime supporters and good friends Matt and Church; Lizz from Wizrocklopedia, a woman who knows the ins-and-outs of WRock far better than a hundred Zs; Anthony from Game Music 4 All who is, I must add, almost pathologically encouraging; and my one-woman design team Denika, who managed to prank me in such a blatantly obvious way with her cover illustration that I couldn’t help but be amused.
I’ve got more praise to heap, but that’s what liner notes are for. So, without further ado, here’s the skinny.
-- Right-click, Save As, Enjoy! --
The whole shebang in a tidy RAR
1. Baddd Spellah – “99 Balloon Flights (The Grammar Club vs. Nena)”
2. The Weasel King – “Red Hair (2DefMice Nerdy Gospel Mix)”
3. Snake Eyes – "Transformer (Sara Connor's Wild Ride Mix)(Maja vs. Lou Reed vs. Traci Chapman vs. Brad Fiedel)”
4. Random – “Robot City (feat. YTCracker and JonBap) (Larry Legend Remix)”
5. Ginny and the Heartbreakers – “Halloween at Hogwarts (D-Form Bass Mix)”
6. nYgel – “6 MCs (and 1 DJ) Who Like Schoolly D (Commodore 64 vs. Beastie Boys vs. Bloodhound Gang)”
7. Optimus Rhyme – “Just Forget It (Cheeks Remix)”
8. YTCracker – “In My Time (Dumbledork Remix)”
9. Brad Sucks – “Sick as a Dog (Antisoc Remix)”
10. Harry and the Potters – “Felix Felicis (Dumbledore's DS Mix by Paradise Dan of Monsterface Industries)”
11. MC Frontalot – “Braggadocio (killsaly's Super Saiyan Remix)”
12. MC Hawking – “Why Won’t Jesse Helms Just Hurry Up and Die (Smoke 'Em if You Got 'Em Remix)”
13. Trier Music – “Hyphy Sunglasses (MC Lars vs. ZZ Top vs. John Bonham vs. Phish vs. Vanilla Ice)”
14. The Whomping Willows – “This Arboreal Coil (TrierMusic deathstepWTFLOL mix)”
15. Hidari – “Clambon (Glenn Case Campfire Singalong Mix)”
16. Dual Core – “Orbit (Remix)”
17. Schaffer the Darklord – “Nerd Lust (Peeved Remix)”
18. The Evolution Control Committee – “Pwn Monkey (Jonathan Coulton vs. ... well, everyone)”
A handsome playlist, suitable for framing
25 comments:
This album (except the track I haven't heard yet) is so damn awesome. Much praise is going to be sent your way from my site. for sure!
great job man, it took a while but it sounds damn good and that's what matters! Like Nintendo says "a bad game is bad forever, but a delayed game is only delayed until it's released" just, you know, with free nerdcore compilations.
oh snap, is this the "pathologically encouraging" you were talking about?
hahahaha...
can't wait to hear this! however, almost as if on cue, i need to sleep... so it shall be the soundtrack to my work tomorrow!
i am... hexcited :P
I won't get a chance to listen to all of these until tomorrow myself, but I wanted to be sure to thank you for including me as part of this project.
ROCK!
Glenn Case
Yay finally! Like Glenn, I am glad to have been a part of this. After hearing the first few songs, I can tell this is going to be nothing short of totally awesome.
Thanks for all the help and support with this one, guys. And thanks especially for your patience throughout the process. I’ve just spoke to Hawking and he’s working remotely to try and fix the download problems that plagued me last night. With any luck I can have this thing 100% complete soon. In the meantime, enjoy yourselves!
Z: if you could send me a direct link, I could try a wget straight from server to server. It allowed me to download from Beefy's server when the downloads kept cutting out. I don't know if that's your current problem.
Some additional thoughts:
99 Balloon Flights - amazing mashup here. I'm really surprised how well this works.
Wow, sampling from Moog Cookbook on In My Time - nice work Dumbledork, very tastefully done
Felix Felicis - I love the instrumentation on this one
Hyphy Sunglasses - The guitars give it a great energy. Amazingly great mashup.
Hidari - I don't know what to say about this one other than I really like it.
Dual Core - wow.
ECC - amazing.
Y'know, Soc, I always say that if folks like just 3 songs on an album, then its worth their time. You like 7, meaning that someone else can totally hate everything on it and we're still even. ;)
Seriously, though, thanks for the kind words.
Nice! Old Nerdy Bastard is alive! I will be downloading as soon as the rar is ready.
Z, you seem to be everywhere today.
Oh, and yay for Lizz.
hey, another wrocker! yeah!
Z, as soon as work stops killing me, pimping will begin.
It feels good to be part of something like this. Good compilation upon the first listen. Can't wait to dig deeper during the next listen.
D-Form, what you do to the Heartbreakers track is definitely something to be proud of.
Played this this morning...so SO thrilled with it. Sent the link to a friend who I hope will like the JoCo and am tickled with the mix of StD. Damn if I ain't humming Tracy Chapman though. VERY very good times.
Hey, kilsaly. I hope you liked what you heard. Thanks so much for participating!
Yay for Lizz, indeed, Sarah. She does an amazing job, and I have a huge amount of respect for her and the 'Pedia.
Thanks, as always, for all your help and support, Matt.
It feels good to have you among my list of contributors, D!
Glad you dig it, ADH. And thanks for helping me with the tagging nightmare that was trying to put this thing together. :)
The only thing it's missing is The Gothsicles.
Epic bravo, Z.
Transformer is coming in as my favorite so far. That Maja is pretty talented and you gotta love that catchy Chapman hook.
The Gothsicles, Scarybug? Yep, they woulda been a nice addition.
Thanks, Schaff! Here's hoping we can here you do the Peeved version of "Nerd Lust" live at Nerdapalooza.
That one of my favorites too, Denika. Snake Eyes did an amazing job!
the Code Monkey remix is totally fucking awesome. THANKS FOR DOING THIS!!
Hey, thanks for listening (and commenting), anonymous stranger! :)
I got sent here from JoCo's blog, so naturally the first I listened to was Pwn Monkey (that was incredible :)).
I downloaded the whole thing, and am really impressed. Great job!
This album is the one heaviest in rotation in my itunes since it came out in full =D
Just got a chance to listen to the whole thing in all its glory and I must say: it's dynamite. Dynamite made of gold. Great work, all involved!
Absolutely.Wonderful.
Thanks so much for this. If there was a way for me to drop some cashy love on you for this, I definitely would.
I hope you don't mind if I link to you from my little blog thing, and post links at a couple of geeky and crafty boards I hang out in.
: )
Thanks, Christopher! You came for the JoCo and stayed for the rest. At last, my sinister mechanizations have proven effective. ;)
Thanks, Ant. I know you’ve got a lot of projects of your own you’re working on, so it means a lot that you’re really taking the time to get into ONB.
Golden dynamite indeed, Snake! I really appreciate you taking the time to participate and checking out the finished product.
Thanks so much, TG. I’ve already seen some traffic from you pimping the project elsewhere, and I really can’t thank you enough. Also, know that I can always be bribed by geeky crafts. I’m just sayin’. ;)
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