ChordStrike

Alpine Kat's Large Hadron Collider Rap

Few things go as well together as hip-hop and science. The lexicon of bleeding-edge theoretical physics is practically overflowing with rhyme-ready particles (real, virtual, anti-, and otherwise), and from Dr. Octagon to The Sounds of Science, the rap canon abounds with more-or-less learned verses.

So if you're like me and have trouble finding enough to time in your life to nurture your twin loves of hip-hop and quantum cosmology, let Alpine Kat grab the mic for a minute. Science writer by day and science rapper in her spare time, Alpine Kat has recorded a number of "science raps," the most notorious of which serves as a primer on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), an immense subterranean machine on the Franco-Swiss border designed to slam protons together at near-light speeds in order to see what happens.

If you like what you hear, check out more of Alpine Kat's science raps.

Either way, let us know about the best science-based hip-hop we might have missed...

     --Jason Kirk

Malcom McClaren Dies at age 64

Whether you found him to be a genius or a charlatan, the man made a definite mark on modern music.

See the New York Times article here.

Thurston's Lesson For Sonic Youth

If your kids aren’t already noisy enough, why not take them to a lecture explaining the artfulness of white noise? This Sunday, April 11, precocious young music lovers can make their way to Partners & Spade Gallery in New York City for a very special hour-long event featuring Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore. For a mere $30 attendees will be able to listen to Moore presenting “A Dissertation on White Noise,” though quite what the eight-to-twelve year-old target audience will make of the subject matter is anyone’s guess.

The event forms part of the gallery’s Avant Garde Preschool series, which aims to nurture the interests of the upcoming generation in art, though it seems likely that the event might be anticipated rather more eagerly by the parental chaperons. The preschool series of events is the brainchild of Andy Spade, a co-owner of the gallery who is also the father of a – probably achingly art-aware – 4 year-old.

As for Moore, he is due back on the road with Sonic Youth on April 16, when his grown-up fans in Barcelona will surely honor him with a more ecstatic reception than the bewildered eight year-olds of New York.

--Hazel @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

Nude Erykah Invites Character Assassination

What is the purpose of a music video? Is it just a vehicle for a song, is it to gain the artist attention, or should it be an artistic statement of its own? Erykah Badu achieved all three with her video for new single "Window Seat," which shows the soul star strolling through Dealey Plaza, Dallas, shedding her clothes, and then falling as if shot on the same spot where President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

Some commentators have criticized the clip as distasteful, and Badu could have faced up to a year in jail if she'd been caught and arrested for public nudity. But most fans and bloggers seem to like the video, which was shot in one take a few weeks ago. "I tied it in a way that compared the assassination to the character assassination one would go through after showing his or her self completely," Badu explained to Dallas Morning News.

"She was already prepared to deal with whatever consequences because she knew she believed in what she was doing," director Chike told MTV, adding that bail money had already been collected in case the police had arrived. And amid all the talk about the rights and wrongs of the video is the news that Badu's fifth studio album, New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh), is out this week. She's a shrewd lady.

The video can also be viewed at Erykah Badu's official website here, it is censored but don't watch it if your boss is looking over your shoulder!

What do you think of the video, and of Erykah's new album?

--Ally @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.