One of DJ Spooky’s latest projects involved traveling to Antarctica to use the ice, wildlife, footsteps and other sounds to construct an album and multimedia performance. Using ambient sound as source material is older than using vinyl samples, but Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica is a multimedia performance that comes at a key time in the life of the icy continent. As my homie Joe Block once said about one of my raps, “I woudn’t go bumping it in my car or nothin’”, but I have to hand it to a real hip-hop icon for doing his part for the struggle.

I recently saw a demonstration of some of the musical inventions that will be played during the upcoming performance of SchickMachine, the latest work of the The Paul Dresher Ensemble. The non-conventional instruments are made from strange objects, including a lot of reclaimed junk and decommissioned relics, such as an old church organ.

The show is sort of a combination of concert and theater, with large and outlandish instruments providing drama on stage. The team recognized that traditional concert instruments require fine motor skills and are consequently difficult to see from several feet away in the audience. To better connect with the audience, they have created large instruments, some of which are robotic and others that interact with the performer’s entire body. One of the coolest instruments, is an experimental hurdy gurdy that the team of musical inventors created. Below is a demonstration of some of the instruments that will be played in the solo show:

Are you a musician that wants to sell your music on top-notch sites like iTunes, Rhapsody, and Amazon? Do you like turkey? How about Turkey Jerky? But seriously, if you are a musician (a real musician, not posers like us) you can get your tunes sold on these sites by paying a flat fee to Tune Core. Tune Core is a service designed to level the playing field and is being used by no-name garage bands as well as big acts like Ziggy Marley and Public Enemy. The musician collects all of the royalties no matter how many copies of their songs are sold.

The turkey sabbatical proved to be very productive. Made a 30 second cartoon for the Environmental Defense Action Fund’s carbon cap video competition. Submitted it just before the deadline. Whew! C-Diddy voices the giant C02 monster.

We’ve managed to stay decidedly apolitical this election season, but here’s a last ditch chance to put some green into people’s decision making. There are enough relatives, friends, signs, and robocalls telling you how to vote tomorrow, but how about a little emotion being stirred up for our future? A sample from Supertramp’s “Child of Vision” appears courtesy of my mp3 collection.

Conscious rap is world-wide and being used to inform farmers of new tools. In Africa, Maasai rapper Mr. Ebbo is the spokesperson for The MoneyMaker,a foot-powered pump developed and marketed by the non-proft KickStart. The pump is insurance against drought, helping small farmers irrigate crops. I wish all rappers sold out in this way:
(via Justin)

With the Beastie Boys making basketball documentaries, MC Serch hosting reality shows, and Eminem in self-imposed exile somewhere north of 8 Mile, there is a vacancy for hip-hop’s pigment-challenged ambassador. The next great white rapper might not come from New York or Motown, but instead the Pennsylvania suburbs. Asher Roth is a young, caucasoid MC who is branding himself as a sort of “Joe College” rapper. Its unclear if this sort of “Frat Rap” has an audience, but if novelty acts like MIA, Lady Sovereign, and Matisyahu can find a niche due to their talent, so too can Asher.

My initial impression is that the boy can flow, but he suffers from pop-culture reference dropping fever. His brief periods of introspection are weighted evenly with run of the mill, wack rapper misogyny. He is bound to get over-hyped in the next few months, but you can judge for yourself right now. Download his new mixtape The Green House Effect (which is more of a drug reference than a environmental reference) from his website, or check out this remake of Jay-Z’s Roc Boys, entitled Roth Boys: