Nerd Music Holiday Gift Guide 2019

Want to give the gift of nerdy music this holiday season? Excellent. Here are our recommendations of great music releases from this year, with links where they can be purchased!

Misbehavin' Maidens: “Swearing is Caring”

If you haven't yet snagged our album of nerdy, dirty, feminist, comedy music, get on that!

Musical style: Modern folk

Songs about: Star Trek, libraries, anxiety, Harry Potter, fandom conventions, mansplaining, what not to say after sex, drinking, and pegging, among other things!

Audience: 18+ nerds

Merch: www.redbubble.com/people/misbehavinmaids/shop

Learn more: misbehavinmaidens.com

Rhiannon's Lark: “Sugar and Spice and Dinosaurs”

Alyssa Yeager has the voice of a Disney Princess, and her musical talent doesn’t stop there. She plays guitar, autoharp, and ukulele on her latest album, which makes for a delightful, easy-listening experience that is also often subversive and hilarious.

Musical style: Acoustic singer/songwriter

Songs about: Knitting, feminism, the Avengers, Game of Thrones, Avatar: The Last Airbender, organization, sloths, and the lack of proper pockets in women's clothing, among other things!

Audience: Family-friendly

Patreon: www.patreon.com/rhiannonslark

Merch: rhiannonslark.com/westcoast.html (available until Dec. 8)

Learn more: rhiannonslark.com

PDX Broadsides: “Relatable Content”

Our cuddle enemies, the PDX Broadsides, are a nerdy, Portland-based trio famed for their earwormy, original pop tunes about science and awkward feelings. Their latest album is mind-bendingly catchy, hilarious and heartfelt.

Musical style: Acoustic pop with piano and guitar

Songs about: Steven Universe, anxiety, Kingkiller Chronicles, consent, Game of Thrones, and the importance of Seratonin Dopamine, among other things!

Audience: Family-friendly

Merch: pdxbroadsides.threadless.com and thepdxbroadsides.bandcamp.com/merch

Learn more: www.pdxbroadsides.com

Sunnie Larsen: “The Space Between the Notes”

Sunnie has performed with almost every notable nerdy act in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, with several album credits as guest fiddler to her name. “The Space Between the Notes” is her debut album, in which she sings and plays violin with a wide array of fellow nerd musicians providing additional backing instrumentals.

Musical style: Filk and instrumental

Songs about: The Mars Rover, Sherlock Holmes, Shakespeare, Steven Universe, Babylon 5, and Downton Abbey, among other things!

Audience: Family-friendly

Merch: sunnielarsen.bandcamp.com/merch

Learn more: www.sunnie.org

Sarah Donner: “The Mess We Make”

Sarah Donner's tenth studio album, “The Mess We Make,” is full of rockin’ bangers on a wide array of nerdy subjects.

Musical style: Rock

Songs about: Dungeons & Dragons, Rosalind Franklin, mansplaining, space exploration, and lots of songs about feelings!

Audience: Family-friendly

Patreon: www.patreon.com/sarahdonner

Merch: shop.sarahdonner.com

Learn more: www.sarahdonner.com

Elizabeth Lain: “The Many Triumphs and Inevitable Death of Victoria Valentine”

If your tabletop game needs a soundtrack, you need this album. It’s the perfect suspenseful, epic, instrumental music to go with any adventure. Elizabeth layers a ludicrous number of instruments to create a soaring soundscape.

Musical style: Epic instrumental

Audience: Family-friendly

Merch: elizabethlain.bandcamp.com/merch

Learn more: elizabethlain.com

Beth Kinderman: “The Hero’s Journey”

Beth Kinderman’s rich and often ethereal folk album is both powerful and thought-provoking.

Musical style: Folk

Songs about: Concept album exploring Joseph Campbell’s theories of the monomyth through the lens of a woman's experiences

Audience: Family-friendly

Merch: www.redbubble.com/people/bethkinderman

Learn more: www.bethkinderman.com

TheFifthSister: “Shattered Past”

Lauren Furze’s passion for and dedication to her fandoms bursts forth through her music, making her a joy to listen to. Her latest release is simultaneously profound, heartfelt, and nerdy as hell. And it’s free on Bandcamp!

Musical style: Rock, punk, alternative

Songs about: Concept album about the Amazon Prime show Absentia

Audience: Family-friendly

Learn more: twitter.com/thefifthsister

Alexander James Adams: “Dream Tunes and Dragon Tales”

If you’re interested in something a little fantastical, Alexander James Adams’ latest album is a great pick. Songs of dragons and myths and magic abound in his latest release.

Musical style: Folk (Renn Faire style)

Songs about: Instrumental tunes and dragon songs

Audience: Family-friendly

Patreon: www.patreon.com/AlexanderJamesAdams

Learn more: alexanderjamesadams.com

The Library Bards: “BomBARDed!”

If you love pop and rock parodies about nerdy stuff, look no further than the Library Bards, who have performed at San Diego Comic Con and Stan Lee’s funeral.

Musical style: Pop and rock parody

Songs about: John Barrowman, Star Trek, Power Rangers, Spider-Man, Firefly, Star Trek, Princess Bride, and more!

Audience: Family-friendly

Patreon: www.patreon.com/LibraryBards

Learn more: www.librarybards.com

Chuck Parker: “World’s Okayest…”

After playing bass with almost every notable nerd band in the mid-Atlantic, Chuck Parker finally released his first solo album this year!

Musical style: Rock, filk

Songs about: Social anxiety, Stranger Things, performing at fandom conventions, and Dungeons & Dragons, among other things!

Audience: Family-friendly

Learn more: chuck-parker.net

The Doubleclicks: “The Book Was Better”

Laser and Aubrey's latest blockbuster nerd music release knocks it out of the park again, with tons of quirky, heartfelt, and catchy tunes.

Musical style: Folk-pop

Songs about: Coming out as nonbinary, the downsides of working retail, loneliness, panic attacks, and a fun new birthday song you can force your friends to learn and sing at your party (which…I may have done), among other things!

Audience: Family-friendly

Patreon: www.patreon.com/thedoubleclicks

Merch: topatoco.com/collections/the-doubleclicks

Learn more: www.thedoubleclicks.com

Music Video Plotting Begins! Also, Dragon Con was A+, Twitch News, and Albums You Should Get

We've started our music video plotting with Laser Webber of The Doubleclicks! We had a great meeting with them last week to start to scope out initial concepts and look at timelines. Fingers crossed, we should be shooting the video in early 2020. We're so excited and thankful that our Kickstarter backers helped make this dream happen by taking us past our $20,000 stretch goal. We can't say it enough: THANK YOU.

(And beeteedubs, Laser has a new book available for pre-order and you should definitely go get it: Crowdfunding for Musicians!)

We had a fantastic time at Dragon Con - thanks to everyone who came to our shows! We were shocked to find nearly 300 people at each of our concerts - y'all rock so hard! PLUS we got to pal around with our cuddle enemies The PDX Broadsides a bunch, which is always amazing. (We're opening for them Oct. 6 in Greenbelt, Md., BTW.)

We love these weird-ass Muppets SO DAMN MUCH

We love these weird-ass Muppets SO DAMN MUCH

We're doing more livestreaming on Twitch lately, too! We've got Rouge mixing up cocktails and Annie cooking things on alternate Monday evenings (EDT), and Flint is doing gaming streaming on Sundays. Stay tuned for exact times on our Twitter and we'll post a formal schedule soon.

Final thought: In case you missed the Kickstarters for these, there are awesome new albums available from a bunch of our friends right now and you should definitely give them a listen:

ANOTHER Album Release? Sort Of! Not Really!

Surprise! We just released ANOTHER album (sort of, not really)!

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We've recently heard from some fans who adore our music, but want to be able to play our PG-rated stuff for their kids without having to aggressively skip past our raunchier tracks in the car.

Though we will never bill ourselves as a children's or all-ages band, we appreciate that people find our music inspiring and funny and want to share it with people who don't necessarily need to hear songs about pegging or how much we love the word "fuck."

If you've held off buying our music because of the explicit content, now you can buy JUST the PG stuff at Bandcamp. **NONE of these tracks are new - all are songs included in our previous 3 albums.**

If you already own our music but want to be able to easily segment out the PG stuff, we've also turned this album into playlists!

Cheers!

Behind the Music: "I Wanna Make Out With You at Cons"

By “Lucky” Annie LeBlanc

Buy the song on our second album, “Sloppy Seconds!”

1. This is the first original I've written that was actually performed! My friend Phoebe helped me with the uke chord progression and I practiced it for months before I nervously brought it to the band. I was so excited that they liked it and wanted to perform it.

2. I have a bit of a... history? reputation? for developing crushes on cosplayers at fandom cons. In a few, shining cases, those crushes have evolved into makeout buddies. More often, they have resulted in either me failing to work up the courage to ask them, me being unavailable for casual makeouts, or asking and embarrassing myself.

3. The best improv banter we've ever had for this song was at Dragon Con 2018:

Me: "This song is NOT based on a true story."
Saber: "Maybe someday you'll be able to say that with a straight face."
Me: "Oh honey, I am FAR too queer to do anything with a straight face."

Fun postscript: a dude came up to me after the show to tell me he thought I was awesome, but "it's too bad you're gay!" I paused, and said something like, "I'm pansexual, not gay - I like all genders, but I'm taken right now" and he was like, "Oh," and walked away.

4. The breakdown, with "I finally worked up the courage to ask you, but then my heart just broke because your Facebook status changed to 'in a relationship'" is based on a true personal experience, and is actually the incident that fueled me to write this song in the first place. So thank you, dude who ended up being taken off the market. I think the song was worth the rejection, and I'm pretty happy with my current relationship situation. Everybody wins!

5. It's always a thrill when we perform this live at the point where, just before the final chorus, I yell, "Everyone!" and people sing along. I want to bottle that feeling.

Album 3 Kickstarter launches April 11

We are full of SQUEE because our final preparations are coming together and we're very happy to announce that the Kickstarter for our third album is launching April 11!

 #MuppetFlail

 #MuppetFlail

We have diabolical plans for the launch, and will be unveiling several surprises over the next couple weeks. If you want to be in the know AND get handy reminders from everyone's favorite evil social media overlord, RSVP for this Facebook event.

Behind the Music: "Bunnies in My Brain"

By “Lucky” Annie LeBlanc

1. It took me the better part of a year to write this one. Who knew it would be so hard to write about something that I deal with every single day of my life? I ultimately had to set a hard deadline for myself to get it done.

2. When I only had a couple fragments of lyrics, this one started in my head sounding like a big-bandish, loungey sort of classic swing song. One of the things about writing music, though, is that you have to write the type of music your band can actually perform - and a song in that style wouldn't sound right without several instruments backing it up, and we just don't have that, unfortunately. Not only that, I wasn't sure my range/vocal talents were up to the task of a big, rich, sweeping jazz song.

3. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of another melody that would work with the song, and with my self-imposed deadline looming, I decided to make it a parody instead. I looked around for folk songs that had a frenetic pace, and I remembered performing "Chicken on a Raft" with Pirates for Sail. Once I figured that out, the lyrics came together pretty quickly. (I find lyrics a lot easier to write when I have a rhythm in mind first.)

4. The concept of this song is that the song itself is a long, anxious overthink of a concept - in this case, being in love with someone who tends to ease your anxiety when they're around, but being conscious of the fact that you can't rely on them to ease your anxiety (co-dependence is never a solution, kids!). As someone pointed out, sometimes being in love increases your anxiety, and that's VERY true, but I decided not to work that into the song because I didn't think it was as interesting or complex as the idea that sometimes you have people in your life who decrease your anxiety just by being around, but knowing you can't get dependent upon that effect, that you have to manage your own mental health and be able to do it independently.

5. I did a songwriting stream on Twitch for this song - the first and only time I've done that. It was really fun and I want to do that again sometime.

6. The song was written by the end of June 2018, but we didn't actually start rehearsing it until early 2019. One of the delays was the need to learn a couple of new songs that were written specifically for Dragon Con, and then we focused on other music we had to prep for studio recording first, and then we had a bit of a holdup where we were trying to find a version of "Chicken on a Raft" we wanted to emulate for the purposes of building harmonies.

7. I wish we had a good recording of us performing this at the Limerick Pub a couple weeks ago - Saber added the cajone (drum) to it, and it makes the song even better.

8. Yes, the song will be on the new album coming out this year (and it will include the cajone).

Behind the Music: "Bibliophilia"

By “Lucky” Annie LeBlanc

"Bibliophilia" is my favorite song I've ever written (and I love the photo below that Saber took for the cover art!). I'm so psyched everyone can now buy it as a single.

Some background on the song:
1. My mom is awesome and took me to the Rochester Public Library, pretty much weekly, from a very young age (I think my earliest memories of it were when I was 3 years old or so). We also visited the Bookmobile every other week when it came to my neighborhood, though I preferred the main library because they had a dollhouse that changed seasonally, and puppets you could check out! I've had a library card of my own as long as I can remember (and now I have cards for three different county systems, whaaaat).

2. I've always been in awe of libraries - even more so today, recognizing that in our consumer-driven culture, libraries are one of the only places you can go without having to spend a single cent, and you can come away with education or entertainment. You don't even have to physically GO to the library to gain its benefits - through services like Overdrive (which is name-dropped in the song), you can get ebooks and audiobooks delivered to your electronic devices for free. And there's usually a reference librarian available by phone or email to help you answer questions, which is phenomenal.

3. I was inspired to write this song as I was getting ready to go volunteer at a local library for a day. I was flirting with my boyfriend and we started coming up with terrible and wonderful library and book-themed double-entendres and puns, and...well.

4. The song originally had a completely different melody, but when I sang it at rehearsal, it clearly wasn't working. I went back to the drawing board, and came up with the melody you hear today.

5. I do not advocate having sex in libraries. Consent is mandatory, and that includes the consent of people around you in a public place who might hear you, see you, or have to clean up after you. And note that the punchline of the song is that we are actually singing about reading erotica in the library.

6. I had to change one of the lyrics after we'd started performing the song (and after the YouTube video of it was released). Originally we said "I'll meet you in 649.65" because when I Googled "Dewey decimal sex education books," that's what came up. Repeatedly. Buuuut then when I was looking around at my library I realized that section is embedded within child psychology, and consists of books intended to teach very young children about where babies come from, and I was kinda horrified. Not the vibe I was going for at all. So we've since changed the lyric to "Shelf 306.7's where I feel alive," which is the adult sex education book section, my original intention.

7. One final note as a pitch for libraries: libraries may be taxpayer-funded, but have been subjected to massive budget cuts over recent decades. Most libraries have a foundation you can donate to, and sometimes there are special perks for being a monthly contributor. And if you're trying to de-clutter, most libraries accept donations of new and used books for their Friends of the Library program, and possibly for their collections. One of my habits to support my favorite authors and libraries is to pre-order hardcovers from my favorite authors, then donate them to the library as soon as they arrive. The benefit is threefold: 1. The library gets a new release they can either throw into their collection or sell for a decent amount at their Friends bookstore, 2. I'm helping my author friends boost their sales numbers (since hardcover orders count more than ebook orders, and I always order the ebook too), and 3. If it's added to the collection, it can help my favorite authors find new audiences, especially if the library hadn't already ordered a copy.

Love Libraries? Get “Bibliophilia” (new single!)

As a Valentine's Day surprise for y'all, we've released a single FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. "Bibliophilia" in all its professionally-recorded-and-mixed glory is yours to own as of TODAY!

It’s available on Bandcamp now. We've submitted it for distribution on iTunes, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Pandora, but it can take up to a couple of weeks to be available on all platforms. So if you prefer to buy on those avenues, keep checking back and it should be there soon! (Update 2/21: the single is now available from: Bandcamp | iTunes | Amazon | Google Play | YouTube Music | Spotify !)

It WILL be included on our forthcoming album, but, uh, we’re impatient, and thought you might be, too. So you can enjoy this little “taste” of album 3 early!

Also, remember: you still have until Feb. 28, 2019 to submit a video for our 3rd CD Kickstarter campaign! Details are in our previous blog post.

Oh and in case you missed it, we posted on YouTube a video of a song we just started performing in January. It’s all about having anxiety and being in love: