Jed Henry Illustrations on Tumblr has created an ode to old skool games with woodblock styled Link, Samus, and MegaMan. According to his Q&A on Tumblr, he will be continuing the series with a Mario stating, “Next week I’m doing a Mario Kart piece:  Mario vs Bowser!  You’re gonna love it.”

He also makes mention of an upcoming Kickstarter campaign, which will allow this art be available to the people. Awesome sauce!

Written by Julie Israel

Dear Johnny Headband,

You had me from “cookies for breakfast”.

Love,
Julie

Hold on to your headbands, guys – the electro-pop band whose influences include cookies for breakfast, high school bandcamp, hot button topics, the 20th century and toothpaste has released a new album.

Hailing from Detroit, Johnny Headband is the three-man culmination of brother duo Chad and Keith Thompson and drummer RGS. Their sound? An unparalleled rodeo of electro-funk complete with synthesizers, dream guitar, and vocals as sonorous as the percussion is limb-popping. And considering that the Thompson brothers were involved in production even as teenagers (alright, low-budget short films made with camcorders and household, closet-raided props) and went on to graduate with degrees in media production, it comes as little surprise that house-made video – “And Then Again,” for example – is a quirky, color-blasted montage that suits the music perfectly.

Who Cooks For You, Johnny Headband’s third and most recent album, was informed largely by a camping trip in northern woods of Michigan and the folksy, raw acoustics of the cabin they stayed in. With this sound added to the band’s many other layers – swirls of space, summer, thunderous, rolling, and even moon-walking drums and accents like whistles, harp, and beatbox blasts – the music touches notes of everything from Beck, Passion Pit, and The Knife to LCD Soundsystem, Foster The People, and Miike Snow.

Listeners will dance from the very first track. “Over There” brings the clapping, bass-raving summer to your room; the jangling percussion of “And Then Again” recalls city street troupes gone mad with cowbell, triangle, and every other musical surface they might put a pair of drumsticks to; “Hot Button Topic” (the one that mentions “cookies for breakfast”) is a cheeky delight with as much pop in its lyrics as in its music. Every track of this nine-piece album surprises and thrills.

If you’re up in the UK, this is your chance! Johnny Headband is on tour and hitting areas all across Britain from tomorrow until early June. Check out their album on Bandcamp.

“Hey, you got indie in my country!” “Yeah, well you got country in my indie!” In case The Chorderoys ever wanted to use this as part of their advertising (doubtful), it would be pretty fitting. The Chorderoys are one of those bands that mix characteristics of various genres so smoothly that it’s hard to fit them under any one label. Their new EP, No Man’s Land, does a great job of showing off their unique style, and has a lot of variety even across its four songs.

No Man’s Land charges out of the gate with opener “The Train,” and demonstrates the band’s genre-blending right from the start. The song’s galloping riff and echoing guitar melody could’ve come straight out of any 60’s western movie, yet the song’s soaring chorus is more Lollapalooza than Bonanza. The more laid-back “Docile Girl” has more of a country sound overall, but without the twang usually associated with the genre. The vocals here fit perfectly with the music, but one gets the sense that they’d be just as at home over a soft acoustic guitar. “High Horse” picks things back up with a driving guitar riff that transitions into a cool syncopated bridge. Closing out the album is “No Prayin Man,” a rocking blues stomp with a pounding rhythm section and a howling overdriven guitar.

At four songs, No Man’s Land is a pretty short listen, but it’s definitely a case of quality over quantity. The songs are tight, the production is top-notch, and the band sounds completely confident in their music.

I know that for a lot of people, (this reviewer included) their default description of their musical taste is “pretty much anything…except country.” Even so, those people can still find a lot to like here, and it may even open some new musical doors.

Geek duo Debs & Errol write music for geeks. Listening to their music makes me feel as though I am riding on a unicorn while eating delicious cupcakes. I mean this in the best way possible, in case there are certain people who don’t enjoy unicorns and/or cupcakes[1]. I was first drawn in by their Geek Love Song, which ranges from Romulan love sentiments to saying, “I love you” in binary.

Did I mention the lolcats reference?

Their new album, Songs in the Key of Geek, feels like an homage to a lifestyle they fit nicely into rather than being just another band trying to capitalize on the geek chic fad. With songs like “I Wish Totoro Was My Neighbor” or “Cuz He’s a Geek Guy,” this album could easily move from album to stage production in Avenue Q style.

Anyway, not that you really need them, but here are 5 other reasons why you should listen to Debs and Errol.

1. They are talented geeks.
2. They have a song about narwhals.
3. They do a cover of Double Rainbow.
4. Their Youtube channel has game reviews, awesome parodies (including a parody of Lady Gaga’s Edge of Glory, “First Page of My Story”…think NaNoWriMo), as well as other vlogs. Go be entertained.
5. THEY HAVE A SONG ABOUT NARWHALS.

Check out their website here to listen their music, read their comic style blog, and join their mailing list. You can also check out their weekly podcast, “Errol and the Bald Guy[2]”, on iTunes, which is also conveniently listed on their website.

[1] I question the existence of said people.

[2] Debs is not synonymous with Bald Guy.

Follow Debs & Errol on Twitter and Facebook.

Avengers Post-it templates. Choose from Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, or Nick Fury.

You can take your time-wasting to the next level by creating your own Post-it heroes and posting them to the @Avengers Twitter and Avengers Facebook pages. Try not to get caught stealing from the office supply cabinet.

I’m definitely going to be getting crafty now.

They’re real charmers, these devyls…The Devyl Nellys, that is.

Headed by singer/songwriter Nelly Levon, the folk rock project of an extended twelve members was founded in 2010. The eclectic musical talents came together after meeting in a series of crossing paths, particularly in New York and the Catskills while supporting other artists like Government Mule and The Violent Femmes.

Between initial traveling gigs, studio sessions at Retrophonics, and experimental play in the loft and garage studios of Levon and guitarist James Mastro, The Devyl Nellys have sifted through musical influences as diverse as their members – everything from Pink Floyd, The Allmans, and Chuck Barry to Joao Gilberto, Talking Heads, and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers – and developed a distinctive genre.

Charm Land, the band’s debut LP, gives us a glimpse of that result: a vintage, sixties to seventies bohemian rock. Seven tracks, the album is in turns easy-going, hip-swinging, and seductive. “Never Last,” with its drums, cowbell, and cheeky electric guitar is the perfect amount of coy while “Hush,” with its wistful narrative and classic backups, reminds one of a doo-wop-she-bop musical like Grease or Hairspray. “Attracted” even borders on James Bond with its mysterious electric riffs and smoky vocals.

The Devyl Nellys have had songs featured in both television (“Cities of the Underworld”) and film (“Dealing With Destiny”) and it is easy to anticipate more where that came from. In the meantime, an east-side tour of the US is set to start this May and will take the band everywhere from Florida, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania to Georgia, New York, and New Jersey. Shows in Texas are also scheduled for October.

Check it out and if you haven’t been formally introduced to Conduits, read their review here.

You might be asking yourself, what is a Nerdfighter? World suck, I hope, is pretty self-explanatory. Nerdfighters is a group created by John and Hank Green, who originally gained notice through their Youtube channel, Vlogbrothers. They went a year without text correspondence, their vlog being their main source of communication. Anyway, John Green is an author and Hank Green is a musician/total renaissance nerd. They still post videos every week on their channel, just not everyday. I imagine that would get pretty time consuming.

Back to the Nerdfighters. The Nerdfighters do many awesome things to decrease “world suck”. With the help of this community, many charities have been donated to and many other charitable projects have been funded. The community is a very welcoming bunch of nerds who enjoy reading, watching Doctor Who, or other nerdy pursuits. In fact, if you have nothing to do for the next 3 to 4 minutes, I suggest going to check out one of the Vlogbrother videos. Even if you have something to do, this is probably cooler. Don’t worry about the lack of understanding of certain phrases such as, “French the llama!” or “Best wishes”, those will be explained in due course.

Check out their latest video below.  Happy Youtubing, and DFTBA (Don’t Forget To Be Awesome).

Russell Simmons’ Global Grind reported the news on their website. ”GlobalGrind has confirmed this very sad news. One of our heroes, Adam Yauch aka MCA of the Beastie Boys, passed away this morning after a long bout with cancer.”

In 2009, he was treated for a cancerous parotid gland and lymph node and underwent surgery and radiation. He was 47 years old and is survived by his wife and daughter.

Thank you for your contribution to music, sir!