politics in music

the freewheelin bob dylan fared better

the great 28 fared even better than that

this is probably why i like the ones which seem itchy and dread-filled without really making a point to say why, exactly.

Also, what about PIL, they are political. Were they shit too?

pil weren't political in the "explicit" sense, the way the gang of four were. and all the better for it.

i don't think anyone here has said the gang of four were shit here.

(Note: I, too, like the Gof4, but I think the complaint is a valid one.)

dk's were also the band that wrote Holiday in Cambodia and California Uber Allies, which musically put them miles ahead of anything PIL ever did, lyrics aside.

mike whatever the drugs are it might be time to scale back

I know it is not cool to say that because English bands who whine and play really sloppy dub = rox0r on ILM, but it is the truth. The first three PIL studio records are cool, I've had them for years, but at the end of the day, Lydon had a shitty backing band that ruined those songs. There was a spark for the first half of First Issue, but they never seemed to regain that spark for any of their classic albums. Second edition/metal box would have been the shit if the band had a bit of pep, but they just kinda dragged those songs out. No spark, no verve.

Dk's would have left them for dead in a live setting. The lyrics might not have been as clever, but everything else was.

The Mekons seem to get away with it pretty well. I've been listening to "Thee Olde Trip to Jerusalem" a lot the last few weeks. They were right on top of this shit.

I agree with whoever said they liked implied politics more than explicit politics. Although sometimes the most specific stuff can work too -- a chorus like "Four dead in Ohio" is as subtle as a brick, but it resonates (even after Neil kissed up to Reagan). I dunno. Maybe it has more to do with how the songwriter's feeling at the time they write the song -- are they really pissed off or passionate or whatever, or are they sitting there thinking, "I should really write a political song..." In the case of "Ohio," I think Neil was really pissed off (and he probably wrote it in 5 minutes). Ditto a lot of Woody Guthrie's best stuff (e.g. "Deportee") -- it's too angry and/or mournful to seem self-important.

Of course, my favorite political song of the past few years is "White America" -- which somehow didn't provoke the furor it seemed to me it should have. I think people were so locked into seeing and hearing Eminem one way (especially people who'd never actually listened to him) that they kinda/sorta missed the whole thing. Oh well.

If PIL could have actually done what they set out to do they would have been absolutely brilliant, but they couldn't. The had a shite drummer and a sloppy bass player and they tried to jack dub reggae. That is mental suicide, because it doesn't work. If it had, it would sound like ESG to the 10th power, but they were sloppy, so it just kinda lurches around and sounds grey.

The Dk's rocked in a way that PIL never could. the difference is DK are a simple idea that was well executed, and PIL was a clever idea that never came off.

Mike is right about East Bay Ray (although for some reason I thought he was the bassist and Klaus Flouride was the guitarist? though I could just be on crack).

Of course, my favorite political song of the past few years is "White America"

I actually think this is probably his best song.

one of the best examples of politics in music ever: THIS HEAT.

I love DK but it's all the kennedy/brown stuff is dated politics from the other side of the world to me.

Rage are talking about what?

Le Tigre? Feminism?

Love 'em all mind.

Non-snarky question: do the bands that get covered in the UK music press these days talk about politics/the general election and generally support Labour?

Apart from Charlotte Church.

The guy from The Enemy wrote a fairly eloquent anti-austerity piece a few weeks back. Shame his music's so fucking shit.

Billy Bragg urged us all to vote Lib Dem in the 2010 election.