You can only play “Monster Mash” and Ray Parker Jr.’s Ghostbusters theme so many times at your Halloween party before you scare your guests away. Nobody likes a spooky shindig featuring a tired playlist overstuffed with cliche classic horror tracks everyone uses. Don’t worry though, Nerdoween is here to help your ghoulish gala rise above the usual macabre musical malaise this year. We’ve put together a collection of creepy songs from a source you might not have considered before: horror comedies. Some of our favorite frighteningly funny movies have fantastic, fiendish soundtracks of their own. Here are 12— including great title themes and memorable haunting hits—that will keep your Halloween party rocking this year.

1. An American Werewolf in London – “Traveling to East Proctor/Werewolf Theme”

We’re starting with a song from one of the best horror-comedies of all-time, An American Werewolf in London. The film features a great soundtrack of songs with the word “Moon” in them, but we’re going to set the right one for our party with composer Elmer Bernstein’s super creepy werewolf theme song. No one would go to the moors if they heard this playing. (For the record, avoid all moors in October just out of an abundance of caution.)

2. Shaun of the Dead – “The Blue Wrath”

It’s no surprise Edgar Wright found the perfect track for the opening title sequence of his zombie comedy classic Shaun of the Dead. I Monster’s unsettling “The Blue Wrath,” with its jaunty beat and inhuman “la la la la” lyrics, is a as catchy as a virus.

3. Tremors – “Main Title”

You can easily make your Halloween party a musical success by just putting on the entire Tremors score , but our favorite entry on the soundtrack is composer Ernest Troost’s title track. It’s an unnerving song that builds slowly to a dramatic crescendo. It’s so good your guests would never guess it came from a horror movie that is also hysterical.

4. What We Do in the Shadows – “You’re Dead”

This perfect mockumentary about the banal lives of vampires features a tremendous soundtrack, but we’re obsessed with Norma Tanega’s fantastic pop folk song “You’re Dead.” It’s a fun number that is inherently unnerving thanks to its repeated lyrics that scream Halloween. It’s so good the movie’s spinoff FX series also uses it as its theme. And we never, ever skip the opening credits because of it.

5. The Evil Dead – “Ascent & Infection”

We’re following up one of our most dance-able selections with one of our scariest. It’s one of the many great, terrifying tracks from composer Joseph Loduca’s score for the cult classic The Evil Dead. You can’t go wrong with any part of this soundtrack, but the long notes in the middle of this scary synth song genuinely leave us on edge wondering when the nightmare will end.

6. Zombieland – “For Whom The Bell Tolls”

Metallica’s “Sandman” might be a classic Halloween track, but there’s a reason Zombieland went with this song from the band’s 1984 album Ride the Lightning. It’s dark, heavy, and everyone knows church bells are inherently scary. It’s no mystery why “For Whom the Bell Tolls” remains one of the band’s most popular songs ever.

7. Gremlins – “Too Many Gremlins”

Some of these horror-comedy soundtracks, like composer Jerry Goldsmith’s Gremlins soundtrack, are consistently great. That makes it hard to choose just one song from each. Ultimately we went with “Too Many Gremlins” because of its attention-grabbing start. Plus, even though it is unsettling and weird, it has the perfect energy for a party. It also gets bonus points for its title. We will always laugh at the mere thought of an exhausted character looking at the camera, shrugging their shoulders and sighing, “Too many gremlins.”

8. The Cabin in the Woods – “Last”

As with Metallica, you can make an entire kick-ass Halloween playlist simply from Nine Inch Nail’s songs, so we’re pumped Chris Hemsworth’s meta horror-comedy about a group of friends-turned-test-subjects includes this track. If we were trying to escape a killer cabin in the woods “Last” would help us run through a wall.

9. Killer Klowns From Outer Space – “Hidden Klown Ship”

Since our last track runs the risk of creating a Halloween mosh pit we want to calm things down a little without turning down the creepiness. Composer John Massari’s scary score for the wonderfully absurd Killer Klowns From Outer Space is perfect for that. We could have chosen any of his songs, but we went with “Hidden Klown Ship” because it has an operatic feel to it. The song tells its own frightening story.

10. The Frighteners – “Superstar”

The Frighteners with Michael J. Fox is an underrated classic. As is Sonic Youth’s slow, methodical, very disturbing cover of the classic song “Superstar.” It’s impossible to listen to this without shuddering. This is what ghosts plays when you visit an abandoned rock venue. This is included on playlists for Halloween parties in Hell.

11. Creepshow – “Welcome to Creepshow (Main Title)”

Did you know the word “haunting” was created to describe the sound of a piano? Okay, that might not be true, but it should be. But even beyond the off-putting notes of Creepshow‘s main title from John Harrison’s fantastic score are the theme’s classic Halloween shrieks and cries. Everything about this upsets us, which is why we love it so much.

12. Planet Terror – “Cherry´s Dance Of Death”

Our final track, “Cherry’s Dance of Death” from Grindhouse‘s Planet Terror, is a dynamic instrumental number that’s equal parts rock, mariachi, and horror. Written by director Robert Rodriguez and performed by the Mexican rock band Chingon, it’s the perfect song for both a movie where a woman fights zombies with her machine gun leg and your Halloween party.

Like the rest of this playlist, it’s the perfect way to keep your Halloween party rocking better than anyone else’s.

Originally published October 8, 2018.

The post These 12 Horror-Comedy Songs Are Perfect for Your Halloween Playlist appeared first on Nerdist.

You’re all I ever wannttteeedddd. You’re all I ever needeeddd. So tell me what to do now when I want you back. If you’re under the age of 30, you probably don’t get that reference. But if you do, you are totally an NSYNC (also styled *NSYNC) fan. The infamous ‘90s boy band sang those very words on their smash debut single “I Want You Back,” quickly making millennial girls swoon over them. They released their last album, Celebrity, in 2001 and since then we have been wanting them back. Over two decades later, NSYNC is reuniting for a new song in a seemingly unorthodox way: for a Trolls movie. We got a sneak peak at NSYNC’s new reunion song “Better Place,” in the trailer for Trolls Band Together. And now the new NSYNC song has been released in full alongside the Trolls Band Together soundtrack.

Yes, this seems a bit strange for those who aren’t familiar with this universe. The Trolls films follow Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick), the pink-hued and upbeat troll who eventually becomes the queen of the Trolls. The Trolls are carefree and love to sing and dance ALL the time. She eventually falls in love with Branch, who hates all things joy until he forms a friendship and later romance with Poppy. NSYNC member Justin Timberlake not only voices Branch in the Trolls franchise, but he also wrote the Academy Award-winning theme song for the original 2016 movie, “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”

So it makes sense that Trolls Band Together would be an avenue for an NSYNC reunion song. In fact, it seems that Branch’s life will somewhat mirror Justin Timberlake’s based on what we see in the Trolls Band Together trailer. Branch is a former member of a huge boyband made of his brothers. He will apparently save one of them from a kidnapping before they have a surely happy reunion.

We only hear a snippet of NSYNC’s new reunion song in the Trolls trailer, but we can now jam out to the finished track. It sounds upbeat and fun. Have a listen to the full version of NSYNC’s new song “Better Place” below.

Additionally, Justin Timberlake shared a short behind-the-scenes look at getting the band back together to record NSYNC’s new song.

NSYNC are officially back on the music scene. “Better Place” released on September 29. What a joyous time for all NSYNC fans. Get ready to fan out like it’s 1997.

Originally published on September 14, 2023.

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Keanu Reeves recently traded in John Wick’s weapons for a bass guitar as he took the stage to perform with the band Dogstar for the first time in many years. Right now, there are many whispers about the possibility of John Wick 5 and whether we’ll see Keanu Reeves step into the role of everyone’s favorite assassin again. But if John Wick 5 does get a green light, we probably won’t have to wait over 20 years for it. But for fans of Dogstar and Reeves as an indie rock star, it has been a minute. Reeves’ performance with Dogstar is the first the band has given in 23 years. That is a long time to wait for a sequel. But, hey, it’s never too late for the next chapter—the band has also released a music video and will be going on tour.

Keanu Reeves’ Band Dogstar Renuites

You can check out some of the band’s reunion and Reeves’ performance with Dogstar below:

Keanu Reeves’ return to the rock stage happened at the 2023 BottleRock Napa Valley festival at Napa Valley Expo. Reeves took the stage along with his Dogstar bandmates, singer Bret Domrose and drummer Robert Mailhouse, also an actor.

According to SFGATE, “Reeves played the role of stoic bassist, barely speaking during Dogstar’s one-hour set.” But the crowd was incredibly happy to see him anyway. And Reeves did give a little hop of excitement while on stage with the band. We love it.

Somehow, being part of a ’90s alt-rock band feels like the correct hobby for Keanu Reeves. Maybe it has to do with the perfectly grungy bangs that take a starring role in this performance. And hey, if John Wick does come back, perhaps we’ll find out he’s been hiding in plain sight as a musical sensation. We wouldn’t mind seeing Keanu Reeves put his musical skills to work with Dogstar, or a fictional version of the band, on the big screen.

What’s Next for Dogstar? Music Video and Tour

The band has been busy since their reunion. In addition to playing shows, Dogstar has released a music video for its song, “Everything Turns Around.” Catch Keanu Reeves rocking out below.

Happily, we also won’t have to wait 20 years for Dogstar‘s next performance. The trio announced they’ll be going on a 25+ stop tour across North America and Japan.

First up, Hermosa Beach, CA. See you there!

Originally published on May 30, 2023.

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Ticketmaster will no longer surprise you with an exorbitant, expensive shock at the end of your purchase. As we learned via Variety, Live Nation, Ticketmaster, and other ticketing interfaces have promised they will now display the full price of a ticket upfront. Of course, Ticketmaster and the like will still have fees; the fees just won’t be hidden until the last minute anymore. And perhaps that will somewhat discourage the ticket-selling platform, famous for revealing its high additional fees just as a consumer is about to check out, from tacking on enormous extra costs. (Although probably not.)

Still, hopefully, this, at the very least, will allow consumers to more accurately understand what they’ll be paying and to plan accordingly… Whether that means planning to purchase or not to purchase a ticket. There’s nothing worse than seeing your total double after you’ve already imagined yourself at an event. Although a better step would be to move on eliminating Ticketmaster fees altogether, or at least moving to limit them, we’ll take the lessening of unpleasant jolts where we can get them. With any luck, this will just be the start of a better consumer experience when it comes to ticket buying from Ticketmaster and others.

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Intimidating and powerful, the sphinx Osysa had quite the run-in with Vox Machina in season two of The Legend of Vox Machina. Based on Critical Role‘s first campaign, the show follows the unlikely group of adventurers as they quest around Exandria. Osysa puts the heroes to the test, but she eventually sets them on an interesting path. And when Vox Machina encounters Osysa’s mate, Kamaljiori, Scanlan plays him a song about Osysa. Listen to the exclusive track premiere of “Song for Osysa” from The Legend of Vox Machina: Season 2 Soundtrack below.

Sam Riegel (Scanlan) performs with Alanna Ubach (Osysa) and Mr. Fantastic. It’s a beautiful song—a rare one from Scanlan that doesn’t turn into something more ribald.

The album features the score by Neal Acree along with several Scanlan originals. Riegel said in a statement:

Season Two of The Legend of Vox Machina took everything to the next level – so we knew the music had to match. From wild road songs to epic love ballads and face-melting thrash metal, the Scanlan tracks were so much fun to write. And I’m so happy we got to include vocals from other members of the cast. Turns out Laura Bailey, Ashley Johnson, and even Travis Willingham can sing!

The Legend of Vox Machina: Season 2 Soundtrack track list is as follows:

1. Lemme Catch You Up – Sam Riegel, Mr. Fantastic
2. Dragonfall – Neal Acree
3. The Fall of Emon – Neal Acree
4. To Vasselheim – Neal Acree
5. The Wrath of the Chroma Conclave – Neal Acree
6. The Outhouse (End Credits) – Sam Riegel, Mr. Fantastic
7. Vasselheim – Neal Acree
8. Temple of the Stormlord – Neal Acree
9. The Slayer’s Take – Neal Acree
10. Where Do You Find Your Strength? – Neal Acree
11. Makin’ My Way – Sam Riegel, Ashley Johnson, Mr. Fantastic
12. Do Not Go Far From Me – Neal Acree
13. The Matron of Ravens – Neal Acree
14. Hail The New Champion – Neal Acree
15. Road, Road – Ashley Johnson, Travis Willingham
16. Wind – Neal Acree
17. Pass Through Fire – Neal Acree
18. The Blessing of Pyrah – Neal Acree
19. Song For Osysa – Sam Riegel, Alanna Ubach, Mr. Fantastic
20. Song For Osysa (End Credits) – Mr. Fantastic
21. Spore Trip – Neal Acree
22. The Herd of Storms – Neal Acree
23. I Would Like To Rage – Neal Acree
24. We All Rage – Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham, Mr. Fantastic
25. Finishing Move – Neal Acree
26. Strongjaw – Neal Acree
27. When The Bald Man Cries (End Credits) – Sam Riegel, Aisling Franciosi, Mr. Fantastic
28. Leia – Neal Acree
29. Threads of Fate – Neal Acree
30. Lightning In Your Face! – Sam Riegel, Mr. Fantastic
31. Leap of Faith – Neal Acree
32. The Hope Devourer – Neal Acree
33. Scanlan’s Destiny – Neal Acree
34. Epilogue – Neal Acree
35. Makin’ My Way (End Credits) – Laura Bailey, Mr. Fantastic

The Legend of Vox Machina: Season 2 Soundtrack is available digitally on June 2 from Lakeshore Records.

The post Listen to ‘Song for Osysa’ from THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA SEASON 2 SOUNDTRACK appeared first on Nerdist.

Tina Turner, the indisputable Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, has sadly passed away at the age of 83. According to her representatives, the singer and actor transitioned in her Switzerland abode after a lengthy illness. In today’s world, the words “legend” and “icon” are haphazardly tossed at many people who barely present a modicum of talent, longevity, and measurable impact in their respective career fields. But Tina Turner is indeed an icon and a legend who paved the way for future stars like Janet Jackson and Beyoncé. 

She was born Anna Mae Bullock in Tennessee on November 26, 1939 and lived in the tiny community of Nutbush. Her beginnings were humble as the daughter of a sharecropper overseer and she later became a domestic worker as a teenager. But inside her roared a fierce spirit raring to unleash itself on captivated audiences. As is the case with most Black performers of her time, Tina Turner began her singing career in the Baptist church. It’s in this space that she polished her performance chops and found her unique voice. After moving to St. Louis, her undeniable talent led to her become the frontwoman of the band formerly known as the Kings of Rhythm. Her first recording, “Boxtop,” (under the name Little Ann) set the foundation for a dizzying rise to the upper echelon of music entertainment.

The Ike & Tina Turner Revue became one of the must-see live acts of the 1960s and 1970s. The collective would often embark on lengthy tours all over the world to cater to adoring fans. She became the first Black artist and first Black woman to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. It was a clear sign she’d far exceeded “making it,” instead becoming a part of music history. Her success represented the endless possibilities for women in creative fields, pushing at barriers set in place by misogynoir.

Tina was undoubtedly THE star of the show, from the fierce, guttural growl in her voice to her impeccable showmanship, style, and signature dance moves. Whether she was singing about being a fool in love or big wheels that keep on turning, Tina Turner would sweat, spin, scream, and sing crowds into euphoric delirium. She perhaps didn’t fully realize it then, but she was laying the foundation for her future domination in another arena of music: Rock ‘n’ Roll. 

During this tumultuous time in America, Tina was an aspirational shining star to many. She was gifted and gorgeous with an electric energy that permeated the air every time she breathed. She had style, grace, a hint of mysterious aura, and an unmistakable rockstar edge. It reminded us that—although her infectious laugh and chill persona make her feel familial—she was not quite like us mere mortals. We know sadder elements of her life story all too well, but we choose to celebrate her freedom and brilliant artistry.

Following a period of transition, setbacks, and self-discovery, Tina Turner rose like a phoenix from the ashes with a determination to redefine her career on her own terms. That came in the form of Private Dancer (1984), her fifth solo studio album that brought forth a new legion of fans. Hits like the title track as well as a little tune called “What’s Love Got to Do With It” (you may have heard of it) sent her straight to solo superstardom as she began to cement her place as the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. She taught us that you can reinvent yourself whenever the hell you want to, critics and skeptics be damned.

Tina soon got into acting, racking up a list of credits that bring nerds a ton of joy. Her roles as Aunty Entity in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, The Acid Queen in Tommy, and The Mayor in Last Action Hero let her dive into raucous and, at times, campy acting fun. But, of course, she could never fully step away from her sky-high pumps. 

Tina Turner was a once-in-a-lifetime phenomena. She became one of the best selling artists of all-time with a string of successful sold-out tours. Her countless accolades include multiple Grammy Awards and Grammy Hall of Fame honors and two Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductions. Her music is beloved by generations of fans and included in countless pop culture offerings.

However, a critical important part of her story is that she eventually attained priceless gifts. They are what many of us, including Tina, seek in our lifetimes: peace, joy, and rest. She found romantic love with music producer Erwin Bach and later retired to enjoy her quiet home in Küsnacht, Switzerland. (Tina became a Swiss citizen in 2013.) She spent decades giving her gifts to the world. And, in her final years, she left the spotlight to usher in the ease she’d worked towards all her life.

Tina Turner is simply the best… forever better than all the rest. May she rest peacefully.

The post Tina Turner Has Died, But She Will Forever Be Simply the Best appeared first on Nerdist.

Ah, Tenacious D, how we’ve missed you. It’s been years since the band released an original song. But they’re back with a new tune, and you know what? “Video Games” was worth the wait. The song from Jack Black and Kyle Gass is an ode to video games and the stories games tell. The lyrics are excellent, yes, but the video for Tenacious D’s “Video Games” rules. An animated journey through games like God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2, “Video Games” is about embracing the art of games.

Given Black’s recent performance as Bowser in the wildly successful Super Mario Bros. Movie, this song is perfect. We get this song and Bowser’s power ballad about Princess Peach? Yep, we’re blessed.

In a statement about “Video Games,” Gass and Black shared:

It’s about growing up and leaving childish things behind…. But then realizing that video games are more than just mindless toys…. In fact, they can be a true expression of huge ideas that belong in the pantheon of great works of art! It’s about time someone defended the honor and integrity of this bold new horizon. Leave it to the greatest band in the world… Tenacious D!!!

You know what, Tenacious D? It needed to be said. Video games, like any stories, contain meaning and weight. Many games offer an escape, like the best fictional worlds do, but also, video games are so much more.

The post Tenacious D Has a New Song All About ‘Video Games’ appeared first on Nerdist.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was a perfect MCU gift for lots of reasons. One of the biggest is that it gave us the Old 97’s “I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here).” The song is an instant classic, but, like so many other great noels, we don’t expect to hear it on the radio anytime soon. Stations are too busy playing Mariah Carey and Bruce Springsteen on repeat to recognize other terrific Christmas songs. But we’re not. So to celebrate some of our lesser recognized favorites we’ve put together an official Nerdist Nerdy Christmas Playlist.

It features forgotten and overlooked bangers, alternative tracks you might have never heard, comedy songs that celebrate the silliness of the season, and numbers from some of our favorite pop culture properties. From pop and punk to rock and emo, this playlist will bring you to the North Pole, the galaxy far, far away, and every place in between.

1. “I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here)” – Old 97’s
2. “Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man This Christmas)” – The Weather Girls
3. “The Night Santa Went Crazy” – Weird Al
4. “Christmas in Hollis – Run DMC
5. “(Do It On My) Twin Bed” – SNL Cast, Jimmy Fallon
6. “A Grouplove Christmas” – Grouplove
7. “All I Want for Christmas (Is a Pardon from the President)” – Nick Lutsko
8. “Emo Christmas” – Wavves
9. Christmastime is Killing Us – Family Guy
10. “The Christmas Song” – Weezer
11. “Just Another Christmas Song” – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
12. “Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas” – Eels
13. “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” – The Ramones
14. “Father Christmas” – The Kinks

“I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here)” – Old 97’s

The “purple monkey dishwasher” of Christmas songs doesn’t get all of the holiday’s lore right, but it absolutely rocks.

“Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man This Christmas)” – The Weather Girls

The Weather Girls, most famous for “It’s Raining Men,” also delivered this fantastic track on their 1983 album Success. Think about how much better Christmas would be if you replaced every inexplicable airing of Paul McCartney’s inane “Wonderful Christmastime” with this song instead. That would really make for a wonderful Christmastime.

“The Night Santa Went Crazy” – Weird Al

Only “Weird Al” Yankovic could craft a song about Santa going full-Rambo on the North Pole and have it be funny, strangely sentimental, and a total blast.

“Christmas in Hollis” – Run DMC

Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis” is an unquestioned classic that rarely—if ever—gets played on the radio. We don’t know who’s to blame for that, but they deserve coal. Lots of coal. Come on, it’s in Die Hard!

“(Do It On My) Twin Bed” – SNL Cast, Jimmy Fallon

Saturday Night Live has delivered lots of great holiday songs over four decades, but “(Do It On My) Twin Bed” might be the best. As a raunchy comedy premise it’s hilarious. But it’s also a fantastic song that you’ll be singing long after the holidays end and you’re back in your normal bed…doing whatever you do there.

“A Grouplove Christmas” – Grouplove

Grouplove gave us a delightful holiday number at the end of Bojack Horseman’s holiday special “Sabrina’s Christmas Wish,” but their best seasonal song is this gorgeous track.

“All I Want for Christmas (Is a Pardon from the President)” – Nick Lutsko

The King of Halloween proved his skills extend to other holidays with this catchy melodious Christmas track that really highlights both his musical and comedy chops. It might be even funnier if you have no idea what it’s actually about.

“Emo Christmas” – Wavves

It’s A Wonderful Life is basically an emo Christmas movie, right? So it’s not that surprising the genre lends itself to some great seasonal songs, like with this aptly named track from Wavves.

“Christmastime is Killing Us” – Family Guy

Family Guy‘s song about how greed is literally killing Santa and the elves might technically be depressing, but this track is too good (and too funny) not to include.

“The Christmas Song” – Weezer

Weezer has an EP of Christmas covers, and a very strange original called “Christmas Celebration,” but this is easily the band’s best holiday season song.

“Just Another Christmas Song” – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

This Nerdy Christmas playlist needs some soul, and it gets all that and more with this groovy track from 2015’s It’s a Holiday Soul Party. In a just world Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings would already be a staple of every holiday radio station’s lineup. Instead we gotta hear about stupid Christmas shoes every year.

“Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas” – Eels

Usually when we think “cool” during Christmas we’re talking about the temperature, but this rocking number from Eels isn’t talking about snow. This one is especially good while driving down the highway to go shopping at the mall. In fact, that’s the vibe we’re closing out the rest of this playlist with.

“Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” – The Ramones

Speaking of cool, The Ramones got into the holiday punk rock spirit with 1989’s “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight.” And just as good? The video which features a couple, uh, working things out during the holidays. Good for them!

“Father Christmas” – The Kinks

We’re ending our playlist with a Holiday song we once said is good enough to listen to all year. And we still totally stand by that. The Kinks’ “Father Christmas” is a perfect rock song that transcends the holiday. It’s also a perfect way to end our Nerdy Christmas Playlist.

Well, it will end it until we restart the whole thing and listen to it again. And again. And again. Mariah Carey fans aren’t the only ones who love playing their favorite Christmas songs on repeat.

The post A Nerdy Christmas Playlist for Great Holiday Songs You Won’t Hear on the Radio appeared first on Nerdist.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will certainly be an emotional experience for millions of fans around the world. The tragic loss of our beloved king (both onscreen and in real life) Chadwick Boseman and his looming absence in this sequel is something that cannot be ignored. So, it is no surprise that a leading song from the film’s soundtrack will honor Chadwick’s legacy. (And also by extension honors T’Challa in the MCU.) And, it is even more special because it marks the return of Rihanna to music. As we know, fans have been hilariously begging the mogul for more music since 2016. And now, Rihanna’s new song for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever “Lift Me Up” is out in the world. And oh, is it beautiful. 

Rihanna dropped the song on October 28, just two weeks before the film’s release. It’s lovely to hear her distinct voice once again as she sings heartfelt lyrics like this: 

Burning in a hopeless dream/Hold me when you go to sleep/Keep me in the warmth of your love/When you depart, keep me safe/Safe and sound.

There’s a mix of sadness, hope, and wistfulness in its message. The soothing instrumental alone is one that you’ll want to put on repeat. Of course, Rihanna is one of the writers on the song along with Ryan Coogler, Priscilla Renea, and Ludwig Göransson, who is known for his scores for Black Panther and the Creed franchise. But the most noticeable imprint on Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” is undoubtedly Tems, a Nigerian artist whose signature sound is taking over the US. It’s not shocking that she’s a writer for this song because it sounds a lot like something she would sing.

And it seems Rihanna is finally ready to dive back into music after causally dominating the beauty and fashion industry. We even heard there’s a football game happening during the Rihanna concert next year. (I’m only partially kidding because I do genuinely love football. But I love Rihanna more.) 

“Lift Me Up” is available everywhere now, so let Rihanna’s voice carry you into a peaceful place in preparation for Wakanda Forever.

The post Rihanna Releases ‘Lift Me Up’ Single for BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER appeared first on Nerdist.

Nick Lutsko’s “Spirit Halloween” trilogy will forever be a staple our spooky song playlist. But its greatness wasn’t enough to keep him in power. A simple misunderstanding/possible murder threat forced him to resign as President of Halloween. Then an unpopular tax—combined with the unlawful political imprisonment of Beetlejuice—resulted in him fleeing Halloween’s royal throne. Now, either all of that makes sense to you or it’s all total nonsense. But no matter which group you’re in, you have everything you need to know to enjoy his newest track. With no formal ruling responsibilities to attend to, this year the musician has dedicated himself to his craft. He’s releasing a new song every week in October. And we have your exclusive first listen to his latest.

This time Halloween’s king is a 19th-century ghost who learns there are far greater terrors that can possess a home. And while this music video is one of his most absurd yet (which is really saying something), it’s sure to genuinely scare one group: parents haunted by a certain kid’s property.

If this is your initial introduction to Nick Lutsko congratulations! You started where you should, in the (very strange) deep end of one of our favorite artists. But for fans of the Nick Lutsko Expanded Universe, this is song is part of a new collection unconnected to his past works. Lutsko explained that and more when we talked to him about “A Ghost Story.”

Nerdist: You have a young daughter, so as a parent myself I have to ask, how much of “A Ghost Story” comes from the fact kid’s programming literally haunts parents forced to watch certain things over and over and over again?

Nick Lutsko: That’s definitely a big part of it. Ironically, my daughter doesn’t watch CoComelon. Primarily because her mom and I don’t like it. I was baffled by some of the songs that started popping up on her automated playlists. They sound like songs written by machines trying to sound human. Then I found out they have like a billion subscribers or whatever.

What were the other inspirations for this song and video?

Lutsko: I’m doing this self-imposed challenge where I write a song and shoot a video every week in October leading up to our show at The Roxy (in LA) on Halloween night. I wanted to do a series of short stories that don’t share any connective tissue with previous lore. This is song number three, and the hope is that turning myself into a 19th century ghost will make that more clear than the previous songs might have.

The initial concept was that I was a ghost who hadn’t had the opportunity to haunt anyone in a very long time. I was so excited because a new person for me to scare was finally moving in. But then that person ends up being way too scary for me. I played around with that person being Rob Zombie, Stephen King, Tim Burton, etc. But I couldn’t really make any of those ideas click. Then I started thinking “What is something that is scary but isn’t supposed to be?” My wife suggested CoComelon and everything fell into place from there.

For the video I’ve worked with Brielle Garcia on a handful of projects and I’m always amazed at what she’s capable of, especially with almost no notice. There’s no way I could have done this video without her. She is a genius.

Considering your body of work, this is really saying something: this is one of the most absurd ideas you’ve ever had. Has there ever been an idea that was too strange even for you?

Lutsko: Nothing really comes to mind, but I could make one up right now. James Corden takes off his shirt and reveals that his stomach is actually a bagpipe made of human skin. He blows into one of the many pipes (which he tucks into his pants) and summons many nightcrawlers (worms). He has no reason to, he just enjoys their company. That idea would be way too strange for me.

Finally, in honor of this song, if you could actually haunt anyone who would it be?

Lutsko: Christopher Lloyd.

That’s exactly who we thought he’d say. If you’re a fan you already know why. And if you’re just meeting Nick Lutsko for the first time we encourage you to find out why he hates Christopher Lloyd.

Well, that is unless you’re the CoComelon family. In that case just leave the poor guy alone, you scary weirdos.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post Nick Lutsko Is a Specter Haunted by a Worse Terror in New Song ‘A Ghost Story’ appeared first on Nerdist.

Though we’re still getting ready for Halloween, for some people this time of year only means one thing: Christmas is around the corner. If you’re excited for the most wonderful time of the year then we’ve got a delightful treat for you. We’re celebrating the release of the definitive, bonus-filled edition of the A Charlie Brown Christmas album! And we’re doing so by gifting you with a previously unreleased take of Vince Guaraldi’s beloved “The Christmas Song.” 

Craft Recordings told us “The Christmas Song (Take 8)” (featured in the Deluxe Edition LP & CD and the Super Deluxe Edition boxset) was recorded on October 28, 1965. Notably, it’s the only solo piano take of the holiday classic and features an understated but beautiful performance by Guaraldi.

You can find out more about the release below.

For the first time ever, the perennial Christmas album by Vince Guaraldi (also the best-selling jazz album of all time) is being released by Craft Recordings as a Super Deluxe Edition (available as a 5-disc box set featuring 4-CDs + Blu-ray audio disc or as an 80-track digital collection – due out December 2 and October 14 respectively) and as a Deluxe Edition (available in 2-LP/digital formats on October 14 and on CD this November 4).

The Super Deluxe Edition offers fans an unparalleled deep dive into all aspects of A Charlie Brown Christmas, with 50 never-before-heard outtakes from five recording sessions ‒ placing listeners in the studio as Guaraldi and his bandmates work through their arrangements, crafting cues such as “Christmas Is Coming” and “Skating.” Super Deluxe also includes a new 2022 stereo mix of the original 1965 11-track album (remastered from the original 3-track and 2-track sources by GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer Paul Blakemore) in standard, hi-resolution, and Atmos® audio formats.

The set comes housed in a 59-page hardcover book, which includes: new extensive liner notes by PEANUTS® historian Derrick Bang (author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano), a special message from the family of Lee Mendelson (the late Emmy® and Peabody Award-winning producer and co-creator of the PEANUTS® animated specials), classic PEANUTS® animation from Charles Schulz, rare photos, and session notes.

For collectors of the perennial 1965 version of the album, the Gold Foil Edition(released September 16) is a one-time only vinyl pressing (available in a variety of colored variants at select retailers) featuring the traditionally white jacket wrapped in a gold foil, while the PEANUTS® characters and tree are embossed for a striking look.

“The wealth of music captured in these half-dozen sessions is—in a word—amazing,” marvels PEANUTS® historian Derrick Bang in his liner notes. “It’s also fascinating to observe how a given tune evolves, over the course of the six weeks these sessions took place, from September 17 through October 28, 1965…. Along the way, you’ll hear all manner of false starts, initially terrific takes that collapse when Guaraldi fluffs a few notes, and outré experiments that sound almost nothing like what we know today.” He continues, “Consider this a ringside seat—a place of honor, watching and listening from the recording engineer’s booth—as the individual songs for this historic album were fine-tuned and ultimately laid down.”

It’s an incredibly exciting release will delight Peanuts fans of all ages. And will also charm Christmas music aficionados. We cannot wait!

You’ll be able to purchase both versions digitally on October 14, along with the physical copy of the two disc LP. Deluxe Edition. Physical releases for the 5-disc box set version of Super Deluxe Edition and the CD version of Deluxe Edition will follow on December and November 4 respectively.

The post ‘Tis the Season to Listen to an Unreleased Take of Charlie Brown’s ‘The Christmas Song’ appeared first on Nerdist.

The life and genius of David Bowie comes to life in the kaleidoscopic, rock music explosion Moonage Daydream. We spoke to the film’s writer-director-editor Brett Morgen about the arduous process of bringing Bowie’s indelible music and style to IMAX screens.

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Back in 1982, a lost little alien and an 8-year-old boy met on screen and became best friends. And the collective hearts of the world melted. When Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial hit theaters, a timeless classic was born, one we still love decades later. And a big part of that movie’s success was the incredible score by master composer John Williams.

And now, the folks at Mondo are releasing a special 40th-anniversary edition of Williams’ iconic score for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in a new vinyl edition. Much like his music for Star Wars and Indiana Jones, it’s hard to imagine the film without instantly thinking of Williams’ music. You can read details for this release, as well as see the first images, down below:

This new 40th Anniversary edition comes via a partnership with Geffen Records and Universal Pictures. It features all-new artwork by Dan McCarthy, showcasing E.T. arriving on Earth. It’s pressed on 180-gram vinyl in “Full Moon” and “Heartlight” colorways (also available on 180-gram black vinyl). This reissue is produced by Bruce Botnick & Mike Matessino. The E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial soundtrack on vinyl will be available for pre-order on Wednesday, August 31 at 12pm CT for $40 at MondoShop.com.

You can read the full tracklist below.

SIDE A

1. Main Title 1:14

2. Far From Home / E.T. Alone 6:57

3. The Encounter 1:49

4. Bait for E.T. 1:45

5. Meeting E.T. 2:08

6. E.T.’s New Home 1:28

7. The Beginning of a Friendship 2:53

8. Toys 3:13

SIDE B

1. I’m Keeping Him 2:20

2. E.T.’s Powers 2:44

3. The Closet 0:53

4. E.T. and Elliott Get Drunk 2:57

5. Frogs 2:21

6. The Kiss 0:49

7. Levitation 0:41

8. At Home 5:38

9. The Magic of Halloween 2:55

SIDE C

1. Sending The Signal 3:58

2. Searching for E.T. 4:18

3. Invading Elliott’s House 2:24

4. Stay With Me 2:24

5. Losing E.T. 2:04

6. E.T. Is Alive 4:22

SIDE D

1. The Rescue and Bike Chase 8:07

2. The Departure 7:07

3. End Credits 3:55

The post John Williams’ E.T. Score Gets 40th Anniversary Vinyl Release appeared first on Nerdist.

You really can get everything at IKEA. Even musical instruments it turns out, if you’re handy enough. A hobbyist in Belgium certainly is, proving you can make a stylish working guitar from pieces of an IKEA crib, shelf, and chair. Plus some random hardware he apparently stole from his office and parent’s house. Even the infamous hex key, also called an Allen wrench, that accompanies every IKEA build makes it onto the IKEA furniture guitar. He named the guitar Vecnå and shows off at the end of the video.

We learned about this cool project thanks to Laughing Squid. The tchiks guitars YouTube channel and Instagram feed is full of other inventive guitar builds and tutorials. He kept saying the IKEA furniture guitar was a joke, which it may have been to start. But considering he spent two weeks on the build, he clearly became dedicated.

Watching the guitar come together piece by piece as he dismantles furniture is quite amazing. I knew IKEA products aren’t always made of wood, but I had no idea so much of the company’s products had a honeycomb structure made of paper inside. He uses that inside the IKEA furniture guitar and leaves the edges open, showing the unconventional material off with every note. The best part of the video though, is when his cat and daughter wander through to “help.” 

We’ve see a lot of creative guitar builds recently. It’s an inventive medium and leads to some beautiful instruments. And music. Check out this one made of colored pencils. There’s also a guitar that used to be plastic trash found on the beach. And of course there’s even one made out of LEGO bricks. 

Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth. 

The post Guitar Made From IKEA Furniture Still Sounds Beautiful appeared first on Nerdist.

Rick Astley’s hit song “Never Gonna Give You Up” is undoubtedly a banger. That doesn’t mean you ever want to hear it again. But when you do, it’s impossible not to sing along. And do some of the dances too. That’s what AAA auto insurance is counting on with their commercial recreating the music video almost shot for shot. Astley’s is even dressed the same. Yes, the joutfit returns! So if you’re nostalgic for the music of 1987, or the memes of 2007, enjoy. 

35 years after the original came out, the commercial hit up some of the very random locations we seemed to get in all 80s music videos. But instead of a ballroom, this time there’s AAA offices. The bar has been swapped out for a water cooler. There’s a checklist of all the things the auto insurance carrier won’t do, including “give you up,” of course. Though they don’t promise not to make you cry, tell a lie, and hurt you. Which seems a bit ominous. 

Thankfully YouTuber hungrychad made a shot by shot comparison of the commercial and the original music video. It doesn’t include the song, so if you want your dose of nostalgia without getting it in your head for the next week, the video below is the way to go. 

We got the song in our heads thanks to Boing Boing. If you want even more, there’s a delightful LEGO version too. The music video has over a billion views. But how many of those were only a few seconds and then someone cursing because they fell for it? Somehow, the Rickroll has remained relevant, or at least present. In 2020, a service offered to Rickroll Zoom meetings. 

If you need a song chaser, enjoy Rick Astley and the Foo Fighters covering each other’s music. 

Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth. 

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In the ’70s/’80s heyday of Dungeons & Dragons, there wasn’t ever an official soundtrack. No one thought to make soundtracks to tabletop games back then. Nerdy kids just had to have bands like Rush or Asia on in the background during their campaigns. But these days, the D&D folks are a little bit savvier. Via Polygon, we’ve learned that in conjunction with Wizards of the Coast’s recently released Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, they’ve also released a full-length soundtrack album called Spelljams to go with it. And it is free to stream and download.

The new campaign was partially inspired by the 1980 sci-fi film Flash Gordon. Yes, the one with the awesome theme song by Queen. Spelljammer is an over-the-top space opera where the players have to fight to save their home planet from an evil Elven Empire that wishes to destroy it. Just like the Queen score was crucial to Flash Gordon, the Spelljammer: Adventures in Space soundtrack is just as crucial to the game.

Chris Perkins, the story architect, worked with The Decemberists’ guitarist Chris Funk, who curated the album. The different artists were tasked with coming up with music and themes for things such as space clowns, space vampires, and space whales. Who could say no to that? If a 1970s van with airbrushed art of a warrior maiden on a pegasus had a sound, it would be one just like this.

“Arena of Blood” in particular sounds like a track that Stranger Things’ Eddie Munson would rock out to during a Hellfire Club get-together. The album will also be available in a vinyl collectors’ edition. The coolest part? It will have a triple gatefold LP cover that will also function as a Dungeon Masters’ screen. You can pre-order the vinyl edition right here. And you can check out the full tracklist below.

1. “Seeds Of Destruction” — Magic Sword
2. “Arena Of Blood” — Osees
3. “Space Is A Place” — Reggie Watts
4. “Visible Lights” — TEKE::TEKE
5. “Far” — Black Marble
6. “Left Hand Path” — Mikaela Davis
7. “Love is the disaster” — Lucius
8. “Xedalli” — Penny & Sparrow
9. “Moon Dancer” — Y La Bamba
10. “Light of Xaryxis” — Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
11. “Spacefighters” — MonoNeon
12. “Crystalline Climbers” — Cardioid & pink paint
13. “Me and The Moon” — Devon Gilfillian
14. “Endless Sea” — Red Fang
15. “Ghost Of The Nautiloid” — Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band
16. “Forgotten Land” — Deru, Arooj Aftab
17. “Topolah’s Song” — Wizard of Waz
18. “chaotic.evil.astral.elves” — Califone
19. “The Door To Endlessness” — Shabazz Palaces

The post New D&D Campaign SPELLJAMMER Has Its Own Trippy Soundtrack Album appeared first on Nerdist.

YouTube guitarist Rob Scallon has amassed millions of followers thanks to his Metallica covers for banjo and sitar. Now he can add another instrument to his repertoire—the saw. In the video below, Scallon gets lessons from Natalia Paruz, also known as the Saw Lady. She gained popularity playing the eerie music in subway stations. They experiment with each other’s instruments, play duets including a Metallica song, and make some beautiful saw and guitar music together. All without hurting themselves or needing a tetanus booster shot.

 Scallon takes to the saw as a musical instrument quite quickly and experiments with using a mallet, a bow, and his hands. Paruz patiently teaches him every step of the way, from how to hold it to how to play scales. Vibrato is even possible on a musical saw, though it’s apparently a bit of a thigh workout. They also discuss the importance of saw blade length and thickness to the sound.

Scallon’s first song on this instrumental saw is “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic, of course. They do eventually get into a Metallica song, which is cool on a saw. Which goes up there with “Enter Sandman” sung by Kristen Bell, also known as Princess Anna from Frozen, on the list of Metallica covers we didn’t know we needed but are grateful we have. 

Scallon and Paruz have some scientific discussions along the way too. They even put powder on the saw to show the vibrations rippling down the blade and how they change depending on the note played.

Who knew the saw was such a simple yet interesting musical instrument? Or for the less musically inclined, you could always mod your bicycle to have saw blades for wheels. 

Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth. 

The post A Guitarist and the ‘Saw Lady’ Switch Instruments for a Metallica Duet appeared first on Nerdist.

It’s been over thirty years since his passing, but Freddie Mercury is still one of the greatest rock legends of all time. And just when we thought we’ve already heard every Freddie song recorded with Queen, another one comes along. A new track has just appeared from within the vaults. According to a report from Deadline, his Queen bandmates will soon release it in a remastered version. The song will release sometime this September.

The song goes by the title “Face It Alone.” Queen originally recorded it for their 13th studio album, The Miracle, in 1989. This was a mere two years prior to Freddie’s untimely passing due to complications from AIDS. Despite his worsening medical condition at the time, you’d never know listening to any Queen song from that era. Freddie’s voice was always operatic and gorgeous.

“Face It Alone” didn’t make the final cut for The Miracle. But Freddie’s Queen compatriots Brian May and Roger Taylor recently discovered the demo versions. In an interview, they said they’d pretty much forgotten about the song entirely. May said in an interview, “It was kind of hiding in plain sight. We looked at it many times and thought, ‘Oh no, we can’t really rescue that.’ But in fact, we went in there again and our wonderful engineering team went, ‘Okay, we can do this and this.’ It’s like kind of stitching bits together. But it’s beautiful. It’s touching.”

The album from which “Face It Alone” originally came from was the second to last album Freddie recorded before he died in 1991. It wasn’t that well-received upon release, but time has been far kinder to it. Although Queen has had other frontmen since Freddie’s passing, none have ever touched what Freddie did. Here’s hoping that this is another reminder to the world of just how amazingly talented he truly was.

The post Queen to Release Lost Freddie Mercury Song Later This Year appeared first on Nerdist.

The Summer of 1982 is a pivotal time in pop culture history. Films like Poltergeist, E.T., Mad Max 2, Blade Runner, and TRON all hit theaters, capturing the hearts of audiences and leaving an indelible impact on their successors. Of course, it is the stories, cinematography, dialogue, and actors who anchor much of this love. But another critical aspect of their resonating success is often their scores and soundtracks.

The summer of ‘82 lineup represents a wide range of musical proclivities, infusing ‘60s nostalgia, sweeping orchestras, and the popular sounds of the time period like the synthesizer into our slate of films. Some of the songs in these films went on to be just as ubiquitous, if not more, than the properties they derive from. Or, they inspired songs for decades to come. Let’s take a look back at all those epic scores, theme songs, and jams that make these Summer of 1982 films extra special. (And, there’s a special treat for you at the end of this post!)

Orchestral Sounds from Warriors to Space Adventures

A common thread among our ‘82 film list is the use of sweeping orchestral tones in scores. We hear them in Conan the Barbarian and The Beastmaster, which is interesting considering the film’s similar settings and tones. However, Conan the Barbarian’s music is by Basil Poledouris while Lee Holdridge takes the reins for The Beastmaster. It makes total sense to heighten viewers’ excitement in these action-packed films with a grand score filled with horns to sound war. We get this in The Beastmaster’s frankly epic “The Battle On The Pyramid” part one and two.

Of course, you cannot talk about big, sweeping scores without the man, the legend himself: John Williams. His work spans several generations of moviegoers from the ‘70s kids who were lucky enough to experience the rise of Star Wars in theaters to ‘90s kids delighting in the chaotic sounds of the McCallisters running through the airport sans Kevin. In the between decade, specifically 1982, Williams made his mark on the summer. He’s responsible for E.T. the Extra-terrestrial’s iconic score. Empathetic, stunning, and heartfelt, his music elevates the film’s touching premise. It became a winner of not one but four prestigious awards: an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Grammy, and BAFTA. Without a doubt, this is one of the most well-known scores of all-time. 

John Williams isn’t the only composer to drop heat in ‘82. Jerry Goldsmith also had quite the fantastic year with the scores for Poltergeist and The Secret of NIMH. Both soundtracks lean heavily into Goldsmith’s 20th-century orchestral inspirations, swinging from the lullaby inspired theme for Poltergeist’s Carol Anne to the lively, whimsical flutes of The Secret of NIMH’s “Flying.”

Goldsmith’s signature sounds certainly resonate with Star Trek fans as he’s composed five of the films. Interestingly, the Star Trek film from 1982, The Wrath of Khan, is one that doesn’t feature his melodic guidance. Why? The answer is simple. The second Star Trek film was working on a shoestring budget and simply could not afford him. Yesterday’s price is not today’s price. And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The filmmakers said they didn’t want a John Williams-esque, orchestral sound but something more “modern.” This seems a bit shady but that’s not my business.

Synth Sounds and Billboard Hits

Anyway, the folks behind The Wrath of Khan wanted something with a nautical and swashbuckling vibe. Think Pirates of the Caribbean. And that’s what budding composer James Horner, who was 28 at the time, did. He leaned towards the synthesizer, a huge component of ‘80s music, eschewing the orchestral sounds of E.T. and The Thing. Speaking of The Thing, while it is a John Carpenter film, the score is actually by Ennio Morricone, who takes Carpenter’s dream of a “European” musical sound combined with his signature sound to heart. It’s quite subtle and unsettling, just like the location in the film. Brain May’s composition on Max Max 2: Road Warrior goes the opposite way with some orchestral grandeur. But it’s with a Western flair to reflect that “fight me on sight” and often bleak/dusty/plain lawless atmosphere you’d get from those films. 

The synth sound and/or pop rock also show up in Blade Runner (composed by Greek electronic musician Vangelis) and TRON, both films with a futuristic plot. Frustratingly, TRON’s composer Wendy Carlos (who is also responsible for The Shining’s haunting score) is the only woman among a sea of male composers. The TRON soundtrack also features two tracks by the rock band Journey: “Only Solutions” and “1990s Theme.” The former really speaks to protagonist Kevin Flynn’s experience as a man diving into a mysterious unknown world and well, producing a solution to right an egregious wrong against him. 

“Only Solutions” didn’t become a chart-topping hit like, oh, a little Journey tune called “Don’t Stop Believin’.” But there’s another ubiquitous rock song from a 1982 film that is now legendary. “The Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor is a staple at sporting events because it encapsulates the relentless drive of an athlete. The lyrics embody the determination to face a rival and come out on top, to get to (and remain) at the top of their game. And that’s exactly what happens in Rocky III, where our titular hero is no longer the underdog working diligently for his shot.

Instead, Rocky’s big into his ego until Clubber Lang knocks him on his ass literally and figuratively. Balboa’s good friend Apollo Creed tells him that he must find that motivation and get the “eye of the tiger” look back. It’s honestly one of the best song/film pairings of all-time, which is interesting considering this wasn’t the original plan for a theme song. Sylvester Stallone wanted Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” but couldn’t secure the rights to it.

So, after jamming to some Journey, he asked Jim Peterik (a Journey member) to write a song for the film. The group watched the film and, you guessed it, Apollo’s speech led to this song’s existence. “Eye of the Tiger” became the number one single on Billboard Hot 100 chart for six consecutive weeks and scored a Grammy the following year. And, who can possibly forget the Rocky’s inspiring theme song that we hear when he’s doing those great training montages? A true classic.

Quite a few famous radio songs interweave into Fast Times at Ridgemont High. This makes a ton of sense because, like Rocky III, it is rooted in ‘80s reality; however, it leans more into the pop culture of the time as a coming-of-age film. Soundtrack songs like Jackson Browne’s “Somebody’s Baby” hit high on the Billboard charts that year while other songs like “We Got the Beat” by The Go-Gos (1980) were featured in the film yet not on the official soundtrack. 

Art Influencing the Future and Odes to the Past 

Fast Times at Ridgemont High takes influence from pop culture at the time. Rocky III gives inspiration to a rock band. But neither of them are quite like what comes out of Annie. It’s born from the 1977 Broadway musical of the same name and while its songs are not representative of the ‘80s sound, they are now iconic. Annie’s wistful “Tomorrow” was perhaps the most optimistic musical tune since Dorothy Gale sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” It gives hope not only to those who long for love, but to our friendly neighborhood Deadpool years later as he saves Cable’s life.

Speaking of long-lasting and interesting inspiration, the film’s prolific composer Charles Strouse nabbed a Grammy nomination years later for “Hard Knock Life.” How? Well, back in the late ‘90s Jay-Z not only named his third album after the tune but features a prominent sample of the song for its title track. The song was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1999 but could not defeat Will Smith’s inescapable “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.” Fun times.

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid and Grease 2 also fall outside of the ‘80s spectrum due to their narrative settings. The former is a humorous homage to film noir and detective films so the score, composed by Miklós Rózsa, reflects that with orchestral sounds that are sweeping, suspenseful, and rather romantic and dreamy. 

Grease 2, on the other hand, reflects ‘60s high school life with some upbeat and often funny tunes. It doesn’t get the same accolades as its predecessor in many ways. But it features some classics like The Four Tops “Back to School Again” and the cast singing “Who’s That Guy?” 

The Horror (Franchise) of It All

Finally, there are two big films from horror franchises in their third installments that have some fun music history. First, there’s Friday the 13th Part III, which brings its composer Harry Manfredini back for another round. Of course, a lot of the music is for scares, including Jason’s infamous “theme sound” of “ke ke ke, ma ma ma” that Manfredini spoke himself. It’s become a staple in pop culture that it as vital to the franchise as the hockey mask that makes its debut in this film. But the really wild news is the disco version of Jason’s song, which allegedly became a club banger. I mean… I can see it vibing at a Halloween party but the club?! It was a weird time indeed. 

And, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, like its predecessors, does not have a symphonic score. Instead there’s music for building tension and scary moments with John Carpenter taking the reins. The franchise’s piano jam of a theme is also missing because this film doesn’t have Michael Myers. Fans get a synthesizer heavy electronic tune that’s a low-key jam. Many say this film is underrated and I dare say that its score is too. We also get the gift of a creepy song about Halloween coming in the tune of London Bridge.

Of course, there were lots of popular songs outside of what’s featured in these fictional films. It was a little too early for Michael Jackson’s Thriller greatness which came in Fall 1982. (Fun fact: Jackson did a song called “Someone in the Dark” for E.T.‘s audiobook and won a Grammy for it.) But these were a few of the hot songs of the summer (May-August 1982):

• “Ebony and Ivory” – Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
• “Don’t You Want Me” – The Human League
• “Let It Whip” – Dazz Band
• “Love Come Down” – Evelyn “Champagne” King
• “Jack & Diane” – John Mellencamp
• “I Like It” – DeBarge
• “The Message” – Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
• “777-9311” – The Time
• “I Keep Forgettin'” – Michael McDonald
• “Do Me Baby” – Prince
• “Vacation” – The Go-Go’s

Celebrate the greatest summer movies of all-time and let the haunting, happy, and hopeful tunes play. In fact, we’ve made it easy for your with our Summer of ’82 playlist featuring a few great scores and songs from the time.

The post The Songs, Scores, and Sounds of Summer 1982 Films appeared first on Nerdist.

Our emo hearts are soaring (moodily) right now. After eight years, My Chemical Romance is back with a new song and it is everything we’ve been waiting for. The band dropped “The Foundations of Decay” on May 12. You can listen to the six-minute song—and a stunning visualization—right here.

The song captures every bit of the group’s classic sound. There’s the slow build into an angsty, fiery burst of energy. “The Foundations of Decay” is the group’s first new track since 2014’s “Fake Your Death.” That song released instead as part of May Death Never Stop You, a My Chemical Romance greatest hits album. The group split just ahead of the greatest hits album, which released in lieu of their fifth album. Luckily the group reunited in the late 2010s. They even planned a 2020 tour across North America and Europe. But that was, of course, pushed back to 2022. According to CNN, Doug McKean, MCR frontman Gerard Way and guitarist Ray Toro produced the track. McKean worked with the group as an engineer throughout the 2000s.

Now, with this new music, the beloved emo rock group is back in full swing. And we are grateful. Of course, here at Nerdist, we’ve been listening to a lot of MCR. (To be quite honest, we never really stopped.) While Nirvana specifically influenced The Batman‘s moody energy, everything about the movie and its marketing hit the emo sweet spot quite well. So much so, we couldn’t help but come up with a little Batman-inspired playlist of our own—of course featuring some classic MCR tracks.

While the band has officially announced their fifth studio album is on the way, this new song has us hopeful. Maybe they’ll release another new track to go along with Umbrella Academy season three this summer? One can only hope!

The post My Chemical Romance Releases First New Song in Eight Years appeared first on Nerdist.

As children, it feels like colored pencils were always a part of our daily lives. But as adults, unless you’re an artist, when was the last time you held one in your hands? Well, we found one adult who found a use for a whole lot of colored pencils, when he used a ton of them to create a working musical instrument. YouTuber Burls Art took 2,000 colored pencils and turned them into a neck-through electric guitar. On his channel, he went step by step through the entire process of its creation. You can watch the full video right here:

This isn’t the first time this artist has created a colored pencil guitar. His first one was nearly three years ago. But after creating many more cool custom guitars since then, including ones made out of trash from the ocean, he thought he’d give it another go. If only to see if he could do anything new with the idea. Unlike his previous colored pencil guitar, this time the neck portion was a part of the mold. (These kinds of electric guitars have the name “neck throughs” due to this feature). In the end, the final result speaks for itself.

We’re not entirely sure how long it took to create this guitar, but the video shows it was a painstaking process. Once finished with the guitar, its creator displayed his musical skills a little, playing “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story. A perfect song for something that recalls childhood joy as much as colored pencils do. The Burls Art channel has several other amazing custom guitar builds, including one out of LEGO. Other videos include guitars created from paper, carbon fiber cloth, coffee beans, and even salt. To see more of these amazing creations, head on over to the Burls Art YouTube channel.

The post An Electric Guitar Made From 2,000 Colored Pencils Is a Work of Art appeared first on Nerdist.

Horror movies are often only as good as their musical scores. What is John Carpenter’s Halloween without its iconic theme? Or A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist, and so many others? But perhaps the first truly legendary horror film score came in 1960, with Bernard Herrmann’s music from Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece, Psycho. We just can’t imagine the world of the Bates Motel and all of its unseemly goings-on without the sounds of those sharp strings.

Now, via Laughing Squid, we’ve seen maybe the best tribute to Psycho’s iconic score yet. Musician Samara Ginsberg performed an eight-part cello cover of the theme, and she does it dressed up as the slash happy Mrs. Bates. Apologies in advance if it makes you want to avoid taking any showers. You can watch the full video right here.

So is Ginsberg dressed as the actual “rotting in the fruit cellar” Mrs. Bates, or is she Norman impersonating his dear old Mother? We’re going to bet on the latter. Since she definitely doesn’t look like Norman used his taxidermy skills on her, and still looks “fresh.” Now, Ginsberg didn’t do the infamous music from Marion Crane’s untimely demise in the shower. But really, that would have taken up less than a minute. We get why she skipped that.

This Psycho tribute is hardly the first cello tribute that Samara Ginsberg has performed via her YouTube channel. And just as with Psycho, there is some cosplay for a few others as well. She put on a pair of rabbit ears when doing the Tiny Toon Adventures theme. And for “The Imperial March,” she donned the helmet of Lord Vader himself. And for you retro cartoon fans, she’s got cello covers of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, He-Man, and Thundercats. Be sure to head on over to her channel to check them out.

The post Musician Performs PSYCHO Tribute Dressed as Mrs. Bates appeared first on Nerdist.

During his lifetime, Prince was an enigma. The musical icon loved to perpetuate a mysterious perception of himself to the public. He rarely gave interviews, and when he did, he was usually pretty cryptic. Prince was just never keen on revealing too much about his past. Because of that, there was very little we knew about Prince’s childhood, beyond a few high school yearbook photos here and there.

But recently, a local Minnesota TV station WCCO found a rare treasure when digging through their archives — interview footage of Prince as an 11-year-old kid. The footage was from a 1970 teacher’s strike, at a school where Prince was a student. At first, they weren’t sure it was him, despite the Little Prince being a dead ringer for his adult self. With a little detective work, they determined it was, in fact, the Purple One. You can watch the full report, which includes all the footage, above.

Prince had such a distinctive face, you can see how the station employee immediately recognized him, even as a child. But he still needed outside confirmation. Sadly, the audio portions of the footage sustained damaged. And it took a lot of work to restore them. Even then, the little boy in the video never said “my name is Prince Nelson.” So they had to find his old classmates to confirm if that was indeed their friend “Skipper.” (Yes, that was Prince’s childhood nickname). Luckily, a few of his old friends were still living in Minneapolis, and confirmed his identity.

It’s wild to think that just eight years after they shot that news report, Prince would self-produce his first album at age 19. And ten years after that news footage, he was posing in a speedo for his album Dirty Mind. But even the raciest of pop stars once had an innocent childhood. And now we have proof positive that once upon a time, Prince was just a sweet little kid too.

The post Local TV Station Discovers News Footage of Prince at Age 11 appeared first on Nerdist.

The Foo Fighters have unquestionably claimed the title of a beloved band of our time. From horror movie shenanigans to jamming with kids to just plain seeming like good people, the band always spreads good cheer. This is why the loss of one of its members feels especially difficult. Sadly, the Foo Fighters’ drummer, Taylor Hawkins, passed away at 50.

No details about the circumstances surrounding Hawkins’ death have released, according to Deadline. But regardless of the specifics, Hawkins was clearly dear to his bandmates and fans and will be missed.

The Foo Fighters shared a short statement honoring Taylor Hawkins. They specifically note that Hawkins’ “musical spirit and infectious laughter” will remain with all of us. Both those things clearly touched even the most casual of fans.

According to Deadline, Hawkins began his career as a drummer in the 1990s. He drummed for the band Sylvia and for singer Sass Jordan. He even joined Alanis Morissette on the tour for her famous album Jagged Little Pill. After that, Hawkins joined the Foo Fighters in 1997. Hawkins played the drums for every Foo Fighters album since There Is Nothing Left To Lose, which released in 1999. He also at times offered vocals and played other instruments for the band. Alongside his bandmates, he joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

Many fans took to Twitter to remember Taylor Hawkins. And famous and musical voices joined in to celebrate the life of an incredible performer.

From the first lady of the United States to rock legends, it’s clear that Taylor Hawkins made a great impact with his work. And always had a ready smile for all those around him. Although this loss feels painful, we will remember Hawkins’ legacy through the beautiful music he helped to create.

The post Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters’ Drummer, Passes Away at 50 appeared first on Nerdist.

For 45 years fans of the Rolling Stones have been sharing and downloading bootleg copies of an unofficial album. The band’s Live At The El Mocambo came from two legendary shows they performed in 1977. But you won’t have to go looking for it in the dark corners of the internet any longer. The band has announced it’s finally giving those memorable nights their own record. And this fully mixed deluxe edition should make the long, long wait worth it.

This spring the Rolling Stones will make something very old new again. (News we first heard about at Variety.) Live At The El Mocambo marks the official release of an album that has only previously existed as a bootleg. It features performances from the group’s two infamous secret shows held at the 300-person Toronto club in March of 1977. Radio listeners who won tickets to the show had no idea who’d they really be seeing on stage. The real April Wine did actually open the show as advertised. But the mysterious Cockroaches ended up being one of the most famous rock bands in history.

A pretty good prize for a radio contest! And also for any contest!

Previously four songs from those shows ended up on the group’s Love You Live album released in September 1977. The new record will include the band’s full set from March 5. Along with three bonus tracks from the night before. All newly mixed by Bob Clearmountain. And fans will be able to get theirs in one of three formats. That includes a deluxe two-CD release ($18.99), a 4LP edition on classic black vinyl ($111.99), and a limited-edition neon vinyl 4LP edition ($124.99). Each is available to pre-order at the band’s official site.

Each will be available on May 13. But you can already listen to two tracks, “Rip This Joint” and “It’s Only Rock ’N’ Roll,” now. (They sound fantastic. Imagine being in that crowd? No, we can’t either.)

In total the album features 23 live renditions of iconic hits. That includes signature songs like “Brown Sugar” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Even those who have been swapping unofficial versions of these songs for decades will want to hear them in their full glory.

You can find the full tracklist for this new Rolling Stones album below.

1. Honky Tonk Women
2. All Down The Line
3. Hand Of Fate
4. Route 66
5. Fool To Cry
6. Crazy Mama
7. Mannish Boy
8. Crackin’ Up
9. Dance Little Sister
10. Around And Around
11. Tumbling Dice
12. Hot Stuff
13. Star Star
14. Let’s Spend The Night Together
15. Worried Life Blues
16. Little Red Rooster
17. It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)
18. Rip This Joint
19. Brown Sugar
20. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
21. Melody
22. Luxury
23. Worried About You (Live at the El Mocambo 1977)

The post The Rolling Stones Are Releasing a Live Album of Iconic 1977 Shows appeared first on Nerdist.

When you have a new movie coming out you do what you can to promote it. And with the Foo Fighters’ horror-comedy Studio 666 arriving in theaters this month the band’s frontman Dave Grohl finally—and fittingly—made the terrifying plunge into the fiery depths of Hot Ones’ Hell. Those spicy wings opened up more than his nasal cavities. In between shots the two-time Hall of Fame musician discussed the origins of his band’s new supernatural film. Grohl even shared how his love of UFOs inspired the Foo Fighters’ name.

Hot Ones host Sean Evans said that after Gordon Ramsey appeared on the First We Feast series Dave Grohl was the most requested guest. Grohl didn’t disappoint either. After teaching us all how to make Pantera’s pre-show cocktail, Grohl explained the origins of Studio 666. It started when he was demoing new music in a creepy old house. That unsettling home inspired the idea for Studio 666, which sees the band move into a haunted house to record an album. While there Grohl becomes possessed and starts attacking his fellow band members.

Only, a funny thing happened on the way to making a cheap, low-budget film. People started throwing real money at it. As a result, the band ended up making what Grohl says is a real “f***ing movie.” (No kidding! John Carpenter wrote the theme. And he also has a cameo!)

After getting deep into—or rather high up on—the Scoville scale, Grohl also explained how the name Foo Fighters came from his lifelong obsession with UFOs. He was a self-proclaimed UFO expert as a kid. Grohl’s love of UFos even led him to the term “Foo Fighters,” which he found in the book Above Top Secret.

We know we’re going to see plenty of demons in Studio 666. But maybe we’ll also see some aliens too. No matter who shows up to haunt the band, though, we recommend not mixing hot sauce with anything Pantera would drink. Not unless they also have a film to promote.

The post Dave Grohl Talks STUDIO 666 and UFOs on HOT ONES appeared first on Nerdist.

Now, someone who no doubt grew up with the classic show is making their own contribution to the reboot. Thanks to Boing Boing, we’ve learned that Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters have covered “Fraggle Rock Rock,” a tune that originally appeared in the second episode of the original series. Which is now over forty years ago, believe it or not. You can check out both right versions right here, starting with the Foo Fighters’ cover above.

All the original Fraggles are back for this new iteration of the series, which always had great musical numbers. This means parents can introduce their kids to characters like Gobo, Red, Boober, Mokey, Wembley, and Uncle Travelling Matt. Not to mention the Dozers, the Gorgs, and “the silly creatures from Outer Space.” (That’s us humans, by the way.) The 13-episode series follows the 2020 movie revival Fraggle Rock: Rock On!

The Foo Fighters are clearly huge fans of Henson’s world. Dave Grohl appeared in a guest-starring capacity as ‘Animool’ in 2011’s The Muppets. And then a few years later, he showed up on ABC’s The Muppets. There he rocked out to the Foo Fighters ’90s classic “Learn To Fly,” with the Muppets’ signature rock band, Electric Mayhem. Now, all we need is Dave jamming with Big Bird. We have a feeling that one’s not too far off.

The post The Foo Fighters Rock Out to a FRAGGLE ROCK Classic appeared first on Nerdist.

Marvin Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf in the pop-cultural world, has sadly passed away. As an actor and a singer, the performer was truly an icon. And he will remain immortalized through his songs and characters.

Among his many notable achievements, Meat Loaf’s album “Bat Out of Hell” sits as one of his greatest. The rock opera is so much more than a series of songs. And it has the numbers to show for it too. The album is one of the best selling of all time. According to an article by Deadline, approximately 14 million units were sold in the US. And worldwide the number may total nearly 30 million. An astounding amount that equals an astounding amount of fans. But when you combine a loose adaptation of Peter Pan and a post-apocalyptic New York City, what’s not to love?

Meat Loaf was also a staple of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In the film adaptation of the stage musical, he played Eddie. Eddie is kidnapped and eventually killed by Frank-N-Furter. But not before belting out the rock hit “Hot Patootie.” Over the years, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has become a beloved cult hit. No doubt fans will organize screenings in Meat Loaf’s honor. Continuing the tradition, Meat Loaf also played a role in another cult hit, Fight Club. There he played Robert Paulson, a member of Project Mayhem.

In a statement on his page, Meat Loaf’s family shares:

His amazing career spanned 6 decades that saw him sell over 100 Million albums worldwide and star in over 65 movies, including Fight Club, Focus, Rocky Horror Picture Show and Wayne’s World. “Bat Out of Hell” remains one of the top 10 selling albums of all time.

We know how much he meant to so many of you and we truly appreciate all of the love and support as we move through this time of grief in losing such an inspiring artist and beautiful man. We thank you for your understanding of our need for privacy at this time.

From his heart to your souls…don’t ever stop rocking!

We will miss Meat Loaf, but his creations will continue to inspire.

The post ROCKY HORROR Actor and Singer Meat Loaf Passes at 74 appeared first on Nerdist.

Peter Jackson’s recent documentary The Beatles: Get Back struck an emotional chord with Beatles fans everywhere. It was an incredible gift to see the journey of the Fab Four as they set out to write 14 new songs against a ticking clock. Of course, the documentary’s most unforgettable sequence was The Beatles‘ last live performance. The Disney+ documentary featured the performance in its entirety for the first time ever. And now The Beatles’ iconic show will release in a bigger and better way than ever before. The Beatles and their famous rooftop concert are coming to IMAX.

The Beatles: Get Back–The Rooftop Concert will play on the IMAX screen for one night only. Fittingly, The Beatles played their concert on January 30, 1969. And they will arrive at IMAX theaters on January 30, 2022. 53 years later. A perfect birthday celebration for this famed event. The screening will also include a filmmaker Q&A with The Beatles: Get Back director Peter Jackson. 

Megan Colligan, president of IMAX Entertainment, shares,  “Ever since Peter Jackson’s beautiful and illuminating docuseries debuted, we’ve heard non-stop from fans who want to experience its unforgettable rooftop performance in IMAX. We are so excited to partner with Disney to bring ‘Get Back’ to an entirely new stage and give Beatles fans everywhere a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch and hear their heroes in the unrivaled sight and sound of IMAX.”

We can imagine this will be a truly moving, immersive experience. Almost like sitting on the rooftop with the band. Tickets are on sale now for the January 30th event.

For those who can’t make it to an IMAX screen, fear not. The rooftop concert will also receive a global theatrical engagement from February 11-13. The Beatles: Get Back will also release on Blu-ray and DVD in the U.S. on February 8. And, of course, The Beatles: Get Back streams now on Disney+.

The post The Beatles’ Final Rooftop Concert Is Getting an IMAX Release appeared first on Nerdist.

Musician Joe Porter has put together an entertaining short medley of some well-known video game tracks. His video (which we first saw at Laughing Squid) features him playing songs from Plants vs Zombies, Doom, Bad Piggies, Minecraft, and Pokémon. But that’s just half the fun. The other half comes from how he plays them. He performs each song on a different instrument as he makes his way around the room.

He starts with a flairdrum. A thing we totally knew about, including the name. But, uh, just in case you don’t know what that is it’s a collection of air pressurized plastic bottles. That’s followed by more traditional instruments. Including timpani drums, a steel pan, marimba, and a vibraphone.

The only real issue is that this video isn’t long enough to satiate our desire to hear video game songs played in unique ways. Fortunately he has lots of other videos for us to enjoy. Including a marimba medley of video game songs.

And since it is the holiday season, he used his collection of instruments to play a variety of Christmas songs on a variety of them.

A good song is a good song is a good song. Whether it’s a Christmas tune or a video game theme, we want to hear every version we can. And with a talented enough musician we’ll listen to it anyway they can play it.

The post Musician Plays Video Game Medley with Variety of Instruments appeared first on Nerdist.

The Foo Fighters recently earned induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. An honor they celebrated by rocking out with Sir Paul McCartney himself. That’s not merely a good day or even a great month. That’s something you can coast on for years if you want. Hell, you can retire off that. But Dave Grohl and his bandmates clearly have no interest in resting on their laurels. Nor do they seem interested in only being a legendary musical act with tens of millions of devoted fans. Turns out the Foo Fighters spent two years making a secret horror-comedy. And now they’ve shared the first teaser for STUDIO 666. It features plenty of music, mayhem, and monsters.

The first glimpse at the Foo Fighters foray into featured films is short, but long on scares. This teaser (which we first saw at Deadline) has flying band members and demonic possession. Cursed books and terrifying ghouls. Ans spooky spirits and Will Forte. Studio 666 looks like it will be jam-packed with horror movie staples.

There will be plenty opportunity for fun too. The film will see “what happens when the legendary rock band rents an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock and roll history, to record their 10th album.” Trouble will arise when Grohl finds himself stymied for ideas. As both “creative juices” and “blood” will begin to flow when “evil forces in the house sink into his consciousness.”

Directed by BJ McDonnell (Hatchet III, Slayer: The Repentless Killogy), Open Road Films will distribute the film, which is getting a wide release. STUDIO 666 will open in more than 2,000 theaters next year on February 25.

If the Devil shows up in it we have a guess as to whom might play the beast.

The band shot the film, which is based on Grohl’s idea, in a house that is now proving to be a sacred spot for Foo Fighters’ fans. It’s the same home where they recorded Medicine at Midnight. The album hit stores at the start of this year. We don’t remember anyone suffering a grisly death during the making of it. But we’ll listen to it again just to make sure.

Where the movie ends up ranking among all-time great film’s starring bands remains to be seen. As does how well it will do at the box office. But considering the kind of success the Foo Fighters have always found, and the fact they refuse to stop working so hard, we bet it ends up being a killer movie.

This post originally published November 8, 2021.

The post Foo Fighters’ Horror-Comedy STUDIO 666 Shares Sneak Peek appeared first on Nerdist.

It was another big year for Nick Lutsko. Despite resigning in disgrace as President of Halloween in January, he named himself King of the holiday in October when he released his third Spirit Halloween song. He then jailed Beetlejuice as a political prisoner. And though the people rose up in anger over his controversial tax paid directly to his Venmo in monthly installments, that’s all candy under the bridge now. (If you have no idea what any of that means you’re really missing out on our favorite expanded universe.) Oh yeah, and he also wrote a whole bunch of great original songs. Now Nerdist can exclusively announce that Nick Lutkso is releasing them together with More Songs on the Computer. And we also have your first look at the video for the album’s final song, “2021 (Has Been So Fun).”

Both the song and album are way more fun than 2021 has been.

Lutsko’s followup to his album Songs on the Computer features 16 tracks. Along with a bonus song about a certain lawyer who recently had his license suspended. The album combines all of his songs from January 6 until December 3 of this year. It concludes with his ode to 2021, a.k.a. 2020 Part 2. While this past year hasn’t been a blast, Lutsko’s look back is. It features a rundown of the biggest stories and even gives a backstage look at how he prepares for his performances.

The digital release is available to purchase at Lutsko’s Bandcamp page. Just like with his last album, More Songs on the Computer will also include a vinyl campaign. If you also want a physical copy you can back it for as little as $30. Higher tiers get you bonuses, with the most expensive featuring very limited packages with exclusive perks. His previous vinyl campaign garnered a mere 1331% of its goal. So yeah, we expect this one to be fully funded too.

Nick Lutsko also gave us some insight into the making of the album. Along with how his grandma feels about her role in his bizarre universe.

Nerdist: How is this album different from the first?

Nick Lutsko: I was halfway finished with the last one before I really figured out what it was. The songs started sharing connective tissue pretty early on. But it wasn’t until “Unleash Your Spirit” that I really started building a narrative. So I think this one feels a bit more cohesive.

These songs weren’t written together during one session. They are individual pieces composed one at a time. Listening to all of these songs together as an album, do you find any recurring themes?

By design, the same thing sort of happens over and over. A need for power and admiration, combined with a fear of execution, keeps Nick punching above his weight for most of the album.

What’s your favorite track and why?

Probably “#1 Hit on Country Radio” because it’s country as hell.

Does your grandmother like your music? What does she think about being a character in your world? A character you threaten to shoot into space.

My grandma is the best and has always been super supportive of my creative endeavors. Honestly, we haven’t had that conversation. I don’t look at the guy in the songs as me. So I don’t look at his grandma as my grandma. Maybe I should call and make sure we’re on the same page.

We certainly hope his grandma is on the same page with him. Not just because we are, no matter how weird Nick’s world gets. After the year he just had we’d hate to see a family squabble end it on a sour note.

Here’s the entire tracklist for Nick Lutkso’s More Songs on the Computer:

1. “2021 (Is Gonna Be So Fun)”
2. “Pay Me $100K To Play At Biden’s Inauguration”
3. “Give Me Tucker’s Show”
4. “Brendan Fraser Is Back”
5. “Here Comes The Gremlin Man”
6. “#1 Hit On Country Radio”
7. “Joe Biden Wants To Take Your Meat”
8. “Space Jam Song”
9. “LOL or GTFO”
10. “Joe Rogan Podcast”
11. “School Board Meeting”
12. “The Beatles Part II”
13. “Let Me Host S&L”
14. “Haunted By The Ghost of Ernest P. Worrell”
15. “Spirit Halloween Planet”
16. “2021 (Has Been So Fun)”
17. “Leak Like Giuliani (bonus)”

If these sound like your jam, make sure to grab your copy!

The post Nick Lutsko Announces MORE SONGS ON THE COMPUTER 2 and Drops New Video appeared first on Nerdist.

But one particular moment really captures some very special magic happening, halfway through Part 1. And it’s the literal birth of the band’s all-time classic song, “Get Back.” Yes, the very song that gave this series its name. You can watch the moment play out in real-time in the video down below, which comes to us thanks to YouTube channel Sheller, (via Laughing Squid).

To paraphrase Sophia from Golden Girls, “Picture it. It’s January 7, 1969.” Paul, Ringo, and George are in the studio waiting for John to show up, who’s late again. So Paul starts jamming on his guitar while they all wait. The Beatles famously came up with the music for their songs before the lyrics. So many of their classic songs started out as nonsense words. Or just sounds uttered over instrumentation. The lyrics often came later. And this was exactly the case with Paul McCartney’s “Get Back,” as you can see from the video.

Famously, the band eventually released “Get Back” as a non-album single in April 1969. It was the band’s seventeenth single to top the Billboard Hot 100 charts. This tied them with Elvis Presley for the most number ones. Interestingly, a year later, a different version was the final track on the Beatles’ last album, Let it Be. Thus giving it even more significance. If you were to listen to the band’s complete album discography from start to finish, it would end with this classic song. And now, we can all see how it was born.

The post Watch as Paul McCartney Composes ‘Get Back’ in Real Time appeared first on Nerdist.

Hanukkah is the festival of lights. But now, sound has a seat at the table. Dave Grohl wants to give you a gift for every night of the holiday with his “Hanukkah Sessions” series. (Which returns for the second year in a row.) The aim of the “Hanukkah Sessions” series is simple. It wants to celebrate and honor Jewish artists during this exciting time of year. So light your menorah (technically: Chanukiah) grab your jelly doughnuts (sufganiyot) and crank up these excellent, festive Dave Grohl covers.

At the time of this writing, we’ve gotten to enjoy four nights of Hanukkah. This means four excellent “Hanukkah Sessions” from Dave Grohl. Grohl has again teamed up with Grammy-winning producer Greg Kurstin for these covers. First up on the docket, “Stay” by Lisa Loeb. Grohl shares on the Foo Fighter’s YouTube channel:

Welcome back to the menorah, y’all. Let’s kick it this year’s Hanukkah sessions with one of Dallas, Texas’s favorite Jewish daughters. So put on your coffee shop spectacles and your Betsey Johnson dress and HAVA listen to this…

And let me tell you, he commits. We especially love the heavy metal screaming sections. Grohl is one talented mensch.

Night two brings us “Blitzkrieg Bop” by The Ramones:

Night three brings us an absolutely delightful version of Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana.” Grohl goes hard on the ’70s vibes. We have to say… it’s basically out of a bar mitzvah scene. And we mean that with the most love. Although, of course, your bar mitzvah band never sounded so good.

Finally, for now, night four dedicates itself to “Jump” by Van Halen.

But fear not, there are four more nights to celebrate. And we can’t wait to see what Hanukkah gifts Grohl will share with us next. We know they’ll light up our lives though.

If you still want a little more Hanukkah fun from Grohl, check out all the songs from last year’s celebration. Just visit the #hanukkahsessions tag on YouTube. Our 2020 favorites? Grohl’s take on Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage.”

We’re wishing everyone celebrating the happiest of Hanukkahs.

The post Celebrate Every Night of Hanukkah with Dave Grohl appeared first on Nerdist.

There’s a whole lot going on in this video (which we first saw at Collider). It opens with Sudeikis playing a cross between former women’s US gymnastics coach Béla Károlyi and the worst dad you’ll meet at every Pop Warner football game. But after some genuine laughs—especially the bit about how the coach’s dad died—things take an unsettling turn. The unseen faces of the synchronized swimming team get replaced by the Foo Fighters. All but Pat Smear that is, who gets to be the janitor in a Caddyshack homage at the end.

Despite fighting with one another in the pool, one teammate nearly dying from some especially heinous flatulence, and their coach being a preening embarrassment, the squad manages to overcome their issues to get a perfect 10 from the judges. Proving once again that if you want results from a fictional coach, you call Jason Sudeikis.

Of course, this coach is dramatically different from Ted Lasso. Which means the key to being an effective manager is clear: you must have a great mustache to lead any team.

The post Jason Sudeikis Plays a Mean Coach in New Foo Fighters Video appeared first on Nerdist.

And now, an eight-hour, uncut video (yes, we said eight) has surfaced of Ziggy Stardust’s last hurrah. And when we say that it’s uncut, we mean it. This video has multiple takes, candid backstage interludes, and dance rehearsals. Thanks to David Bowie News (via Laughing Squid), you can immerse yourself in the musical extravaganza above. And don’t worry, we’ll give you time to go put on your thigh-high glitter boots and purple eyeliner.

A few fun facts about this show. First off, no, they didn’t film it in 1980, but actually seven years earlier, in 1973.  At a time when the year 1980 seemed like the far-off future. The name of the show was a riff on George Orwell’s novel 1984.  Thus, “1980 Floor.” Get it? In the world of Ziggy, they had terminated Stardust from the band The Spiders From Mars. So now, Ziggy was free to perform Bowie’s songs from Aladdin Sane and Pinups.

The show was broadcast on NBC via The Midnight Special series, something that allowed for wider exposure for Bowie in North America. So this is a must-see for any die-hard Bowie fan. And be sure to watch Bowie and Marianne Faithfull do their rendition of Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe.” It alone is worth the price of admission. A price that just so happens to be “free.”

The post Watch Uncut Version of David Bowie’s Last Ziggy Stardust Gig appeared first on Nerdist.

Everyone loves a good musical mashup. There’s just something about one song you know and love mixed in with another song you also know and love that just brings a smile. If it’s the right two songs that is. A good mashup song is like peanut butter and jelly. Two great tastes that go great together. Of course, a bad one is like oil and water.

But thanks to Boing Boing, we’ve discovered an amazing mashup from the mysterious internet DJ SickickMusic. it features two of the biggest recording artists in pop music history — Michael Jackson and Phil Collins.

Sickick had the genius notion of combining Jackson’s 1992 hit “Remember the Time” with Phil Collins’ debut solo single, 1982’s “In the Air Tonight.” The description simply says “If MJ and Phil Collins had a secret relationship we didn’t know about…”  You can hear the results, and see SickickMusic’s DJ in his super creepy mask, above. The original video is brief, but luckily another YouTuber made an extended version. You can listen to the longer version right here:

This is one of those mashups where you wonder how the heck someone hadn’t thought of it before. After all, these are two giants of pop, with nearly fifty top ten hits between the two of them. Actually, we wouldn’t mind a whole series of MJ/Collins mashups. A few years back, someone made a pretty awesome mashup of Collins’ hit, “Sussudio,” with Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.” Were they predicting a trend maybe?

If you’re into this mashup, then SickickMusic has a ton of others on their channel. There’s a Drake x LMFAO mashup that is fun as heck, and one of Gwen Stefani x Aerosmith. (Or, to be more accurate, No Doubt and Aerosmith). And those are all just the tip of the iceberg.

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The Foo Fighters are willing to jam with just about anyone, no matter their age or level of fame. That includes Dave Grohl’s talented young daughter, a musical prodigy the band met thanks to social media, a random fan they pulled up on stage during a concert, and even the world’s coolest five year old. Sometimes though they even play with other popular musicians. Like how Grohl teamed with Mick Jagger on a pandemic track. Or when AC/DC’s Brian Johnson joined them to sing “Back in Black.” Now they’ve hit the stage with arguably the most legendary musician on the planet. Sir Paul McCartney and the Foo Fighters performed The Beatles’ “Get Back” together during the band’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

This past weekend the Foo Fighters took their place alongside other timeless bands, as the group earned induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It’s hard to make that kind of night any better than it already is. But a member of The Beatles doesn’t always welcome a fellow inductee into music’s hallowed halls.

McCartney began with a touching speech about the band’s career. Speeches are nice. But groups don’t earn enshrinement because of what they say. They get in because of their music. So to cap off a memorable evening the band joined McCartney for a cover of The Beatles’ “Get Back.” The performance (which we first saw at The A.V. Club) alone was worth the price of admission. It’s not often you see two timeless musical acts this popular rocking out together.

Ron C

The Foo Fighters have never been shy about sharing their stage. It’s one of the things we love most about them. But it’s not often they’re overshadowed by the person joining them. And that’s what’s really great about this. We know they’re even more thrilled by this performance than we are.

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In his time on this Earth, Prince went by many names and personas. Whenever he used his high-pitched voice in a song? That was “Camille.” On the Love Symbol album, he was “Victor.” And most famously, there was the period where he had no pronounceable name at all. But to most people, they will always think of him as “the Kid.” That’s the main character in his iconic role in Purple Rain. The purple coat, the motorcycle, he was almost like a superhero. And just like a superhero, he’s now immortalized in a 1:6 scale statue from Sideshow Collectibles.

Sideshow Collectibles 

This fully sculpted and hand-painted 1:6 Scale Statue measures 10.5″ tall and 17.5″ wide. The Prince Tribute Statue comes with a discreet asphalt-effect base evoking a damp city street, presumably Minneapolis. But it puts all focus rightfully on Prince and his ride. This ultra-realistic statue embodies the flamboyant style and presence of His Royal Badness, the Purple One himself.

Sideshow Collectibles 

His purple jacket features a metallic shine and silver accents on the buttons and shoulder. The sleeves and long coattails have drapes and folds, giving the garment a realistic look. He wears a ruffled white blouse beneath, just like the “When Doves Cry” video. There’s also a unique paint application emulating the look of lace gloves. And Prince never forgot to wear his high-heeled boots, which fully completes the look. It really looks just like the album cover for the soundtrack to Purple Rain.

Sideshow Collectibles 

Sideshow also perfectly recreated Prince’s famous motorcycle in exact detail. Everything from the wheels, the engine, tire treads, and the fabric textures look screen-accurate. Even the metallic purple finish and red symbols throughout are spot-on. So if you want to “purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka,” as Prince said in the movie, you can pre-order this amazing statue now for $795 via the official Sideshow website. There, one can see even more photos of this deluxe collectible. We expect the Prince Tribute Statue to ship somewhere between December 2022 and February 2023.

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Swedish pop supergroup ABBA is making a comeback after 40 years, with new music and a new tour. Okay, so it’s a hologram tour. But it’s better than nothing, right? Still the superstars of ’70s pop never stopped influencing pop culture. Even decades after their breakup. Just look at the success of ABBA-themed content. Think Muriel’s Wedding, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and, of course, Mamma Mia. Usually, their upbeat music might not seem very Halloween-ish. But someone online has found a way to make that connection happen with a vampire ABBA mashup.

YouTuber Brian David Gilbert has made a lot of silly videos over the years. The videos often involve a song or two. This spooky season, he decided to do a rendition of ABBA’s classic “Lay All Your Love On Me.” But it’s the tune as if sung by a vampire. So after substituting the word “Love” with “Blood,” this lounge lizard Nosferatu found his signature anthem. The vamp’s one-man group actually goes by the name  “AHHH!BBA.” Because of course it does. You can watch the four and a half minutes of musical silliness above. Garlic and crucifix optional.

Brian David Gilbert

The video description says:

 “Many years ago, Brian David Gilbert and Jonah Scott talked about how most of ABBA’s music could be sung by Halloween villains. This year, they turned that three-minute conversation into a full album.”

The rest of the album will drop soon, but it’s only fitting they begin with one of the original icons of Halloween, the vampire. We can’t wait to find out which Halloween icon gets dibs on ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.” Or even “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight).” That one feels tailor-made for a witch to belt out, doesn’t it?

For more of Brian David Gilbert’s unique brand of wacky, be sure to head on over to his YouTube Channel.

Featured Image: Brian David Gilbert

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If you could star in one musical what would it be? Shadow and Bone star Ben Barnes sits down with Nerdist’s Rachel Heine to talk about what it’s like working with Guillermo del Toro, his debut album and songwriting process, and his dream musical roles on today’s episode of Nerdist Now!

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I don’t remember much about being 10. Probably because my only goals then were hanging out with my friends and staying up late. It’s not exactly a time in life when most children are thinking about changing the world. But Nandi Bushell is not like most kids. The musical prodigy spent the last year besting the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl in an epic drum battle. That’s a pretty high mountain to climb when you’re not even in junior high. And no one would fault the young musician if she coasted on that accomplishment for awhile. Or even forever. That wasn’t enough for her though. Bushell has teamed up with another impossibly talented youngster to address an issue their generation will have to live with longer than any of us adults. She partnered with Tom Morello’s son Roman for an angry rock anthem about climate change.

And a few famous faces showed up for the video.

“The Children Will Rise Up!” (which we first heard at Gizmodo) features Nandi on drums and lead vocals with Roman Morello absolutely destroying the guitar. Seriously, how can these two be this good this young? There’s just an incredible amount of talent crammed into this rock song about the most pressing issue facing everyone, not just kids. A problem the two youngsters want their peers to fight back against by pushing adults to act now.

Jack Black has their back. As does Roman’s (obviously very proud) father. And at least one other youngster wanted to make sure their important message is heard. The world’s youngest leading voice on climate change, Greta Thunberg, makes a quick appearance in the video.

Nandi Bushell

If this song helps get even a few kids more invested in the number one issue our planet faces it will be a wild success. But that’s just a normal day for Nandi Bushell.

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Dave Grohl celebrated quite the milestone recently, as Nirvana’s breakthrough album Nevermind turned 30 years old. Being Nirvana’s drummer during their watershed moment led to an incredible three decades in the music business. Celebrating this anniversary follows on the heels of a very busy last few years for the Foo Fighters frontman. Mainly organizing several charity concerts during the pandemic.

Grohl also has written a new memoir called The Storyteller, where he shares his “memories of a life lived loud.” While doing press for his book on the BBC (via Boing Boing), Grohl revealed a fun (but weird) factoid about himself. As a kid, Grohl developed the habit of drumming by clicking his teeth together. He shows off how he used to do it in the video below, at the 2:58 mark.

His talent for drumming with his teeth turned out to be good practice. It ultimately led to a skill that made him world-famous, after all. Although listening to it might be grating for some, it also shows that some people really are just born with the music in them. Dave Grohl is clearly someone with musical ability just coming out of his pores.

BBC

Another fun fact revealed during the interview is that Grohl is still an avowed UFO fanboy. This should come as a surprise to no one though. The term “Foo Fighter” is an old WWII military term for what we call UFOs today. Grohl is definitely someone who believes in the old saying “we are not alone.” And he admits that he has paid attention to all the declassified UFO footage that’s come out recently.

He told the BBC, “I’m a total UFO nerd and I have been for decades. So I’ve been following it. But what’s happening now, I don’t think is new.” If only he weren’t so busy, maybe Grohl will join Blink 182’s Tom DeLonge and officially add “UFO researcher” to his resume.

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Find an ancient ruin to hide in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Fall into as many traps as you want Return of the Jedi. And hand over your crown The Return of the King. There’s now an undisputed new champion for best third installment in a trilogy. Nick Lutsko is back with another entry in his “Spirit Halloween Theme” song collection. The former President of the spooky season is now everyone’s king. And “Spirit Halloween Planet” promises his reign will involve a whole lot of candy.

We will be required to personally pay him some controversial taxes though.

Nick Lutsko let us know something was coming this year when we spoke to him about the one-year anniversary of his incredible, unsanctioned 2020 theme song for Spirit Halloween stores. That classic was quickly followed by another, His fantastic—fully sanctioned!—sequel, “Unleash Your Spirit.” What we didn’t expect was for this new song to exceed our seemingly impossible expectations for it. And it totally does.

This year he teamed up with October’s signature pop-up schain to kick off October with “Spirit Halloween Planet.” It’s just as weird, wonderful, and rocking as his first two songs. Thanks to an amazing video though, it might be the funniest installment yet.

Spirit Halloween

From Beetlejuice and the Titanic, to political prisoners and an an entire army of naked Jeff Bezos monsters, the self-named king of a never-ending Halloween takes us to places no normal person would expect to go. Including to the kind of self-sabotage within Lutsko’s own fantasy that is always one of his funniest bits.

You’d think that people would be grateful their tax dollars went towards something as cool as candy. But that’s politics/heavy-handed monarchy for you.

Lutsko also talked to Vulture, where the song debuted, about his latest Spirit’ed track and how he has no idea where his the story goes next. He also made sure to credit Brielle Garcia for the incredible video, which is just as entertaining as the song. It also required a lot more time than he usually gives for his songs. Unlike most of his other hits, Lutsko took more than 24 to 48 hours to write, record, edit, and post the whole thing.

That makes perfect sense. You need more than a couple of days to make the third best installment of any trilogy ever. But, we do have a couple of questions for our new Halloween King: just how high a tax are we talking and how much candy will we be getting under your rule?

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike, and also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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You don’t need to be a music historian to know why it’s called “techno” music. If that isn’t obvious enough, though, the “E” in EDM stands for electronic. But even then, all you have to do to understand why is listen to a song. Machines primarily make the sounds rather than people playing instruments. Or so we always thought. Turns out you can not only use traditional devices to make techno music, you can even use acoustic ones. Like one band who augments an electric sound with an array of regular instruments. Even ones you don’t plug in. All to produce techno music that will have any club dancing. And any concertgoer too.

The trio Klangphonics out of Berlin (who we first learned about at Laughing Squid) takes a lot of the technology out of techno music. The group replaces it with old-fashioned instruments. That can even include the kind that don’t plug into anything. But even when they do they’re still producing music that sounds like techno. So why the extra layer of difficulty? Why not just let the machines do most—if not all—of the hard work? Their stated goal is to “bridge the gap between producer and live band.” With a “very natural, organic sound” that still retains “the energy associated with deep house and melodic techno.”

Klangphonics

To make that happen they use drums and guitar. As well as a “diverse percussion” selection. They then “blend” those regular instruments—both acoustic and electric—with synths and sequencers. The result is music designed to not only work at the hottest dance club, but also onstage in concert.

If you didn’t watch these videos, or learn about how they make their music, you probably wouldn’t even know these songs use regular instruments. These tracks sound exactly like typical EDM tracks. They also sound great. We can’t stop bopping our head along to them. But so much for knowing exactly why it’s called techno.

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Ben Barnes never fails to be charming. Just think of his recent turn as the Darkling in Shadow and Bone. And lest we forget his heroic Prince Caspian. But now, he’s dashing to the max in his new music video for “11:11.” And so much of that comes down to the earnestness that exudes joyfully out of this labor of love.

Barnes notes in the description for “11:11″‘s video:

I am so thrilled to be sharing this with you after 20 years of wanting to release my own music and finally finding the right reasons… it’s never too late.

And who can’t get behind that? That “dreams do come true” feeling is evident in every part of the music video. And Barnes knows his audience. Or maybe, he just truly loves to sing soulfully while shirtless. We’re pretty happy with either explanation. And also happy with the soft candlelight that lights most of this music video.

Ben Barnes

“11:11” itself is a jazzy tune that’s sung right from the heart. At times, it carries that perfect “coffee shop in the fall” melancholia. But who doesn’t love just a touch of nostalgic angst mixed in with the rest? It’s ultimately uplifting. A beautiful song of love. And “11:11″‘s music video highlights all those great aspects.

Barnes adds:

Does the mirror number time 11:11 have mystical, cosmic significance?! Maybe not… but it can’t hurt to make a wish if you see it!

My wish is in the song: for you to be ‘happy, free and fearless’ in the pursuit of your dreams. So make a wish for someone you love.

We honestly can’t even! We really have to ask, is this man real? And does he really wish us all joy? He does? Well, we bet joy will find us then. Such is the power of so much gallantry.

Ben Barnes

Barnes shares the “11:11” music video stage with Westworld co-star Evan Rachel Wood. Wood keeps disappearing on him, but he only wants her to be free and happy. A lovely message. Barnes reminds us of a kind of Phantom of the Opera here. Between all the mirrors, lights, and staging. He is again giving the people what they want.

“11:11” is available to stream across the internet. And soon, more music will join it. Barnes’ EP, “Songs For You,” releases on October 15.

In a release, Barnes shared more about the writing of the album. The lyrics for his songs came from “poetry written for a loved one or just for myself, a long-forgotten phrase I jotted down in a notebook years ago, inspired by a photograph, a moment, a quotation, or in the case of one song, a story I read about a female pirate!”

“Songs For You” contains five songs that are right from Ben Barnes’ heart. He is “baring his soul through his music for the first time; hopeful, joyful, passionate, nostalgic, vulnerable and loving.” “Songs For You” can be pre-ordered today. It sounds like “11:11” is only the beginning.

The “11:11” music video was directed by Lee Toland Krieger. Chloe Dykstra, Tim Harms, Eric Kochmer, and Sam Fox were producers. Barnes also notes that “some encouragement from Darren Criss, the team at Label Logic, and so many others who know who they are” came in handy. He concludes his message with a heart emoji. So we only have one message back to him. <3

The post Ben Barnes Offers You His Heart in ’11:11′ Music Video appeared first on Nerdist.

On September 17, 2020, Nick Lutsko gave the world a song it didn’t know it was waiting for. He wrote an unofficial theme for Spirit Halloween. The impossibly catchy track and its equally strange and hilarious video involves animatronics, talking skeletons, and Jeff Bezos. If it’s possible for any song to be an instant holiday classic his more than qualified. But that wasn’t the beginning of his story. And it certainly wasn’t the end. Over the last year he’s turned his musical comedy into an extended, increasingly bizarre universe. It follows the exploits of an unusually sweaty, definitely unstable, delusional man always on the verge of ruin. Whether that be with his grandmother’s bird-loving boyfriend, the police, Amazon’s founder, or monsters who live in his basement. A story told via songs, videos, fictional movie trailers, and social media.

Nick Lutsko

Like many, including famous faces both in and outside the world of comedy, I’ve been completely obsessed with Lutsko’s work since finding it. I backed his Band Camp album, “Songs on the Computer.” I’ve listened to his music almost every single day since finding it. And I’ve converted countless friends into fans. So for the one-year anniversary of his “Spirit Halloween Theme” I reached out to Lutsko to discuss the song that led to him becoming a viral sensation, how it got an immediate sanctioned sequel, and expanding his own ridiculous universe into comedy and music gold.

Nerdist: Where did the idea for your “Spirit Halloween Theme Song” come from?

Nick Lutsko: It’s a long story I’ve been a little bit secretive about. But I don’t really feel like I have much reason to be anymore. I’d been doing musical comedy-esque stuff for Super Deluxe. When they shut down, I started doing stuff for Netflix. But it was always very behind the scenes. My name and face wasn’t necessarily attached because it was all work-for-hire.

Music has been my main thing. I went to college for commercial songwriting and kind of fell into that. I never really pursued comedy. I’ve always been a huge fan, but always had this hesitancy to fully embrace it because I had a little bit of imposter syndrome. Maybe since I didn’t set out to do that. It’s a weird insecurity I had for a long time. But during the pandemic, the kind of work I was doing with Super Deluxe and Netflix, like the lip sync type of taking people’s words and turning them into songs—I remember one day Trump kept talking about his cognitive test. And he was going, “Person, woman, man, camera,” over and over again. I was sitting down with that footage and trying to figure out how I could turn it into a song. And it just felt so boring.

I thought, “I’m so tired of this.” That was the same day I realized Chrissy Teigen unfollowed me on Twitter. And my band mate John said, “Why don’t you write a song about that instead?” That really was the key that unlocked everything. I thought, “What do I have to lose? I’ll just shoot something, film me playing it, and upload it.” Instantly I realized people were really into it. More so than all the other stuff that I’d been doing for years trying to get people to pay attention. It was like, “Okay, let me explore this sort of approach where I’m kind of at the center of it.”

Essentially, that got the ball rolling of me making these short Twitter songs in the first place. The “I Wanna Be at the RNC” song was the one that really went crazy and had a lot of pretty big comedians reach out and say really nice things. SNL actually asked me to submit a tape for their audition process of that season. It was surreal, all this stuff happening overnight. And to me, it was a green light to pursue this for awhile. “Maybe this is my career now. With this little effort, this much has happened. I’m going to see what I can do with this.”

Lutsko didn’t get SNL. (Though the show did inspire one of his songs.) But he says the fact Saturday Night Live even considered him gave him more confidence to keep producing songs and videos. Just as important, it convinced him to trust his gut when making them.

NL: I entered this mindset of going with my first instinct. Not trying to rationalize it. Not trying to over calculate what am I trying to say. With the “RNC” song, I woke up that morning and it was the first day of the event. Everyone is talking about the RNC? I’ll write a song about it today. I wrote it, I recorded it, and I posted it that evening.

In the past when I’ve done songs, sometimes it takes me months or years to write. I pore over every line and make sure everything is exactly how I want it. I redo takes over and over again and try different instrumentation. It was a really cool lesson, just doing something, not giving anything a second thought and putting it out there to see people respond to it. And I decided, if I’m going to keep doing these, that’s also going to be a big part of how I do this is. I’m going to let my subconscious take the wheel and go with it. Work as quickly as I can and and trust my instincts as much as I can. That’s the long subtext of where I was when I got the idea for the Spirit song.

“I Wanna Be at the RNC” might have been his first viral hit from what became his album Songs on the Computer. However, it was his unsanctioned theme song for Spirit Halloween that became something more. And it all started with some unplanned silliness.

NL: Spirit stores were opening up and I went with my wife. We’ve always been into Halloween, but she was especially into it last year because of how awful the pandemic was. She started decorating the house in August. We went to Spirit that month and I filmed stupid videos of me getting irrationally scared by all the animatronics. When I was thinking about what’s the next thing I’m going to write a song about, I had all this footage of me getting scared by animatronics. I thought, “Maybe I can do a theme song.”

Obviously there are some humorous elements to pull from. Like everything is shutting down and Spirit Halloweens are opening up. In a way it’s this dark commentary on the state of things. But at the same time, everyone’s really pumped about it. It was just one of those things that I didn’t put a whole lot of thought into. It was just, “This seems funny to me inherently, and I can’t really rationalize why and I just ran with it.”

Nick Lutsko

How long did it take you to write the song?

A day, probably. Like with “RNC,” I had the idea in the morning and I had the video out by that evening. The songs that I’ve been doing recently, usually if I get the idea on a Monday I post it on a Tuesday night. I’ll lay the groundwork the first day and most of that evening, wake up, put the finishing touches on, shoot the video, edit the video, and then I usually post in the evening.

In the editing, like with the songwriting, it’s just move through it as quickly as possible. And you can tell on a lot of the songs there are typos and glitches. Sometimes they’re intentional. But a lot of the times they’re not. I kind of lean into that. It sits very on-brand for the character. I don’t get too hung up on it. But like in “RNC,” the “Bongino” towards the end gets an extra “g.” That was not intentional whatsoever. And that’s one of my favorite parts, because people really seem to appreciate that it was totally over my head as I was working on it. I don’t think “Spirit” has anything like that, really.

Are there any alternate lyrics for your Spirit theme?

NL: I don’t think so. I do have a specific memory of sitting on my back porch and thinking of what I could do. I don’t remember what the alternate ideas were, but it was funny because the more simplistic and stupider it got, the better it was. “They got skeletons” was the first thing that made my wife laugh. But I remember calling John, who suggested doing the Chrissy Teigen song, to run “Spirit Halloween” by him and there being a real hesitancy. He was like, “Am I missing the joke?” I don’t know. It’s part of the joke how it’s not really saying anything.

I got introduced to you and the Spirit song early last October when somebody on my Twitter feed said they’d always retweet the video when it came up. I clicked on it thinking it must be an old song with an old fanbase. Yet it had only come out a couple of weeks earlier. When did you know that the song had become a hit?

NL: I don’t know. It’s weird being in Twitter world and thinking something is a hit. Especially seeing how something can do so well on Twitter and then on YouTube it’s largely overlooked. It’s a strange thing, but yeah, I guess it got a lot of retweets for sure. I think “RNC” might be the most viral song if you’re going to call one a hit. But “RNC” was more of a moment.” When I posted that song, it somehow divinely matched the minute when Don Jr. stepped on the stage of the RNC and his face was red and sweaty. He looked like he’d done a bunch of coke. It was a perfect moment.

“Spirit Halloween Theme” is less of that. It’s not as current event-y. So maybe it is a little bit more of an evergreen thing. But as far as when did I know it was a hit, maybe when you emailed me asking me to do a one-year anniversary piece. It’s weird to get a good gauge on how popular any of these songs are. I started doing this just over a year ago. I don’t know if any of these are going to stand the test of time. It is cool to see people caring a year later though. That’s very exciting to me and it’s something that’s very new.

Somebody noticed the song right away. How quickly did Spirit Halloween contact you?

NL: It was the next day. I posted it on a Thursday. They Venmo’ed me some money on Friday morning. They made a Venmo account that said “Spirit Halloween” and they Venmo’d me a fairly large sum of money and basically said, “Get in touch. We want to do more.” That was the beginnings of “Unleash your Spirit,” the sequel. The reason that I know the specifics of the dates and the days is my wife and I went out to celebrate that evening and we found out she was pregnant when we got home.

Wow.

NL: Yeah. So there’s some interesting trivia.

Who first suggested doing a sequel? Spirit Halloween or you?

NL: They sent me the money and were like, “Hey, shoot us an email. We want to do more together.”

Even if you didn’t realize how popular your Spirit theme was, or how popular it was about to become, it’s obviously really good. Were you worried at all about doing a sequel to something that good, especially so quickly after you had just written it?

NL: Yeah, for sure. That definitely crossed my mind. It’s difficult to get into my specific head space at the time. But I knew that it needed to be different. Yet, at the same time I think I was a little bit relieved because I was already at the point where I was trying to put out as many videos and songs as I could. And here’s someone offering to pay me to do something that I know people already like. All I have to do is make sure it’s catchy and fun. Looking back, maybe I should have been more hesitant, but it came together pretty well.

How long did it take you to write “Unleash Your Spirit?” How much was Spirit Halloween involved and what was your process?

NL: I pitched the idea pretty early on. I do remember really struggling. They wanted to do another song and they really liked the original song. But I think [the first song] went off the rails a little bit at the end with all the Jeff Bezos talk.

Hard disagree. I’m going to hard disagree with you right there.

NL: They didn’t want to ruffle daddy Bezos’ feathers I don’t think. They were like, “Yeah, do another song just without all the murder stuff and Bezos stuff.” I was like, “Okay.”

I remember it was really hard trying to find an angle that made sense. Then the first thing I pitched them was, “What about a Halloween party where the guests are only animatronics?” And they said, “Yeah, cool. Do it.” To me that was just exciting. Because I get to go get all these animatronics for free. They’re still in my basement.

Do you know the value of them? Is it really a hundred thousand dollars worth of animatronics?

NL: It’s not a hundred thousand dollars, no. I don’t know if they would like me to share the specific total, but you can ballpark it by going on the website and seeing what I ended up getting.

But that’s where it started and they were into it. They were awesome. Then they said, “We’ll give you some money. Make something. We don’t really want to tell you what to do. We just want to let you create. The only thing that we would like you to do is include the term ‘unleash your spirit.'” Because they were doing an “unleash your spirit” campaign, trying to encourage people staying in and unleashing their spirit pandemic style. That was another way for me to lean into a bunch of animatronics.

Nick Lutsko/Spirit Halloween

Spirit Halloween didn’t want you to specifically mention Jeff Bezos. But he makes an unnamed appearance in the song and video. A later song confirms though that it was Bezos who ruined your Halloween party and also possibly killed your grandma. Over the last year the Nick Lutsko Expanded Universe has become more intricate and connected. When you mentioned Bezos in the first song, did you have any plans to ever mention him again in future songs? Or is it just something that happened organically?

NL: I never have any plans ever. Everything is always: I write the one song and then when I get to the next one, anytime I feel like this maybe is getting a little too redundant or too predictable, I ask myself, “Where can I go to turn this on its head a little bit?” It’s nice I have a well of things I can pull from. Between the men in the tunnels, the man under the stairs, Jeff Bezos, and Mel and grandma, it’s like, “Okay, I can look in this bag and see what’s there. Or I can kind of take it in a new, weird place.”

But I really never know what I’m going to do when I start something. Not unless there’s a direct correlation between whatever I’m singing about and whatever I sung about in the past.

Characters and stories from your songs started crossing over and expanding on your Twitter account. When did you decide to start incorporating social media into your expanded universe? Why did you make the decision to make your comedy a more immersive experience?

NL: There was a flip-of-the-switch after the first Songs on the Computer, where it ended with grandma presumably murdered by Jeff Bezos. It ended on that cliffhanger. I don’t ever want the songs to be so exclusive to the point you need to hear 20 other songs to have any idea what is going on. Obviously that happens a little bit. But I like there to be something that pulls you in. For example, the presidential inauguration. Everyone knows that Joe Biden’s having an inauguration. I’m this weird guy who’s been beat up and he wants to play. He needs money.

In a practical way, [the Twitter elements] needed to happen as a way to keep writing songs that weren’t so convoluted and filled with details of minutia story stuff. Twitter is a way for me to give some context for the people who really are following along and appreciate the story. I really am trying though to feed both groups of people though. Including the random Twitter user who has no idea who I am or what’s going on with me. They get those few sentences of a storyline that might entice them to go back and try to figure out what’s going on. But I don’t want it to ever be so isolated that people just listen to the song and are like, “I don’t know what is going on so I’m done with this.”

I’ve probably done a bad job of that a few times. But it’s a line of trying to keep the diehards happy and also not make it such a niche thing. It gets more and more difficult the more and more intricate things get. I just did the school board song. Do I want this to be this fun thing? Or do I want to try to incorporate some new story branch? I always figure it out on the fly. What feels right for that song.

I’m thinking about how much of a presence Big Pizza has been in your world without really being in the songs that much. (note: Big Pizza is a possibly imaginary strong man who beat Nick up after Nick “accidentally” killed $100,ooo worth of exotic birds owned by his grandma’s boyfriend Mel. A Big Pizza Twitter account opened and started posting knock-off Nick songs and threatening him.) I don’t know if you want to reveal this secret or not, but are you also Big Pizza?

NL: I’m happy to reveal that I am not Big Pizza.

That makes me very happy.

NL: I do know who Big Pizza is. I don’t know if I should reveal their identity. Maybe I’ll keep that a secret. It’s nice I have no control over it. I love the songs that Big Pizza has put out and I’m a fan of the tweets. I do let him or her know if I’m about to do something, so please don’t create your own thing that I’m going to have to try to chop down.

How have these songs changed your life beyond just the popularity and the music sales?

NL: Something I’ve been somewhat defeated about a little bit, I looked back at Songs on the Computer and I realize I wrote almost all of those songs between the end of July and the beginning of December. So 15 songs in five months. It’s crazy to me now that I’ve technically been working on Songs on the Computer Two since January, which has been nine months. I did a lot more songs in the five months and a half than the last nine months. It makes me feel like I’m a slacker. But during those few months in the pandemic last year, that really kind of became my full-time job. That was pretty much my mission just to make as much stuff. And then this year I’ve kind of been reaping the benefits of those things. I did have a kid too.

That will cut into your free time.

NL: Yeah. That took a lot of our free time. But I worked on an Old Spice commercial, And I worked on a couple other projects that are coming out. I have some TV stuff that’s kind of in development that I don’t know if I can really talk about. And I had the vinyl campaign. A lot of energy went into that.

That vinyl campaign included making personalized Desmond videos for people who backed his Band Camp album. Desmond is the main character for Lutsko’s unmade Gremlins 3, which is as absurd as anything else he’s made. Of course he plays Desmond in an equally absurd costume that did not hold up during the making of all those videos.

NL: The fricking Desmond videos. I think I did about 400. And they were all between a minute to two minutes long. I literally dressed as Desmond for like a week straight just talking to my camera.

In my video (a surprise message for my pregnant wife where Desmond suggested “Desmond” for my son’s name) Desmond is basically devoid of teeth.

NL: The teeth literally fell out. No teeth by the time I finished. It was pretty funny. And I still need to get new Desmond teeth if I’m ever going to shoot anything with Desmond again.

What famous fans of yours have caught you off guard?

NL: A lot of people follow me that I was very surprised by. It’s a pretty short list as far as people that I’ve had direct correspondence with though. I did get a really nice note from John Mulaney. He said he was a pretty big fan of all my stuff. I should also mention Tim Heidecker. I did music for the Tim and Eric tour at the beginning of 2020 and I sent him a lot of my stuff. He’s been extremely supportive and I think a lot of the reasons anyone like Chris Hayes or any other famous people follow me. He was an early retweeter of my stuff and very appreciative of all of his help along the way.

Obviously I’m not going to ask you about your finances or your financial relationship with Spirit Halloween. But I will point out your original September 17 tweet has a combined 10,600 retweets and quote tweets. At a rate of $1,000 for 100 retweets, that would be pretty sweet. Without getting into specifics, would you prefer to be negotiating with skeletons all of the time?

NL: Oh yeah. I mean, if those are the terms and they agreed to them, most definitely. I will say, it’s interesting it’s 10,600. It was very intentional trying to get that number as close to 10,000 as possible before “Unleash Your Spirit” dropped. I really wanted it to look like Spirit Halloween paid me in animatronics. Hit the 10,000 mark? They owe me a hundred thousand dollars. And now here I am spending them all on Spirit Halloween animatronics.

The hundred thousand number just repeatedly keeps popping up. We’re even calling ourselves Nick Lutsko and the $100,000 Band for live shows we’re going to do. And that’s of course why I had to do the Morgan & Morgan jingle. That’s my shot at the 100k.

Nick Lutsko the musician and comedian is a polite, thoughtful, normal person. But I also wanted to talk to Nick Lutsko the character, the sweaty madman constantly accused of murder. If that sounds like nonsense because this interview is your introduction to his work, the following questions will sound totally bananas. They’re also the most important.

You were very, very, very briefly president of Halloween. (A title Lutsko gave himself during a surreal hour long special surround by Spirit Animatronics. Which he then relinquished immediately under a cloud of controversy.) Do you think your resignation for a potential first degree murder misunderstanding hurts your Halloween credibility?

NL: Frig. That’s a hard question. I don’t know if I can own up to that. I’m going to say no. I don’t know if I can bring myself to think that. I’m doing this thing for Spirit Halloween where I’m judging a costume contest for them. My one condition was, “You need to refer to me as the former president of Halloween.”

I look back at that time, and I resigned when I was on a lot of drugs and a lot of painkillers. Because my ass had been so badly beaten by Big Pizza. I don’t want to say too much. But I am curious how well that resignation holds up under Halloween Law. Just something to think about.

How are things currently with you and grandma?

NL: :a long pause: I think things with me and grandma are perpetually on the rocks. A lot of tension, especially as long as Mel is in this house. There’s not a lot of productive conversation happening. We’ll leave it at that.

Any comment on the untimely death of Dr. Scripps?

NL: Yes. A tragedy of course. It was her dying wish to give me a clean bill of health. And so I grieve, but I also just find joy in knowing that her wishes were granted and I’m just going to live my life knowing that her vision was fulfilled.

I immediately worry I’m getting too close to some uncomfortable truths. And the last thing I want is to be on the wrong side of a man who wrote a whole song about Donald Trump’s ass and tries to feed enemies to monsters in his basement. It’s probably best to end this conversation with the real, normal Nick.

It’s been a year since you gave the world the “Spirit Halloween Theme Song.” Now the spooky season is here again. What might be next for you and Spirit Halloween?

NL: I wish my baby slept enough last night for me to give you a clever little quip on the fly. I want to be vague about it. People have been DM-ing me on Instagram and I respond with the eye emojis. I’m not going to say anything official.

Unlike his character who never shows any remorse for anything, Lutsko apologizes for his non-answer. But he doesn’t need to. He said more than enough to get people excited for Halloween 2021. Besides, he doesn’t need to say anything at all.

Nick Lutsko fans are always on the lookout for his next release or tweet. And in the meantime, they’ll still be listening to his first two Spirit Halloween songs. I know because I haven’t stopped since the first time I did.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike, and also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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We all know Aquaman loves bringing the pain with his trident and fish friends, but sometimes water people just like to chill. Majestic handpan player and YouTuber Ethereal In E is the embodiment of that sentiment, as is made very clear by his videos. The latest of which features the musician rising from the water like the Marine Marvel and then jamming out like…a counselor from Wet Hot American Summer.

Laughing Squid picked up on Ethereal In E’s new video, which is one of hundreds on his channel. Indeed, Ethereal may be the most experienced handpan player on Earth as far as we can tell. The musician is constantly cranking out solo jam sessions. And the instrument he’s using isn’t all that old. In fact, it’s only been around for about 20 years.

For those unfamiliar (like we were before seeing Ethereal’s videos), the handpan is a steel instrument that has divots of various sizes. Depending on how the divots are slapped, the instrument creates different notes. It’s an ingenious take on the Trinidadian steelpan, consisting of two half-shells glued together at the rim; a design that leaves the inside hollow and capable of amplifying the instrument’s sounds.

Ethereal In E

As for Ethereal’s music itself, it’s simply delightful. As soon as the musician rises from the water, the music begins and it’s almost like a lullaby. The gentle sounds of the handpan are just as soothing as those of the steel drums. Although overall it seems to produce gentler tones. Sort of like the muzak you’d hear walking into a spa.

Feature image: Ethereal In E

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Pink Ladies and T-Birds get stylish updates in Doja Cat’s new take on the classic track. And just like in the movie, her Sandy goes from a sweet young lady to the talk of Rydell. However, this rendition sounds far more like something you’d hear on today’s Top 40 than a beloved musical. As the promo says, “It’s a modern take on a classic.” Which is exactly what it’s promoting. This cover kicked off the campaign for Pepsi’s new limited-edition Soda Shop flavors.

“Working with Pepsi on this remake of ‘You’re the One that I Want’ has been surreal,” said Doja Cat in a statement. “It’s such an iconic song and brand, so to have the creative license to put my own spin on it for the launch of Pepsi-Cola Soda Shop was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; I had to be a part of it.”

PepsiCo

The song is what Grease and music fans will care about. But soda drinkers will be on the lookout for Pepsi’s new Soda Shop flavors. The company’s Black Cherry Cola and Cream Soda Cola are both made with real sugar.

The Black Cherry features a “deep rich all natural black cherry flavor enhanced with hints of herbal notes.” The Cream Soda has a “classic smooth cream soda flavor, with fresh vanilla notes and a touch of Agave for complexity.” Each sounds like something Rizzo would enjoy at an ice cream shop.

PepsiCo

You can listen to the song as much as you want, ooh, ooh, ooh, honey. But you’ll have to wait until September 20 to try the sodas. That’s when the new seasonal colas will first arrive in stores. That’s nothing compared to how long Sandy waited to make herself the talk of Rydell.

The post Doja Cat Goes to Rydell High in GREASE-inspired Pepsi Ad appeared first on Nerdist.

Are you ready to give jazz hands a whole new meaning? Now you can create art whenever you type with the JazzKeys word processor. This musical word processor by Plan8, which we first saw on Boing Boing, will transform the way you think about your words. All your typing can be musical typing from here on out.

How does it work? Well, it’s straightforward. Each key on your keyboard has been assigned a different piano note. Then, when you type, the software behind the site brings these sounds together into an improvisational jazzy melody. And just like that… Your very own music. As you type, you compose and thus end up with an original melody. And it’s definitely your own unique sound because who else will be typing exactly what’s in your head?

JazzKeys

The website shares, “We always wanted to sculpt our messages using music. Now you can too. Created with love by Plan8. Graphic design by John Soat, maker of Non.” It’s truly a beautiful way of thinking about music and words.

If you’re not ready to commit to typing yet, here’s a taste of what you can expect.

This video by Full Color Sound Records brings JazzKeys to life. Of course, the YouTuber adds some extra flourishes, but you can hear the notes of the words at the forefront. It’s really as easy as that.

In fact, in a meta twist, you can hear what some of this article sounds like. This is Nerdist‘s original composition about a musical word processor by a musical processor. It’s Inception’s little-known sequel. Just think about what else you can bring to life. Love letters? Grocery lists? Your next homework assignment or work presentation? It will definitely make them sound good if nothing else. We also wonder what some of our favorite poems and novels would sound like if run through this.

The musical sky is the limit with musical typing.

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