Time for Logan Awards Again

The 5th annual Logan Whitehurst Memorial Awards for Excellence in Comedy Music (Logan Awards for short) nominations have been announced for this year.  The award was started in 2011 to recognize those who work in the comedy music industry and to pay tribute to Logan Whitehurst a musician who died at the age of 29 in 2006.  The three categories are Outstanding Original Comedy Song, Outstanding Parody Song, and Outstanding Comedy Music Video.  Nominees are chosen from songs from the previous calender year in an open nomination process then Jurors chose the finalists and winners for each category.  Winners receive a robot cat statuette, inspired by Logan’s song Robot Cat, designed by artist Jamie Noguchi.  Jurors for this year are fan jurors Kristi Avery, Tim and Margie Winslow (the Poohs), and Angela Brett; musician jurors Seamonky, Jared Ringold, Chris Waffle, Paul Sabourin, and permanent juror Dr. Demento.

The finalists for this year’s Logan Awards are:

Out­stand­ing Par­ody Song

• The Boobles — Have Nat­ural Es
• Car­rie Dahlby feat. Wyn­garde — Almost Par­ent Time
• Devo Spice (feat. Power Salad) — Snack Bar
• Kyle Kall­gren & Tony Gold­mark — Kill the Mouse
• ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic — Word Crimes

Out­stand­ing Orig­i­nal Com­edy Song

• the great Luke Ski — Fake Adult
• Mikey Mason — Last Day at Work
• Mikey Mason — Settle
• Power Salad — Ama­zon Drone
• Worm Quar­tet — Fueled by Angst

Out­stand­ing Com­edy Music Video

• CBS Fol­lies — Bitch in Business
• Epic Rap Bat­tles of His­tory — Sir Isaac New­ton vs. Bill Nye
• Rhett and Link — I’m on Vacation
• ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic — Tacky
• ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic — Word Crimes

The awards ceremony will be held at FuMPFest in Wheeling, Illinois on June 5th to the 7th at the Westin Northshore.  The ceremony will two hours with performance from some of the nominated artists (just do not expect Weird Al to be one of them) and others to cover for those who will not be there.  Come and dress up for that proper award show feel.

 

Parsec Award For Best Music Podcast

The Parsec Awards were founded in 2006 to celebrate speculative fiction podcasting. Podcast shows are nominated by fans, and finalists are chosen by a yearly steering committee.  Awards are given in several categories ranging from content to audio quality.  One of those categories is Best Speculative Fiction Music Podcast, which was added in 2009.  The Parsec Awards are given out each year at a live ceremony at Dragon*Con in Atlanta Georgia.

The award is given to podcasts discussing and sampling music about, set in, inspired by, or spoofing speculative fiction.  The finalists for this year’s award were Radio Free Hipster by Z, The Funny Music Project by Devo Spice, and Pros and Cons by Jonah Knight and Mikey Mason.  Winner after picture.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The FuMP won this year.  This is their second win and fourth nomination.  Since none of the FuMP’s artists were able to attend the ceremony one of the FuMP’s fans accepted the award on their behalf. 

They have stated that if the plaque were a little bigger, it would have continued to read as follows: “By Devo Spice, Art Paul Schlosser, Bonecage, Buzz Brooks, Carrie Dahlby, Confabulation of Gentry, Consortium Of Genius, Dino-Mike, Donita Smith, Flat 29, George Gidley, Glen Raphael, Grottomatic, Insane Ian, Jeff Kornberg, Jesse Smith, Kill The Band, Killer Calamari, Kobi LaCroix, Komrades Oppression Group, Lemon Demon, the great Luke Ski, Marc Gunn, Max DeGroot, Mel & El, Mikey Mason, Moneyshot Cosmonauts, Morning Sidekick, Nuclear Bubble Wrap, Ookla The Mok, Phil Johnson and Roadside Attraction, Power Salad, Project Sisyphus, Raymond and Scum, Robert Lund, Sci-Fried, Scooter Picnic, Smashy Claw, Some Guy Called Doug, Steve Goodie, Strange Changes, The Boobles, The Chris Waffle Experience, The Doubleclicks, Todd Chappelle, TV’s Kyle, Willie B Poppin, Worm Quartet, and Logan Whitehurst.”

You can watch the Parsec Award ceremony on YouTube.  Performances by Tom Smith at 22:30 and the award is given to FuMP at 52:30.

 

Top 10 D&D Music List To roll THAC0 To

Dungeons and Dragons is a staple of nerds and geeks everywhere.  Playing it has been the standard to which nerds measure each other.  In has helped shaped all other RPGs since then, either trying to be like it or trying to not be like it.  So I give you a list of music inspired by this classic game.

1. No More Kings and their song Critical Hit is a funky tune about playing the game and rolling double damage.

2. Uncle Lumpy and the Salmon Moose do a little parody of Frosty called  Dungeons and Dragons, explaining the D&D to his nephew.  I am not sure if this also counts as holiday song.

3. Never Split the Party by Emerald Rose teaches us some important rules about what to do when you are dungeon crawling.

4. Insane Ian takes a break from doing songs about video games to cover table top gaming with  Run This Game assisted by Devo Spice and The Stacey

5. 3d6 gives us Damage.  Nerd punk song that lets you know, if you did not already know, where the band’s name comes from.

6. Natural 20s by Dual Core is chocked full of both references to D&D and other nerdcore rappers.  Great for fans of both.

7. A Band of Orcs is a heavy mithril band, and since I do not care for heavy metal I have not really listen to their music, but everything written about them tells me they belong on here.  The band hails from Hirntodia, till summoned by some teens playing a game, and here they learned to harness the power of metal to lay waste to all.

8. More nerdcore with Dice Roll Your Hearts by Alpha Riff.  A love song for those who love both Magic: The Gathering and Dungeon and Dragons.

9. This Fantasy World by The Doubleclicks is another love song about love over the gaming table.  Though it gets a little offensive.

10. Mikey Mason gives us two great D&D songs Best Game Ever and Summer of 83.  One about player killing and the other about learning the game.

Honorable Mention goes to A Cloak of Elvenkind by alternative rock band Marcy Playground.  I loved this song, the album it comes from, so much in high school.

Well till next time.

Top 10 Star Wars Songs to Use the Force To

Star Wars one of the (if not single ) biggest fanboy inducing nerdy out over franchises ever.  It invokes strong feelings in its fans and some put those feelings into song.  So with May having both May 4th and 25th considered Star Wars Day for different reasons, I honor the month with this list of Star Wars songs.

1. Grease Wars: great Luke Ski took the music from the movie/play Grease and reworked it to be a melody about the first Star Wars movie with the help of Carrie Dahlby.  This was the first thing I ever heard from him or any member of the FuMP and can be credited for helping lead me on the track to creating and running this blog.

2. We all know Han Solo is the coolest guy in the Star Wars universe and Mikey Mason shares with us his desire to be cool like him in Han Solo Cool.

3.  H2Awesone gives us a look into the mind of Luke and his feelings for Uncle Owen and living on the farm.  A rock number that puts Luke in the role of young rebel wanting to break free.

4. Adam Warrock has Star Wars Uncut that expresses fans love for the original movies and about a group of fans making their own fan film to go with it.

5. We get a number of songs from Sci-Fried about Star Wars: Join the Empire, Wanna Be Your Jedi, Star Wars Idiot, and several more to check out.

6. One of the first songs I ever heard from Dual Core was A New Hope (first song on their first album).  It shows off the fun word play of INT80 and the beats of C64.

7. Baby It’s Cold Outside (Hoth Version) with both Kirby Krackle and the Doubleclicks takes a classic and gives it a little Star Wars twist.

8. Tom Smith sings about all Waking Up Jedi or Sith, depends on how you see it.

9. Even the bad guys get some songs about them too.  Marc Gunn strums out a Lusty Young Sith.  Not really about Siths or something children should listen to really.  wink

10. Now I am not that big of a mc Chris fan, but Fett’s Vette is pretty toe tapping and just fun.  Loved it since I first heard it on Sealab.

Honorable Mention: The Star Wars theme done 8bit by Will Gannon.

 

Top 10 Super Hero Music to Leap Tall Buildings in a Single Bound To

We have all grown up with comics and super heroes.  They have inspired us to be better and do what is right among other things.  Like write songs about them.  Here are some musicians, songs, and albums that were inspired by comics and super heroes.

1. Kirby Krackle are a comic book rock band from Seattle, WA.  With all kinds of songs about super heroes and comics from Green Lantern to Spider-Man to  and even to Great Lakes Avengers.  They’ve released three albums, a self-titled debut, E for Everyone, and Super Powered Love plus several more singles and specials not all just about super heroes but in fact a wide variety of nerd topics.

2.  All in My Tights by Devo Spice with Carrie Dahlby and Chris Mezzolesta.  The one thing all good super hero needs is a good set of tights and here is a tribute to those garish, form fitting, brightly colored costumes that look ridiculous and are completely impractical for fighting crime.  Cute and funny song.

3. Dual Core’s Super Powers album features several nerdcore artists and songs about heroes.   Artists like Beefy, MC Wreckshin, ytcracker, and ZeaLous1.  The songs talk about standard comic book heroes and how everyday people can be heroes.  

4. Songs for Superheroes by Insane Ian’s EP of comic book comedy.  From big names like Green Lantern and Batman to smaller names like Spider-Ham and Ant Man with a skit about his own supe….. well some guy name Dave who gets powers.

5. Grimm’s Lament by H2Awesome! about Aunt Petunia’s favorite rock covered member of the Fantastic Four.  A look into the psyche of the Thing and the sorrow of his life.  A rock song.  Ha ha ha rock song

6. Smells Like Team Justice by Mikey Mason shares with what would happen if the Super Friends formed a band.  Grunge mixed with campy super heroics makes for an awesome song.  Does get a little dark and has some cursing, just to warn you.

7. Ookla the Mok vs. Evil is an album that features the evil side of things.  Songs about being, tributes to certain villains, and the joys of evil.

8. Two songs from Beefy, Uncanny with MC Lars and Side Kick. One deals with one of the greatest animated comic series, X-Men: The Animated Series, and even uses a remix of the theme music from the series (it’s bumping slumping).  The other one talks about various sidekicks, mostly video games but Robin is there, letting us know why they are heroes in their own right.

9. Marvel Poppins by the Great Luke Ski featuring Carrie Dahlby.  Written, mixed, and released with in four days of hearing Disney buying Marvel Comics back in 2009.  Using a song from Mary Poppins the song deals with some of the things that could have happen with the purchase.  Not all of them bad.

10. Adam Warrock, nuff said.

Honorable Mention: The Ramones covering Spider-Man theme from Cartoon Network’s Saturday Morning Greatest Hits album.

 

 

 

 

 
I know I have been gone for most of this month, but I have been dealing with some personal demons for a few weeks. I missed a few events to post about and Kickstarter projects to talk about. Just letting you know I do not plan to stop posting on this site and will continue to do my best for all.

MarsCon Dementia Track and Logan Awards

MarsCon is home every year to a gathering of comedy, novelty, and filk musicians from Dementia Radio and the FuMP called Dementia Track. MarsCon is March 1-3, 2013 in Bloomington, Minnesota at the Crown Plaza Hotel & Suites with the theme “Ctrl/Alt/Del… Thriving Into The Future!”  This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Dementia Track.

The Music Guest of Honor is Flat 29 from England.  Which I talked about before.

Other main stage acts are comedy rock band Possible Oscar, nerdcore-esque Insane Ian, professional TV animator and comedy musician TV’s Kyle, Dementia living legend Great Luke Ski, Max DeGroot know for his work with furries, Power Salad with 30 years of sketch audio and comedy music, comedy rock star Mikey Mason, and FuMPer Kobi Lacroix.

Performers of the FuMP Jukebox this year are Carrie Dahlby, DJ Particle hose of the Dementia Fan Showcase at the con, Dave Stagner of Feng Shui Ninjas, filker Beth Kinderman, Jeff Reuben, and Brett Glass who both perform in the Dementia Fan Showcase every year.  Other performers there will be Earl Luckes the bass-playing robot Wyngarde.

Previous announced guests Worm Quartet and Steve Goodie have had to cancel their appearances.

Besides just all the performances, other events of the track include a live recording of Flat 29’s podcast “Big book of Everything“, water aerobics with Kornflack co-host of “The Flopcast“, Space Oddity Music Club & Brew Pub, Dementia Fan Showcase, and The Dementia Smackdown.  Karaoke, drumming, and theremin workshop will be part of MarsCon as well.

To raise money for the Dementia Track to bring in guests, party, and other expenses they create a Fund Raiser Album every year.  Three disc of four hours of live music from MarsCon 2012 which you can buy as CD or download at their shop and past albums as well. You can also order your own Dementia Track shirt with all the participants as computer related character of fandom and pop culture.

This year MarsCon is also the home of the 3rd Logan Whitehurst Memorial Awards for Excellence in Comedy Music. The ceremony will be on Saturday at 4pm.

The nominees, with some of my thoughts, are:

Out­stand­ing Com­edy Music Video:

Baby Mario & Papa Yoshi — brentalfloss;

Beauty and the Beat — Todrick Hall; I am not going to say this is racist like some people, just that it is promoting negative stereotypes and the song keeps splitting between being parody and just doing the song straight which is not what a good parodist does

Dumb Ways to Die — Tan­ger­ine Kitty; my favorite, catchy tune, cute animation

Rize of the Fenix — Tena­cious D; good, but tries to pretend that it is really the unfinished project but parts of it do not work that way

Rub Some Bacon On It — Rhett & Link; fun, but certain scenes turn me off

Out­stand­ing Orig­i­nal Com­edy Song:

29/31 — Gar­funkel and Oates; good idea, execution not so much

I Don’t Mat­ter — Worm Quar­tet; too long and repetitive

In the 80s — Devo Spice; full of great 80s reference, but kind of whiny, good chorus though

Kyle, Are You Ian? — Scooter Pic­nic; inventive plus inspired and encouraged parodies of it

Write Like The Wind (George R.R. Mar­tin) — Paul & Storm; on one had it sings about a love of Game of Thrones, but on the other it makes some jokes about it too, I love it, my pick

Out­stand­ing Par­ody Song:

Carol of the Meh — Smashy Claw; good parody having some fun with the original song, just not all that exciting

Devo, Are You Shoe­box? — Devo Spice, fea­tur­ing Worm Quar­tet; parody that is not as good as the original

The Ped­dler: A Half-Assed Trans­la­tion — Kobi LaCroix; love the music style on this, but really kind of dumb lyrics

We Were Never Ever Actu­ally Together — Eric Schwartz aka Smooth-E, feat. Michael Yo

When You Wish Upon A Death Star — the great Luke Ski; Stars Wars and Disney melody, total fun, my favorite

MarsCon Dementia Track for 2013

MarsCon, the one in Minnesota not the one in , has announced their headlining music act for 2013.

MarsCon is March 103 at the Crown Plaza Hotel & Suites in Bloomington, MN.  It is a sci-fi/fandom convention with media stars, authors, artists, costumers, and more.  They are known for having the Dementia Track, sponsored by Dementia Radio and run by the Great Luke Ski.  It is a weekend long party and music festival of comedy music.  Tons of acts from Dementia Radio, the FuMP, and elsewhere come to play

This year’s headliner for the 10th year of the track is the group Flat 29 from the UK, playing their first concert in the USA.   Also for the first time at MarsCon is comedy rocker Mikey Mason.  More acts will be announced as time goes by, but check the site for past guests to get a feel for who might be there.

Events for the track include: Space Oddity Music Club & Brew Pub which is three nights of music circles, snacks, drinks, and games in an laid-back environment with an open mic.  Dementia Smackdown Wrestling with DJ and proe wrestling fan Jered Perez creating avatars of appearing acts for a wrestling video game then has them fight in a 30 minute Battle Royal for the Dementia Championship; commentary along with the fight.  The Dementia Fan Showcase hosted by DJ Particle gives you the chance to perform your own songs or someone else’s.     The FuMP Jukebox which gives acts who did not make the Main Stage a chance to perform one of their songs for everyone.  The Dementia Smackdown (no wrestling this time) features the weekend’s performers performing cover versions of each other’s songs.

The con will also be the home to the 3rd Annual Logan Whitehurst Memorial Awards for Excellence in Comedy Music.

Jonah Knight’s Another Creepy Christmas Album

Paranormal folk songwriter Jonah Knight has a new album, called Another Creepy Christmas.  A Kickstarter funded album about creepy Christmas songs.  Not since Nightmare Before Christmas have I been so scared of Christmas.

The album consists of ten music tracks, plus one spoken word track, some being old Christmas songs done in a new creepier way and some being all new scary songs.

The classics include an angry version of “Getting Nothing for Christmas” that makes you wonder if he is going to get revenge for being snitched on; “We Three Kings” duet that seems to focus on the stranger lines of the song; “Santa Claus is Coming”  as if it was a warning; “Santa Baby” which is only creepy because Jonah is singing it.

The new songs are pretty original.  One is about the Icelandic Christmas figures the Yuletide Lads and basically tells what each of the thirteen do.   The Krampus gets his own song telling of the horror that he will do to bad children.  “Lonely Christmas” is sad little tale of being alone for Christmas, but that’s ok.  “Perfect Tree” a song about wanting the perfect Christmas tree and other holiday elements, while serving  his prison time for a crime spree; very up beat.

Jonah does a duet with comedy nerd rocker Mikey Mason.  Mikey spends the song trying to tell Jonah about the happiness and joy for Christmas.  It does not really work to well.  At least they are able to agree on the importance of commercialism and alcoholism.  Mikey also shares some of the ‘naughty’ parts of the season too.

There is also an insert done of “Yes, Virginia” done pretty straight forward.

This album works both something to play during the Christmas season and Halloween season as well.  Right now you can only get the album digitally, but physical CDs of the album are on the way.  So if you like want to creep people out this holiday season, this might be the album to check out.

One last creepy Christmas picture to enjoy.

Update:  Here’s a chance to win your own copy of Another Creepy Christmas.
http://eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com/420729.html

Gen Con’s Music Events

After working through some personal stuff I am back to tell you about the musical events at Gen Con Indy this weekend.  They have a number of different acts and styles through out the con. From filk and comedy to geek rock and nerdcore to things even stranger.

Things start on Thursday at 7p with the Damsels of Dorkington. The group is three ladies and one guy in a dress who preform a mixture of improv, music, and geekery.  The group will be doing a long-form improv show about an ‘untold’ story of King Aruther and the Knights of Camelot.  This mature event will be in the Crowne Plaza Grand Central Ballroom and cost you $4.

Then it is Marc Gunn at 8pm, presenting Firefly Drinking Songs.  Gunn will be presenting songs from his Firefly Drinking Song CD.  It costs $2.

Friday at 3pm, there will be the strangest music of all the con, a Klingon Opera Ballet.  Put on by il Troubadore, a Klingon Music Project, and the Different Drummers Belly Dancers.  It will consist of a performance of a tale about a warrior winning back his love after a ten year absence done all in Klingon, called “wa’ SaD ram wa’ ram je” (One Thousand Nights & a Night).  It all goes down in the Indianapolis Convention Center Ballroom  and will last only an hour.  The event will cost $6.

Nerdcore rappers Soup Or Villainz will be performing at the con on Friday 6pm.  Soup Or Villainz is a duo of high class villains Remi-son and Viet Vu and their henchpeople; they plan for world domination with their hypnotizing beats and lyrical mysticism turning the youth into zombies.  Well that’s what they claim.  Their show is in the Grand Ballroom of the Westin and is free.

Friday at 7pm the Damsels of Dorkington will be doing a panel with 100% honest disclosure to any questions asked of them.  Sharing their experiences from cons all over the country.  Possible guest moderator to appear.  Crowne Plaza Grand Central Ballroom.

Five Year Mission, the band that aims to write a song for every episode of the original Star Trek, has a hour and a half concert Friday 8pm in the Westin’s Grand Ballrooms.  Cost for this one is $4.

Friday night features the “Friday Night Live” comedy and music concert starting at 9pm and going till 11.  The great Luke Ski, Damsels of Dorkington, Marc Gunn, Mikey Mason, Tom Smith, & Dan the Bard.  The show is in the Crowne Plaza Grand Central Ballroom for $2.  A good chance to sample several different acts.

A new quartet of rocks called The Next Two Bands are having a concert Saturday at 2pm for half and hour in the Westin Grand Ballroom.  They sing songs about sex and sci-fi cranking the hyperdrive into punk.  Or so they say.  Show costs $2.

Geek Rock Comedian Mikey Mason brings his own brand of geek comedy and music to the con.  Know for songs “She Don’t Like Firefly” and “Best Game Ever.”  The show starts Saturday at 2pm and goes for one and half hour in the Crowne Plaza Grand Central Ballroom.  From my experience the show will be worth the $2 admission.

Gen Con’s Costume Contest is Saturday at 4pm in the Indianapolis Convention Center Ballroom.  The great Luke Ski will be performing at half time, yet again for another year.  The Different Drummer Belly Dancers doing a pre-contest show.

Geek rock band Sci-Fried performs Saturday at 5:30pm.  Sci-Fried is a six piece band from Florida with songs about Star Wars, video games, comics, zombies, and more, they will be performing new songs from their album CO-OP MODE.” The show takes place in the Westin’s Grand Ballroom for $4.

Professor Shyguy will be bringing his 8bit, high energy danceable nerd pop to the con.  His performance consists of him singing, playing guitar, keyboards, and drums, sometimes three of those things at the same time.  The show is in the Westin’s Grand Ballroom Saturday at 7pm and is $6.

The Damsels of Dorkington are back also at 7pm on Saturday in the  Crowne Plaza Grand Central Ballroom.  This time with Comic Book Comedy and more improvisation of all things for geeks and nerds.  Event is $4 and is of mature level.

Marc Gunn returns on Saturday at 8pm for another round of drinking songs.  This event will cover songs for Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, and more back in the Crowne Plaza Grand Central Ballroom for $2.

For the 18th year the great Luke Ski will be performing his music at Gen Con.  From his latest parody hits and original fan favorites, covering topics from TV, movies, pop culture, and just about everything else a nerd could love.  The show is Saturday at 9pm right after Marc Gunn.  Show is $2.

Tom Smith closes things out on Saturday at 10pm after Luke.  Tom is known at The World’s Fastest Filker and performs in every style but dull.  Songs about gaming, computers, fantasy, silly Cthulhu, and a lot of awful puns.  Again the show is just $2.

The Different Drummer Belly Dancers will also be doing roving performances Thursday 11am and 5pm, Friday noon and 4:30pm, and Sunday 10:30am and 3pm.  Also belly dancing classes throughout the weekend for all levels; classes are $10.  Thursday at 1 and 2pm, Friday at 2 and 6pm, Sunday 1pm; all of them will be in Room 206 of the Indianapolis Convention Center.