JoCo Looks Back CD

If you don't already know Jonathan Coulton's music, you're missing something fun! I was first introduced to his song "Code Monkey" by a friend, and that jogged my memory -- I remembered reading in the NY Times online about this singer who put a new song up every week for a year, allowing people to listen, download, and (most fun of all) make their own videos or artwork. My friend also showed me a YouTube video that someone made of his "Skullcrusher Mountain" song using footage from the sci-fi show Firefly.

Needless to say, I was hooked.

About six months ago, Jonathan Coulton, or JoCo to his fans, came to Houston and we went to go see him. I decided to get a CD and listen up ahead of time so I would enjoy the concert that much more. I chose the CD "JoCo Looks Back" because it seemed to have the best of the many songs he produced during his "Thing a Week" project.

What does this have to do with stocking stuffers? If you have a sci-fi geek or computer geek in your life who doesn't already know Jonathan Coulton, he or she will LOVE you if you get them this CD. The songs include (but are not limited to):

• Code Monkey (about the life of a computer programmer in the cubicle fields)
  
• I Feel Fantastic (hinting that we may overmedicate ourselves at times....)
  
• Mandelbrot Set (about the fractal and the mathematician who discovered it)
  
• Tom Cruise Crazy (making a LOT of fun of you-know-who)
  
• Chiron Beta Prime (a funny Christmas "card" from a family sentenced to a mining asteroid run by robots)
  
• I'm Your Moon (Charon singing a song to poor no-longer-a-planet Pluto)
  
• Skullcrusher Mountain (a mad scientist/supervillain sings to the girl he's captured trying to woo)
  
• I Crush Everything (a sad sea monster laments the fact that he accidentally crushes the pretty boats he loves so much)
  
• You Ruined Everything (a love song to his newborn baby)
  
• Re: Your Brains (an office memo from a zombie to a former co-worker)
  
• The Future Soon (a geek looks forward to the future in which he'll take over the world)
  
• The First of May (warning! this song is very adult in nature -- about something we might want to do outdoors instead of indoors at the beginning of spring....)

Anyhow, my absolute favorites are Code Monkey, Skullcrusher Mountain, Chiron Beta Prime, and Re: Your Brains. (And I love the "code monkey dance" video -- you can find it on YouTube.)

What: JoCo Looks Back CD
Where: CDBaby.com or Amazon
How much (as of today's post): $13.99-$15.00 (plus shipping)