solipsistic NATION No. 87: Glitterdämmerung

Damn, this week’s show is packed with great stuff!

When I relaunched solipsistic NATION as a podcast one of the first shows I did was a documentary about Nerdcore. Shortly afterwards I learned that Negin Farsad was also working on a documentary about the genre called Nerdcore Rising. The documentary was recently released and I knew I had to get Negin on the show to talk about her documentary.

Another person I’ve wanted to get on solipsistic NATION is drum and bass artist Panda. As luck would have it, Panda has put out a new album called Retake Manhattan that simply rocks! Panda and I have been exchanging emails during the last year and I nailed a date to get hm on the line to talk about his new CD. It’s rare to hear an electronic music concept album and Panda sails around the globe in a mere hour and ten minutes.

Speaking of new releases, Meat Beat Manifesto has released a new album titled Autoimmune that is so bass heavy that it could move a freight truck across a parking lot. Just imagine what it can do to your ears! I had the pleasure of seeing Meat Beat Manifesto last week and they put on an awesome show. They’re on the last leg of their U.S. tour so visit their website to see if they’re playing in your area. If you’ve missed them, no worries, Jack will be on next week’s show with a live recording of one of Meat Beat Manifesto’s performances.

I’ve mentioned previously that one of the blogs I frequently read is Igloo Magazine. I’ve been talking with Pietro Da Sacco, Igloo’s managing editor, and I asked him to come on this week’s show to talk about his ‘zine. Pietro will be back on solipsistic NATION next month with a beautiful mix of electronic music that’s going to make you weak at the knees.

A few months back solipsistic NATION was picked up by KYOURadio 1550 AM in San Francisco. KYOURadio plays an eclectic program of talk and music shows but what make the station truly unique that all the content comes from user generate content. That is to say, podcasts. I invited KYOURadio’s station manager, Stephen Page, to come on today’s show to talk about the station and the dramatic changes radio is currently going through.

Last, and by no stretch of the imagination, least, is an interview with Martin Rev and Alan Vega of Suicide. Alan and Martin are old school and began Suicide way back in the 70s. Often imitated but never duplicated, Suicide is one of the original proto-electronic music bands who have influenced genres such as techno, industrial and electroclash. Suicide was never ahead of their time, just that everyone else was behind the times and desperately trying to catch up to the path that Suicide was blazing.

Photo Credit: pausetivespace

  1. Baddd Spellah (feat. MC Frontalot) “Rhyme of the Nibelung” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
  2. Interview with Negin Farsad, director of Nerdcore Rising
  3. Nerdcore Rising Trailer
  4. Panda “Quebec”
  5. Panda “Casablanca”
  6. Interview with Panda
  7. Meat Beat Manifesto “Hellfire”
  8. Meat Beat Manifesto “62 Dub”
  9. Interview with Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto
  10. Scorn “Enough To Hold Bottom”
  11. Interview with Pietro Da Sacco, managing editor of Igloo Magazine
  12. Ambivalent “Lowlights”
  13. Interview with Stephen Page, station manager of KYOURadio
  14. Dark Machines “Inferno”
  15. Suicide “Rocket USA”
  16. Suicide “Frankie Teardrop”
  17. Interview with Martin Rev and Alan Vega of Suicide

solipsistic NATION No. 4: Nerdcore

Nerdocre

When solipsistic NATION was broadcast over the air I was limited by our station’s ramshckle software and hardware. Even doing a decent segue, so essential to electronic music, was difficult to pull off. When I made the decision to relaunch solipsistic NATION as a podcast I wanted to be ambitious and pursue the projects I could never do at Free Radio San Diego.

From time to time I will release documentaries on a specific genre of electronic music and to get things started, this week’s solipsistic NATION features a documentary on Nerdcore.

Nerdcore hip hop, or geeksta rap, is a subgenre of hip hop music that is performed by nerds or geeks, and is characterized by themes and subject matter considered to be of general interest to nerds. Nerdcore has no unifying musical manifesto, and the sound of nerdcore varies wildly from artist to artist. One common theme, especially in the early days of the genre, is uncleared sampling.

MC FrontalotMC Frontalot
MC Frontalot is the stage name of Damian Hess, a hip hop musician and self-proclaimed “world’s 579th-greatest rapper.”

Many consider Frontalot, if not the founder of nerdcore, certainly the man who shone the torch on it. Front himself though is quick to point out the many artists who came before him.

UltraklystronUltraklystron
Ultraklystron is a staff writer/producer for ToonZone.net. He is also Nerdcore’s expert on all things anime and manga. Ultraklystron is currently a CS student but represents the Otaku lifestyle in his work.

Ultraklystron’s most recent release is Revision4920. Through some unexplainable twist of events, it actually did better than any of his previous individual efforts to sell my music before and resulted in some interesting media attention.

High-CHigh-C
High-C is a programmer, writer, rapper, metalhead, inventor and long time nerd. There are probably 10 High-Cs, one in the same state as him. There’s even a punk band named High-C.

High-C has released the seminal nerdcore compilation CDs, Rhyme Torrents volumes 1-4. He is currewntly hard at work assembling Rhyme Torrents volume 5 which, with any luck, will be released any moment.

YTCrackerYTCracker
YTCracker began producing rap music in 1998 in the genre that has since become known as nerdcore hip hop. His early work mainly focused on documenting and amusing the participants of the America Online hacking scene.

YTCracker is a self-proclaimed “jack of all trades”, also making a name for himself as a professional disc jockey, computer programmer, graphics designer and webmaster.

funky49funky49
Using two boomboxes and a Casio SK1 keyboard, funky49 came up with audio projects for school and personal use as a teenager. He also ran sound for a stage production in a drama class and made Amiga MOD tracker songs on the computer.

funky49 is the official tour DJ for Spinal Tap. As soon as a new drummer is found, tour dates will be released.

Ham-STARHam-STAR
Ham-STAR is the world’s greatest hamster rapper. Accept no imitations, burdened by the limitations of spitting out lines not from their own mind. Unlike the others, Ham-STAR doesn’t do covers. He drops his own fresh rhymes, every time.

His biggest influence is Blackalicious, whose “improptu rapping about food is a hotter cut than half the shiny mass-produced (c)rap out there today.”

BeefyBeefy
If you’re a pretty lady willing to send Beefy pictures of yourself scantily clad he will do anything you ask. He’ll also do it for some duckets, cause he’s a big sellout.

Beefy geeks out by drawing comic. However, with the music becoming the biggest part of his life, comics have gone on the back burner. He still doodles and a new comic may not be too far off.

Photo Credit: Ludwig van Jaethoven

  1. MC Frontalot “Goth Girls”
  2. Ultraklystron “There’s The Beef (Ft. MCeeP)”
  3. Meter Versus Yard “Divided States (Kid Charlamaign Bass Remix)”
  4. YTCracker “Legacy”
  5. funky49 “Never Going Back (to Dialup)”
  6. Ham-STAR “Legend of Ham-STAR”
  7. Beefy “I Don’t Wanna Be Right”