Nerdcore 64
Posted on September 13th, 2008
Filed under: Music News,Videos — Karl Olson @ 1:44 pm
Link to video in case the above embed doesn’t crosspost to LJ.
Look for me leaving The Mega64 Panel at PAX2008 at about 44 minute and 54 seconds in. You’ll also see my friend Derek and Nerdcore rapper MC Gigahertz also leaving, as we were on our way to catch the West Coast premiere of Nerdcore Rising.
So, what can this post yield more than goofy video of me saying “NERDCORE RISING, BABY, WHAT!?!” Well, Nerdcore Rising is a good documentary, and it compliments Nerdcore For Life well – one gives you the godfather of the genre and the realities of his first tour, and one gives you an overview of the genre he helped to create, and in retrospect, it only it makes sense to document these things separately. Additionally, the Mega64 guys turned out to the PAX premiere of Nerdcore For Life, and they really dug the movie and the people in it.
Everything comes full circle I suppose.
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Rolling Doubles for Double Damage
Posted on August 22nd, 2008
Filed under: Reviews — Karl Olson @ 3:38 am
So, Beefy finally pushed Rolling Doubles out the door. Many people on the internet (read: other nerdcore rappers) seem displeased with his showing. So, as someone who has written a hundredish reviews on the interwebs, and who has been writing reviews since 8th grade for the school newspapers, I figured I’d give it a spin my critical ears, and after purchasing it off amazon and then fixing the flash mounting on my eee, I listened and wrote the following.
Beefy leads off with some guitar heavy stuff – a break with most of his prior work, and with a lot of nerdcore in general. However, “Olly Olly Oxen Free” and “You Can Call Me Beef” certainly have the swagger that I’ve come to expect from Mr. Moore. “Tilt” is a beautiful example of the progression Beefy’s shown as an artist – the lyrics are coded with all sorts of smart alek plays on words and references, but the flows show both greater tightness and some nice nods to his influences and favs as well. His penchant for smart alek breakdowns mid song works to wonderful effect in “Table Top,” while the new mix of “Play With Me” could get college radio traction with a little promotion. Also on the college radio tip, “Ball Pit” manages to bring the sentimentality and instrumentation of acts like The Postal Service into Nerdcore, and the result’s great and almost moving with it’s nostalgic flavor.
Beefy speeds things back up with “Disconnect” where he’s arguably outshined by the guest MCs, but it’s still a catchy track, and he easily delivers some of the biggest laughs of the album on this track. Besides, everyone can relate to such a situation. Speaking of relatable content, it really takes a musician to fully appreciate “Last Minute Gig” but as someone who has basically lived it, it’s funny if not a bit of a bittersweet reminder of why I wanted to get out of music. “Clueless” manages to take another dig at his detractors while managing to serve as a comedy skit and rap interlude. Demonstrating some of his rarely displayed double speed flow and coming with some truly caustic albeit not particular controversial slams on mainstream rap, “Turn Your Radio Off” is some of the rawest Beef since “Diss Missed.”
Back on the accessibility point, “Minimum Wage Slave,” is definitely something the average joe can get, but it’s also the most repetitive track on the disc, though the hook ends up with a surprisingly Stone Temple Pilots-flavor thanks to Shael Riley. “Dork Date” is fun, and an almost too accurate when it comes to the world of dork dating. Beefy closes out the main disc with his last moment of braggadocio with “1337ology” and “Story Time,” where Beefy manages to deliver, well, straight-up rap. It’s rap with the same personal flavor that put Eminem on the top of Billboard, and it’s something almost entirely absent in Nerdcore. If anything, it’s almost a taunt to have this at the end of the album, because almost suggests that the next album could be darker and heavier if he chose to go there, and I personally think that’d be interesting to see.
The CD is filled out with a couple remixes – a pretty cool rock version of “Table Top” by tanner4105, and radio ready and outright sick awesome remix of “Play With Me” by DJ John. Good stuff, and certainly welcome.
In conclusion, it’s not the best showing in the genre (MC Frontalot will have that secured with his upcoming album Final Boss – just heads up on that,) but it’s much better than people want to give him credit for. It brings the flavor that people expect from Beefy – comedy, ego and modesty, while uncovering a much more personal and human side as well. It certainly puts him at the head of the class when it comes to second-gen nerdcore artists, and really, it puts him in the same league as the first gen artists. The disc reaffirms why he gigs with people like Optimus, Front and YT and why producers like Tanner, DJ John and Baddd Spellah work with him: he delivers at that level, and he puts in the work to make sure that shows on the album, regardless of the time it takes and regardless of what his detractors would like to claim.
tl;dr: Beefy’s new CD is 8.5/10 minimum, this is a fact.
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Blog Check / Mic Check
Posted on July 20th, 2008
Filed under: General,Music News — Karl Olson @ 3:57 am
So, after a runaround that included visiting a music store that apparently has no affiliation but the exact same as the music store for which I had a gift certificate for, visiting a mall during a power outage, cashing in said gift certificate for a nice new condenser mic, and finally going to another music store and buying a new mixer with phantom power for said condenser, I made some dramatic changes to my studio setup today. Not really the changes I was planning on making (I was hoping to get a USB condenser, but oh well,) but changes that are very favorable nonetheless (wow, for a mic that effectively only cost me 50 bucks, it’s night and day.) Expect the next album I make to sound another level better than OpenSource Lyricist. Seriously, it will be pro-grade sound with pro-grade content. What I recorded just today sounds awesome, and I think if I’m smart about things, I should be able to get a whole CD done before going back to school (finally.)
Meanwhile, I’ve also upgraded my blog software to the latest WordPress, so hopefully crossposting between it and my livejournal still works.
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The cake apparently is not a lie
Posted on July 15th, 2008
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 3:06 pm
So it’s my last day working at Computer Stop (I figure that since I’ll no longer be employed here, it’s cool to mention the place by name,) and what should I find but a giant cheesecake (one of those ones with 8 different flavors of cheesecake,) and a gift that’ll help me snag some new studio gear (watch out for a blog post on that.) Very awesome of them.
I mean, can’t say I’m terribly broken up about having to leave, but for a retail job, it’s probably the best one could ever hope for, atleast if you’re a nerd like me, and it definitely honed my computer tech skills. The employee discount was sweet too.
Still, time for the Computer Stop arc of my life to end, and the College arc to start.
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Better Video / Inadvertant Comedy
Posted on July 12th, 2008
Filed under: General,Music News,Videos — Karl Olson @ 6:23 pm
So, the video quality on my STIFF after party performance was a shade mediocre (thanks to my cheap refurb digital camera;) however Betheny Lee (aka Bethzilla, friend of Beefy,) actually had a decent camcorder and shot the same performance, which is viewable here. There are also performances from Beefy, Beefy featuring Bethzilla and YT Cracker from the same evening, as well other cool business like Q&A’s and other nerdcore antics viewable here, though you’ll have to scroll down a bit.
On the comedy side of the headline, turns out my local anime store of choice, Anime Raku (formerly Anime Kingdom,) has been buying google ads. I know this because they’ve run on my page. If you see there ad on the sidebar, click though so I get some money back 😉
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another desu desu desu cut
Posted on July 9th, 2008
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 11:54 pm
This time, a little rap I did in two takes (one for the main vox, one for the backing,) over a beat cobbled together from Lupe Fiasco, Yoko Kanno and Kenna. If it were something I were doing with a real backing for a real release, I might polish it more, but meh. I’ll save that for real albums.
BTW, no hooks on this one – just 64 bars of rap at 83.5 bpm. It’s already pretty dark lyrically, but I wanted to try to work in the framework of Fiasco’s “Put You On Game” in a fashion true the original. The lyrics after the cut/more!
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imdb
Posted on June 27th, 2008
Filed under: General,Music News — Karl Olson @ 4:27 pm
Hey look, I have an imdb page now. I can hardly believe it. Still probably not known enough to get a wikipedia page though.
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Live Results Coming In
Posted on June 17th, 2008
Filed under: Music News,Videos — Karl Olson @ 1:38 am
In as much the results of my live set that the Nerdcore For Life After-Party show, are turning up on the net, thanks to my cheap digital camera and the camera work of MC Gigahertz. Gentlemen, Behold, me performing “Full Disclosure” off of Opensource Lyricist:
I’d embed it, but Live Journal seems to balk at the embeds.
BTW, the movie is quite good. Really a film about nerdcore as a genre and not so as much about the artists who make it, and the result of that works very well in my opinion. I’m almost shocked how nerdy I am looking at it from the outside looking perspective at points – I’m *so* otaku, it’s nuts. Plus, my nerdcore friends and girlfriend all come off as awesome (especially my girlfriend, but I am biased :))
So, if you can catch Nerdcore For Life, do so. It’s time and money well spent.
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A DJ Mix
Posted on June 8th, 2008
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 5:15 am
Why? Because I can. Also, it features a song (and a bit) at the end that was originally intended for Haven (the and-a-bit was meant to be on Solace) but that I cut do to time constraints, and that I then forgot about until recently. Thus, a DJ mix is born. Btw, the song at the end is named “Maho” after a character from Onegai Teacher. Almost makes me think I could/should to an EP/LP of Drum n’ Bass tracks named after characters from harem anime, but on the other hand, I do have other stuff to do, like rehearse.
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Last Night At The Improv
Posted on May 23rd, 2008
Filed under: Music News,Videos — Karl Olson @ 5:03 am
Or rather, last nights improv with electronic music producer Synthead who coincidentally is the brother of a good friend of mine, Lucy. Lucy also recorded on a Sony digital camera said improv which started lol money tribute, but soon veered into other territory:
Honestly, this is not a rick roll, though maybe I should have done that too.
My contribution is admittedly problematic at points (over-referential flow style,) but Synthead lays down some sick beats and synths. Definitely fun, and something I should probably do again. Maybe with more freestyle and less cover lyrics. Might keep the Lil Wayne flow though – it’s fun.