Fannish Music: Geek rock, Nerdcore, Filk, Wizard Rock…

[kjn]

Seanan McGuire (yes, that Seanan McGuire!) and friends performing Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves:



This is the studio version from the CD Wicked Girls, which sadly appears to be out-of-print right now. There are some live versions on Youtube, but too often they have poor sound.

Dorothy, Alice and Wendy and Jane,
Susan and Lucy, we're calling your names,
All the Lost Girls who came out of the rain
And chose to go back on the shelf.
Tinker Bell says, and I find I agree
You have to break rules if you want to break free.
So do as you like -- we're determined to be
Wicked girls saving ourselves.

[From The Shadows]

I have to admit I'm not as familiar with these genres, though I have heard Weezer referred to as "geek rock."

[kjn]

Yeah, several of these genres, traditions, or communities can probably be described as under-underground.

I'm not familiar with Weezer myself, though I was recommended their cover of "Take On Me" just a few days ago. I'm not sure I'd refer to them as geek rock myself. They might very well have written songs on geeky subjects (space, science, computers, gaming, cons, and so on), or have served as an inspiration to geek rockers, but they don't seem to self-identify as geek rockers or make songs like that into a big part of their output, nor do they seem to have any connection with any organised fannish movement as a band.

One of the seminal geek rock bands is however Ookla the Mok. Here is their Suprema Lex, from their album Vs. Evil, their celebration of comic book supervillains.

I'm not mad because you caught me
I'm not mad because you always win
I'm not mad about that fact you got the perfect girl
I'm not mad about your perfect chin
I'm not mad because you're stronger
I'm not mad that all my plans fall flat
I'm not mad because you made me lose all of my hair
Okay I might be a little bit mad about that

[numberthirty]

Just so this gets a mention, Ookla was obviously a part of Thundarr's posse in the show Thundarr The Barbarian.

[numberthirty]

Also...

There's bands so geeky that they didn't really need to hip you to that they were actually geeks -

[kjn]

Which brings us to Nerdcore, the hiphop strand of fannish or geeky music. I'm not that knowledgable about that scene, but here is Adam WarRock rapping about Squirrel Girl. He has done quite a bit more raps about comics characters.

[kjn]

A few years ago, a new geek rock band duo took Canadian fandom and the filk community by storm: Copy Red Leader. Sadly, the band split shortly afterwards, but band member Leslie Hudson has continued touring and making music. Here is "Welcome to Eden", a tribute to Poison Ivy from her concept album The Redhead League. Which yes, is about redheaded comic book superheroines and supervillains.

[kjn]

I think the quartet Vixy & Tony (they started out as a duo and grew from there) started out writing Firefly songs, but they have have developed into one of the more versatile and capable bands in this sphere. Here is their "We Are Who We Are" performed live at a filk con in Germany—probably among the most wonderful audiences you can find in the world, as you will hear.

[kjn]

Humour has always been important in all these genres, and one of its foremost writers of funny songs is Tom Smith (though he also has written more than a few serious or downbeat songs as well). From his base in filking, he has touched geek rock, dementia, FuMP, and likely lots more. Here is his song "I Had a Shoggoth" with ASL interpretation by Judi Miller.

[kjn]

Heather Dale started out in the SCA and making celtic music, but she has branched out a lot. She is perhaps best known for songs around King Arthur, but here is a live performance of her song "Joan".

[kjn]

No idea on how to embed sound from tumblr here, but here is Gotham on the Fritz by Codot.

Have you seen the ne'er-to-do, locked up in ‘Ark Avenue’,
On that famous thoroughfare, with some toxin in the air,
High hats and Arrow collars, green spats and lots of dollars,
Spending every dime, on a wonderful crime!

If you’re blue and you don’t know where to go to,
Why don’t you go where chaos sits,
Gotham on the fritz!

Femme fatales who wear a day coat, two-faced men,
Or leather bound coats, perfect fits,
Gotham on the fritz!

Dressed up like a winged flying sleuther,
Trying hard to look like Ol’ Lex Luthor (super duper),
Come let’s mix where Cobblepots walk with their sticks,
Or umbrellas in their mitts.
Gotham on the fritz!

Kitty cats all wear a diamond choker,
Harley walking with the man who broke her (what a joker),
You’ll declare it’s simply insane to be there,
And cower as they battle wits,
Gotham on the fritz!

[kjn]

I dabble in writing fannish lyrics and parodies myself, but not too much is available as recordings. But my friend Moss Bliss did a wonderful presentation of my song "A Flower and a Hufflepuff" at a recent filk con.

[kjn]

Fannish music can be found in just about any style, including melodic death metal. The album Mörkrets tid by Svavelvinter—a solo project by Christian Älvestam—is based on an old fantasy RPG campaign published in Sweden in the 1980s, with lyrics written by the original campaign writer Erik Granström.

Lyrics are in Swedish, but Erik Granström's blog contains translations to English and annotations for the entire album. Here is "Vanderland":

[kjn]

Not much happening here?

Chris Conway wrote a marvellous song a few years ago called "Superheroes Never Die" (Bandcamp link), featuring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and several other superheroes and -villains.

Now German filker Silke Kovar has done a version in German: "Superhelden sterben nicht" (Bandcamp link).

[The Ozman]

Showing my age here, but Spin Doctors debut album in 1991 was titled Pocket Full of Kryptonite, and the opening track is called Jimmy Olsen's Blues. It's about Jimmy trying unsuccessfully to steal Lois away from Clark. I can't access YT from work, but I'm sure it'll be on there if you search.