Nerdcore and Spaceland

MC Frontalot
So yesterday my boss gave me a CD by the so called, "Inventor of Nerdcore," MC Frontalot. I listened to the CD on my way home from work and then on my way to work this morning. I've listened to my fair share of Hip-hop over the years, Blackstar is probably one of my favorite albums. And when it comes to white-man Hip-hop, i've listened to every Beastie Boys song(obviously) as well as Eminem and Chris Glover. Given all this, i figured i would know kind of what to expect. Boy was i wrong.

Here is the video for "Bizarro Genius Baby." I've pasted the lyrics underneath so that you can read while you listen. I recommend doing that first, then just watching the video for what it is, AWESOME.



Bizarro Genius Baby
I had a dream that I fathered a bizarro genius baby.She’s out the womb like, “Dood, why’d I get expatriated?”Debated at one month the finer points of a diaper,devised a device composed of a hose and a windshield wiper.Grew riper in intellect as the months passed, wore a dunce cap ironically,got fussy once and she summoned me not sonicallybut through a series of editorials that she authored,entitled: “Is MC Frontalot One Of The Worst Fathers?”Oxford, Stanford, Harvard called, she didn’t call them back.“Tuition & Housing? I’m holding out for a tenure track.”Distracted by her first birthday party, I hardly noticed she’d brought peace to the middle east or at least a cease-fire with the POTUS. And no dust had settled when she’d disproved Fermat by finding A^3 + B^3 that = C^3 and her sadness at throwing the field into disarray got assuaged by a brand new rattle and a mint parfait.

Bizarro genius baby: at first I was elated, but eventually I grew concerned.Bizarro genius baby: you prove my genes are Grade A, but what of when tables turn?

She had to settle for the Fields Medal but didn’t settle well, all the while cursing the indiscretions of Madame Nobel, and so well tuckered out was she at this point that she napped, arose with a whole symphony composed in Bb. “See dad?” Yes dear, it’ll go with the other ones on the fridge, in between the two Puccinis you translated & abridged, just above ‘I love you dad’ in macaroni/glitterand the 37 villanelles to mom (but I ain’t bitter). And no quitter was she neither when the time it came to walk: built an exoskeleton out of gelatin and chalkwhich allowed her to run thirty miles an hour ‘round the yard. You think that parenting your normal little children is hard? I got scarred, scared, scampered at by holographic artifacts that she projected on the scene with a machine that automatically discerns your worst concerns & makes them visible. She deemed it risible. Her glee was indivisible from all emanations that the baby would make. I had to become less hilarious for all of our sakes. I made mistakes, I’ll admit it. Dropped the kid on her head, destroyed the part of her that thought of evil. Or so she said! Now I bred this thing out myself in part —she quoted “reap what you sow;” I had to take it to heart. I sought to restart: I said, “Girl, you’ll be a woman. Can’t be dabbling and dilettantin’ all the time, I’m assuming. Got to pick a theme and focus the beam of your brain power.” Her face became overcome with an insane glower and then it remained sour. She said, “Oh, I have. Though the UI that you gave me was buggy I finally found me the nav. And I’m dialing in a career path I think you’ll like. Began when I played with an 808 and it ends with a mic.” I didn’t need her to elaborate at all. She was already wearing the glasses, mic in the palm. She planned to become a nerdcore rapper just like me so I shipped her to Singapore, sold her baby ass to Nike.

I like this guy. And i think Nerdcore is the perfect name for this genre. You couldn't have pegged it better.

Johnathan Rice
Went to Spaceland last night to see a friend of a friend play the drums for Johnathan Rice. (because he spells his name that way, people constantly spell mine wrong, ARGH!!)

Needless to say, i wanted to not like him for a few reasons. His band took WAY too long to set up, he wore a tie-dyed t-shirt, and his lead guitarist was definitely too cool for school. But alas, i liked it. i mean i only heard one song, and i liked it. And then after listening to more of his stuff this morning, i like him more. He's sort of a Pete Yorn/Bright Eyes hybrid. Here's the video for the first song i heard, "We're All Stuck"



I must confess, at a certain point i realized that if i had continued on my trek as a solo artist it's very possible i would've ended up sounding very simliar to this. Maybe that's one of the reasons i like it, i don't know. But he's got an April resendency at Spaceland on Monday nights and it's free, so if you get the chance i recommend it, if you can handle the hipsters.

Another April Monday resendency is at The Echo and it's for one of my favorite L.A. bands Radars to the Sky. I'll be there next week for sure.