While there are artists have worked to blur the concept of what “nerdcore” means, most people would still tell you that it refers to someone rapping about Dungeons and Dragons. In most cases, I would plead for people take a more complex look at the genre, showing them a wide range of artists with different styles. However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t artists who almost exclusively rap about video games and comic books, and it doesn’t mean they don’t have value. There are a wide variety of nerds, and I’m not going to deny anybody their right to rap about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as long as it’s not Vanilla Ice. For me, it’s just a matter of how well it’s done, and Ghosts of Nostalgia is some good hardcore nerdcore.

For this album, Saskatchewan artist Selfhelp has reinvented himself as The Garthim-Master (a Dark Crystal reference for those that don’t know) and enlisted the help of German artist DJ Extend. Together they’ve put together a collection of songs aimed squarely at those nerds who grew up in the ‘80s. Although, as soon as I type this out, I realize that the second song on the album is about the TV show “Heroes,” which aired just a few years ago. That said, the rest of the album cover topics like role playing games, Star Wars, The Dark Crystal, Dune, The Watchmen, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Gremlins, World of Warcraft, Back to the Future, and action figures. Occasionally the lyrics get outside the text, namely with “Action Figures,” but the majority of the album stays within the chosen universe of each song. This isn’t necessarily good or bad, it mostly just means that the audience is going to be limited to those already invested in these subjects. I’m not going to try to convince you that a song about Dune is awesome if you haven’t seen the movie or read the book, because you’re not going to catch all of the references. On the flip side, I think there is potential here to expand on some of the subject matter. Instead of flipping through subject matter like a nerd’s greatest hits, I think focusing on a few topics and exploring them further over the course of a few songs and connecting them to larger themes would give the album greater impact. That said, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have fun with some of these songs, and I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I’m not a nerd myself.

Where this album really succeeds is the music, and I have to tip my hat to DJ Extend. Stylistically, it’s incredibly interesting and complex, weaving it’s way through several different genres and blending them together seamlessly. The opening track, “We Need the Garthim-Master,” mixes a slow, melancholy cello line with turntable scratching and incredibly busy and funky drums, creating a foreboding atmosphere entering the album. The Garthim-Master switches up between a gentle whisper-singing style and a more direct delivery when rapping, which works well within the musical platform that has been laid out. Extend works in classical and jazz elements alongside indie, folk, and post rock, all while working from a hip hop and soul musical base. This might sound a bit convoluted, but Extend pieces everything together without anything sounding too busy or forced. My personal favorite song is “Action Figures,” which works on a shuffle that gives a doo-wop feel to the track, and works in subtle use of piano, horns, and strings, while the Garthim-Master rhymes about what collecting figurines meant to him.

Ghosts of Nostalgia isn’t for everybody, but I think the intended audience will be quite pleased with it. The Garthim-Master has fun going through material that nerds in the their late twenties or thirties will be more than happy to listen to. Enlisting the help of DJ Extend really paid off for this project. He really worked well with the Garthim-Master to create a very interesting musical experience. If nerdcore is your bag, this album will be right in your wheelhouse.