Hello internet peoples! It is the beginning of a new era for frontalot.com. Do you dig the post-robotech color skew? Do you love the pathetically "Web 1.0" fixed-width column design? And hows about them bran spanky new site features?

There's an mp3 page. There has always been one of those, but this one's neater. Featured under Singles is the brand new release, Goth Girls, from the CD Nerdcore Rising. And as the Valued Suckers (aka members of Front's bizarre and cultish paid-entry fanclub; beware them or become them) decide which songs are their favorites, you are slowly able to sort the mp3s (and most other site content) by popularity. Because popularity is important. That's why we're all so keenly aware of how indie we are. And of which jerkoffs called us "nerd" across the courtyard in 7th grade. Well who's laughing now, Jed Guildersleve? Who has an entire rap career based on that very epithet? Not you! Also, there are some OGGs on the music page, by popular (popular!) demand. And more to come.

There's a video page these days. There's a new version of the image galleries, and now you can actually see pictures of MC Frontalot there. We use the italics to drive home the incredible irony of the fact that this feature is premiering in year seven of the site. And we don't mean Canadian chanteuse irony. Good solid American irony. The info page remains a doofy clearing house for overwritten site copy that does not belong elsewhere. Plenty of new minor details there. Like a faq question or two. And a calendar.

The Open Source Beats Project is launched at long long last. Front has been promising this for the last four years to all DJs who write in requesting a capella tracks. And now, without warning, it happens. For launch we have not got automated DJ registration, fancy uploading, or very many source kits. A distant Phase III or IV of the project will include version branching and source control so that DJs can actually work together on remixes. Patent pending.

The BBS (once a VSP hideout) has opened to the public. Front is still busy skinning it, so if you find a broken-looking page, have patience. If you find real errors there or anywhere in the site, though, do please write in with a bug report.

If you like your nerdcore in text form, check out the new lyrics archive or the dorknotes section.

This is the site Front always wanted to offer you internet peoples, and now after many months of toil, voila. Front owes a great deal to his all-volunteer, all-genius dev squad, without whom you would still be staring at the 2002 green box version of the site. So big ups to: Colin, Blob, OrionsGlory, Squashua, Opiate, and Yuki! Front owes you guys big.

Isn't there other exciting shit going on this week? Oh, yeah: Front's in the print versions of Wired and TimeOut, and rocks his second-ever quadruple-digit crowd at PAX on Saturday night. Yaaaawn. New website!!

frontalot.com version four point zero! Goodbye green old version 2.1 [RIP 2002-2006]. How, you ask, did you miss version three? It got scrapped halfway through production and its central design element was inherited by the VSP for their special fun page. Does anyone remember V.1.0? It looked like this.

So anyhows, onward and upward. This news post is welcoming the beta squad. There will be more news when the site opens to the public in a few days.

Big chance to see a little bit of Frontalot in Brooklyn this weekend:

The Blak Lotus Lifetime Supply Variety Show
Starring Nelson Lugo, the Charming Trickster, & MC Frontalot. Featuring a reading of the Cantina scenes in Star Wars.

8 PM Saturday August 12th, Impact Theater
190 Underhill Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238
between Sterling Pl and St. John's Pl
Subway stops: Grand Army Plaza (2 or 3 train) or 7th Ave. (Q train)

FREE! Food and Drink available for Purchase at the show. Front will do 15 minutes of rapping and will probably be playing Obi Wan in the Cantina scene. Stop by!

Also new: interview at The Game Rag.

You're all busy getting packed for PAX, sure. But don't forget to call your airline and move your ticket around so you can see the most densely populated nerdcore bill to date.