www.LukeSki.com
the Official Website of "the great Luke Ski" and GNOME Productions
Reviews
I would
like to encourage all of you who already have my albums to go to my page at
CD Street and post your own reviews. You
can either post a review of a specific album, or just post a general review of
my entire body of work, if you are so inclined to. Just go to my CDstreet.com
page and look for the correct page for each type of review. I'll
eventually make sure those reviews make their way onto this page. Thanks!
"[The Great
Luke Ski] has been a radical Dr. Demento fan for years, and also a big-time
hip-hop fan who's now become an ace rapper himself... Naturally, he leads off
with a rap about comedians "Funny Man" before going into his popular
spoof of TV's Pinky and the Brain, "Insane And The Brain". On these 2
CDs ["Fanboys 'n da Hood" & "Shadows of the Bunghole"]
(sold as a set) "the great Luke Ski" deconstructs numerous icons of
American pop culture including Star Trek, The Simpsons, MST3K, and, dare I say,
The Dr. Demento Show. Hip-hop dominates, but rock, folk, and the Macarena are
also grist for Luke's mill. He's not afraid to take chances and get far out...
All in all, open minded Dementites (is there any other kind?) should have a ball
with these CDs."
~ Dr. Demento, 1997, Society Newsletter #113, www.drdemento.com
"There's a very different sort of musical recycling on this new disc
("Carpe Dementia") by one of our most requested younger artists. Most
of the tracks are parodies, mating familiar rock and hip-hop music to lyrics
inspired by Star Trek, Star Wars, The Simpsons, Space Ghost, King Of The Hill,
The Rocky Horror Picture Show, "Weird Al" Yankovic (on a hidden
track), pro wrestling and other pop culture phenomena. Samples from original
soundtracks are used liberally and often cleverly, framed with funny raps which
Luke delivers with skill and flair. He also does a stand-up parody of Jeff
Foxworthy ("You Might Be A Trekkie")."
~ Dr. Demento, 1999, Society Newsletter #119, www.drdemento.com
NEW! Added 10-15-2003
"The Great Luke Ski, Throwing Toasters, and Tony Goldmark are all people whose first attempts were all but unlistenable, but who kept at it and are now producing some of today's finest funny music."
...AND... "The Great Luke Ski, whose comedy raps "Peter Parker" [from the album
"Uber Geek"] and "Stealing Like A Hobbit" [from the album "Worst Album
Ever"] have been among our most requested songs of the 21st Century. His live act is really something to see with lots of costumes and special effects."
~ Dr. Demento, 2003, Society Newsletter #130, www.drdemento.com
"I guess you've
made it when they parody you. Except, I'm still poor and fairly unknown."
~ Jill Sobule, "I Kissed A Girl", www.jillsobule.com
"Most excellent
funny noise is being made by The Great Luke Ski. Tom particularly laughed his
ass off at "You Might Be A Trekkie" and "It's A Fanboy
Christmas"."
~ from Tom Smith's website, www.tomsmithonline.com
“A Fanboys paradise. – The first time I ever saw or heard anything by ‘the great Luke Ski’ was exactly four years ago as of this writing, at Alcon '98, the first ever "Weird Al" Yankovic convention at which we were both featured performers. The first song he performed in his set was "Insane and the Brain," a hip-hop jam about Pinky & the Brain. I was blown away; up until that point I truly thought that I was the only person in the world who knew that much pointless P&tB trivia. Later in the set, he set the entire Star Wars trilogy to the music of Bob Dylan with equally hilarious results. Though I had been an avid Weird Al fan for years, it was Luke Ski who introduced me to a different kind of parody sub-genre, a genre wherein the subject matter was more obscure than, say, "Eat It" but if you were familiar with the matter at hand it was all the more rewarding, because it gave you a sense that all those hours spent (wasted, as many would say) in front of the boob tube were in some small yet important way worth it, because you GOT THE JOKE and nobody else did. Uber Geek is in almost every way bigger and better than Luke's previous albums. It is, in fact, a concept album about Luke and the world around him, with varying degrees of proximity to the rest of humanity; it is for that reason that Luke Ski is the only person in the world who could possibly "get" 100% of the jokes. And he admits this right off the bat in the first track on the album, via the Dr. Demento Show's own Whimsical Will: "Luke Ski is his own target audience...he is not responsible for your inability to keep up with pop culture" Most of the songs (of which there are fifteen) cover just that: extraordinarily popular Television shows and films. Some of these are current, such as Futurama, Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Spiderman, while some might require a bit (but only a bit) of memory taxing, such as the Muppets, Married with Children and the "Bill & Ted" movies. The range of the songs parodied is quite interesting as well. While parodies of Billy Joel, Willie Nelson and the Soggy Bottom Boys manage to appear, the most prominent genre is definitely hip-hop, and the rap songs parodied range from current hits by Eminem, Kid Rock and the Baha Men to less mainstream old-school jams by Run-DMC, Public Enemy and the Fat Boys. It's interesting to note that unlike most comedy artists, who when writing parodies of specific rap songs take many liberties with the structure of the originals (possibly under the antiquated notion that if you've heard one rap you've heard 'em all), Luke always stays true to the original rhyme schemes, even those as complex as Eminem's. The songs are nicely peppered throughout the album with nine intricately arranged sketch tracks. Some of these are sure to zoom over most people's heads; Grant Baciocco's cameo track, for example, is a complete non-sequitor unless you are familiar with the "gimmick" of Grant's band Throwing Toasters, that of him being the only band member who shows up to the gigs. Likewise, the track about Luke's default voice is funniest to those who know Luke personally, and know about his ability and tendency to break into vocal imitations of Gilbert, Brak, etc. Lest you mistakenly think this album is only a good buy if you are familiar with Luke's world, it should be noted that even though the album contains a lot of inside jokes, they are DAMN FUNNY inside jokes which will make you chuckle at their very absurdity even if you don't "get it." You know how much of the material of Monty Python is extremely British, yet it crossed over so well to American audiences? It's kind of the same thing here. Even if you are familiar with neither Art Paul Schlosser nor the final track of ICP's "Bizaar" album, the final track on Uber Geek will still have you cracking up over its oddness. Perhaps the most "over the plate" song on the album is his Kid Rock parody "Fanboy." While few will understand ALL of the references, anyone and everyone who has ever been called a nerd, geek, dweeb or dork will agree and identify with this geek anthem's central message, which is also the central message of the entire album: it's COOL to be a geek. Some people may not think so, but we don't need them to tell us what to focus our attention on, for we are strong, and we are many, and dammit we are PROUD of our nerdy heritage. Hey, just for giggles, count up all the references in the song that you personally get; you may be surprised by just how much of a dweeb you really are. In the end, you don't have to be an Uber Geek to thoroughly enjoy this album, although it does help. As for me? I cowrote and share vocals with Luke on "The Sign of A True D-Fan," an ode to the Dr. Demento Show and its hardcore fans in our business. Even I don't understand every pop culture reference on this album, but as the opening track says, "Any jokes you don't get are entirely your own fault.”
~ Tony Goldmark, http://www.dqydj.com/tony/homepage.htm
“I thought it
was… really strange…
exotic… making fun of
celebrities… really cool…
your songs… sound like
Weird Al…”
~ Art Paul
Schlosser, http://www.heartwarmers4u.com/members/?artpaul
"The first
thing that attracted me to Luke Ski was the fact that he had a song called
"88 Lines About 44 Simpsons." Now I don't know if you're into New Wave
or not, and if you are I know that there are several good recovery programs
available, but thanks to V-91's New Wave at 3:00, I know that this was
originally a New Wave song called "88 Lines about 44 Women." So I
begged Luke for a copy of his CD for awhile, and eventually both of his CD's
were sent to me. Lo and behold, there were songs about Star Trek, Mystery
Science Theatre 3000, Dr. Demento, Star Wars, Nintendo 64, Beavis and Butthead,
The Animaniacs, and more Star Trek. Now I've always considered myself a nerd,
but Luke Ski and company take the term "geek" to new astounding
levels. In fact, I've dubbed Luke Ski the "Uber Geek". I challenge
anyone reading this to prove that they are geekier than the people who comprise
"Luke Ski's Psycho Potpourri". How are the albums? Well, the one word
answer would have to be "funny", but that's not really all that
illuminating, now is it? Many songs such as "Insane and the Brain" and
"What's up Spock?" are instant classics, with clever lyrics and
thoughtful construction. Others are amusing for the sheer sinful pleasure of
geeky indulgence. One of my favorite tracks, "Mystery Science Theatre
Picture Show" fits into this category. Little more than new lyrics being
sung over the title track to "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", it is
nevertheless chocked full of references that will make any MST3K insider snort
with delight. There is one thing about the albums I found particularly
surprising. After listening to them a couple of times I came to realize that
Luke Ski is a REALLY good rapper. He does on the spot parodies of Will Smith,
Humpty and others, but has a good deal of talent in his own right. By the way,
Luke Ski performed at the very first ever "Weird Al" Yankovic
convention, AlCon. I can only bet the crowd was more than pleased with Luke
Ski."
~ Roy Janik, host of “Nummy Muffin Cocoa Butter”, http://www.nummymuffincocoabutter.com
“After a busy 3 years, the great Luke Ski has now released his long-time awaited 4th CD entitled "Uber Geek." The overall theme of the album is "I am a geek and I'm not alone!" And he's right; he's not alone - geeks are everywhere and are damn proud of it! Not only does the album serve as a geek reference guide, it also has the feel of a concept album with the interjection tracks throughout the CD with cameos by Whimsical Will, Chris Mezzolesta of Power Salad, Grant Baciocco of Throwing Toasters, and Art Paul Schlosser. Let me break it down track-by-track: "My Name Is Al Bundy" - Great tune out of left field.... What is Ed O'Neil doing now anyway? "Fanboy" - The New Anthem of the Fanboy and Fangirls of the world! Every aspect of fandom gets a plug in the song (even Moxy Früvous - I suggested that one and introduced Luke to Früvous) "Use The Force" - There have been few gangster rap parodies done, but Luke's writing is superior and the voices Luke does in the background of the track are outstanding! "In The Line Again" - Great track to put after "Use The Force" (the movie's through, What to do, line up for Episode 2) - As a person who waited in line for Episode 1, I appreciate this song! "Frat Boys" - Great parody collaboration with Sudden Death, a bit long, but still a good tune. "Peter Parker" - The best rap song on the album! Outstanding writing & performance! Luke & Devo Spice take it to the grill superbly! "Bender Roboto" - Great Tune, Great Bender voice from Luke, great costume when he performs it! "Theme From Ash" - There are Pokemon fanboys out there, so they are now appeased! "Wannabe A Slayer" - Collaborative writing of Luke and his wonderful wife Stephanie - great writing here and great performance by "Chemele" - whoever she is... "I Am A Vamp Of Constant Sorrow" - Another Luke & Stephanie collaboration - Excellent choice of music and writing - Very fitting for a vampire who's lived for several hundreds of years. "Who Let The Frog Out" - There have been several parodies of "Who Let The Dogs Out", but this one is the only worthy one - great writing of the entire song! "Keanu Man" - You need to be a Fanboy to be a hardcore Keanu Fan (or anti-fan) to make this song, but it is well done! "C'mon Ride The Bus" - Someone needed to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of "Another One Rides The Bus" and Luke does a great tribute to the momentous event in dementia history. "Sign of a True D-Fan" - Luke and Tony Goldmark have made the anthem of Demented Music Fandom! All dementia fans will get most of the references - some are obscure (like Eyeball Hats), but use it as a outline to figure out if you are a True D-Fan. "It's A Fanboy Christmas" - The 9 minute 53 second ultimate Fandom song! This is by far the best CD Luke has done in his career as one of the leading rap dementia artists! Superior writing, Superior Performance, Superior Fanboy!
~ Keith Rose aka Keeter Man, Dementia Music Connoisseur,
Host of "Insanity on the Airwaves" http://www.subtrivial.com/keeterman/index.html
NEW! Added 10-15-2003
"Luke's At It Again, But Quicker to the Punch! After the success of "Uber Geek" and a burning desire to not wait another 4 years to release another CD (or even until January 2004), the great Luke Ski went back to work early to produce his 5th album, entitled "Worst Album Ever." Luke has expanded his horizons here by making some original material and a set of collaborative songs from a group of artists ranging from Dr. Demento regulars (Sudden Death, Power Salad, Hot Waffles), to filkers who lurk at the sci-fi conventions (Ookla the Mok, Tom Smith), to a Minneapolis/Saint Paul filk band (The Nick Atoms) to provide a variety previously not heard on any of Luke's albums. Here's your play-by-play breakdown: Jon Archer: Great writing with some good one-liners ("You might call it a 'Quantum Leap'). As always, Luke provides a detailed and accurate portrayal of Jon Archer and Enterprise.
Because I'm Jedi: There have been a lot of "Because I Got High" parodies done in recent years - most of them are bland, but Luke's superior writing, personality, and comical mind (much like his work on "Who Let The Frogs Out") does an outstanding job. Stealing Like A Hobbit: "Lord of the Rings" has spawned many songs since the trilogy was brought to the big screen. This is the cream of the demented crop & quite possibly Luke's best parody to date. Luke has once again raised the bar in his work. House Party at Arkham Asylum: The first of a group of originals by Luke. This is also collaboration with his brother JT providing the background music, which is most outstanding (as are some of his earlier work with Luke). Luke paints a good picture of Arkham and he would fit in with all the crazy villains. Ballad of Optimus Prime: The first of 2 songs with "The Nick Atoms" (an outstanding filk band from MSP), this makes the first full band recording with Luke to be officially released on an album. This was a total success. Hopefully we'll get more full band stuff from Luke in the future. A great filk tune and outstanding performance. FILK ON! Fangirls, Shake That Booty!: Collaboration with Hot Waffles of the West Coast Dementia Consortium. This is how cons should be (well some of those references are true (or partially as the case may be)). This needs to be played at ALL con dances!!!! Pirate Song: Good collaboration with Tony Goldmark, which also appeared on Tony's album "Masterpiece Weirder." A good track, but this is second seat to their collaboration on "Sign of a True D-Fan" recorded in the same session. Cthulu Fthagn: Luke with the World's Fastest Filker Tom Smith. This is a highly amusing track well done by both. Another fine example of filk that will hopefully get Luke some recognition in filk circles. Play That Filky Music, Fanboy: An outstanding track by Power Salad front man Chris Mezzolesta with clips of "You Might Be A Trekkie" spliced in. Excellent work by Chris and even better when performed live ala Dementia 2001 (Oh, gee, you think that's a little bias.....) Mr. Worf/Gowron Said Knock You Out: Luke is teamed up here with the filk band Ookla the Mok at MarCon. This is a most outstanding track. OTM is a great group stand-alone, but the joining of forces was filkalicious. The remake of "Gowron Said Knock You Out" is a great remake of this earlier Luke Ski song (this happens to be one of my favorite early Luke Ski tracks). Luke - get a band for your next album. If you need a trombone player or backup singer, give me a call. 88 Lines About 44 Simpsons: Another remake of an early Luke Ski song with some re-writing and better backing tracks. Very good tune and a fan favorite, fans of Luke will like it. Ode to Mrs. Grass Chicken Noodle Soup: A bit of random beatnik poetry with Chris Mezzolesta of Power Salad on bongos and myself providing the musical styling on the trombone. This is a demented result of a Luke Ski performance in 2001 at "Luke Ski's Big Appleton Show #2," sponsored by Student Organization for University Programming (SOUP). SOUP!? GET IT!? Christmas at Hogwart's: Outstanding parody to finish out the album (sort of finish...). A good Harry Potter song and good writing/performing. It takes a back seat to "Stealing Like A Hobbit," but it's good, yes! Yes, We Have No Bananas: Luke ends the Gilbert Gottfried barrage covering the Spike Jones version of this song with "The Nick Atoms." When I first listened to this track, I couldn't stop laughing. This is just plain absurd, but hilarious! All in all Luke has put an impressive album together that shows that Luke wants to expand his career and make it a full-time gig, so support dementia and buy 27 copies of "Worst Album Ever." IS IT GOOD!? YES!
~ Keith Rose, aka Keeter Man, Former Host of "Insanity on the Airwaves" and Dementia Connoisseur
http://www.subtrivial.com/keeterman/index.html
“A Funny
Filkster’s best work yet. I first
heard the music of The Great Luke Ski on Dr. Demento in 1999. Needless to say, I
was impressed by the wit of Quite A Man For An Al Fan (Luke's tribute to
"Weird Al" Yankovic or the uninitiated) I am a morning show producer
and disc jockey and am always in need of funny music. Carpe Dementia was a
technical leap forward from Luke's previous CD's all of which are funny (and
probably available at www.lukeski.com) But "Uber Geek" is not only
better produced, mixed and recorded but the material therein is even funnier!
For those of you who are unfamiliar with LukeSki's music it runs the gamut from
the sublime to the obscure. Filk, sci-fi, fandom, call it what you will… It's
all here and it's all great fun. Highlights? Where do I start? Matt Groening
fans will drool over "Bender Roboto" Luke's parody about everyone's
favorite Futurama bot to the tune of, appropriately enough, Mr. Roboto from
STYX. Two, count 'em TWO songs dealing with Joss Whedon's creations
"Buffy" and "Angel" Also a tribute to the line sleeping
stalwarts of Episode II "In The Line Again" and also his collaboration
with fellow filker and demented rapper "Sudden Death" about everyone's
favorite web slinger and box office draw Spidey with the track "Peter
Parker" In short if you're a fan of comedy of the pop cultural and filk
style OR just want a good laugh (and perhaps material for your airshift) Do
yourself a favor and pick up "Uber Geek" (and while you're at it...buy
his other discs also) It's Filktastic! (Again for the non-nerd...that's a good
thing!!)”
~ Curt
“Servcrow” Campbell KKIX Fayetteville, Arkansas, http://www.kix104.com
"I have
received hours of enjoyment from the cassette & CDs given to me by "the
great Luke Ski". Inspired by the glorious works of "Weird Al"
Yankovic, this young man writes and performs musical parodies with a sci-fi
slant. ...His comedy and the enthusiasm with which he performs make for some fun
stuff. I especially liked his "Fandom Trilogy" cassette. It features
the Jeff Foxworthian "You Might Be A Trekkie", as well as the songs
"Fanboy" and "It's A Fanboy Christmas". ...They're fun, and
in places, bordering on brilliant. Luke also gave me three CDs, the best of
which is "Carpe Dementia". ...I was impressed by Luke Ski's writing.
"Titanic Monday" was such an obvious, albeit wonderful, twist on
"Manic Monday", I am amazed "Weird Al" Yankovic didn't get
there first. "Aliens Just Don't Understand" turned "Parent's Just
Don't Understand" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (aka Will Smith)
into a salute to the movie "Independence Day" (which starred Smith).
Other favorites: "Ranma Soutome" (to the tune of "Kokomo"),
"Y.O.D.A." (to the tune of "Y.M.C.A."), and "Viva Las
Nagus", a brisk ode to the Ferengi of Star Trek renown. If you delight in
Yankovic, Dr. Demento, and fan-inspired comedy, there's a good chance you'll
also enjoy the musical madness of "the great Luke Ski"."
~ Tony Isabella, Comics Buyer's Guide #1456, http://www.tonystips.com
"For years, I've been waiting for rap to work for me. Lots of people like it, presumably because their parents don't, and that's fine. I was hoping that rap would bring back good lyric writing and storytelling in song, so lacking in recent years. But alas, rap is known for hating women and loving guns. Who'd a thunk that rap would have found its justification in... filk. Oh sure, there have been other rap parodies, notably Two Live Jews. But it took the great Luke Ski to bring science fiction fandom to this art form, breathing new life into ringing ear drums and introducing a new musical genre marketing category: Rap Dementia. A tribute, of course, on Dr. Demento, who has his own song on the album. Luke has been doing this for many years, mostly on the con circuit, and his act is polished, the CDs professional and his web site is easy to use. Featuring an astonishing range of song stylings and voices, Luke Ski is a staggering amount of fun. His latest CD (and the only one I have) is Uber Geek (or, more properly but harder for search engines to find, Über Geek.) While mostly rap variants, there are parodies of Willie Nelson and Billy Joel with spoken bits that range from rap CD outtakes to parodies of Monty Python bits. Equally adept at rapping in the voice of Ed O'Neill, The Swedish Chef or Keanu Reeves, Luke is one drive-by shooting away from being notorious. Unabashed plug: The Great Luke Ski, Dr. Demento and myself (and others!) are going to be Guests of Honor at the next Marscon, March 7-9 2004. Indeed, I first met Luke at the 2003 Marscon, where he performed many of these songs live. If you think it's fun listening to him, it's even more fun watching him play with Kermit dolls as he sings Who Let The Frog Out (to the Baha Men anthem) with the audience joining in the chorus. Now where was I? Oh yeah... To catch all the references that Luke makes, you have to watch too much tv. He's not kidding about the Uber Geek title. Heck, I get most of the references, but probably miss a few. They go by quickly. I don't even play Pokemon or watch Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, but the parodies are dead on target, and the rap lyrics give the references a thick viscosity. You don't need to get all the jokes to appreciate the songs, but it helps. He's fast and furious, bold and beautiful, Barnes and Barnes. He works his way up to Shockwave dense by surrounding a great song about the Buffy spin-off Angel, I Am A Vamp of Constant Sorrow (to the traditional folk tune), with Monty Python references. Sheesh. I must admit, what did it for me, watching him live, was It's A Fanboy Christmas. With fanboy enthusiasm, he shares nearly ten minutes of Christmas song parodies, science fiction tv references, bad jokes that go by quickly and almost anything else. I'm a sucker for stuff like: (To the tune of The Little Drummer Boy) Danger, danger young Will Robinson / For Dr. Smith is coming Will Robinson / I know you have been searching for Babylon / You're hungry have some fish heads eat them up yum, eat them up yum, eat them up yum / Linoleum / yeah!... Come join us at Marscon and... let's play doctor."
~ Baron David E. Romm, Shockwave radio program
"Luke Ski is
rather like "Weird Al" Yankovic in that he primarily does comedic
parodies of songs by other artists. The subjects of his songs on these two CDs
include Star Wars, LOTS AND LOTS of Star Trek, Beavis and Butthead, Animaniacs,
The Simpsons, Dr. Demento, Pulp Fiction, Clerks, Pamela Anderson, and even
Hamlet! The songs he parodies are primarily rap songs, although there are
several classic rock songs in there as well. But Luke Ski turns out to be a
damned good rapper, so that still works out."
~ Shawn McHorse, www.rockymusic.org
"The Great Luke Ski is truly the dementia artist of choice for the dorky
fanboy. Luke Ski has created the only actually recorded anime-based song
parodies I've heard, and much more. At his page, you can listen to the MP3 of
'Theme From Ash'. You can also buy his CDs, a veritable garden of nerdly
delights covering Star Trek, Star Wars, MST3K, South Park, Back to the Future,
the Rocky Horror Picture Show and more, including the song "Ranma Soutome".
This is a great song... ...highly recommended."
~ Stephen Sandford, www.flyingsuitreiko.com
~ George Schaefer
"Hilarious Rap Dementia!"
~ from "MeltMan"
~ from "Barbarian"
~ Tim “ Pooh
Bear” Winslow
NEW! Added 10-15-2003
A Review of "Worst Album Ever" - "WOW! Luke really out did himself on this CD!!!!! I can't listen to it often enough. This CD has some originals by Luke. He really has a knack at writing his own music. I love these. The parodies are a blast. Not much else I can say about them. The songs where he makes a cameo are great. I am just a little confused about one, but the rest really are grand. And another Christmas song! I LOVE comedy Christmas. If you like Luke's other music, you will love this. If you like Demented music you should love this CD. If you don't like funny things, you must be dead."
~ Tim "Pooh Bear" Winslow
www.LukeSki.com is maintained and © 1998 - 2003 by Luke Sienkowski