Long Interview and Other Non-Such
Posted on October 10th, 2006
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 4:56 pm
I am extremely verbose. Pleonastic even. Still, thank you Z from Hipster, Please for interviewing me.
Meanwhile, I’m in Kirkland (ear infection == not staying in Spokane this week.) If you have anything you need to get a hold of me for, now would be a great time at I’m almost definitely available. Things like recording vocals, or giving me my laptop, or generally even hangin out can be done. 😉
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So, I Just Finished Bingeing Threw Honey & Clover…
Posted on October 5th, 2006
Filed under: Reviews — Karl Olson @ 2:34 am
…Or rather, through the last 10 episodes of season 1 and all of season 2. I’ve always been a sucker for more character driven anime, and for anime with more realistic settings. I mean, I wouldn’t have had series like Haibane Renmei, Twin Spica and Koi Kaze in my top 5, with Haibane sitting at what felt like a permanent number 1. However, Honey & Clover just might have aced it out. Maybe it’s just because it resonated so directly with my current life (student in a transitional phase and so on.) I mean, after a certain point it felt like I was watching my past, present and possible futures play out before my eyes almost. It was simulateously very hard to watch, yet so compelling and frank I felt that I had to finish it.
But really, it’s an excellent show – like I said, maybe even my new number 1. I mean, the series is loaded with visual cheats, and I can break down the direction easily at points, but yet, I could still get lost in it, I could still be swept up in it. Only a handful of series can grab me so entirely that I can ignore, nay, embrace it’s flaws and formulas. Honey & Clover joins that club. All of it. There are prettier series, their are more directly metaphysical and intellectual series, but ultimately Honey & Clover does what a great show should do first and foremost – it connects with you. Or atleast it connected with me, and deeply. Maybe I won’t say that when I’m 30 or 40 or whatever, maybe it’s just tapping a different issue than earlier top favorites of mine did, but I know that either way I hope some one licences this so I can buy it. I haven’t wanted to buy a series this bad for a while.
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48 Hours of Fun.
Posted on September 29th, 2006
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 7:50 am
So Nursehella, A.K.A. Danielle, rolled into Seattle on Wednesday, and it was a blast from start to finish. We pretty much chilled the first half of the first day – had some KFC and 7-Eleven, used some internets, and she listened to OpenSource Lyricist ahead of street date (and she enjoyed it, making me two for two on advance listens for it.) Then after a good night’s rest (I was out on the couch, she was in my bed – my pillows smell like Chanel,) we got some Jack in the Box and recorded our collab. Later, we went to down the Capitol Steps/Optimus Rhyme/mc chris show, and it was fantastical. Got mc’s new CD and got it autographed by Chris and John, and I chatted with the always awesome and friendly Wheelie Cyberman. After the show, it was Denny’s time. Moons over my Hammy with a silly juice/soda drink and great company? That’s how you end an excellent evening if you’re me. Even if I never made anything else out of nerdcore hiphop, the fact I met and befriended a wonderful individual like Nursehella and the fact that people who inspired me to try this know who I am makes it all worth it. Fans, as much as I love the few I have, become the icing on the cake almost, which is probably a good thing. Meanwhile, while I’m stating possibly unpopular opinions in the nerdcore scene, I’m diggin mc chris’ new CD.
PS: Shout out to Feather and her friends, and congrats to her for getting one of mc’s towels and the requisite autograph on it too 😀
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It’s Like A Waltz, Isn’t It? It’s Wonderful.
Posted on September 26th, 2006
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 2:29 am
Been slowly working threw Honey & Clover lately. I really think I’m falling for this show. It hits so me so dead on emotionally at points I have to pause it and breathe for a second. Hence the quote. I think by the time I’m done watching the show, it’ll be in my top 5 without batting an eyelash.
Anyway, I might be out of town for a while starting Saturday afternoon – family stuff. As such, if there is something critical any of you out there reading this blog need from me, email or call or post ASAP. I’m kind of busy as it stands trying to sow up other loose ends (IE: getting the rest of my screeners watched and reviewed amongst other things,) but I’ll try my best to redress any other loose ends too.
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More Podcast Fun
Posted on September 22nd, 2006
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 2:26 am
As in, another podcast interviewed me, namely Solipsistic Nation, an excellent podcast featuring some great music and great interviews. I’m pretty boring, but MC Frontalot puts forth the most poetic description of nerdcore I’ve seen, while the rest of the artists featured also put forth some great thoughts and decribe their interesting and colorful histories. If you like nerdcore, you’ll like this podcast episode. Besides, it has MC Frontalot, YTCracker, Beefy, High-C, Funky49 and Ham-STAR on it too, so it even has nerdcore rappers that have recieved more mainstream media attention than yours truly here.
Meanwhile, the album that will follow Opensource Lyricist is full. I think I might just try to record the vocals for all 18 tracks (2 songs are being moved Opensource to the next CD, and 2 will be orphaned as they will appear on neither album, though I’ll be sure to kick them out on a compilation or as a-series-of-tubes exclusive songs,) in the next couple weeks. I’ll just machine gun threw it and be done with it. I had this period of binge-writing during this summer inspite of being out of town (actually, in part because I was out of town,) and I wrote about 8 songs in the past month, but I think that’ll be that for a little while at the very least. I need to live some more life before writing lyrics again.
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Do not operate heavy machinery.
Posted on September 19th, 2006
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 3:18 am
As this audio sleep aid causes drowsiness.
Meanwhile, I need to snipe a bid on a laptop monitor cable. Easier said than done. I have a sneaking suspicion even with Ebay’s lower prices, I will be paying more than the cost of the laptop it repairs for the cable. Ah well. Later today, it’s Fiasco time 😀
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Adverse Meditations On Drum n’ Bass
Posted on September 18th, 2006
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 2:24 am
Two things.
1. Google Ads are fun. Amusing to see Lupe Fiasco ads in my sidebar (something those reading via LJ don’t see I suppose.) Oh yeah, everyone who wants to hear a wonderful hiphop CD should buy his CD when it hits on Tuesday. I know probably will should I have funds available. I mean, he raps about giant robots and Lupin the Third, and very excellently at that.
2. My most recent drum n’ bass CD, the violent yet eloquent Haven is now remastered, and available for download in 320kbps mp3, lossless ogg vorbis and just so that no one decides to call me George Lucas for being an audio revisionist the original ogg vorbis release is up too. It’s split into 3 different zip files (one for each format/version,) so you can just download the whole album in a shot with m3u playlist included too. It’s probably the best drum n’ bass CD I’ve done, and it’s certainly the one I’m happiest with at this point, so get it while it’s lukewarm.
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Advance Leak
Posted on September 14th, 2006
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 9:28 pm
Since RhymeTorrents v.5 is almost done, I figured it’s safe to leak my contribution, a collab featuring an upcoming nerdcore mc by the name of MCeeP.
Ultraklystron feat. MCeep – There’s The Beef
It’s a nerdcore hiphop/death metal fusion. It’s pretty insane. Full lyrics will be up on rhymetorrents.com once the compilation goes up officially, but it’s basically the same kind of stuff I covered in “Scenester Blues,” just way more fun and silly – this is what I get for freestyling in flame threads.
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I should make an album or atleast an EP this way….
Posted on September 1st, 2006
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 10:40 pm
My local Apple Store has amongst other things:
-A very, very high speed internet connection with no filtering whatsoever, or rather no filtering that I care about.
-A duel-Zeon tower loaded with GarageBand, a USB Midi Keyboard, and said tower is hooked into the aforementioned internet.
Thus, I decided to write a song, and with prodding from my friend Misu, I uploaded it to the net. I did this on thursday. Maybe I’ll keep doing so over time. I figure if I stop by there once a week (easy to do since I’m down in Bellevue anyway every Friday to hang out at Anime Kingdom,) I should be able to make an album or two before the year is up 😉
PS: I did a very mediocre set at the Shark Club. Everyone else delivered like Domino’s on a dozen bottles of Bawls though, so on the whole it was a good evening, and I made some good friends in the nerdcore scene I think/hope. The documentar(ies) should be very interesting though, and both will feature at some decent mc work from me. Just not from the live show, or atleast as much as I would have liked to deliver. Oh well, atleast I have my high-concept Apple Store album 😀
PSS: I did other stuff like hang out in the international district with Feather (the Haruko cosplayer who I turned on to nerdcore back at SakuraCon and who I ran into again at The Pillows show a while back.) She is officially the first person who isn’t me to hear the current revision (no pun intended) of Opensource Lyricist. That was fun. Also, PAX, what little of it I could enjoy between the documentary filming and waiting in line, was a blast. I just wish I could have played some more video games. Atleast I was able to attend some of the panels and both of the concerts though. Also, I beat Monzy at Halo while sitting in the back of a tricked out Scion xB. This would be a 1337 achievement except that he’s interning at Google NYC, so he’s still way 1337er than myself, and he’s generally a really super nice guy as is everyone else I’ve met so far in the nerdcore scene. There is hope 🙂
Addendum: Not so much album as an on-going project that will likely be beyond silly. I mean revolutionary… not really.
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Music is for Complaining.
Posted on August 24th, 2006
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 6:20 pm
Or atleast that’s what I did in my latest Nerdcore song, Scenester Blues, where I bemoan the fact that their isn’t more love in the Nerdcore scene. I mean, really, one would think geeks, nerds and other such social outsiders wouldn’t be so egotistical and mean to each other. One would think that there is an inherent unity on the basis of shared experiences – we’ve all been ostracized at some point, thus one would think that such an action would be unthinkable as such. Alas, it just seems like the same kind of in-fighting and social divisions I thought I left as moved towards higher and higher levels of education came back into play the instant scene was created.
I mean, part of it is that it’s really hard to create a harmonious and complete community when you’re mashing various people who previously were working unaware of each other into one group, but it’d be a lot easier if people could just drop the egos for a second and be honest yet polite. I mean, yeah ego and posturing are a large of part of Hip Hop and Rap, particularly in modern context; however, nothing positive comes of it when it’s taken too seriously and gets in the way being respectful to each other, to your peers. It just sours things. I just mean that I know as a group we can do better. Maybe this will inspire something like that. Atleast that’s all I can hope for.