Pocket Calculator Kraftwerk

From the album Computer World (1981) Arguably the most influential electronic group in history, German avant-garde experimental artists Kraftwerk somehow crossed over to the mainstream in the 70s and everyone from Bowie to Kanye, Coldplay and Madonna have been indebted since. Basing their minimalist sounds around patterns and numbers was integral to their sound. As the insightful lyrics to Pocket calculator explain I'm the operator with my pocket calculator / I am adding and subtracting / I'm controlling and composing

Existential Parisian sociopolitical punk group La Fraction Not very famous

Mer de Noms (2000) A Perfect Circle

A Perfect Circle, a heavy art-rock supergroup, achieved the record for first week sales for a debut album with Mer de Noms. A perfect circle exists only in mathematical theory, it is impossible to create one in reality. A famous story of a near-perfect circle concerns pioneering 13th Century artist Giotto:
Pope Boniface VIII wanted to commission some paintings for St. Pete rs and so he sent a courtier around to find the best painter in Italy. The courtier asked all the artists to give him a sample of their work to send to the Pope. He came to Giott os workshop, explained his mission, and asked him for a drawing which would give the Pope some idea of his competence and style. Sure, said Giotto; and he laid down a sheet of paper, reached for a brush dipped in red paint, closed his arm to his side to make a sort of compass of it, and in one even sweep scribed a perfect circle . There you are, he told the courtier, handing it to him with a smile. Thats your drawing? asked the courtier, who didnt know whether Giotto was pulling his leg. Is that all youre going to s end His Holiness? Thats more than enough, said Giotto. Send it with your other drawings and see whether its understood or not. The Popes messenger took the drawing and went away trying to hold his temper. Did that little painter think he was a fool? When he got back to Rome he showed the Pope the big O and told him how Giotto had scribed itfreehand, without a compass. The pope and his advisors DID understand the achievement of that O and gave Giotto the commission.

Maths and English Dizzee Rascal (2007)

Why would the man who was expelled from four different schools (and banned from all classes but music in the fifth) title an album about the curriculum? Dylan Mills was a grime pioneer with Wiley in the early 2000s and built a loyal critical and cult audience following with his aggressive, frantic and eclectic heavy self-produced beats. His breakthrough Tongue N Cheek album, released two years later, spawned four number one hits and finally enabled UK Hip Hop artists to crossover to mainstream success, but in order to achieve universal acclaim he had to reach an audience beyond his experience. That process started here, with Dizzee acknowledging the importance his mother placed on an education he struggled to accept as a child, and the value of Maths (handling money, making deals, the pattens and calculations in programming beats) and English (lyrics) in his own success.