Our 13 Favorite Geeky Songs of 2013
You know what's great about the end of the year? "Best of" lists.
Do you want to listen to a bunch of Star Wars and Star Trek covers, chiptunes and a capella video game themes? If you answered no, we’re not quite sure how you wound up on Geekosystem. Are you lost? For the rest of you, we collected our picks for the 13 best geek songs of 2013 and brought them all here for one epic playlist.
You can even go nuts and try to listen to them all at the same time! (For best results, do not try to listen to them all at the same time.) Happy new year!
#1. Baby It’s Cold Outside (Hoth Version) by Kirby Krackle feat. The Doubleclicks
How do you make the song “Baby It’s Cold Outside” hilarious instead of gross? You make it about Leia trying to convince Han not to go out after Luke on Hoth. Hey, we said this made it not gross. We didn’t say it wasn’t a little bit creepy and kind of selfish of Leia.
#2. “New Periodic Table Song” by AsapSCIENCE
Tom Lehrer’s original periodic table song, “The Elements,” was literally just him singing the names of all of the elements, and it was amazing. By now, though, new elements have been named, and AsapSCIENCE’s updated take on the song gets in all of the elements on the modern periodic table as well as bests Lehrer’s version by singing them all in order.
(It also reminds us of Yakko Warner’s “Nations of the World” from Animaniacs, which is a little outdated as well, but still great.)
#3. “Gummi Bears” by The Human Tim
If you grew up in the `90s, you should recognize this one. The Human Tim is a one-man-band who has great covers of a lot of geeky tunes, but we had to pick his cover of the theme from Disney’s Gummi Bears for our own nostalgia (and because it’s amazing). Check out his other covers on his YouTube channel, including an incredible rocking version of the theme from Bill Nye The Science Guy.
#4. “Breaking Bad Theme” by Andrew Huang
YouTube musician Andrew Huang accepted a challenge from another user to recreate the theme from Breaking Bad using equipment you’d find in a meth lab, and the results wound up really amazing. Sure, there’s a guitar in there, but he plays it with some of the chemistry equipment, so it’s all fair in our eyes.
#5. “Let it Snow” by James Covenant
The sheer amount of material for this one to draw on gives it a leg up on other videos that cut random characters together to sing a song. We also love anything with Sir Patrick Stewart in it, and the use of Picard’s signature line together with the song is pretty great. Now that you’ve seen it, you’ll probably be listening to this for the rest of the holiday season. You’re welcome.
#6 & 7. Signature Strike Original Soundtrack by ap0c & > by >
Six and seven are a combo not only in being grouped together on this list, but each of them is a full chiptune album that you can listen to completely free just by hitting the play button below. Sit back, relax, and prepare for some original 8-bit songs. (The second album, >, was actually recorded on two modded GameBoys.)
#8. “Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – Overworld Theme” by Smooth McGroove
Smooth McGroove has a ton of a capella video game themes, but we’ve selected this one specifically because it’s not only one of his more recent releases, but it’s one of the most recognizable songs in gaming. Head over to his YouTube channel for more one-man video game singing nostalgia.
#9. “Angry Birds Main Theme” by Critical Hit
A World of Warcraft composer started his own video game music cover band, and if the name “Critical Hit” didn’t already convince you it’s great, just wait until you hear what they did with the theme to Angry Birds. It’s currently the greatest thing about Angry Birds.
#10. “Make Good Choices” by Sean Nelson
“Make Good Choices” in itself isn’t exactly a geeky song, but if you’ve heard the way Sean Nelson (of the band Harvey Danger) writes his lyrics and the range of vocabulary he manages to fit into songs, you’ll understand why we love him so much and think everyone should listen to his new solo album. The paper animated video is also pretty great.
#11. “Curtsey for Me” by Mr. B the Gentleman Rhymer
Mr. B the Gentleman Rhymer takes his unique “Chap Hop” genre very seriously. At first, you might think he’s just a parody of rap and hip hop, but he actually appreciates those genres very much and wants to elevate them above the violence and vulgarity they’re often known for by adding a little bit of of old-timey class.
#12. “Life is Bloody” by Nas/ 2 Mello‘ from Nastlevania
Video game music, gangster rap, and vampires? That sounds like pretty much the greatest thing ever, and this mashup album of Nas and Castlevania that 2 Mello put out five months ago can certainly attest to that fact. Check out one of the singles below, “Made you Wicked:”
#13. “Bohemian Rhapsody: Star Wars Edition” by University of Advancing Technology
This list certainly wasn’t arranged in order of quality, but we had to save the best for last. The excellent lyrics and hilarious visuals contained in the Star Wars edition of Bohemian Rhapsody are the greatest in music entertainment that we saw all year.
(cover image via James Covenant on YouTube)
- Here’s our interview with Mr. B the Gentleman Rhymer
- If you liked the chiptunes, read some more about ap0c’s album
- And >’s album, which was recorded on modded GameBoys
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