inner nerd » Nerds

History: Veronica Vasicka (2010)

beaker — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 19:47:04 +0000

Founder of NY-based revivalist label Minimal Wave talks about her work.

Herself a diamond in the rough, Veronica’s pirate radio station-turned-label has fittingly refocused attention on some spectacular, mostly unknown or forgotten artists. Beyond reissues, Veronica’s bringing to light new talent with a penchant for stripped down, analog sounds, like Medio Mutante.

SCHEMATIC: An interview with Ford Models and a link to the Minimal Wave Facebook group…

Facebook Group

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Robot Rock du Jour: Disk Drive + Printer Singing

beaker — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 08:19:25 +0000

These folks take nerd music to a totally new level.

SCHEMATIC: More tonal nonsense from highly unlikely heroes and heroines…

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Robot Rock du Jour: Daft Punk – Derezzed (2010) (TRON: Legacy)

beaker — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:58:54 +0000

TRON: Legacy + Daft Punk. Full coverage of the original film and remake soon.

End of line…

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Snort: Sesame Street – Yip Yip Martian Radio

beaker — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 06:22:24 +0000

My genesis moment…

end of line…

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Robot Rock du Jour: Marcello Giombini – I Adore Commodore (198?)

beaker — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:20:17 +0000

Italian film composer and experimental synth maestro Giombini put up this track sometime in the early 1980s as a promo for the Commodore 64. I wonder if this video somehow inspired the seminal film, Weird Science?

SCHEMATIC: Cuts from Giombini’s landmark 1981 LP Astromusic Synthesizer…

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Robot Rock du Jour: Futurisk – Player Piano LP (2010)

beaker — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:20:36 +0000

Hot off the press!!!

Aptly-named revival label Minimal Wave has compiled Futurisk‘s entire catalog and pressed it on collector-quality 180g vinyl, including this alternate take of their signature track, Meteoright. Destined to be a collectible. At $22, you’d be crazy not to pick one (or two) up.

SCHEMATIC: Need more Futurisk videos??? Get your fix HERE!!!

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Dans La Rue: Bay Area Maker Faire 2010

beaker — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 07:05:29 +0000

The Maker Faire is like an engineer’s craft show on acid. There’s dudes riding around in go-carts that look like cupcakes, sixty-year-olds playing Jules Verne in the Steam Punk pavilion and lots of fire. This first video features Mark Galt’s intoxicating “Quadruped” kinetic sculpture at the Bay Area Maker Faire in May 2010.

SCHEMATIC: More videos and photos from Maker Faire 2010…

Mark Galt – Electric Motor Man

Atoms & Electrons – Apple IIe + Twitter

So this fellow bought an Apple IIe for $15 and rigged it up to turn twitter avatars and feeds into 8-bit artwork. Wicked!

Life-Sized Mousetrap

Remember that game mousetrap? How about a life-sized version for your backyard?

Purincess Labs – Deathwheel 3000dx

With a perverse sense of humor and penchant for fun, classmate Purin’s Deathwheel 3000dx was a huge hit at Maker Faire.

Goligorsky Laboratory – Super Relax Concept Electric Research Vehicle (Tandem Bicycle)

David Goligorsky, Design’s Oscar Wilde, developed this electric tandem as part of his graduate thesis project at Stanford’s Design Program. Also shown is a road bike David designed and built, as well as “Hyper-Lincoln” whose red LED eyes signal out The Gettysburg Address in Morse code. This guys is off the chain. Sorry, bad joke.

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Robot Rock du Jour: Thomas Dolby – Windpower (1982)

beaker — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 00:32:09 +0000

The future was indeed 1982. Nerd of nerds Thomas Dolby laid out “Windpower” on his seminal LP The Golden Age of Wireless, which featured the über hit She Blinded Me With Science. This song is an intellectual call to arms; a utopian nerd manifesto. If anyone wants to build a new city (or take over a cool one like Denver) I’m IN!

SCHEMATIC: Two more versions and inspiring lyrics…

Windpower (Top of the Pops Live Version) (c.1982)

Crappy sound and video quality, but a great version nonetheless!

Windpower (High Powered Extended Play) (1982)

This particular cut is off the eponymous 12″ single. Readily available on vinyl and cheap.

Windpower Lyrics

Switch off the mind and let the heart decide
who you were meant to be
Flick to remote and let the body glide
There is no enemy !
Etch out a future of your own design
Well tailored to your needs
Then fan the flame and keep the dream alive
Of a continent
A continent a continent a continent a -
There is no enemy !
Switch of the mind and let the heart decide
We’re a continent
A continent a continent a continent a -
Shatter the lens and grind it into sand
One measured exposure
Scatter the seed and furrow in our land
The future is roses! Roses!
Switch off the mind and let the heart decide
There is no enemy!
Lift up the hearts of this your only tribe
We’re a continent
A continent a continent a continent a

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Robot Rock du Jour: Kraftwerk – Ruckzuck (1970)

beaker — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:23:18 +0000

Are you kidding me???!!! This song is ridiculous. It is shocking to me how many people who LOVE Kraftwerk have never even heard this song. Just in case there was ANY doubt in your mind as to the genius of these boys from Düsseldorf, this lead song off their 1970 eponymous debut album should clear it up.

I spent two hours combing youtube for every worthwhile version of this song including two additional live performances. One is from Germany in 1975 and the other is a pre-Kraftwerk (Organisation) performance complete with…congas!!! Each offers a unique glimpse into the inner nerd.

SCHEMATIC: V-I-D-E-O-S…

Pre-Kraftwerk (Organisation) Live, 1970

Live in Germany, 1975

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Documentary: Robert Moog (2004)

beaker — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:24:19 +0000

“I think it would be egotistical of me to say, ‘I thought of it.’ What happened is, I opened my mind up and the idea came through…and into my head.”

- Robert Moog (which, btw, is pronounced “Mohg”)

This documentary is available for puchase on for $9.99.

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