Best music of 2012, so far

It's almost July, which means we're already getting bombarded with "best of 2012. so far" lists. 

I'm partial to music lists, and here are three good ones (two of which come in excellent podcasts):

• "All Songs Considered": Good mix of songs, albums and surprises. My biggest surprise is the lack of boring tender songwriter crap that usually ends up on All Songs. lists. 
• "Sound Opinions": Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis have come up with my favorite mix of the lot. Gotta go dig up that dBs disc. 
• Paste Magazine: Six lists from different staffers. 

If there are any trends from this small sample, it's that Alabama Shakes, Japandroids, Dr. John and Killer Mike seem to be front-runners for year-end lists.

'Chalk Talk' demystifies F1 science

Formula 1 describes itself as "the pinnacle of motorsport" for good reason: top teams have budgets of $400 million a year and build cars that delivery mind-boggling performance. 

A closeup of the Red Bull F1 car shows 31 pitot tubes used to measure air flow toward the rear of the car during race testing.The engineering behind such machines is staggering, and Speed TV's Steve Matchett is among the geeks who marvel at the technical details that deliver the 10ths of a second that separate winning cars from backmarkers. 

Before each F1 race, Matchett records "Chalk Talk," a SpeedTV.com web series that delves deep into racecar engineering. This most recent "Chalk Talk" episode is among Matchett's best, and describes how one minor bit of craftsmanship in an aerodynamic device can be the difference in a legal racecar (Ferrari) and illegal (Red Bull). 

If it sounds geeky, it is. But hardcore F1 fans will find it fun viewing.

An innovative tribute to Nikola Tesla

If there's a person deserving of an innovative tribute, it's Nikola Tesla, an electrical engineer whose inventions more than 100 years ago laid the groundwork for modern communications. It was the rock group Tesla and their excellent debut album "Mechanical Resonance" -- a scientific term right up Tesla's alley -- that first inspired me to learn more about this mysterious inventor. I soon learned Tesla wasn't just anybody but an inventor to rival Da Vinci and Edison. 

Which brings us to Marco Tempest's "Nikola Tesla in Sound and Light," a mashup of projection mapping and a pop-up book that tells the remarkable story of an inventor so far ahead of his time that scientists are still studying his work for clues to new breakthroughs 70 years after his death. 

Tesla's story is remarkable enough -- he pioneered radio and electricity transmission to name just two breakthroughs, all the while battling swindlers and personal demons -- but Tempest's use of now-primitive technology from Tesla's heydey is a fitting medium to celebrate one of modern history's greatest minds.  

Are you listenining Hollywood? If you need some pointers, check out the "making of" documentary below.