Disrespectin' Nerdcore

Suggested listening for this blog: "Nerd Alert!" by The Aquabats!

You'd think that for all my talk about the need for more happy music, I'd be Mr. Positivity, but this is not the case. Right now, I'd like to talk about something that I'm not inclined to be at all positive about: Nerdcore Rap. (aka "Geeksta") This genre includes such streed un-credited white boys as MC Frontalot, MC Chris, MC Lars and Optimus Rhyme. Don't get me wrong, I love nerds, nerdiness and all types of nerdity; I consider myself to be a "nerd," I've lip synched (and performed a dance routine) to "White And Nerdy" for a competition at school and I enjoy Magic the Gathering. I also like geek rock, (bands like Weezer, They Might Be Giants, Devo, etc.) but I just can't get into Nerdcore.

The main problem I have with the genre is the same problem I have with Gangsta/Crunk Rap, Christian Rock and Wizard Rock: severely limited subject matter. I can't understand how any musician can decide that they will devote all of their creative energy into such a limited range of topics. I'll admit that I don't have enough listening experience within the genre to really make a call here, but all the songs I've heard from MC Frontalot (apparently the godfather of Nerdcore) have to do with either (a) being a nerd, or (b) being MC Frontalot, the latter of which falls prey to the bane of all rap: Self-Referenciality. (i.e. rapping only about yourself and how awesome you are, which gets really old really fast) I could be completely wrong about all of this, but I'm not going to waste my time wading through all the crap to find the good stuff, so unless someone wants to point me in the right direction, I'll keep disin' on Nerdcore.

The one exception to the "Nerdcore sucks" rule is MC Lars, who revels in his nerdyness, while freely ranging over any topic he pleases, from litterature ("Ahab," rhyming about Moby Dick) to music in general ("Signing Emo" and "Download This Song") to the times we live in ("iGeneration") to more nerdy topics like the internet ("Internet Relationships (Are Not Real Relationships)") and his own whiteness. ("White Kids Aren't Hyphy") MC Lars proves that it's possible to be your nerdy self without being confined to a narrow topic set, and I'd be glad to hear about more rappers (and musicians) like that. Peace out, Homeslice!

Feels Like Sunny Days Are Coming Soon...

I would try to link to all the songs I'm about to mention, but I don't know how, so until I learn how to to that, you'll have to find them yourself. We apologise for the inconvenience.

I like all types of music, I like to think that my tastes are fairly varied, but the other day I realized that I don't have enough happy music. I've been into Power-Pop/Pop-Punk for a while now, but when I listen closely to the lyrics, I realize that a significant number of those songs are really depressing. That's not to say I stopped liking those songs, but it made me think about how much I'd like to find more happy, upbeat music. So I thought, why not try to find people who know where the happy music is? I've been using Hype Machine for a while, so I thought I might try my hand at music blogging, and thus here I am.

I'll get the conversation started by mentioning my current favorite band, a group called Sherwood. Their music reminds me of some combination of Fountains of Wayne, Switchfoot and Relient K, while being completely distinctive. They've got an album coming out on March 13th called "A Different Light," which features a few examples of the type of music I was rambling about in the first paragraph. I would suggest listening to the song "Best In Me" and the title track to get a feeling for their music. Then for a change of pace, I might suggest listening to the song "The Town That You Live In" (from their previous album) as an example about how a song can be down-tempo and minor-key'd and still send out that positive vibe. (Some of those songs are available on their MySpace)

That's about all I have to say today, I'll try to update this at least once a week, especially if people actually start reading it, eh?

One More Good Song:
"Radio #2" ~ The Ataris (so long, astoria)