Confession time: there is no NNIB this week.

With all the preparation inherent in readying myself for Nerdapalooza, I just don’t have the time to do everything I’d like. Sadly, Nerd News In Brief was one of the things I had to cut out.

I know, you are crushed. That’s understandable.

If it’s any consolation, I promise to really wow you with next week’s edition. I will bring the pain. Hardcore from the brain.

In the meantime, here’s something to help take the edge off. It’s a super-early episode of the Radio Free Hipster podcast.

Who loves ya, baby?

Download Radio Free Hipster Ep. 48: The Early Bird [hosting provided by Antisocial] Size: 47.2 MB Running Time: 51:34

Intro: Baddd Spellah – “Radio Free Hipster Theme (feat. Beefy)”
The catchiest song ever? I think so!

Track 1: Married With Children dialog / EzLee – “Vain Mistake”
You can’t go wrong by mixing The Clash and MC Lyte.

Z’s 1st interlude: “Songs or parts of songs that are just so damn catchy they get stuck in your head.”
Like you guys don’t know what an earworm is or somethin’!

Track 2: Andrew WK – “McLaughlin Groove”
Thanks to Church for turning me on to this one.

Track 3: Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills – “Dumbledore Is Gay (And That’s OK)”
“He’s still the greatest freaking wizard of his day.”

Track 4: Gred and Forge – “A Little Less Incantation”
I sure hope y’all like this one, ‘cause I think it’s gonna be on the next episode of HipTrax as well!

Track 5: Jesse Dangerously – “So! Much! Fun! (Unh!)”
Expect both a review of Verba Volant and an interview with Jesse D himself sometime after I return from Orlando.

Track 6: YTCracker – “DugDig”
You may have heard this classic in G4’s latest commercials for X-Play.

Track 7: Married With Children dialog / Bill O’Reilly – “Bill O’Reilly Flips Out (Dance Remix)”
Who would’ve thought that a hate filled asshole could be susceptible to such profanity-laden outbursts?

Track 8: Harry and the Potters – “The Blood of a Prince”
The Brothers DeGeorge do hardcore, and do it well, I might add.

Track 9: Wordburglar – “Sayin’ Raps”
I am really excited about seeing Burg perform this weekend. The word “squee” comes to mind.

Track 10: Super Barrio Brothers – “System”
This was one of the tracks that was available for free from the SBB’s MySpace last month.

Z’s 2nd interlude: “The cousin of nerdcore producer and hip-hop aficionado DJ Snyder.”
Andrew WK is nerdy by association.

Track 11: Optimus Rhyme – “Reboot”
This podcast needs more Optimus. Its cowbell, however, is at an acceptable level.

Track 12: MC Frontalot – “Good Old Clyde”
That’s some old school Front right there!

Track 13: Alex Desert / Yo Gabba Gabba! – “Pick It Up”
We sing this one a lot in the Z. household.

Track 14: Sugar Fix – “Rule 34”
Download this song and share it with the one you love.

Track 15: No Kill I – “Wearin’ Red”
Poor redshirt never saw it coming.

Track 16: Metaforce – “In the Rain”
Rain City Blooze won’t be the newest Metaforce album for long. Their third full-length should be released shortly.

Track 17: Married With Children dialog / Lenlow – “Last Night”
I always wondered how I could get some Traveling Wilburys worked into this podcast!

Z’s final interlude: “A big pile of tracks I care nothing about.”
A good mash-up includes some bits from your favorite songs. A great mash-up is made entirely out of tracks you hate, but still manages to move you.

Track 18: DJ Earworm – “United State of Pop”
Bringing new meaning to the phrase “polish a turd.”

This episode felt like cheating.

You see, when Church suggested I do an ep. centered on earworms, I was instantly taken with the concept. It sounded like a solid enough idea, as it was something fairly relatable to all of us; I mean, who hasn’t gotten a song stuck in his head at one time or another? But the truth is, to me damn near every song in every edition of RFH is an earworm.

That’s sort of my selection criteria. If something stays with me, if I find myself repeating the lyrics or humming the melody, it goes in the show.

Sure, occasionally I’ll play a request or something that I’m not super familiar with, but those songs are a minority. But don’t let that stop you. I’d love to hear your song suggestions and show ideas. So please share ‘em!

As I make my final preparations to leave for Nerdapalooza, I keep discovering these pleasant little surprises.

First, Josh and I unexpectedly scored the family van to make the trip down in, which is a definite upgrade from our previous ride. Then funky49 made a $4.49 donation to my travel fund (bringing the grand total of the contributions up to a whopping $4.49). And now I see that MC Frontalot and Wordburglar will be doing an in-store at A Comic Shop Thursday night! A free in-store! With free pizza and beer!

No one pinch me; this dream is just too good.

In recent years I have put together a compilation or two, so I can say with confidence that the process of assembling such albums is no picnic. It is, in fact, not like a picnic at all. There is, for instance, no handsome wicker basket, no babbling brook beside which to sit, no potato salad. What there is, instead, is a lot of hard work.

Hours upon hours of time spent pondering agendas and pouring over possible contributors. Scores of timid emails attempting to woe the cream of the crop of nerdy music to participate. Missed deadlines and delays galore. A veritable mad dash to the finish line that occurs just moment prior to the album’s release regardless of how well you planned shit. These are the things one has to look forward to when assembling a comp.

And while I’ve proudly fashioned a pair of these albums, my friends from Game Music 4 All, a site no older than my own, have produced something in the neighborhood of 600 times that amount! Yes, 1200 compilation albums in less than two years!

Does that strike you as unbelievable? It should, because I totally made it up.

On the side of truthiness, GM4A has produced far more comps than me in the two years since that blog launched, and I have found each to be an enjoyable endeavor. Recently, Ant and the boys have commemorated their second blogiversary with the completion of the Welcome to World 2 compilation.

Now it must be noted that these gents are my friends, and that I would doubtlessly say nice things about their effort regardless. But biasness aside WtW2 is a startlingly brilliant release the likes of which summarily outdoes even their admittedly superlative previous efforts.

Don’t believe me?

Of course not. I totally lied to you about the “1200 compilations” thing, so you should be suspicious. In that case, allow me to elucidate.

The album kicks off with a beautiful rendition of the Final Fantasy 6 Intro by Select Start and doesn’t let up until the final trains of its concluding track by UK geeks Elfonso. Along the way you hear Entertainment System’s take on the music of Fire Emblem, a Mega Man-centered rocker form The Megas, and some ninja chiptunes from Videogame Orchestra. And once you finished that, there’s a bunch more supplementary tracks on the companion disc from Dual Core, Doctor Octoroc, Player Two, and countless other high profile acts.

I twisted Anthony arm and had him confess to me that he would, in fact, be selling the album at this week’s Nerdapalooza for a mere 5 bones, so if you plan to attend be sure to bring a little extra scratch to pick it up. It’s a damn fine value, especially at that price.

For those for you not in attendance, keep an eye on Game Music 4 All for an official release date and related order information. Or you can just listen to Radio Free Hipster, as I have a feeling I’m going to be playing a lot of it.

G4 finally decided to grace me with the embed code for their “It’s a Nerd’s World” spot featuring the one and only YTCracker. Saving me the trouble of, y’know, finding it myself.

At long last, behold: