More Nerd News in Brief

All in all, I’ve had a pretty fair week.

Sure, Li’l X. has taken to some late night hall wondering – always a dangerous hobby in the home of a rampant zombi-phobe – and E3 hasn’t yielded quite as much earth-shattering news as I’d’ve liked.

Plus, y’know, it’s not like I haven’t discovered yet another reason why Japan is cooler than the States.

But still, not a bad week at all, especially for Nerdy News.

• First-Person Gothloli: MC Handler scored a head-shot for nerdcore fans everywhere by not only getting some music in the newest iteration of open-source FPS OpenArena, but also helping to have a character named after our own Rai! Apparently, she has hover-boots. No good can come from Rai having an ability to fly; mark my words!
• A new dimension of awkward: In other gamer-centric news, Halo fans are no cooler than the rest of us. Ya hear that ya homophobic, face-humping ingrates? Cardboard Mjolnir armor ain’t gonna earn you any extra tail at the Greek mixer!
• WizRockStock: There’s something in the water in Washington. How else do you explain the high concentration of nerdy artists therein? Why, that state is even home to WizRockStock, which is a lot like Woodstock… only not so offensive to the olfactory sense… maybe. Anywho, check out Harry and the Potters at the Central Branch of the Seattle Public Library on Friday the 13th and The Parselmouths at University Book Store Mill Creek on Saturday the 14th.
• The Nerdcore Beach Party Massacre: The following Friday, July 20th, check out Optimus Rhyme at Alki Beach. OR will be performing at The End’s Beach House (2530 Alki Ave. SW in West Seattle), right across the street from the beach as part of the station’s summer festivities, and they’ll be doing it “BBQ style (think acoustic guitars and ocarina's).” The set’s only open to the first 40 folks who grab a spot, so come early and help the boys celebrate the release of their new album He Dies In Rocket School.
• Fuck-to-the-yeah!: The Advantage on tour! Check some high-quality game rock at one of the following events: 08/14 Salt Lake City, UT (Kilby Court); 08/15 Denver, CO (Hi-Dive); 08/17 Omaha, NE (Sokol Underground); 08/18 Minneapolis, MN (Triple Rock); 08/19 Chicago, IL (Beat Kitchen); 08/20 Detroit, MI (Magic Stick); and 08/21 Cleveland, OH (Grog Shop). Check their MySpace for more dates and locations.
• Nerdapalooza FTW: In other concert news, my brothers from the Nerdapalooza crew have just announced the final line-up for the nerd music festival to end all nerd music festivals. The (alphabetized) list boasts a most impressive array of artists:
  8 Bit Bandit, 8-Bit w0nder, 8bit bEtty, The Alphabetics, Beefy, Big Beat Battalion, Category, Decepticon-19, Drown Radio Therapy, Dual Core, Dungeon Master, Electro Static Discharge, Freezepop, The Great Luke Ski, Hot Waffles, Josiah the Messiah,
  Love You Long Time, MC Gigahertz, MC Lars, The Megas, My Parents Favorite Music, The OneUps, Optimus Rhyme, Pixelh8, Powerglove, Random, Rappy Mcrapperson, Robotronica, Rocket Propelled Geeks, Shael Riley, The Stunt Junkies, Super Barrio Bros, Temp Sound Solutions, Uncle Monsterface, Wordburglar, Worm Quartet, YTcracker, & ZeaLouS1
• Thank Church for This One: In lieu of further pimping this site's first ever free-to-download nerdy cover song compilation album, let me shift focus to another inspiring cover artist. Stand in awe as cutewithchris’s Chris Leavins recites the ever-poignant lyrics to T-Pain’s “Buy U a Drank.”

Nerdcore Undercover

The title of this compilation is totally misleading.

First off, not all of the submissions are hip-hop, and some of the artists themselves actually eschew the nerdcore label. Second, it’s not simply a collection of covers; it’s more a selection of reinterpretations ranging from covers to parodies to full-on rewrites.

Of course Nerdcore Undercover has a much more pleasing aesthetic than An Anthology of Song Reinterpretations by Artists That Are Nerdy But Not Necessarily Nerdcore. That shit just sounds silly.

I’ve been working on this compilation for the last few months, and I have to say that by “working on this compilation” I mean haphazardly emailing artists to ask for submissions. They did all the real work. This is their project. Clearly, I’m just here to hijack the credit.

Let me reiterate: a lot of hard work went into putting this release together, and very little of it was on my end. Guys like funky49 and Ultraklystron did more than their fair share by creating excitingly fresh covers and helping others do the same. Cats like Doctor Popular and My Parents Favorite Music scoured their back catalogues for old gems. Hell, artists like Shael Riley and Goondocks even went so far as to have brand-spanking new songs deftly recorded and competently mastered, almost as if this were a legitimate album and not just a downloadable freebie from some hick’s blog.

I truly can’t thank them enough.

The same can be said for folks like my pal Brüx (who tried to distill years of recording and sound engineering experience and instruction into a half-dozen emails for my benefit), my faithful comrade Church (who helped me wade through my text-heavy elucidations concerning the project), and my friends Dennis and Denika (who put together the cover art amid moving cross-country.) Truthfully, I owe tons of thanks to a bunch of people. So much so that I gush over them in the liner notes, so please read ‘em.

If you're still scratching your head concerning where, exactly, this album came from, that's totally understandable. I obviously didn’t do a lot in the way of pre-release promotion for this project, and that was due to a number of reasons.

The most straightforward is that I had to forgo an open submission process in order to limit the number of tracks I was dealing with. Even though mine was the easy part, there was no feasible way to get more than a single disk’s worth of music together and still meet my self-imposed deadline. I started down a list of nerdy musicians – beginning with those with which I already had a working relationship – and then stopped when I got close to 20 interested parties. As a result, a lot of really deserving artists got left out, and that’s the only thing about this comp that saddens me.

The most compelling reason, however, is that I’ve developed a recent allergy to hype. Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating, but with all the publicity nerdcore’s been getting of late I thought it might be fun to work in secret, to simply focus on putting together what I hoped would be a really fun CD and not worry about making too much preemptive noise along the way.

That’s what this is all about: fun.

I had fun putting it together, and you can tell the artists had fun with their individual submissions.

I hope you have fun listening.

Moreover, I hope you hear some material from some folks you know and love as well as some you might not be so familiar with.

Mostly, I hope that some part of this compilation strikes a chord with you and reminds how much fun it is to sing someone else’s song at the top of your lungs as you motor down the highway with the windows rolled down.

Thanks for reading, and happy listening.

-- Right-click and Save Link As --

Download Nerdcore Undercover (in its entirety)

Individual track downloads available for the finicky and those poor bastards still on dial-up:

1. My Parents Favorite Music – “Just Try and Sue Us”
2. Beefy – “Move Somethin’”
3. Shael Riley – “Umbrella”
4. mc chris & Modd Jobs – “Dare to Be Stupid”
5. Nursehella – “Keep It Real (Represent My Nuts)”
6. funky49 – “Intergalactic Pizza Party”
7. Glenn Case - “Alex Chilton”
8. Goondocks – “Posse Needs Upgrades”
9. Ultraklystron – “Daydreamin’”
10. LogicOne – “You Don’t Know Me”
11. ZeaLouS1 – “Paparazzi”
12. funky49 – “Everything (I Own)”
13. Drown Radio Therapy – “Vapors”
14. myf - "Paid in Full (feat. Kal-L & DJ Snyder)"
15. Shael Riley – “I’m Yours”
16. Dual Core – “What Have We Done”
17. Optimus Rhyme – “Train in Vain (live)”
18. Rai – “Shiki No Uta”
19. YTCracker – “Summer Girls”

Brilliant front cover
Equally brilliant back cover
Tiny iTunes cover

And don’t forget the liner notes!

Nerd News in Brief

Last week: Transformers. This week: Order of the Phoenix.

I’ve got high hopes for the latest Potter movie. First off, the book itself was an excellent read, and that definitely helps. Plus, I find it hard to believe that it’ll be plagued by quite as many ridiculous product placement spots as Transformers.

Then again, you never know. I’m sure they’ll work a plug for the new iPensieve in there somewhere.

• I’m in yer projects choosin’ their titles: Last week I got an interesting email from my pal Beefy. He was bummed to report that his summer tour plans had fallen through, and, truthfully, I was a little saddened as well. And yet, he was happy to report that this extra free time will permit his new album, formally called Fighting Crime but now entitled Rolling Doubles, to be pushed up from September. That album will be “sellable and whatnot and released by Nerdy South Records.” It will also be accompanied by a free album called – wait for it –The Adventures of Beef Thompson: Private Dick that will “collect sample-heavy songs … recorded since Tube Technology as well as a private investigator story for the ages!” I win! I fuckin’ win!
• The show that was: Of course I’m not gonna let this opportunity slip by without mentioning the recent mc chris show in Eugene, OR that featured HP supporters Beefy (whom mc recently described as “polite, gracious, [and a performer who] nailed his set, and didn't come off like a tool”), the lovely and talented Nursehella, and the equally lovely and talented funky49. funk himself was nice enough to do a really in-depth write-up about the show and its surrounding events that he posted over at his blog. Take a few minutes and check it out.
• Musical weirdness: In other nerdy music news, Shael Riley just dropped a cover of Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” I’m not even joking. Listen for yourself.
• Even weirder: Church found something too strange not to share. I know: shocking! ;) Apparently, PowerFX has just released “Vocaloid Sweet Ann, a Saucy Virtual Vocalist Who Sings Your Words and Music.” It gets better; Annie’s got a MySpace. Is it me, or does this whole thing reek of some obscure perversion? Some very, very specific fetish? Oh, just me, huh?
  
• Back to reality: The fine folks at the Sedgwick Avenue Alliance had their own good news/bad news scenario this week. The good: they've added 2 new artists to the group. One being the undeniable YTCracker, and the second being “a very talented rapper/singer/musician from Chicago by the name of Savant.” Unfortunately, they also lost founding member, Q. Ledbetter due to a current inability to contribute.
• W-R-O-C-K in the U.S.A.: Wrockers Harry and the Potters have some show lined up in the nerdy Northwest this week. Check ‘em out July 9 in Spokane, WA - Caterina (All Ages); July 10 in Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom; July 11 in Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Armory; July 12 in Olympia WA - Olympia Timeberland Library; and July 13 in Seattle, WA - Seattle Public Library.
• Mama said knock you out: Probably the biggest nerdcore news of late came from the Nerdcore For Life camp this weekend; nerdy perfection, thy name is NERCORE HIP-HOP LIVE AT THE 2007 SAN DIEGO COMICON! Oh yeah, kids, Capcom approached Dan Lamoureux about this early in the year thanks to all the buzz generated from the YouTube trailer. And, after some deliberation, a “full-on nerdcore concert” was settled upon “and eventually one concert turned into two.” The pertinent info is as follows: “two Nerdcore concerts featuring YTCracker, Beefy, The Sucklord, Ultraklystron, Nursehella, and The Former Fat Boys….in a boxing ring…at the Capcom booth…in the middle of the San Diego comicon….during peak afternoon hours.” Huge, huge news! Congrats all around, guys. Make us proud!
• Sparing for change: With that in mind, Beefy is currently trying to get some scratch together to make the long trip down the coast. Originally Beef had planned not to attend, what with the tour and all, but since that turned into a no-go he’s very fortunate to have this opportunity to play at the Capcom booth for the Nerdcore For Life event. But don’t think of it as charity; think of it as a purchase! “[T]o anyone who donates $5 or more [Beefy] will e-mail him/her [the] song "Tilt" from [the] upcoming album Rolling Doubles. If you donate $10 or more [he] will send you both "Tilt" and "Ball Pit".” Sounds like a solid investment to me.
• “They have not told me that this is going to happen…”: Today’s closing clip comes from my boy Matt. I had actually picked another piece of mc chris footage, but, upon closer inspection, I do believe that this is one packed with more nerdy goodness. Enjoy!
  

Inclement weather

Due to yesterday’s little power outage – and thanks to a helpful suggestion from my man Church – I’ve elected to postpone the official release of the Hipster, please! no-longer-so-secret cover song project until Tuesday.

Sunday didn’t seem like such a great time to launch and album. And Monday? Well, Monday is Monday. So Tuesday it is.

The artists involved seem cool with that, and that’s good enough for me. Thanks for bearing with us through this minor logistical snafu. Your patience will be duly rewarded. Trust me.

Technical difficulties

Hi, all. I am currently blogging - beer in hand - from the back yard of scenic Chez Z. An unpredictable round of summer weather has caused some recent power outages, and I'm afraid that's gonna delay the release of the comp a bit. Sorry to disappoint, but it should be up tomorow. I was hoping shit would be resolved before midnight, but the chances look slim. :( Again, I am truly sorry.
--Z.

More Nerd News in Brief

Michael Bay’s Transformers is equal parts slapstick, horny teenagers, ham-handed politics, slow-motion collateral damage, sketchy science, even sketchier dialogue, and old-fashioned Hollywood racism.

Was it a fun summer film? Sure! A good film? Eh… maybe. But was it a Transformers film? Nope. Not in the slightest.

Our beloved “robots in disguise” were, for the most part, merely a convoluted plot device.

In addition, the movie was full of characters that didn’t do anything and set pieces that existed simply for the sake of destruction. It was a summer popcorn move, plain and simple.

And yet I had to see it. Because I am a huge dork.

• Front to the rescue!: My pal Matt from Headphone Sacrament recently brought to my attention that our own MC Frontalot has made a guest appearance in Jonathon Rosenberg's Web comic Goats. His purpose within the narrative is to protect and defend all nerds. Just like in real life!
• Put ‘em on the touch screen: Not to be outdone, my man Church countered with news that Suicide Girls has just dropped some exclusive iPhone wallpapers. ‘Cause, y’know, that particular piece of tech was sorely missing tattooed boobs.
• For those oh-so-fresh days: Down Underdogs, MetaMystiks Inc., LogicOne, Zealous1, Kal-L, and Grandmaster Pink – otherwise known as pretty much half of the recently formed Sedgwick Avenue Alliance – have just dropped a new track called “Heavy Flow Day.” I could tell you of its glory, but why not take a listen for yourself? You’ll be glad you did.
• Lather, rinse...: The final preview track for nYgel’s forthcoming nerdcore mixtape has been officially leaked… which is damn near oxymoronical. You can check out “Repeat Again (feat. Cyanide Soda and MC Shinigami)” at Shin’s MySpace. I could tell you more, but then I’d have to kill you.
• Moving on up: If you’re in Brooklyn this Friday and wanna get tanked with some real nerds, Shael Riley has got your hook-up. Mr. Riley and his lady-friend Ivy are moving out of their old digs in Bed-Stuy and into a new place in Williamsburg. In honor of the move, they’re “throwing an all-expenses-paid, booze-bash at our soon-to-be old place and you […] stand a very good chance of being someone [he] would like to invite!” The party starts at 5:00 on Friday, July 7th and goes until everyone leaves. If you'd like to come, shoot Shael a PM through MySpace and he’ll give you either A) the specifics or B) a heart-rending rejection message. If you go, have a drink for ol’ Z.
• Below the Sea-Town: And lastly, my main Seattle home-skillets the Goondocks, have just released the video for their fantastic track “1st and Yesler.” The clip was recorded over the span of 2 months across 18 locations, and was directed by Raffaele Riconsciuto, Jr. And it is awesome-sauce, although I reckon you already knew that.

Download Radio Free Hipster Ep. 25: Cover Me

Scarface, 1983’s Al Pacino cult classic, is really just a remake of the 1932 film of the same name. Think about that for a minute. When’s the last time you saw Paul Muni’s mug on a t-shirt?

I reckon what I’m getting at here is that sometimes a remake can be more influential (or at least as influential) as the original. Certainly, this isn’t always the case. Some remakes pale in comparison. While other beg the question why the hell do that again anyway?

But, within the realm of music, the remake, the cover, has always held a special place in my heart. This episode explores that love with the help of some nerdy artists and their reinterpretation of others’ material.

Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? You decide.

Download Radio Free Hipster Ep. 25: Cover Me [hosting provided by Antisocial] Size: 37.2 MB Running Time: 40:41

Show Notes:

Intro: Baddd Spellah (feat. Beefy) – “Radio Free Hipster Theme”
Someone needs to cover this track. It’s my favorite.

Track 1: Able-X – “OutFox’d”
There seems to have been some debate of late concerning Jesse Dangerously, his skills, and his attitude. Personally, I’ve got tons of respect for Jesse both as an artist and as a person.

Z’s 1st interlude: “ I’m a big fan of covers songs, parodies, reinterpretations of all sorts.”
Which should go without saying, but, y’know, I said it.

Track 2: Beefy – “Roommate From Hell”
In this track, Beefy plays the parts of both narrator (MC Lars) and roommate (mc chris). Please save your weight jokes for a later date.

Track 3: Ultraklystron – “Nerdcore For Life (feat. Beefy)”
Covers are a big part of 2nd gen nerdcore hip-hop, and to hear Karl cover Beefy’s track is pretty entertaining in and of itself, but the quality of the cover and the participation of Beefy himself make it even more so.

Track 4: Shael Riley – “Bizarre Love Triangle (Peculiar Affection Isosceles)”
Shael has a ridiculous number of cover available, and I have yet to find one I don’t like.

Track 5: The Lonely Island – “Bing Bong Brothers”
“And then I’ll show you my penis.”

Track 6: Switchblade Kittens – “I Fought My Mum”
Hearing the Kittens cover The Clash covering The Crickets may be too much for some people. I am not among those people.

Z’s 2nd interlude: “He thought I’d dig it, and I definitely, definitely do.”
I think the biggest perk surrounding doing this podcast is that folks often direct me toward tons of cool-ass music that I might otherwise miss. Thanks, and keep it up!

Track 7: Dread Zeppelin – “Whole Lotta Love”
Un-Led-Ed < 5,000,000 Tortelvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong. I’m just sayin’.

Track 8: The BossHoss – “Hey Ya!”
Just so you know, “Country Trash Punk Rock” is their designation, not mine.

Track 9: Jesus H. Presley – “Doctor Rocks”
Jesus H. Presley is surely in the running for best artist/group name ever!

Track 10: The NESkimos – “Double Dragon 2: Cutscene”
I don’t recall ever playing Double Dragon 2. I can’t imagine it broke any new ground.

Track 11: Glenn Case – “Let’s Stay Together”
This classic track was going to be Glenn’s submission to my forthcoming compilation, but Glenn was nice enough to record an exclusive track just for me, and by request, no less!

Z’s final interlude: “The reasoning behind this particular ep. is the following announcement.”
Could y’all tell I was reading that announcement? My wife says everything I say on this podcast sounds scripted. It’s because I’m using my try not to sound like such of a goddamn hick voice. It's quite ineffective.

Track 12: Totally Radd! – “Runaway Train”
Totally Radd! have a new EP. They also have the greatest MySpace profile pic in the history of the world.

And there you have it, folks. Thanks for listening. I hope your appetite was properly whetted for the covers comp, and I hope you hit me up again this weekend to check it out. I honestly can’t thank the artists involved enough for contributing.

Nerdy musicians are good people. They’ll talk with you at shows and IM with you on MySpace and sometimes they’ll even let you use their songs for a poorly planned compilation album for your sub-standard blog. I am embiggened by the simple fact that they lower themselves to associate with me.

Nerd News in Brief

Query: why is that when Sony launched a $600 gaming console we were all up in arms about the exorbitant price, but when Apple sold us a $600 cellular phone we were totally cool with it?

There’s a bit of disparity there. I’m just sayin’.

And now, my fellow consumers: Nerd News in Brief.

Come correct: What band of nerds dare summon the most hallowed landmark in hip-hop history? Only the most deserving: Random, Zealous1, MetaMystiks Inc., Jesse Dangerously, Maja, Grandmaster Pink & Diabolik, LogicOne, Down Underdogs, Dirty Taz, Q.Ledbetter, Siver, Valentin, and C-Enes. Collectively known as The Sedgwick Avenue Alliance, these sixteen rappers and producers have recently joined forces, and rap will never be the same. Your hip-hop education begins now.
El nerdcore: Nerdcore hip-hop (and the Nerdcore For Life documentary) got four glorious pages worth of coverage in the latest issue of Spanish magazine Calle 20. To hear Dan tell it, “What started as a little interview about a quirky little indie film evolved into a really expansive piece. I always try and plug a lot of artists when I do an interview but this reporter went buck wild and worked in a ton of people.” You can check out the whole issue via the magazine’s Web site, and even download it in PDF.
Legitimacy, here we come!: On the subject of Web sites, it looks like our pals from Nerdapalooza have finally got their official presence up and running. You can catch all announcements concerning the project via the new blog, and Hex Warrior has been kind enough to remind me that the biggest of big announcements, the finalized band roster, will be posted on July 9th.
Brief respite: It looks as though our anguished cries have been heard and headed. Well, sort of. SoundExchange has recently proposed a $2500 cap on advance payments for Internet radio stations licensing and The Digital Music Association immediately agreed, but “only if the term for the new arrangement were extended to 2010 — or, preferably, forever.” Chalk one up for the good guys? We shall see.
This Blog is Not Punk Rock: MC Lars’s newest project, a DVD “jam-packed with over an hour and a half of […] old home [videos], backstage antics from his Bowling for Soup and Simple Plan tours, a full episode of his college TV show, a special behind the scenes feature on the "Ahab" video, and complete audio commentary” is now available for pre-order. I wonder if you’ll ever be able to purchase it at your local Hot Topic? That would be deliciously ironic.
Super Shinier Metal: Optimus Rhyme’s much anticipated He Dies in Rocket School is now available! The album can be downloaded from Dig Station, or you can buy the for-real CD from the fine folks at CD Baby. How good is it? Do you even have to ask?!
More Gabe. More mc. More madness.: Nerdcore News is at it again, this time Gabe and Syn caught up with mc chris at Seattle’s Chop Suey shortly before Saturday’s gig. Wackiness ensued.

Gimme an "I"

I don’t give an unholy fuck about the iPhone. I can’ afford one, I couldn’t find one if I had the scratch, and I no doubt lack the adequate amount of Mac-fanboy swagger to properly operate the infernal device even if the previous criteria were met. Plus it’s tethered to the iTunes service, which is, I truly believe, the devil.

But I am not your average joe.

You all probably want an iPhone. You, no doubt, lust for it’s oddly ceramic aesthetic and its uber-funky functionality. And so, I present to you the following links.

Don’t thank me; Church did all the legwork.

• Does your local Apple store have any iPhones in stock? See for yourself. Just don’t end up like poor Brent.
• Meet the guy that was almost the fifth cat in line… yeah… um… Wired? You… you’re not even trying anymore are you? Tough shit, ‘cause Gizmodo stole all the thunder; you can totally watch the line live! Wait… that sucks too.
• Um…Why not watch Stephen Colbert review an iPhone he didn’t get. That’s entertaining. (Note: Steve’s from South Carolina, a state with no Apple stores. I’m just sayin’.)
• For those of you who’ve already given up hope of finagling such a device, why not read the most recent Democratic Debate Report Card. Politics is still a relevant subject, right? Even in our post-iPhone world?
  

More Nerd News in Brief.

I am fascinated by “news,” and I use the term loosely. From the grisly to the entirely impertinent, I am bombarded daily with nuggets of info that in no way enrich my life.

Mostly they just scare me.

Are you happy, Scientific American? Now I’m afraid of bats!

*cough cough* More Nerd News in Brief.

• HOTH WAMPA!: mc chris recently got some face time on Star Wars dot com as part of their Star Wars Rocks collection of features. It’s a pretty interesting read as it covers not only mc’s current nerdy predilections, but those of the halcyon days of his youth. Mostly, I was just relieved to see that I’m not the only person who hasn’t grown any taller since early childhood.
• You’re his only hope: According to a recent MySpace bulletin, mc and company accidentally sent the pirate t-shirts intended for the Dante’s show to WOW Hall. As a result, Mr. Ward is currently looking for “one of you guys to drive up four boxes from Eugene to Portland.” What do you get for your trouble? Gas money and free admittance to the show for starters. Plus, mc’ll “give [you] free pirate merch and [you] can sit in one of the VIP seats at the Transformer screening.” His promises to also get you laid, buy you an iPhone, and give you a robot, unfortunately, look to be hollow. Holler at mc (deadmc@mcchris.com) if you’re interested.
  
• Glenn Case on Glenn Case: Northwestern ultra-nerd Glenn Case was recently interviewed for the Spokane 7. He talked about Song Fight!, the Half Racks, his remixes, and his “vinyl birthday.” Read it to find out.
• Fo Free: LA rockers Totally Radd! will be performing at the Viper Room for the Indie 103 Check One.. Two night on Monday, July 2nd. The bad news? The show’s 21+. The good news? The guys’ll get you in for free if you RSVP: rsvp@totallyradd.com
  
• RvB no more: Church just reminded me that the series featuring his namesake, Red vs. Blue, will shortly be no more. The finale of “The Blood Gulch Chronicles” should be available for viewing tomorrow. This is pretty much common knowledge, so I’ll just put it in a memo entitled “Shit You Already Know.”
• Like Ross and Rachel: Northwest Nerdcore is on a break. In Tanuki’s own words, the project “has been pretty much running on sheer determination for about two months now. We're burned out. We're taking a break.” Nook and company will, however, still do the mc chris show on the 3rd and, of course, Nerdcore Night at PAX. Everything else, though, is up in the air. Nook, y’all know where to find me if you need anything.
• Catfight!: And lastly, Beefy has started posting pix on a new Flickr account. There are a lot of as-yet unseen shots from The Mediocre Tour, and I found this image particularly charming. Girls will be girls.

Nerd News in Brief

I would regale you all with tales of my recent vacation, but I reckon the Dead Milkmen have already provided a pretty fair summation.

I am not a beach person. I am a desk person. And from this desk I bring you Nerd News in Brief.

• Calculate your Dangerosity: In answer to “the cats who apparently disagree that [he’s] on another level, skill-wise,” Jesse Dangerously has issued the following challenge: haters are encouraged to download the instrumental for his track “Outfox’d” – a personal favorite, if I do say so myself – and record a “a karaoke cover version that does any kind of justice” to the original. Jesse’s kindly provided the lyrics at his MySpace, and will be keeping a running tab of the attempts at his blog.
• No words to describe: If the cover version afforded by Jesse's challenge don’t float your boat, why not check out a Theremin cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” I’m totally not joking. Thanks to funky49 for directing my attention toward this one.
• Meanwhile, back at the Baxter Building: My man LogicOne has just dropped “Give 'em More,” the first official single from his debut release The Fantastic Dr. Richards. You can check it out at his MySpace.
• A parting shot: Before heading off for his summer tour, Beef Thompson dropped a new track as well; this one is Beefy’s own personal diss track and is entitled “Diss Missed.” You can hear the song here and chart its response over at the RT boards.
• Weeding out the Replicants: Ill content to let funky 49 snatch his crown for the weirdest submission to a NNIB, my bro Church counters with the following: The Wave Magazine (EDIT: not-so) recently administered the Voight-Kampf test to San Francisco mayoral candidates. Tom Ammiano earns bonus points for getting the joke.
• Tales from the comic shop: And lastly, here’s a clip of Sir-Up unveiling his new track “Duo of Destruction” at a (newly retooled) Emergency Pizza Party show at last week's Florida Supercon. Enjoy!

Totally inappropriate

So far on this vacation, I have learned I am allergic to children's sun screen, the wife has left our car unlocked on the street for a full 24 hours, and my sun has fervently vomited in a local diner. But it ain't been all bad; the weather has been wonderfully mild and we hit up a great sushi place this evening. Still, if I had to sum up the trip in two words it would have to be totally inappropriate. Which is also how I describe this picture.
--Z.

More Nerd News in Brief

Consider this the More Nerd News in Brief pre-holiday busywork edition.

In order to guarantee that you are all adequately entertained in my absence, this one is chock-full of suggestions concerning how to spend your precious free time.

Quit fuckin’ around and listen to…

• The Blue Bomber: Random’s take on Capcom’s Mega Man saga, known simply as Mega Ran, dropped earlier this week. You can pick up a dumbed-down version on the free and enjoy the geeky hip-hop goodness.
• Full frontal nerdity: Florida poindexters Rocket Propelled Geeks also just dropped their latest offering GOTO 10. It too is bargain priced at $0.00, so you’ve no need not to pick it up. “Crimson Twins” comes highly recommended.
  

Get off the couch and go see…

• Front the most: MC Frontalot requests that all NY-area geeks “ATTEND the HECK” out of his upcoming shows. On Saturday, June 23rd he’ll be tag-teaming with the high-toned honky known as mc chris from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM at Passout Record Shop (131 Grand St., Brooklyn) for the very reasonable price of FREE. Front goes on early, so show up for the duration. Then, the following Wednesday, June 27th, Frontalot will blow the doors off The Knitting Factory in Manhattan; doors open at 6:30 PM, but Front won’t commence the rockin’ until 8:00 PM. This all-ages gig costs 8 bones at the door.
• She’ll cut ya!: MC Router will be rocking out her own bad self this Sunday, June 24th at Embargo as part of the FW Weekly showcase. She’ll be taking the stage at 6:00 PM; show up early and help her get her pre-gig drunk on.
  

Don’t watch that! What this…

• Teh Winna: Ms. Router (with some help from Dan Lamoureux) handily won the Axosoft Geek Marketing contest with her video “Buggin' Out.” Why not take another look at that?
  
• Mid-season replacement: Church was nice enough to turn me on to this campaign to resurrect little-known 70s sci-fi farce Quark via DVD release. The same site also offers episodes for download, which, as Church said, “belies the ridiculous claims of the studios about the impact of piracy.”
  

Get your game on with…

• Moses!: The original Jewish action hero now has his own video game. Kick mummy ass in Return of Egypt. Sure, the game’s in Japanese, but all you really need to know is that Moses is back, and this time it’s personal.

Read cool stuff like…

• Lovin’ the Craft: In this week’s edition of online gaming periodical The Escapist, Allen Varney explores just why it’s so damned hard to make an interesting, functional game centering on H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. It’s a good read, specifically for slavering fanboys such as myself.
• White kids love hip-hop: If you’re looking to read something a bit more substantial, I’m gonna throw caution to the wind and recommend Other People’s Property: A Shadow History of Hip-Hop in White America. I picked up the hardcover – for a scant $1647 – from Amazon a couple months back, and I found it to be a fascinating read. If you’re looking for a book expressly about the nature of nerdcore within the realm of hip-hop, you’re gonna be mildly disappointed; but, consequently, if you’re looking for a book that perfectly treads the line between factually grounded illumination and charmingly personal exposition, then this one is sure to please. Jason Tanz explores the incredibly thorny issue of whites in black culture at length, but stops short of A) being preachy and B) giving simple answers to complex (and distinctly subjective) questions.
  

And that, faithful readers (Matt, I’m looking at you), should ensure that you have plenty to do while Z. and company soak up some fun in the sun. I’ll be sure to keep my camera phone holstered in case I see anything adequately nerdy that warrants sharing. Looks for more musical dorkery next week, and thanks, as always, for stopping by. :D

...

...

...

What? You're still here?

Okay, fine. Here's Church's latest video project. He calls it "Charity Case," but I call it Frontalot vs. Chaplin.

Enjoy.

I need to start packing.

Where’s Wheelie

The primary reason behind the fervent blogging on my part over the last few days hinges handily on the fact that the Family Z. is going on a bit of a mini-vacation for the latter part of this week. We are going, as all good suburban families surely do, to the beach, and that sort of activity generally precludes making with the geeky music news. As such, I planned to dazzle you all – dazzle you, says I – with some extra crunchy info as my truncated work week winds down.

Unfortunately, I’ve recently found my one nugget of unabashed “A” material to be, for lack of a better word, neutered.

The crux of today’s little news brief was supposed to be that next Saturday’s mc chris gig at Seattle’s Chop Suey was to feature hometown heroes Optimus Rhyme as the opener. Moreover, said show was also going to double as the CD release party for He Dies in Rocket School, the remix album of their instant nerdcore classic School the Indie Rockers. But, alas, this no longer looks to be the case.

A quick glance at Chop Suey’s calendar reveals that on the 30th mc will share the gig with mere “Special Guests,” and that makes me a very sad panda. True, with me being a literal nation away from the show, I shouldn’t have much of a vested interest in the lineup, but, at the same time, the very idea of that rare amalgamation of mc’s frenetic tenor and Wheelie’s bassy brogue couldn’t help but thrill me.

So, essentially, I guess today’s news is that there is no news. Or, at least, that the news that was is no longer... If you get my meaning.

Sure, mc chris is back on tour, and that is undeniably awesome. And, of course, Optimus Rhyme will surely rock Seattle to its molten core with the release of their new album; that too is fuckin’ phenomenal. But, sadly, these two events – which together would have surely coalesced to form a perfect storm of nerdcore goodness – are now entirely disparate.

Oh, Discordia!

Radio Free Hipster Ep. 24: Summer Skin

“Summer turns me upside down / Summer summer summer / It’s like a merry-go-round.”

So sang Ric Ocasek, and who am I to disagree?

This edition of RFH is (roughly) summer-themed. There’s some music that’s explicitly about summer, and a bit that’s more casually related to warm-weather activities. I really enjoyed putting this ep together because it not only gave me a chance to listen to some exclusive material, but also to some tracks from my two favorite records of the moment, International Metamorphosis and Zero One.

And that, my friends, is how I get my summer on.

Download Radio Free Hipster Ep. 24: Summer Skin [hosting provided by Antisocial] Size: 41.1 MB Running Time: 44:52

Show Notes:

Intro: Baddd Spellah (feat. Beefy) – “Radio Free Hipster Theme”
This track sounds great regardless of season.

Track 1: The Goondocks - “()”
I still have no idea what the hell this song is called. “Open Parentheses, Close Parentheses” is the best I can come up with.

Z’s first interlude: “Jo, Blair, Tootie, Fat Natalie…”
It always comes back to The Facts of Life!

Track 2: DJBC - “Hotbreaker”
If you’re not listening to Tim’s Radio Clash podcast, you should be!

Track 3: DJ Beef - “DJ Beef Goes All-City” / Robin Williams / Cousin Eddie
Halifax must be some kinda hip-hop town, as it has given us Jesse D, Uncle Fester, Wordburglar, et al. Do yourself a favor and download this entire mixtape.

Track 4: Billy Idol - “Hot in the City Tonight”
I know Billy was the marketable face of the post-punk, MTV revolution, and I also understand that he was supposed to be the very epitome of hip in the 1980s. Still, he always struck me as an interminable dorkwad.

Track 5: Rachael Layne - “Summer, Highland Falls”
This is yet another gem I pulled from Glenn Case’s expansive online library.

Track 6: Ziwtra - “Stomp the Summer Sky”
And this is yet another gem I pulled from OverClocked ReMix. It pays to have old standbys!

Track 7: Fourteen Year Old Girls - “Beach Party”
“Take Luigi with you; use the buddy code.”

Z’s 2nd interlude: “New love and drinking.”
There’s something about summer that always makes me think of romance and booze. Perhaps it’s my poetic heart.

Track 8: Shael Riley - “Bandaid”
Shael told me early on that he didn’t wanna leak any demo material from the new album. I have no idea what sparked this change of heart, but I am thrilled to present this track.

Track 9: DJ Mashup - “Kool Temperature (EVEN Kooler edit)” / Ollie Williams
It’s hard to follow-up a track about hospital sex. I thought this sufficed.

Track 10: FOXHOUND - “TwoFace”
In their own words, “FOXHOUND plays the music of the 8-bit/16-bit golden age of video-gaming with an earnestness and gravity that is completely ridiculous.” God, I love this band!

Track 11: Dual Core - “Give Me Wings”
I am decaffeinated and also very old, so I totally missed the whole “Red Bull and Vodka” thing. This song makes me really regret that.

Z’s final interlude: “My little jaunt through the nerdy (and not-so nerdy) songs of summer.”
I’m still unsure how Billy Idol made it into this podcast. Perhaps it was the wine.

Track 12: YTCracker and the Tanner 4105 Orchestra - “Phillip Nis in High School”
It sort of makes me feel good to know that Nis hasn't always had all the info. ;)

I tried to make this episode of the podcast a little different, a little, I dunno, jazzier. I like to spice shit up for y'all at irregular intervals.

I'll wager I missed a lot of great summer songs, so feel free to point out any classics I may have ignored. Who knows when I'll get the wild hair and decide to do another summer ep.

As always, your comments are encouraged. I am nothing without your input.

Thanks for playing.

Righteous Bad-Ass

I seem to have shorted you all a video in my previous NNIB, so allow me to make amends. Below is the newest piece of hip-hop mastery from Halifax's Jesse Dangerously. Behold and be amazed!

Nerd News in Brief

This weekend, in between checking out its rock-ass children’s library and helping Diego rescue Baby Jaguar’s growl, the family Z. were afforded an excellent opportunity to explore downtown Charlotte. Honestly, it’s been a while since I soaked in the unique charm of our closest urban center, and, while most of the old sights, sounds, and smells were as I recalled, I seem to have forgotten that Charlotte, NC is a scant 20 miles from the surface of the goddamn sun!

There is simply no heat like city heat, and it is with that feeling of oppressive clamminess that I was most impressed. Well, that and the sight of that guy dressed like My Buddy carting two My Buddy dolls around in a stroller buying what appeared to be hand-made, macramé pot holders from an elderly biker couple.

Ah, the city!

• Rock out with your dork out: Earlier this month, Glenn Case’s group The Half Racks played a show at the Comet in Spokane. Glenn was nice enough to upload a shit-ton of clips to YouTube, and you are fervently encouraged to check ‘em out.
• On the road again: In other news from the Northwest, my boy Beefy has finally gotten the bulk of his summer tour plans ironed out. Upcoming events include shows at Club Hypnotiq in Lebanon, OR on June 22; The Trove in Grants Pass, OR on June 24; shows in San Francisco, and Soledad, CA on the 28 and 29, respectively; another OR show on July 1 in Bandon; and, of course, the WOW Hall gig with mc chris in Eugene, OR on July 3.
• Fancy-schmancy: Rhyme Torrents mastermind High-C has recently found some time to return to the boards, and has just dropped the knowledge that the seventh edition of the compilation will be a bit of a change from the previous incarnations. “This one will have to be very pro,” High-C says, “MC Chris is going to be on it, probably MC Lars. Hopefully Frontalot, too […] That means you need to have top-notch production, tight-ass delivery. You have six months to do a single song that is gobsmackingly cool.” Artists interested in smacking gobs should contact High-C immediately.
• NASCAR!!!: Last week, Doc Pop posted his own hand-inked, hilariously rescripted take on a classic page of Jack Kirby-penciled Thor. The results are delightful!
• Shadow over Chilliwack: Sadly, I neglected to mention that Canadian Lovecraftian rockers Darkest of the Hillside Thickets celebrated their first ever Fan Appreciation Day last Friday. The newest Thickets album Shadow Out of Tim is scheduled to drop this Thursday, and that album’s first single, “A Marine Biologist,” is available for free download at the band’s MySpace.
• Cephalopod with opposable thumbs: Taking the above booboo into consideration, I offer this pic as penance. Cthulhu Monkey implores you to forgive a wretched blogger of his errors. (Thanks, Church!)

More Nerd News in Brief

Is everybody truly working for the weekend? I'm just asking, 'cause, y'know, it's pretty much here. Is it okay if I just go ahead and stop working? Between you and me, I'm pretty much tapped.

Thankfully, I'll have a few days to recuperate. To recuperate and watch Go Diego Go Live!

I'm totally not joking about that.

While I ponder my fate, please enjoy More Nerd News in Brief.

• Farewell, old friend: Earlier this week we lost a beloved television icon. Under the guise of Mr. Wizard, Don Herbert instilled within a generation of American children a love of science and a genuine fascination with the world around them. In doing so he also helped to inspire the first wave of contemporary nerds. He will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.
• Penny Arcaded!: Congrats to int eight and c64 – collectively known as Dual Core – for their recent shout-out from Penny Arcade’s Gabe. As I stated previously, their debut album Zero One is a must-own, and I’m glad to know that others agree.
• BRAINS!: How did it escape my keen eye that this Wednesday was Blog Like It’s the End of the World Day? How did I possibly miss out on a quasi-holiday for bloggers centered around the eminent zombie apocalypse? I’d imagine the only person more pissed about missing this than I am is my boy ZeaLouS1.
• Epic Proportions: Speaking of, the BOSS FIGHT San Diego Comic-Con show I nigh finalized. Head over to ZeaLouS1’s site for the skinny including an incredibly impressive lineup!
• Up in smoke: For those of you worried that the Wizard Rock community would begin taking itself a bit too seriously following the recent MTV exposure, may I present Harry Potter and the Magic of Music. Oh course, all thanks for this one go to my boy Church and his uncanny ability to find startlingly weird shit.
• Gamers Unite: It’s no secret that I generally wrap up these posts with a video of the slap-nuts funny variety, but today I’m gonna break form. The guys at PBC Productions – the same folks who brought you The New Adventures of Captain S – have another project in the works. This one, however, is a bit more serious. Their Gamers Against Violence Documentary is a two-part mini doc centering on the events and outcomes of NYC’s recent Gamers Against Violence rally. If you’ve got a moment, take a look at the individual segments at the PBC Web site, and, if you feel so led, Digg the project. Gamer culture has taken many a hit of late, and it's always nice to hear someone from our side speak up.
  

Sink the Pink

Australians are fuckin’ crazy. I’m just sayin’.

Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact that half of the country was settled by Europeans via penal transportation. Hell, maybe it’s due to the alarmingly high number of indigenous marsupials; being in close proximity to that many pouched critters could make anyone loopy!

Personally, I think it’s the beer, and, with that in mind, let me present exhibit A. It’s a video sneak-peak of some of the new material you’ll be hearing from Canberra’s own Grandmaster Pink and Diabolik on their forthcoming EP.

Notice the crazed look in Pinky’s eyes. Notice the startling nature of his meticulously calculated flow. Notice the wild gyrations. Notice the beer.

Still, as crazy as those cats are, I can't help but be excited for the new release. Rest assured that I'll do everything in my power to score some exclusive preview tracks for the podcast. I have ways - crazy ways - all my own.

Nerd News in Brief

I don't watch The Sopranos, so forgive my glaring lack of righteous indignation concerning the series finale.

I've heard the sordid tale, and I totally understand why people are pissed, but, frankly, my only concern is that “Little Stevie” Van Zandt won't be getting that steady paycheck anymore.

You've still got the Underground Garage, Steve!

And now, while I continue my one-sided conversation with the guitarist of the E-Street Band, please enjoy the Nerd News in Brief.

• News flash!: Apparently, fervently playing Nintendo Wii for hours on end can cause some discomfort. Who knew? Thanks, medical science!
• Not the only game in town: MTV recently unleashed upon its viewership that Wizard Rock piece we'd been waiting for. Honestly, it wasn't nearly as condescending as I'd anticipated. My only complaint? The omission of the simple fact that bands have, in fact, been thematically centering themselves around works such as Star Trek and The Lord of the Rings for years now. C'mon, people!
• It's Router's world, we just live in it: MC Router recently made the front page of YouTube with her Dan Lamouruex-directed video “Buggin' Out.” A heavily eye-lined Router also gave an exclusive interview to online musical community Made Loud. She's even got a couple of gigs lined up: June 15th at The Wreck Room and June 24 at Embargo as part of the FW Weekly showcase. In short, Router demands your attention.
• Worth a thousand EXP points: The fellows over at Game Music 4 All have posted some great picks of their recent Level Up event. You can also watch IllGill and ZeaLous1 drop some freestyle with game rockers Toploader right here. For those of us who couldn't be there in person, this is the next best thing.
• A sentimental observation ‘bout the moon: My pal Church recently came across a piece over at Zen Habits that put him in mind of a certain MC Frontalot track. Unfortunately, the track in question was not “Gonna Be Your Man.”
• Feel the burn: Church also turned me on to Dance Dance Emolation. “It's just like Dance Dance Revolution. But with flamethrowers. Pointed at you.”
• Little know fact: LogicOne is, in reality, Dr. Reed Richards. Don't believe me? Then why is the title of his forthcoming album The Fantastic Dr. Richards? I gotcha with that one!
• I've been a bad, bad boy: And lastly, last week's tardy edition of NNIB elicited some strange reactions. Not the least of which was a solid scolding from my pal Matt from Headphone Sacrament. Still, in spite of his disappointment he was nice enough to share the following vid, which I will now pass on to you. May the circle be unbroken.