Iranian Rapper Facing Death Threats

If there was an official list of Jobs Without a Much a Future in Iran, I'm sure we'd find "socially conscious rapper" right to "Israeli fundraiser" and "nuclear scientist who likes to walk unescorted in public."  

This is where we meet Shanin Najafi, a German-based Iranian who has gone into hiding after one of his songs was deemed insulting to a Shi'a imam named Naqi.

The song--which is also called "Naqi"--has spurred the creation of a Facebook page featuring people willing to volunteer to fatwa his ass.  (Facebook took it down; when they did, it had 600 "likes.")

From The Daily Beast:

Since the song came out May 7 and drew death threats against Najafi, the German government has provided a safe house for the artist, who worries the security is insufficient. “I’m living in a secret place now and I don’t have any bodyguards. My daily life and work have been derailed,” he said in an interview. “Naturally, I continue my own way, but this didn’t make me happy. I have nothing against people’s beliefs. I do my own artistic work.”

In the song, which is “apparently tongue-in-cheek,” the lyrics appeal to the imam to react to a series of controversial events and scenarios, often involving Iranians, says Drewery Dyke, Iran researcher at Amnesty International in London. “None of the lyrics incite to violence or make any direct comment on the personage referred to, Imam ‘Alī an-Naqī, or ‘Alī ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Alī, as he is ‘called on,’ metaphorically, to take action.”

Read more here.

The New Engelbert Humperdinck

Here's the cover of the magazine that came with The Times this morning.  My mother will be pleased that her favourite singer seems to be making a comeback. 

Engelbert Humperdinck wants to take on Liam Gallagher

I Survived the Happy Mondays' Tour Bus

That headline would have been most impressive in 1992.  In 2012, though, not so much.  

Hold on.  Back up.

A couple of years ago, Mondays drummer Gaz Whelan was fed up with Manchester and England in general.  His wife, having seen a real estate show on the telly about homes in Canada, declared "We're moving."  So the family ended up in northeast Burlington.

Gaz formed a band called The Hippie Mafia, gigged around southern Ontario (opening shows for Liam Gallagher's Beady Eye) and recording some very good music along the way.  "The Mondays?" he told me.  "Done.  Finished. I want no part of that lot."

And he seemed serious.  The Hippie Mafia was gaining momentum and secured some high-powered management.  But then the Stone Roses got back together, recpitating offers for a Mondays reunion.  Eventually, the opportunity became too lucrative and for the first time in 18 years, the original Mondays lineup reconvened for a tour.

As a longtime fan, I made arrangements with Gaz to fly here to London for one of the shows at the Brixton Academy.  This, I thought, could be mad.  

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Maybe LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It" Isn't That Bad

In another example of how it's all in the telling, I present this.  It may change your opinion about this song.

11 Problems Music Can Solve

Another contribution from Rupinder, our special medical correspondent:

Music is a splendid thing. It can cheer you up when you’re sad, make you dance like a fool, and allow you to drown out the world when you need to. But music has its scientific uses, too.

The new documentary Alive Inside details how dementia patients react positively when given iPods filled with their old favorite songs. The music seems to help them “come alive” again. While listening to familiar songs, many of the documentary’s patients can sing along, answer questions about their past, and even carry on brief conversations with others.

“Music imprints itself on the brain deeper than any other human experience,” says neurologist Oliver Sacks, who appears in the film. “Music evokes emotion, and emotion can bring with it memory.”

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