MC Frontalot - Live Streaming from Nashville

MC Frontalot

Catch the godfather of Nerdcore, MC Frontalot, live from Nashville today/tomorrow on livestream.com

Starting at 7:15pm EDT, that's 12:15am UK time unless I've got my time differences horribly wrong.

Regardless you should be able to view the whole event on demand later.

MC Frontalot ¦ Live Stream Nashville

MC Frontalot , Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Will ,

Twin Peaks - The Black Lodge

Still hungry for more?  You're insatiable!  Well, alright then, because I love Ghettosocks have the latest official video for his collaboration with Muneshine under the moniker Twin Peaks.  The Black Lodge.

Twin Peaks ¦ YouTube The Black Lodge

Canadian Hip-Hop , Ghettosocks , Muneshine , Music , Will ,

Trick or Treat?

Nerds love Halloween, right? Especially in the States where it's considered a holiday season. We're a little less enthusiastic over here in the UK but more than happy to receive the treats bestowed upon on us at this time of year.  Here are three Halloween releases you might consider downloading:

Vampire Hunter

The Adventures of Beef Thompson - Vampire Hunter

Beefy has released a mixtape of ten tracks on a pay what you like basis through bandcamp.com.  There are some previously released songs, the highlight for me being Nerdcore Now which was the lead track on the Nerdcore Now Volume One compilation earlier in the year.

Any donations made go towards Beefy's next album or the cost of producing music.

Beefy ¦ Download Vampire Hunter

Nerdcore Halloween 2011

Nerdcore Halloween 2011

With no official nerdcorenow.com Halloween release this year, here is an eleven track compilation of site regulars.

Featuring Soup or Villainz, This is Halloween, Chadley, as heard on The Nerdcore Meow Podcast, Ill Gill and a number of fringe nerdcore artists.

Once again available through bandcamp.com, Nerdcore Halloween 2011 is available to download for free.

Download Nerdcore Halloween 2011

Amadeus Rorschach

Navi - Amadeus Rorschach

Navi has been quiet since last year's releases, Grayscale and Lo Fi Muey Thai, but just in time for Halloween Navi the Swami is back with Amadeus Rorschach.

Navi's trademark smooth flow is in evidence with fouteen new tracks filled out by session musicians from Whole Damme Delegation and The New Retro under the production of Danny Fal.  With a polished end product Amadeus Rorschach is the cherry on the cake this Halloween.

Navi ¦ Download Amadeus Rorschach

Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Will ,

Noncents - Vol 19

Noncents Vol. 19

As expected, Noncents Vol. 19 dropped on Friday of last week just too late (because of the UK/US time difference) for me to link to.  So, better late than never, here it is:

Nineteen more rarities and lost tracks, this time featuring the likes of Metaforce, Rappy McRapperson, Dr. Awkward, Submarine, Poopyhands, Lady DKX, ZeaLouS1, Zilla Persona, and Helen O.

Five  of the tracks are previously unreleased by Scrub Club and there are a number of collaborations and early demos to enjoy.  Scrub Club have really spoiled fans lately with over a hundred free songs to download.

Scrub Club Records ¦ Download Noncents Vol. 19

Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Will ,

Soup or Villainz - This is Halloween

Here's a Halloween treat from Soup or Villainz for all to enjoy.  This is Halloween, This is Halloween...

Soup or Villainz ¦ YouTube This is Halloween

Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Scrub Club Records , Soup or Villainz , Will ,

Teenburger - Rock The Discotech

I'll leave you for this week with the Jo's Boutique remix of Rock The Discotech.  Teenburger are Ghettosocks, Timbuktu and Jorun Bombay.

Canadian Hip-Hop , Ghettosocks , Music , Teenburger , Timbuktu , Will ,

Space Invaders - High Score Smashed

Richie Knucklez

New Jersey resident and owner of his own video game arcade, Richie Knucklez, has smashed the previous high score for 33 year old arcade classic, Space Invaders.

The previous high score of 55,160 was set in 2003 by Donald Hayes.  On the 7th of October this year, however, Knucklez smashed the record by notching up an incredible 115,510 having fine tuned a technique taught to him by the previous champ.  Knucklez told examiner.com:

“He taught me the basics with counting the shots for 300 points and I tweaked it in a way that I could score at a faster rate.”

If you fancy a shot at the record you can get started by visiting freespaceinvaders.org

examiner.com ¦ freespaceinvaders.org

Gaming , Will ,

Another Day Another Noncents - Vol. 18

Noncents Vol. 18

Scrub Club Records are hammering out the Noncents series at the moment with no fewer than 4 in the last week.  The latest is Vol. 18 with another 22 tracks of rarities and previously unheard material.

Various artists featured on this latest release include: 8-Bit Boys, The Ranger, Metaforce, Rappy McRapperson, Whoremoans, TYT, MC Gigahertz, John Anealio, Faster Pussycat, Dynamo Dash, Dub Z, Stacy Von Doom, MC Nars, Stalara, Ham-STAR, and Spandex Moose.

Could there be another one or two Noncents releases in the next few days?  I'd say there's a good chance.


Scrub Club Records ¦ Download Noncents Vol. 18

Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Scrub Club Records , Will ,

MC Lars - Buzz Factor Interview

A short interview over two parts for Buzz Factor in which MC Lars gives a little insight into the DIY ethic and making music.

MC Lars ¦ Buzz Factor ¦ YouTube Interview Part 1 ¦ YouTube Interview Part 2

MC Lars , Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Will ,

Noncents and Nonsense

Noncents Vol. 17

Hot on the heels of volumes 15 and 16, Scrub Club Records has released the next instalment of their Noncents series.  This time the collection of rarities focusses on Rob Grounds and features Brad Thomlinson, Deafinition, Droll and John Gee.

Scrub Club Records ¦ Download Noncents Vol. 17

The Nerdcore Meow Podcast - Episode 2

Back for a second outing, Colby and Chadley are joined by MC Atomsk and Dallas.  The pair tackle reaction to their inaugural podcast, discuss Dr Awkward and Deafiition, again and we learn that Beefy is 'Big in the shit'.  Efforts are made to stay on topic, occasionally fail and the podcast increases in length, much against everyone's advice.  All in all a more enjoyable show this week.

nerdcoremeow.com ¦ Episode 2

Podcasts , Tweets , Will ,

Bring Out The Gimp

Acorn BBC Micro

A direct competitor to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum the Acorn built BBC Micro (Yes, that BBC) never really cracked the home computing market, instead becoming the educational computer of choice.

In the early eighties many schools, keen on introducing computing into the curriculum, would have a single BBC Micro which would be wheeled from class to class on a trolley.

I can clearly remember the excitement of sitting in class at the age of 5 or 6 years old as the Micro was wheeled into the corner.  The teacher would struggle to get it set up.  The kids, of course, made short work of familiarising themselves with the system and discovered the only half decent game amongst the provided educational software.  A simple maze game could be loaded via the 5 and a quarter inch floppy disc.

The BBC Micro was never designed for gaming and yet the classic space adventure, Elite, made it's debut on the system.

Player 1 ¦ Wikipedia BBC Micro

Gaming , Will ,

The Nerdcore Meow Podcast

The Nerdcore Meow Podcast

In the first episode of The Nerdcore Meow Podcast, Colby and Chadley discuss the Nerdcore Hip-Hop scene, recent releases and happenings on the nerdcorenow.com forums with musical interludes.

It's an amateurish effort but perhaps that's what makes it endearing.  As presenters, Colby is more natural but projects an air of superiority over Chadley who, whilst coming across as a dumbass, brings the bulk of the content.  Colby's tendency to boom into the mic is unnecessary and when the pair stray off topic it's difficult to stay with it.  Nerdcore aficionados will cringe at times as Chadley gets his facts confused.

However, despite its faults there is great potential for a Nerdcore Podcast, as far as I know there's no one else doing anything like this.  With luck the guys will tighten up their content, stay on topic and keep showcasing new Nerdcore Hip-Hop.

Featured artists in this episode are Dr Awkward, Attack Slug, MC Frontalot, Kabuto The Python and Deafinition.

The Nerdcore Meow Podcast ¦ Download ¦ nerdcorenow.com

Podcasts , Tweets , Will ,

Akira The Don - Manga Music

ATD26 - Manga Music

The twenty sixth mixtape from prolific UK rapper, Akira The Don.  With Manga Music, The Don pays homage to his love of Manga Entertainment which started twenty years ago when he first slipped a VHS copy of Akira into the video player of his childhood home in North Wales.

Manga Music has been a work of love a long time in the making.  ATD says on his website that he was always going to make this mixtape, he's just been waiting for his music making skills to develop enough to do it justice.  Work started on the mixtape four months ago and released to the public yesterday.

Manga Music consists of 16 Manga inspired tracks including Dominion Tank Police and Crying Freeman.  Stand out tracks are Fist of the North Star and Stand Alone Complex.

You can stream Manga Music in its entirety or buy on Akira The Don's website.

Akira The Don ¦ Manga Music

Akira The Don , Album Review , Music , UK Hip Hop , Will ,

RA.ONE - Bollywood Action

"This Diwali, G-One is the only Protector"

The latest Bollywood movie hit London last night for it's premiere.  But this is a Bollywood film like no other before.  RA.ONE is the most expensive film to come out of the Indian film industry and mimics the FX heavy, all action, Hollywood blockbusters we've become accustomed to.  RA.ONE has been a long time in the making.  Development began in 2004 which may explain why there are definite similarities with The Matrix in terms of colouring and the slow motion action scenes.

The storyline revolves around actor, Shahrukh Khan who plays both Shekhar Subramanium, a nerdy father and games developer, and his superhero look-alike G.One.  G.One is the Earth's only line of defence against the torment of the evil Ra.One.

Much of RA.ONE was filmed in London and is set for a 2D and 3D release.  There are obligatory Bollywood music numbers between the action but many feel that this attempt at matching the Hollywood blockbusters is diminishing the charm that has made the Bollywood industry so successful throughout the world.

RA.ONE is widely available to see in cinemas now.

RA.ONE ¦ YouTube RA.ONE Trailer

TV / Film , Will ,

Scrub Club - Noncents Series

Scrub Club Records continues its Noncents Series with the release of Volume 15 (Yesterday) and Volume 16 Today.  Noncents are a collection of demos, rarities and previously unreleased tracks mainly from Scrub Club signed artists.

Noncents Vol. 15

Noncents Vol. 15

Consisting of 22 tracks (4 of which are previously un-released) from artists including:

MC_Loki, King Pheenix, Emergency Pizza Party, Kabuto The Python, Dale Chase, Thunderball from Southside, Torrentz, Soup or Villainz, Maros, Sinister Six, 404 Device, StarF, 8-Bit Boys, Bazuuka Joe, The Ranger, D. Bane, Blip, Define, Mattari 2600, Schaffer the Darklord, Metaforce, Lord Ellephino, Lady 1337, Rappy McRapperson, Shelshocker, Happi MC, MC Atomsk, Ham-STAR, and NES-T.

Noncents Vol. 16

Noncents Vol. 16

18 more tracks, this time consisting half of instrumentals and half are radio friendly edits of tracks.  Artists showcased are:

Deafinition, Maros, Remi-Son, Untested Methods, Kabuto the Python, Madhatter and Sinister Six.

All of the previous 14 volumes are available through the Scrub Club Records website as well as free downloads of many of the mentioned artist's album and EP releases.  I've a feeling there may be more Noncents releases soon.


Scrub Club Records ¦ Download Noncents Volume 15 ¦ Download Noncents Volume 16

Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Scrub Club Records , Will ,

The Thought Criminals - Whatevermore

Whatevermore

(Live from The Raven)

You don't often come across a live album in Nerdcore circles,  the nature of the genre dictates that much of the music released is low budget, DIY, computer made and rarely performed.  Of course there are artists, aside from the bigger names in the game, getting out there gigging.  The Thought Criminals are one such group.  Performing as a band in the traditional sense (Guitars, drums etc...) they blend Indie-Rock and Hip-Hop with a Nerdcore flavour.

Introducing Whatevermore, the latest album release by The Thought Criminals. Recorded live at The Raven (Worcester, MA) back at the end of July.  Currently selling on Bandcamp as a physical CD with immediate download for a reasonable $10 (roughly £6.26), though soon to be available as a 'pay what you think it's worth' download only.

The album itself includes the warts and all.  On stage chatter and minor technical difficulties are left in, this adds to the live feel but most importantly the music sounds great.  The Thought Criminals are tight performers and, with the greatest compliment, at times remind me of Optimus Rhyme.  The music is well written and performed and the vocals are delivered with confidence and ability resulting in a polished and professional sounding show.  Whatevermore is a solid release and really showcases how good Hip-Hop is when performed live by a talented group.

Performing on Whatevermore are:

• Mikal kHill - Vocals, NES 
• Sulfur - Vocals 
• Shane Hall - Vocals 
• Kevin Morgan - Guitar 
• Alan Erickson - Bass 
• Cracker - Drums 

If you want catchy Hip-Hop you should definitely get a copy of Whatevermore.   You can listen to it in its entirety on Bandcamp but for only $10 it's well worth the purchase.  Also catch Mikal kHill on The Browncoats Mixtape, another great release from this year.

The Thought Criminals ¦ Bandcamp

Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Will ,

Soup or Villainz - I Can Teach You Magic

You'd better sit down for this one!  I Can Teach You Magic by Soup or Villainz (Say it quickly) is something very special.

An atmospheric track with fast, fluid flow that shows true lyrical skill.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't find Soup or Villainz a little hit or miss.  I love their Viallainz For Hire EP, but struggle with other releases.  It's not that they lack skill, far from it.  I just don't think they've settled on a sound yet.  As a result their releases can feel unaccomplished.  There's nothing wrong with experimenting with different sounds on Mix-Tapes, which they do, but when you're releasing a finished article there needs to be a inherent theme or natural progression that I'm struggling to find in their new album, Villainz are Everywhere.

That aside there is enormous potential and Soup or Villainz are prolific in their output.  It won't be long before they're producing consistently good releases.  All the ingredients are there, they just need to find that little bit of magic.

I Can Teach You Magic is from their recent album release Villainz Are Everywhere and is by far the stand-out track for me.  In fact I'll go further, it's their best track to date.  More like this please.

Soup or Villainz are Remi-son and Viet Vu.

Soup Or Villainz ¦ Download Villainz Are Everywhere ¦ Dowload Villainz For Hire ¦ YouTube I Can Teach You Magic

Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Scrub Club Records , Soup or Villainz , Will ,

Battlestar Galactica - The Next Remake

When I was a kid in the eighties, Starbuck was a guy and Boomer was black... and not a Cylon... oh!  And also a guy.  Religiously my father and I would sit down once a week and enjoy episodes of the show made in the late seventies, Battlestar Galactica.  It was an event that caused much excitement in our household when one Christmas the Feature Length Battlestar opener was being shown on one of the three television channels available.  The original series was far shorter than I remember but it caught the imagination of a generation and merchandise sales went through the roof.

With blind loyalty I even sat through some of the truly aweful - Galactica 1980.  Looking back both of these offerings were cheesy, but of their time.

Roll on 2004 and along came BSG the re-imagining.  By this point I was 27 and sceptical about how good it could be.  Any fears I had were banished by the end of the feature length pilot and by Season 2 I was completely hooked, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to watch the next instalment.  The new series was darker, grittier, less cheesy and more compelling.  It lost it's way a little towards the end in my opinion but I don't think I could ever be anything but a little disappointed at its conclusion given how much I'd enjoyed the early seasons.

And so to the present day, and rumours that have been circulating for a while of a film remake have gained some substance.  Bryan Singer of X-Men and Superman Returns fame has for a while expressed a desire to re-make (Note, not re-imagine) the original Battlestar Galactica stating that it's something he's longed to do since the age of 12.  Well, the ball could be in motion with Universal Pictures finalising a deal that sees writer John Orloff on board.

Do we need another BSG interpretation?  Probably not.  Will it be great?  I really hope so.  If Singer can give a BSG film as much integrity as the re-imagination did and re-boot the franchise for the big screen in the way that JJ Abrams did with Star Trek then why not?  My biggest concern would be the casting or even inclusion of Boxy.

Battlestar Galactica ¦ SFX

TV / Film , Will ,

Battlefield 3 Simulator

Check out next week's Gadget Show to see how the team created this amazing first person shoot-em-up simulator.

The Gadget Show is on Five this Monday (24th October) at 8:00pm

The Gadget Show ¦ Five ¦ YouTube Battlefield 3 Simulator

Gaming , Technology , Will ,

The Walking Dead - Season 2

The hit zombie series, The Walking Dead, returns to UK screens tomorrow night on FX and looks to continue where the last season left off:

"The Walking Dead season two infects audiences worldwide starting this October. After failing to find answers at the Centers of Disease Control, police officer Rick Grimes and the group are on the road again. Their struggle for survival takes them out of Atlanta in search for a safe haven in a world ravaged by a zombie epidemic. Can Rick and the others hold onto their humanity as they fight to live in this terrifying new world? And, amidst dire conditions and personal rivalries, will they ultimately survive one another?" fxuk.com

Starring Brit actor Andrew Lincoln (Some may remember him as Egg from the 90's UK series This Life) as Police officer Rick Grimes, the first season left fan's (blood) thirsty for more as it reached its conclusion only six episodes in.  This time around I believe the show has twice as many episodes.

For anyone that missed it the first time around (and many only really caught it when aired on Five, expect a long wait for season two to reach terrestrial television) the concept is genius.  Loosely base the series on the comic book series of the same name, take all the best ideas from the many zombie movies out there and turn it into a series ensuring to show all the gruesome detail.  It's hard to believe that no one thought of this before.  There's so much scope for longevity.

The Walking Dead, Season 2 starts tomorrow on FX at 10pm.

FXUK ¦ YouTube Season 2 Trailer

TV / Film , Will ,

MC Lars - Mr Raven

Check out a new video for MC Lars' - Mr Raven from his 2006 album - The Graduate. The video is compiled out of clips taken from the forthcoming John Cusack film - The Raven.

MC Lars ¦ YouTube Mr Raven ¦ The Raven

MC Lars , Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Will ,

Ice Cream Sandwich?

Motorola RAZR - Samsung Galaxy Nexus

There were two major Android phone releases yesterday as Motorola and Samsung unleashed their new flagship handsets.

Motorola showed first with the all new Droid (Spyder in the UK) RAZR which was eclipsed only a short time after as Samsung unveiled the next Google phone, the Galaxy Nexus.

Spec wise there isn't much between the two.  They both have Super AMOLED displays, run 1.2GHz duel-core processors and have 1 GB of RAM.  The RAZR weighs in a touch lighter and thinner.  So what makes the Nexus that little bit sweeter?  Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).  The latest Android OS 4.0.  It seemed logical that the RAZR should launch with ICS but by releasing sooner than the Nexus this would surely pull the rug out from under the Samsung launch.  There was no cause for concern.  The RAZR enters the market running the current Gingerbread OS leaving the Nexus to show off the shiny new update.

Technology , Will ,

Batman V Zombies

I don't know 'thing one' about this picture or the artist other than it is very, very, cool!  Zombies and Batman.  Enough said?

Batman V Zombies

TV / Film , Will ,

Tell 'Em Unheard Nerd!

As is often the case I took a few minutes out yesterday evening to check the traffic stats to this blog.  I'm usually encouraged to see that at least a few people are checking in each day and this provides me the motivation to keep going.  So, to my complete shock at around 6pm I discovered that I'd had almost a thousand views in the last hour!  How?  What?  Eh?!

I checked my twitter feed:

"@CuriouslyBaked @BryWaltQ Wow, a Space Monkey London review. http://t.co/vRR1gjlU" 

"RT @BryWaltQ -Q- Wow, a Space Monkey London review. http://t.co/vRR1gjlU"

In September I found myself a little down in spirits.  My wife and I had argued (We've since reconciled), we were under some financial strain and I was looking for an outlet.  Something to distract me in a positive way.  And so I re-launched The Unheard Nerd blog.  Previously I'd made a half hearted attempt at reviewing every Nerdcore Hip-Hop release, good or bad.  It turned out to be painful, ploughing through the large number of below par releases in search of the good.  Quickly my interested waned and the blog fell silent.

With a new agenda, to just write about the things I like, my first post of real content was a review of the live TESD presents Space Monkeys podcast written on the 20th of September.  I'm a big fan of the Tell 'Em Steve-Dave podcast and jumped at the chance to see them record live in London.  I enjoyed the experience so much that I re-lived the experience by writing about it.

Almost a month later Twitter user, CuriouslyBaked, must have happened upon this review and tweeted it to the Tell 'Em Steve-Dave Crew, @BryWaltQ.  Brian Quinn then re-tweeted the link which led to a torrent of hits to the blog entry.

Podcasts , Will ,

Samsung - Galaxy Nexus

Android fans are holding their breath for what is expected to be the official unveiling of the next Nexus phone tomorrow.

The Nexus series of phones (originally released through HTC but now with Samsung) are flagship collaborations through which Google introduces the latest version of their Android Operating System.  Likely to drop the Google label this time around in an attempt to appeal to a mass market the latest phone is expected the be named the Samsung Galaxy Nexus rather than the Nexus Prime as was previously thought.  We're also expecting to see Android 4.0 for the first time, titled Ice-Cream Sandwich.

With the Samsung Galaxy S2 recently being voted Phone of the Year at the T3 Gadget Awards their latest device looks like being a big hitter in the mobile world.

I'm certainly holding back on my upgrade until I've seen what Samsung have in store.  Expect an amazing Super AMOLED HD screen and an interface which should bridge the gap between the phone and tablet forming a uniform platform for both.

Samsung ¦ T3 ¦ T3 Gadget Awards

Technology , Will ,

MC Frontalot - Critical Hit

MC Frontalot has released his latest video for Critical Hit from the album, Solved, today exclusively on bOiNg bOiNg.  So visit that site to see it.  The video is the first of four funded by Front's recent kickstarter campaign and seems to be his most lavish to date.

MC Frontalot wrapped up his UK tour with a final gig in Inverness on the 16th of October and will embark on a busy gig schedule in the states this autumn.

UPDATE - Now embedded and widely available.

MC Frontalot ¦ bOiNg bOiNg ¦ Vimeo Critical Hit ¦ YoutTube Critical Hit

MC Frontalot , Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Will ,

Angry Birds - Seasons

Angry Birds - Seasons is approaching its first anniversary and app developer Rovio has released this teaser trailer for the latest update.  Is there a new bird in the nest?

YouTube Angry Birds ¦ Rovio

Gaming , Will ,

Adam Warrock - The Browncoats Mixtape

Adam Warrock & Mikal kHill

The Browncoats Mixtape has been around since the end of September and despite listening through maybe three or four times now it's only slowly sinking in how good it is.  I mean, I knew it was good but it didn't pop out at me immediately.

The concept is simple.  Songs about Firefly and Serenity set to the scores of Firefly and Serenity with beats subtly added by kHill (Of The Thought Criminals) resulting in an easy on the ear Western/Hip-Hop sound.  It's really quite unique and skilfully done.

Tracks are spliced with spoken excerpts and the whole mixtape has a nice flow from start to finish.  There's nothing brash or banging about it.  My only criticism would be that The Browncoats Mixtape never really changes pace and I think this is why I took a while to appreciate it fully.  It's easy to listen to but as a result sometimes fades into the background.  It's worth focussing, this really is one of the best releases of the year so far.

Tribe One features on Independents, Jesse Dangerously is on Out of Gas while The Thought Criminals appear on Vera.

Adam Warrock ¦ The Thought Criminals ¦ Download

Adam Warrock , Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , The Thought Criminals , Will ,

Apple Siri - The Answers

Well. This answers one or two of the questions posed in yesterday's post about Apple's new assistant app, Siri.

 Joshua Topolsky has been thoroughly testing Siri over at This is my Next... and found the artificial intelligence to be a little eerie at times.

"Open the pod bay doors"

"I'm sorry, Joshua.  I can't do that"

"Are you happy now?"

"Where can I get some drugs?"

"I found 2 addiction treatment centres fairly close to you"

"What is the meaning of life?"

"42"

"What's your favourite website?"
"I'm not allowed to divulge that information, Joshua"

Find out more by clicking the link to This is my Next.

Apple ¦ This Is My Next

Technology , Will ,

Weerd Science - Part 2

Part two sees Weerd Science featuring on Can't Find My Way by Pugs which is produced by Dirty Ern. Find more by Pugs on bandcamp.

Pugs ¦ Weerd Science

Hip-Hop , Music , Weerd Science , Will ,

Weerd Science - Part 1

Thursday Tune!  The first of a Weerd Science Double Bill.  This first track is by indie rockers, The City Never Sleeps featuring Weerd Science and MIRK.  Follow the link to preview the rest of The City Never Sleep's tracks on Reverb Nation.

The City Never Sleeps ¦ Weerd Science ¦ Reverb Nation

Hip-Hop , Music , Weerd Science , Will ,

Apple - Siri

Apple's assistant application, Siri, on the iPhone 4S looks like a helpful tool in everyday situations.  But what about those not so common problems?  Here's a few enquiries Siri might struggle with...

• Siri.  What do you think this rash on my penis is?
• Siri.  My er... friend wants to buy some marijuana.
• Siri.  There's a bomb on a bus...
• Siri.  How do I dispose of this body?
• Siri.  I slipped in the bath and now there's a bottle of shampoo stuck up my ass.  DON'T JUDGE ME!

Hours of fun.

Apple ¦ You Tube

Technology , Will ,

The Avengers Trailer

The official trailer for Marvel's latest big budget comic adaptation, 'The Avengers', hit the net yesterday. Nicely bringing together the characters from a number of film releases over the last few years including, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America. This looks to be a Marvel fan-boy's wet dream. The film is set for release (presumably in America) on the 4th of May 2012.

Marvel ¦ YouTube

TV / Film , Will ,

T3 Awards 2011

Old Billingsgate, London

Last night saw the glitzy annual T3 Gadget Awards.  The biggest names from the gadget world converged in Old Billingsgate for a boozy evening hosted by comedian Dara O'Brien as T3 gongs were bestowed upon the best performing technology, services and personalities from the last year.  For the first time the event featured a live twitter wall, something they may re-think in future as it quickly became a torrent of filth.  Unexpectedly Sir David Attenborough received the award for Outstanding Contribution to Technology.  Being the only award not voted for by the public the choice came as something as a surprise.  You might not necessarily associate the veteran documentary maker with cutting edge tech.  And yet once you think about it Sir David has been using the latest camera and sound equipment throughout his whole career to bring incredibly close up pictures of animals in their natural habitats.  From early black and white film to HD and now in 3D.

Other highlights include:

• Commuter Gadget of the Year - Amazon Kindle
• Gaming Gadget of the Year - X-Box Kinect
• T3 Design Award - Apple Macbook Air 11 inch
• Tech Brand of the Year - Google
• Phone of the Year - Samsung Galaxy S2
• Tablet of the Year - Apple iPad 2
• Digital Media Service of the Year - Twitter
• Computer of the Year - Apple Macbook Air 11 inch
• Gadget of the Year - X-Box Kinect

Ironically, on the day that Blackberry suffered major service outage across Europe and the UK, they also picked up the award for Work Gadget of the Year.  The award for Gadget Personality of the Year received a less than favourable reception when awarded to Mark Zuckerberg.

For a full run down of the awards visit T3.com

T3.com ¦ Tweet @t3dotcom

Technology , Will ,

ECOMOG x RATATAT - The Rain

Tuesday Tune!  Taken from this year's album Birds of a Feather, The Rain by ECOMOG (Every Change Occurs Musically Over Generations) is a melancholic track with a strangely touching video.  Track of the album for me is Music Like a Drug.


EGOMOG ¦ Tweet @ECOMOG

ECOMOG , Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Will ,

Tweet Re-Tweet

"99% of the worlds cookies are consumed by 1% of the monsters. #occupysesamestreet"



Josh Klopfenstein


Tweet @Klopfenpop

Tweets , Will ,

Online Handy

I spent many hours as a child hunched over, slowly losing my eyesight whilst intently squinting at a poorly lit LCD screen.  The constant bleeping would drive my folks mad.

Forget your Game Boy, DS and PSP's, hand-held gaming was big in the eighties in the most basic, yet addictive way.  And Nintendo were a big part of this revolution with the now infamous Donkey Kong becoming an instant classic.  Interestingly the dual-screen layout of the 1982 Donkey Kong isn't a million miles away from the current Nintendo DS.

Game-play was very basic and involved repeating the same tasks over and over while the game increases in speed.  There were dozens of different hand-helds available, some sharing the same casing in different colourways.  There were no game saves either, every time you play you'd start from the beginning and work your way through again.

You can now re-live many of these wonderful games thanks to Pica Pic, a clever site that allows you to play 27 different hand-helds from around the world. Check it out.

Pica-Pic ¦ Player One

Gaming , Will ,

MC Frontalot - Islington Academy

On the 26th day of September in the year 2011 I composed a post on this here blog entitled 'MC Frontalot - UK Tour'.  The opening paragraph read thus: 

 "My excitement is growing as October the 6th creeps ever nearer.  Barring global destruction or other large scale apocalyptic type catastrophes I'll get to witness MC Frontalot live for a second time."

At 8:24pm yesterday evening  these words were ringing in my ears.  There was, as I'm sure you'll have noticed, no global destruction and yet it felt like the world was crumbling as events conspired to prevent me from seeing MC Frontalot perform on this day.

Having read the assurances of the good man himself on twitter the day before, I made my plans based on a 9pm stage time.  My plans involved finding someone to watch my TV while my kids slept and getting my wife (who was interested in seeing headliners, Wheatus) out of the house in good time.  I'd had a day from hell at work which had included a battle with a laser printer which I lost.  I found myself covered in cyan and magenta toner dust whilst coating the stair-well with a similar, vivid new paint job.  This is not important.

At ten to eight I decided to use my phone to check twitter while Mrs Unheard Nerd got ready.  Firstly, SHIT!  I forgot to put my phone on charge and the battery was nearly dead.  There go my plans to up footage of Frontalot onto YouTube.  Secondly, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!  A tweet from the man.  Stage time was now 8:50pm.

It's ok.  The babysitter is just coming from next door and my wife is ready.  Let's go.  We had the obligatory debate over the best route.  I say get the train to London Bridge and change for the Northern Line to Angel which is opposite the venue.  She says take the East London Line to Highbury and Islington and bus it down from there.  We settle on taking whichever train comes first.  The one to London Bridge.  I've done this route before and on a good day it's a half hour journey.  Time was tight by this point but we could just make it.  Except, well, we couldn't.  We got two stops along the line when the train halted at New Cross Gate.  There had been a fatality on the line.  Can you believe it?  How fucking inconsiderate!!!  This, rather sadly, has become the default thought of an inconvenienced commuter in London.  Sympathy for the poor soul mown down either by choice or by accident has vanished, it's every man, woman and child for themselves these days.  Does anyone ever consider the poor train driver?  Happily dozing at the controls one minute.  Abruptly shaken awake by - the not quite dead - the next!

MC Frontalot , Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Will ,

MC Lars - Honesty Is The Best Policy

MC Lars has placed his entire back catalogue (from his earliest efforts to his latest release, Lars Attacks) up on bandcamp.com for fans to download using the honesty system.  You pay whatever you feel it's worth.  Included are The Digital Gangster LP where Lars collaborated with YT Cracker and his joint release with K.Flay, Single and Famous.

MC Lars ¦ Tweet @MC_Lars

MC Lars , Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Will ,

MC Frontalot - Zero Day

Thursday Tune!  And since I'm seeing the man live this evening I present Zero Day by the godfather of Nerdcore Hip-Hop, MC Frontalot.  Front will hit the stage of the O2 Islington Academy at 9pm (regardless of what the Academy website says) this evening backed by Wheatus who he is the main support for.  Other support comes from City Stereo and Math The Band.  He will then return to rap on Teenage Dirtbag.  I'll no doubt up some footage to my YouTube channel this evening.

MC Frontalot ¦ Tweet @MC_Frontalot ¦ Islington Academy

MC Frontalot , Music , Nerdcore Hip-Hop , Will ,

Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011

Steve Jobs 1955 -2011

"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being.

Those of us who have been lucky enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend

and an inspiring mentor.  Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built,

and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

apple.com/stevejobs

Technology , Will ,

Tweet Re-Tweet

"Very sad to hear about Steve Jobs. An innovator and a trailblazer, whatever your tech tribe. Rest I.P. Sent from my iPhone."



Simon Pegg


Tweet @SimonPegg

Tweets , Will ,

Apple Keynote Summary

iPhone 4S

iPhone 4S

It's here... Not quite what the world was hoping for but Apple insist it's an all new iPhone and available in black and white from launch.

As expected the iPhone 4S is packing an A5 dual-core processor which Apple boasts users will benefit from 2X performance and 7X faster graphics.  The camera has received an upgrade to 8MP and offers 1080p HD video recording.  The new device comes with iOS5, iCloud and the previously mentioned Assistant comes branded as Siri.

If it's upgrade time then there's no reason not to consider the iPhone 4S, if not I doubt many Apple users will feel too compelled to rush out and grab one.

The 3GS will now be offered free on contract while the 4 will fill the budget market as the 4S takes over as the premium product.

iPod Nano / Touch

The old classic is still with us.  Rumours that it was finally to be axed proved untrue, although I feel it's only a matter of time.  The Nano gets a tweek with multi touch, Nike Plus and a choice of clock face.  Your Nano is now your watch.  A new touch is due with a slimmer, sleeker design in both black and white and will be running iOS5 with Facetime.

Apple ¦ iPhone 4S ¦ iPod

Technology , Will ,

Timbuktu & Jorun Bombay - The New Science

Tuesday Tune!  Out of London Ontario, Timbuktu is another of the great artists coming out of Canada at the moment.  It's worth also checking out his collaboration with Ghettosocks on Rock The Discotech.

Timbuktu ¦ Ghettosocks

Canadian Hip-Hop , Music , Timbuktu , Will ,

Let's Talk iPhone

Apple's iPhone Keynote Speech takes place today and the tech world awaits what surprises will be announced from the mobile device giants.

iOS5
A final version of iOS5 could be released, if not, a release date is likely. The most anticipated new feature being Assistant.  A voice activated artificial intelligence of sorts.  See how it could look on Gizmodo here.

iPhone5
It's rare that we get this close to an Apple iPhone event without some kind of leak appearing about the new device.  So it seems unlikely that an all new phone will be released.  And yet you can never rule out a complete surprise.

iPhone4S
This seems a certainty.  What the specs will be other than increased memory are unclear but with sightings on iTunes Beta and Vodafone's German site we can safely predict a 64gb version of the hugely popular iPhone4 with a faster processor.  8gb versions for the budget market are also touted as a possibility.

Other News
Expect the death of the iPod Classic but rumours are abound of an iPod Touch upgrade with 3G.

You can follow Apple's keynote on Engadget's live blog.

Technology , Will ,

Put A Rubber On It

Sinclair ZX Spectrum

 In 1982 the British inventor, Clive Sinclair, launched a revolution.  A small, black, plastic box with rubber keys that you could plug into your TV.  This was the first affordable mass market home computer.  The Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

Suddenly you had the ability to load programs and games via a standard cassette recorder or for the hardcore user, programme yourself.  Specialist publications became available which printed code that could be typed character by character, line by line into the computer.  You could literally code a game yourself.  There was no guarantee that either method would work.  Hours of listening to this:

Didn't mean that your game would actually work.  Tapes would chew up in the machine and any minute error in the copied code could result in hours of painstakingly retracing each character typed.  There was no cut and paste and no mouse.  These were simpler times.

My Uncle bought a Spectrum a few years after the initial launch.  My sister and I looked forwards to visiting my grandparents of a weekend so that we could get our hands on this box of wonder.  We'd fight over which game to play or deliberately sabotage a half loaded game when the other wasn't looking, but once a game was loaded it was a joyous occasion.   I'd sit for hours playing a Formula 1 game, getting mocked by the adults for leaning as I steered my pixelated car around chunky circuits at implausible speeds.  Hitting a six in Ian Botham's Cricket and watching a representation of the screen crack as the ball supposedly hit it and of course there was the famous Jet-Set Willy side scroller with the flapping toilet lid.

I'd finally realised the purpose of a computer game.  I'd made the connection between the pixels on the screen and how I could manipulate their actions by pressing keys.  It sounds dumb now.  My own kids can already operate a touch-screen phone before either have hit 4 years old.  But we were the first generation, the pioneers, the original gamers.  But holy crap, things were going to move on fast.
 
A history of my life in gaming will continue on the Player 1 page.

Gaming , Will ,