music – Pike & Hurricane

Politically conscious art as backlash: Amanda Palmer’s “There Will Be No Intermission”

Filip Zahariev — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 16:08:04 +0000

Amanda Fucking Palmer is loud, so loud it might seem like she’s screaming for attention – and some people on the Internet hate her for it. But guess what? She has a lot of things to say.

This has never been more evident than on Palmer’s third solo album, aptly named There Will Be No Intermission. Apt because, at twenty songs and seventy-eight minutes long, this album is resolute in delivering a powerful, politically-conscious message of resistance and survival. It is not only sorrowful, pained, even tragic; but also angry, breathless with fury. The cover, which features a naked Palmer brandishing a sword high above her head, anticipates the tone of the album in both its extremes.

Where Art Comes From

Time and time again, the singer-songwriter taps deep into her emotional experiences. Whether as a sister – “And I tried to call my brother || but he no longer exists” (Palmer lost her brother in 1996) in “Bigger on the Inside”; a mother – “I know it’s hard to be a parent || But this mess is so gigantic || I wonder if I should have had a child” in “A Mother’s Confession”; a friend – “I have never liked the box of knives || I took it to the oceanside the day you died || I stood out on the dock || No matter how hard I tried || I couldn’t drop them in || And I collapsed and cried: || What do I do with this stuff? || It seems like yesterday you were alive || And it’s as if you never really died” – in “Machete”; and a daughter – “Remember the daughter || And all that you taught her || She’s grown up at last || With a child of her own || She struggles alone || As the years all rush pass” – in “Look Mummy, No Hands”. But perhaps most striking are the songs which have a direct link to women’s reproductive rights, namely “Drowning in the Sound” and “Voicemail for Jill”.

The music video for “Drowning in the Sound” sees Palmer perform her sexuality, her role and experience as a mother and artist, even her role as a performer itself, to staggering effect, eerily resembling David Bowie’s performance of his own death in “Blackstar” and “Lazarus”, released a few days before Bowie’s passing from cancer.

“Voicemail for Jill” is a deeply emotional piece about abortion and the psychological effects of it – the video is difficult to watch because of its raw emotions at display, and the honest, powerful way the lyrics delve into the heart of the struggle to survive and continue living. Pregnancy becomes something a woman is expected to suffer through and be grateful, or end and be shunned, even persecuted for. Even so, the hopeful note the song ends on, the notion of support and some small measure of happiness reclaimed, these capture the heart of a vulnerable moment in the lives of many women, the struggle society often expects them to grit their teeth through in silence.

The message in “Voicemail for Jill” and the album as a whole comes at a time of organised assault against women’s reproductive rights in the United States of America, both on a federal and state level. A secular government uses religious justification to rob women of their hard-earned rights, fought for over the last century. What is a politically-charged artist to do about it? According to Palmer, the way forward is “to share the naked truth of [our] experiences”.

A Slide Back into the Middle-Ages

When these experiences include barbaric laws like the one passed last year by the governor of Alabama, which would see abortions permitted “only if the mother’s life is at risk or if the fetus cannot survive, but not in cases of rape or incest.” The bill was passed by legislators later in the month of May 2019 and was supposed to enter into effect on November 15. While it was temporarily blocked by a federal judge at the end of October, the authors of the bill seek to table discussion of the contested law to the Supreme Court. With Trump’s Conservative Supreme Court appointees tipping the balance in favour of so-called Pro-Life ideas, the likelihood of such a case being struck down in favour of the status quo is doubtful.

Though Alabama is singular in its draconian law, other states have introduced bills which seek to cut down the period in which women could get an abortion: “Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi and Ohio stopped short of outright bans, instead passing so-called heartbeat bills that effectively prohibit abortions after six to eight weeks of pregnancy, when doctors can usually start detecting a fetal heartbeat. Utah and Arkansas voted to limit the procedure to the middle of the second trimester.”

The most outrageous bill proposed yet, however, is one in Ohio. If passed, this bill would demand doctors do a “procedure that does not exist in medical science,” namely the re-implanting of an ectopic pregnancy in a woman’s uterus. Not only is this an impossible procedure to do, the refusal to do it would result in obstetricians and gynecologists being charged for “criminal charges, including murder”. This will be punishable by life in prison. Another new crime, “aggravated abortion murder”, is punishable by death, according to the bill. Such abortion laws would make women criminals for exercising their personal autonomy. The narrative told in “Voicemail for Jill” would look and sound much different if it were set in any one of these states.

Here again, Amanda Palmer’s words resonate: “frightening political climates make for really good, real, authentic art.” There Will be no Intermission is but the latest example of great art as backlash to a dark political reality. In her own words: “If the political climate keeps getting uglier, the art will have to answer. We will have to fight…We are sharpening our knives for a large buffet.” With the political landscape of both the United States and the world at large turning darker, the fight has only just begun.

by Filip R. Zahariev

Photo Credits

AFP, OpenEye, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Amanda Palmer Posters, Vladimir Zimakov, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

‘Abortion Never’ Galway City, NationalPartyIE, CC BY 2.0

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How Techno music can be militant

Aimée Niau Lacordaire — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 17:53:33 +0000

Techno is a form of electronic music that emerged in the United States in the mid-1980s. During the 1990s, techno developed into a real musical culture thanks to the welcome that England and especially Germany had for the artists of Detroit. Militant since its first days, the techno community has always used its influence to defend its vision of a more just and equal world. By relying on a worldwide network of sensitive music lovers and activists, techno has become a musical genre carrying socio-political avant-gardes.

“Daughter of immigrants”

In the 80s, the birth and the impulse of techno and techno clubs in West Berlin contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall. More and more residents of East Berlin also wanted to be able to listen to and dance freely to the rhythm of techno that they were listening to illegally on Western radio stations. After the fall of the wall techno has also contributed to the reunification of young people from West and East Berlin because they could dance together without worrying about their different identities.

“The techno then releases a promise of freedom that echoes the fall of the wall. Where everyone can create his own universe.”

Techno for the gender liberation

Some clubs are developing the same freedom of techno, especially in Germany and in France. They proclaim a “safe space” where people can be who they want without being judged in particular regarding their sexuality or sexual orientation.

In France, Angel Karel, who is a techno DJ, created The Future Is Female, “a collective propelled by a desire to defend the place of women in the techno scene, hitherto too little emphasis on the local scene in Lyon. This community, in search of a space of freedom to express itself, makes a real turning point for the collective that proposes a first event without any gender rule or identity barrier.“

They organise a “No gender” party, which is a militant and activist, non-conformist event of the french scene, bringing together liberated souls in search of an alternative techno experience in a “safe” space where the rules are respect and tolerance. There, you can be dressed as you wish and free, to not wearing anything without the fear of being judged or touched without consent. Additionally, there is a darkroom where people can go to for privacy where it is forbidden to film or take pictures. This party is rhythm by a brutal and corporal techno, with artistic queers’ performances and only women or queer DJs.

More and more techno DJs are, claim to be politically engaged and militant, for example, Vikken who is a french trans-man and a militant against transphobia. Another example is “La Fraicheur”, a queer DJ and feminist who uses techno to deliver messages, like the speeches of “Angela Davis” in “The movement”. Her speeches denounce racism, homophobia, and transphobia. “Kiddy Smile” is a singer, DJ, producer, dancer and activist for LGBTQ+ rights. He played at Élysée with a T-shirt saying: “son of immigrants, black and gay”. These examples show that music is not only a way to make people dance but also to send strong messages which will make them move in the figurative sense.

These are just a few examples of an ongoing trend. More and more techno nights are queer or/ LGBTQ+ and participants are reminded of the rules (“No racism, homophobia, transphobia or sexism. No touching without asking and no means NO!“) under every facebook event of, for example, the techno club “Ved Siden AF” in Copenhagen.

If techno makes it possible to express who one is and to liberate oneself sexually, it is also a means of conveying political messages.

Techno for justice around the world

Sama is a young woman and the first Palestinian DJ. Her idea is to create “An area of artistic and political freedom”, to allow young Palestinians to forget the sadness of their lives on universal beats. Sama became a famous DJ on the European techno scene, because of her political engagement. In Palestine ,the Israeli state has subjected Palestinians to occupation since 1948, with several disastrous armed conflicts. In September 2018, they created the #DJsForPalestine campaign which marked the climax of this nascent relationship between techno and Palestinian resistance. Behind the hashtag, thousands of world-renowned artists, young DJs and alternative collectives around the world are now expressing their support.

In May 2018, in Georgia, one of the biggest techno clubs called the “Bassiani” in Tbilisi was subject of a big police raid. 200 members of the special forces, armed with machine guns raided the club during a legal event because of the recent drug related deaths of five individuals which the authorities claim are linked to Bassiani. But according to the director of the Bassiani this descent had no basis since none of the deaths occurred at the club. Instead it is believed that the deaths are being used to sustain a Soviet-era political regime. Georgia maintains “extraordinarily strict zero-tolerance drug policies.” Random drug tests by police are common, and small amounts of recreational drugs can get people into prison for years. To protest this, a group of hundreds of young people gathered in front of the parliament, demonstrating against the police operation and for their freedom: “we dance together, we fight together”! The most famous DJs from around the world have sent their support such as: “Ben Klock”, “Nina Kraviz”, or “Dixon”.

In France, on June 21st 2019, a techno fan named Steve Maia disappeared and was found dead in the Loire river after a controversial intervention by the police during a music festival. Every year in Paris, the Techno Parade is held. This year, on the occasion of its 21st anniversary, the Techno Parade wished to mount the sound “in a spirit more than ever militant and claiming“. It stood under the motto “Dance for Steve” and was a tribute to him and a way to protest against police violence and to ask for justice.

And for climate

Finally techno is now at the service of the fight against the climate crisis with some DJs who are engaged on the side of Extinction Rebellion (XR), to protest for a climate justice. For example “Inhalt der Nacht”, a German DJ, or the English duo “Orbital” show their support for Extinction Rebellion by mixing for XR Rave, techno nights to support Extinction Rebellion.

On the 1st November 2019, a Rebel Rave was organised. It was a warehouse party by Extinction Rebellion to celebrate and support the London Rebels who were arrested for showcasing the global climate emergency on the streets of London in April and October this year. All the profits of this event went towards legal aid for rebels awaiting court appearances and prosecution.

As the Palestinian DJ Sama said : “music will not bring peace but it unites people, it makes people think, it helps to understand.“

by Aimée Niau Lacordaire

Photo credits :

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The political playlist of 2019

Elena Wasserzier — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 17:39:11 +0000

What‘s most significant about 2019? It is arguably the rise in demonstrations. People marching on the streets for their political aims and beliefs. Especially the “Fridays for Future” movement grew in it’s dimension and is still finding more and more supporters.

Alongside demonstrations, what is another important form of expression through which we can gain consciousness? Right: music. 2019 is characterised by many new political hymns that deal with the climate change and issues of their respective countries, mainly immigration policy and treatment and gun violence.

Climate Change and what we can do about it

1975 & Greta Thunberg: The 1975

In the self-titled song by The 1975, the band features Greta Thunberg giving a speech about climate issues and what will happen, if we do not change our policies regarding the climate. The track opens up slowly with accoustic piano chimes and amplifies with Greta Thunbergs intense monologue about the current climate crisis. While explaining the ongoing issues she foreshadows what is going to happen, if we do not protect our Earth and climate and the respective consequences, but still offers glimpses of hope. She encourages us to take action and “rebel” through protests and voicing our opinion so the political agenda changes.

“We are right now in the beginning of a climate and ecological crisis, and we need to call it what it is: an emergency. We must acknowledge that we do not have the situation under control… We must admit that we are losing this battle. We have to acknowledge that the older generations have failed. All political movements in their present form have failed, but Homo sapiens have not yet failed…We can still fix this. We still have everything in our own hands, but unless we recognise the overall failures of our current systems, we most probably don’t stand a chance…”

Lil Dicky – Earth

The charity single “ Earth” by Lil Dicky and numerous famous artists was discussed a lot by the broad public as it draws attention to the climate issue with its music video depicting each celebrity as a wildlife animal that will be endangered in the future, if we humans do not act against climate change ( e.g. Justin Bieber as a baboon or Ariana Grande as a zebra). The lyrics are somewhat controversial and ambiguous but basically just want to emphasise that those animals are endangered in their survival.

“What up, world? It’s your boy, just one of the guys down here. Well, I could be more specific. Uh, I’m a human, and I just wanted to, you know, for the sake of all of us earthlings out there, just wanted to say: We love the Earth, it is our planet/ We love the Earth, it is our home…“

Under the official YouTube video one can find a link to get more information on how to tackle climate issues, as well as measures to reduce your own carbon footprint and how to take action.

Our differences unite us

MARINA – To be human

“To be human” is a song by MARINA about trying to break down emotional walls between people, signifying that we are all the same and representing a longing for unity.

The music video offers a compilation of historic events worldwide and sequences of protests. It appeared on her LOVE+ FEAR album of 2019. Marina herself described it as the following:

“To Be Human is probably the most important song on this record for me, because thematically it sums up the head space that I’ve come from in the past 3 years. I think the subject matter is really important, it talks about unity. I name-check a lot of places around the world São Paulo, Verona, Angola, Chicago, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Greece. When I was writing that I wanted to create this picture of humanity, because in our political climate we are constantly being made to see other people as ‘other’. If you’re from a different culture, you’re seen as different and potentially dangerous and I really hate that. I really think that’s a sad way to see humanity. So I wrote this song really thinking about that, and for that reason it really forms a core part of the record.”

Furthermore the first verses and the chorus mention several places, their characteristics and culture.

“There were riots in America/ Just when things were getting better/ All the things I’ve done and seen/ Still I don’t know what life means

All the people living in, living in the world today/ We’re united by our love, we’re united by our pain (ooh)/ All the things that I’ve done and I’ve seen/ Still I don’t know, don’t know what it means.”

The song symbolises that even throughout our differences we should be looking at each other as the same, as humans.

Discrimination and gun violence in “the Land of the free”

The Killers – Land of the free

The song “Land of the free” by the American rock band The Killers is a political song, talking about many issues of the United States which is often referred to as the “Land of the free” because of the American belief that people are free and able to pursue whatever dreams they have, a patriotic slogan which is sarcastically apprehended by The Killers. Their stance on the US biggest issues, like gun violence and the hatred and reluctance towards immigrants is made very clear. The music video displays several scenes from refugee camps, protests and many people from Central America at the border.

Within the first verse front man Brandon Flowers explains that he himself is from an immigrant family, originally from Lithuania, who were seeking the american dream for which in order to make it happen they worked in coal mines.

The second verse rather emphasizes racial discrimination and comments on the different treatment of citizens in the USA. The song mentions how having a different skin colour affects you in everyday life gives examples of police violence in the American justice system and suggests that incarceration seems like a “big business” nowadays.

“When I go out in my car, I don’t think twice/ But if you’re the wrong color skin (I’m standing crying)/ You grow up looking over both your shoulders/ In the land of the free/ We got more people locked up than the rest of the world/ Right here in red, white and blue/ Incarceration’s become big business/ It’s harvest time out on the avenue”

Gun violence is mentioned by the musician through his utter sadness while asking “So how many daughters, tell me how many sons/ Do we have to have to put in the ground before we just break down and face it/ We got a problem with guns”

Furthermore he mentions the many issues of migration and how president Trump is aiming to build a wall at the border to Mexico. The constant repetition of the phrase “land of the free”, especially in the chorus, accentuates that America should be “the land of the free” as everyone should be able to live their American Dream. However, the core values, the USA was once based on are not anymore represented in “the land of the free”.

The front man Brandon Flowers said, he wrote the song in regard of the aftermaths of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting 2012 and in regard to several recurring mass shootings, police brutality, injustice towards immigrants, thereby dishonouring the values the US was founded on and is supposed to act on.

Lana del Rey – Looking for America

Lana del Rey had a similar approach to discuss the Politics of the United States, specifically towards gun control and regulations. She wrote “Looking for America” as a direct response to two separate mass shootings, which led to 32 people dying on the first weekend of August 2019, one took place in El Paso, Texas and the other one in Dayton, Ohio.

She voices her dream of a better America, “one without the gun, where the flag can freely fly” and mass atrocities through guns are not happening anymore. She feels the constant fear of having to think twice before going to certain places and dreams of how it used to be when she was younger. She is melancholically dreaming about this notion of a gun free America.

“No bombs in the sky, only fireworks when you and I collide/ It’s just a dream I had in mind/ It’s just a dream I had in mind”

The arising of a new protest wave against political and global issues of atrocities and climate change?

A new wave of political songs in order to protest governmental actions and climate issues emerged. But we should not forget that music has always existed as a medium to express emotions and feelings, especially about social injustice and unfair policies. Take Bob Dylan´s “The Times They Are A- Changin´” or Tracy Chapman´s “Talkin´Bout a Revolution” as examples. And it is so important that it stays that way and that new artists come up with songs tackling current issues to make the broad public eye aware of certain issues. It does not get easier than raising awareness through 3 min long songs that everyone can listen to repeatedly.

by Elena Wasserzier

Photo credits:

Greta Thunberg in Paris, february 22th, stephane-p, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Land of the Free, Kevin Spencer, CC BY-NC 2.0

Too late, Andrew Gustar, CC-BY ND 2.0

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Sámi music and activism: a historic and contemporary struggle

Merle Emrich — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 16:51:30 +0000

The joik is the traditional music of the Sámi, the indigenous people of northern parts of the Fennoscandian Peninsula. It’s scales differ from those of Western music, it is purely vocal and if it includes instruments, it’s drums – at least that’s how it’s been for generations. Now a new generation of Sámi musicians is combining traditional joiking with other genres such as pop, jazz and hiphop – and in recent years the music of artists like Sofia Jannok and Maxida Märak has become increasingly popular.

They not only mix joiking with other musical styles, but also the music itself with activism for Sámi rights and environmental protection, as well as against racism. The colonial oppression of the Sámi people is reflected in songs such as Snölejonnina (“Snow lioness”, Sofia Jannok) and Andas (“Breathe”, Maxida Märak). And in This Is My Land Sofia Jannok sings: “This is my home, this is my heaven, this is the earth where I belong and if you want to ruin it all with big wounds in the mountains then you’re not worthy of listening to this song.“

A history of oppression

Starting in the late Middle Ages and lasting well into the 20th century, the Sámi were subjected to colonial discrimination and assimilation policies. Race biology that was supposed to prove the Sámi’s racial inferiority served as justification to take their land from them. Joiking was discouraged and, since it served as refuge from and a form of resistance to colonial oppression, it was later banned. Likewise, the Sámi were forbidden from speaking their own language. By the time these assimilation policies were officially ended, both joiking and Sámi languages had disappeared from several regions.

Since then Fennoscandian countries have granted the Sámi language and cultural rights, although, unlike Norway, Sweden and Finland have not ratified the ILO’s convention of indigenous people. The Sámi have schools teaching their language, as well as their own parliaments. But still, it would be naive to say that the north of Europe has left behind colonial discrimination in its entirety. “It’s like ‘Do you even exist?’ (…) That has been, and still is, very challenging, especially living in a society that is considered the most democratic in the world”, said Sofia Jannok in an interview with NewsDeeply. And in an Amnesty International campaign video, Maxida Märak stated that “to me the violation are the same as they were 400 years ago. Only that they’ve been modernised.”

An ongoing struggle

With a law passed in 2007 the Norwegian government is limiting the size of reindeer herds. Not only might smaller herds lead to a smaller income which could result in their herding licences being revoked by the state should they not make enough profit, but for the Sámi, reindeer herding is more than a job, it is a way of life and an integral part of their culture. Therefore, because he “could not see my culture die”, reindeer herder Jousset Ante Sara sued the Norwegian state. Elle Márjá Eira, whose father launched another case against the state due to an energy project that threatened to diminish their summer grazing lands, pointed out that they would have to find another, not yet occupied, place for their reindeer. “By pushing us into smaller areas they are forcing us into conflicts with each other.”

The ongoing struggle of the Sámi is not only tied to political conflicts, but also to social issues. In 2016, the Arctic village Girjas (Sweden) was granted exclusive rights over hunting and fishing which the Swedish state had taken from the Sámi in 1993. Not only were the state lawyers accused of using “rhetorics of race biology”, but the village’s Chairman, Matti Berg, faced threats of violence when the case began as many local Swede’s are worrying that their snowmobiling and hunting activities will be further restricted in future. And both in the real and the virtual world a multitude of examples of hate against Sámi can be found: from insults, over accusations that Sámi herders kill their own reindeer to reap financial compensation, to (often unsolved) cases of killed reindeer.

Over the last 100 years undisturbed reindeer habitat has decreased by 70%. Lapland is not only serene mountains, endless snow fields under northern lights and rocky, mosquito-haunted plains; the land holds resources that conjures up dollar signs in some people’s eyes. In Sweden, which provides 90% of the EU’s iron ore, there are around 1000 mines. Most of them are located on traditional Sámi land where pasture land is reduced by the mines and the areas flooded to store – at times toxic – mining waste. Certainly, the mining industry creates jobs and offers a possibility to keep up the declining population of places such as Jokkmokk. But at the same time it poses a threat to wildlife and the traditional way of life of the Sámi. At the same time, the timber industry is replacing ancient forests holding a variety of tree species of different height and age creating an uneven canopy under which snow can accumulate unevenly leaving some areas grazeable with monoculture plantations. There, the trees grow fairly evenly resulting in a more uniform snow blanket that makes it harder for the reindeer to find food.

In addition, global warming might make free access to even more resources in northern Europe: not only are 5-13% of the world’s untapped oil and 20-30% of the world’s untapped gas located in the Barents region, the melting of Arctic ice would also open new shipping routes. It is this development on which Finland’s proposal to build a €2.9 bn railway to Europe’s first Arctic port in Norway is based. The railway would cut off the reindeer’s migration routes in six different herding areas, and could lead to reindeer being run over by trains. This infrastructure would make it possible for companies to encroach even further on the still untouched parts of Lapland. Sámi parliament president Tiina Sanila-Aikio told The Guardian that she only heard about the project in the media.She describes government and company practices as a “slow colonisation” that functions by dividing the land with railways and handing it over to outside industries.

Reindeer are an integral part of Sámi culture and way of life, but also of the Arctic ecosystem. Without reindeer fast growing grasses and shrubs will no longer be kept in check leading to less plant diversity and the higher growing shrubs creating a more uneven layer of snow that reflects less sunlight and thus contributes to increased global warming. Finish climate scientist Tero Mustonen argues that Lapland will be fundamentally transformed by the railway running through areas providing us with climate security. On top of that, it is a project that depends on global warming. Global warming, which threatens the survival of reindeer as spikes of warm winter weather lead to the melting and refreezing of snow. Thus, layers of ice appear on the ground that trap lichen – reindeer’s main winter food supply – underneath. The Sámi’s reindeer are then either at risk of starving or the reindeer herders must bear the extra cost of feeding their animals throughout the winter.

Music as activism

“In Saami I don’t have to say ‘This is our land’, ‘We are still here’, (…) it’s like saying planet Earth is round (…) But when I write in Swedish and English I have to write the most basic stuff”, Sofia Jannok explains the difference between her Swedish and English, and Sámi song texts. She says that she started writing in Swedish and English when she addressed people in power in her head. “By the reactions of listeners, politicians and journalists, I realized how necessary it was that we actually use words so that people understand (…).”

In Swedish schools not much is taught on the subject of the Sámi and their oppression, and often inaccurate information is mixed into the little that is taught: “But I can put it in a song and tell the truth through arts. And I think that is a more efficient way, and actually truer too, because the politicians and people in power are always describing our society with a hidden agenda.” In that sense, Sofia Jannok believes, music can be an effective tool of activism and decolonisation. Maxida Märak, too, argues that culture, including music, has contributed to the improvement of conditions for Sámi people, and remains important as “it was not neutral to have racists in the government (…) and now they sit in Parliament” and point to groups, including the Sámi, they perceive as a threat to Swedish society. “People watch World War II movies and talk about how it could happen, but it’s exactly the same thing that is happening now (…)”

by Merle Emrich

Photo Credits

Sofia Jannok EM1B1389, Bengt Nyman, CC BY 2.0

DSC_4496_Maxida Márak, Riddu Riddu, CC BY-SA 2.0

A day at work, Mats Andersson, CC BY 2.0

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Eurovision: Can you stay away from politics?

Nina Kolarzik — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 16:36:23 +0000

In this edition we can see numerous examples of how music and (international) politics interlink. To date, music can be used as a way to mobilise people for the support of government organisations or revolutions. It is a means of supporting and expressing an identity, through national anthems or resistance songs.

We’ve heard all of that before. But what does it actually mean to be “political”? And, to turn the whole issue on its head: when is music not political anymore?

The Eurovision tunes

Let’s pay attention to an event that carries a significant political message to the cultural sphere: the Eurovision Song Contest. The name says it – “Eurovision” – it transports the vision of a European community, as Eurovision explains its own history:

“The Eurovision Song Contest was established 10 years after the Second World War to bring Europe closer together through music.”

But despite being concerned with such a big topic as European integration, the music contest ought to take place on the cultural level.

In the rules of Eurovision it says under point 2.6: “The ESC is a non-political event. All Participating Broadcasters, including the Host Broadcaster, shall ensure that all necessary steps are undertaken within in their respective Delegations and teams in order to make sure that the ESC shall in no case be politicized and/or instrumentalized.” This is a clear stance, although it has been questioned several times.

But thinking about the event itself, the message it sends, the rationales behind the national votings that are accused of being political etc. is another topic to talk about. I will turn today to a sentence later in that paragraph of the rules: “No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political, commercial or similar nature shall be permitted during the ESC. No swearing or other unacceptable language shall be allowed in the lyrics or in the performances of the songs.” So far so good.

But then think about some of the performances from the past years. In 2014, Iceland participated with the song “No prejudice” by the band Pollapönk (one of the band members being an MP) that takes a stance against prejudices and for more tolerance. In 2018, the Israeli singer won with the feminist-themed song “Toy”. In 2019, the Norwegian contribution “Spirit in the Sky“ by KEiiNO incorporated traditional Sami Singing, to bring the indigenous people into the spotlight. In the same year, France was represented by the Singer Hassani and his song “Roi“ about valuing yourself and fighting discrimination.

This raises the more theoretical question of what it means to be political. When is a topic a purely social or cultural and when a political issue? Can you separate this clearly?

Define the political: capture a ghost?

When searching the term “politics” in online dictionaries and databases, most meanings refer to a narrow understanding that concerns the state system. It is associated with the activities of organisations and institutions, different parties and the governing of countries. The narrow, formal definition of politics concerns the state as the permanent institutions that enforces laws, provides public services etc. It is about the activities of politicians who serve the state temporarily (while the state remains).

Another understanding is seeing politics as a conflict: a process where differences coexist. When reading politics as a process, it is also viewed as a method to resolve conflicts (instead of resorting to violence or coercion). Political actions have to do with competition and gaining power. Understanding politics as exercising power though depends significantly on one’s definition of power.

In a broad definition, politics is understood as a social and public activity, as interaction and engagement with others and with a public orientation. Politics takes place between people of a society, which means that citizens can have a political opinion. Broader, informal understandings could incorporate the statements made by Eurovision songs, while the narrow definitions would not.

Though, the broader definitions get, there is an increased danger of a term losing its meaning- is every social interaction now political? All these definitions inhere some problems but also explain different aspects. Together, they might paint the full picture.

Noisy-famous protest sounds from Iceland

An interesting case at the last ESC is the Icelandic contribution by the group Hatari, with their song “Hatrið mun sigra” (“Hate will prevail”). The group is described as a political project and behind its eccentricity and artistic music is a motivation of criticising capitalism and modern consumer society.

Already before they became the representatives of Iceland, they announced to use in case of a national victory the ESC performance for a protest against Israeli politics. They challenged president Netanyahu to a Glíma competition (a Nordic version of Wrestling) with the Icelandic island community of Vestmannaeyjar as a price, to provoke. Political statements such as those might have brought them the sympathy of many Icelandic people: 2018 around 5% of the population signed a petition about not participating at the 2019 ESC because of the political situation of Israel.

During the ceremony of announcing the scores, Hatari was holding Palestine banners into the cameras, which they got a fine for because of violating the ESC rules.

After reading through the definitions of politics, can this band that is criticising with its performance and its actions one specific state as well as the neoliberal system that arguably runs the world, be defined as being political? Why do they get a fine for the banners, but were allowed to compete in the first place?

Infinite definition loop

As it is the case for many terms and concepts in social science, “politics” is a “contested concept”. In the same manner, this article will not propose one single definition – what is political is nothing singular or straightforward. Or, to put it into the words of the Oxford University Press: “Political is a ubiquitous and seemingly indispensable term in the discussion of human affairs. […] it it is difficult to say what, if anything, ‘political’ signifies in its various applications and how it signifies what it does.” When we listen to the tunes of ESC again next year we can therefore ask once more: where is the line of being political here?

by Nina Kolarzik

Photo Credits

Eurovision 2016 – Stockholm, johnpeart, CC BY-SA 2.0

Eurovision song contest 2010, kjelljoran, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Shaking Hands, 8385

Hatari, P1r, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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Concerts for change: the rhythms of rock, politics and democracy

Nina Kolarzik — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 16:21:29 +0000

Art is not always free from politics, music and politics overlap, which can be examined in many different ways. Political statements are expressed through music, intentions disguised in notes. What’s more, concerts of musicians with a specific political opinion are used for gatherings of certain political groups.

This article talks about so called “Rechtsrock” (right-wing rock) concerts that take place in Germany. Some concerts become tradition and places like the small town Themar in Eastern German Thuringia are now known for their Rechtsrock concerts and right-wing gatherings. Since 2017, the annual concert Rock gegen Überfremdung (“rock against foreign infiltration”) is taking place there – it is the biggest one in Germany with visitors from 23 European countries. But this is not the end – when there is political resistance against extremism, the background music is not far…

Power tunes: about the phenomenon

It is not only a phenomenon in Germany. In the second half of the past century what is called “White power music” developed in Britain (in Sweden known as Vit makt-musik) and has been spreading since then, mainly across Europe and North America. The music scene is part of the socio-political movement of neo-fascism and fulfills several functions that go beyond the enjoyment of good rhythms.The expression of political opinion and ideas in the lyrics and messages of the songs is of course one aspect – vocal propaganda that is more powerful and attractive than pamphlets. Bands as the British Skrewdriver are legends in the “hate rock” scene. Race, nation and people are common themes in their songs.

“Fight for your country, fight for your race,

Fight for your nation, fight made our people great.”

(We fight for Freedom)

They paint a picture of the ideal, Aryan man, and at the same time a left-communist enemy. In big groups and events like this, right-wing groups feel more confident to show their nationalist agenda in public.

But there is more to it than lyrics. It is also a way of getting around all the restrictions that come along with announcing a gathering as a political congregation, including a possible ban on such gatherings. It also means a profit for the groups through the distribution of the music.

Another, even more severe function, is the recruitment. Without being confronted with the actual political actions, white power music concerts introduce an entire subculture in particular to young people who might already have an anti-mainstream and anti-leftist stance. It can be the first contact with the right-wing scene in itself, without looking too obvious like political recruitment.

The most recent edition of the concert in Themar in 2019 was indeed registered as a political event. The federal states of Thuringia and Saxony plan to work harder on tightening up the loopholes in the right to assembly, to hinder right-wing gatherings like these concerts where extremist groups make money with gatherings that function as demonstrations. The issue is dividing towns and communities. But while politics might only wake up now, the citizens of Themar have a long time ago stood up and started to act.

Vive la Résistance!

Civil society is fighting against right-wing extremism and racism with organising own events and concerts, taking the issue in its own hands. Because extremism is not only a political, but also a social issue.

The citizens of Themar are struggling against their home towns being chosen as venue for the gatherings and do not want to be known as a place of neo-fascism. Particularly in Eastern German cities, that have on average a higher population that sympathizes with right-wing thinking, citizens are organising themselves to show they are more than that. With counter movements and political statements for multi- culturalism and democracy, like Themar gegen Rechts, they make a stance for human values. Musicians, anti-fascist organisations, political parties and hundreds of visitors form one colourful crowd that counters the white-power tunes, that is separated from them by police forces.

They have the support of the leading regional politicians. And that of many more people all across the country. Which is the goal of having concerts and festivals like this: to show all the individual activists and initiatives, that they are not the only ones.

Themar is not alone in its effort. Since Eastern Germany is, when it comes to political news, frequently mentioned in one sentence with strong right-wing support, citizens stand up to show that this does not represent a majority of the population. In Ostritz, locals bought all the beer in the area before a Rechtsrock festival. On the 1st of May 2019 the event Zusammenstehen (“Stand together”) for solidarity and diversity took place in Erfurt, including speeches and a Festival of the Many with dozens of musicians on the International Labour Day.

In Chemnitz in Summer 2018, a huge free concert was organised under the hashtag #wirsindmehr (“we are more”). It was organised by local civil initiatives as a statement for a peaceful, open, tolerant and democratic society. Big names of the German music landscape, that are known for their political activism against right-wing extremism, as FeineSahneFischfilet, Die Toten Hosen, Kraftklub or K.I.Z., performed. 2019 it was continued as “Wir bleiben mehr” (“we remain more”).

Music is made together

We can see that music can provide the energy for people to make themselves heard. For neo-fascism, but also for everyone who is countering the right-wing extremism and the fear of the unknown.

The band FeineSahneFischfilet returned in Autumn 2019 to Themar for a concert to support those people and initiatives in the region, that engage since years against right extremism. Their message is: frustration with politics is understandable, when no-one seems to care about your little villages. But it should not serve as a reason to support extremist parties.

That is activism for a diverse but united society through music. Kraftklub singer Felix Brummer said in Chemnitz: “We are not naive. We are not living in the illusion, that you do one concert and then the world is saved. But sometimes it is important to show that you are not alone.”

by Nina Kolarzik

Photo Credits

Neonazi-Kundgebungen, kai.schwerdt, CC BY-NC 2.0

Marteria | Marteria & Casper, Stefan-Mueller.pics, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Zusammenstehen

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Rap music as a political message

Pauline Zaragoza — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 15:43:56 +0000

Rap music which is mostly considered as a scandalous art can be the subject of curiosity. Actually, by nature rap constitutes a tool for contestation and can carry out a political message.

Origin and characteristics of rap

Rap music can be defined as a cultural movement born in the seventies in American black and Latino ghettos. It is rooted in the Hip hop movement and has been influenced by various music such as reggae, blues, or rock. This music incorporates “rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular“ and it is composed of content (what is being said), flow (rhythm, rhyme), and delivery (cadence, tone). Etymologically, the word “rap” comes from the verb “to rap” which means to “to strike, especially with a quick, smart, or light blow” and is also slang for “to talk or discuss, especially freely, openly, or volubly; chat”.

A political DNA

In the field of music, rap holds an original place. It is considering as the first music “without professional musician”. Rap music is intrinsically politics. Rap’s politicization can be explained by the fact that it’s a way to express the concrete effects of pauperization in ghettos and by the politicized interpretation of rap music by the media. According to Arsenik’s statement, “No one can pretend to rap without taking a position”. In the nineties, this sentence was particularly true with some groups such as the Public Group in the US or Assassin and IAM in France.

Political rap music exploded in the eighties. At this time, it has been a way to express a malaise and claims of the ghettos’ inhabitants. During this Golden Age, what we call “gangsta rap” was born; N.W.A group in California composed by Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella are the standard-bearer of this style. They were inspired by their daily life with police brutalities and gang wars.

In 1988, they signed the hit “Fuck tha police”, a classic song in which they denounce police violence against young black American. Before, in 1982, the group Grandmaster Flash had written the famous song “The Message” in which they criticized power symbols, police and justice.

Rap music can be pictured as the incarnation of oppressed revolt: the representation of an anti-establishment discourse based on identity and claims of urban life’s problems. According to some sociologists, such as Boucher, rap must be studied as a movement which inform us about values conveyed in urban areas and by young people. Hence, rap music is a new political enunciation.

The birth of mainstream rap

With time, rap has become one predominant aspect of world pop culture. Next to the birth of a political rap in the eighties and nineties, we can see a broadening of the genre. There was also a development of a “provocative” mainstream rap with its symbols such as luxury cars, guns or even women.

But compared to this “non-engaged” rap, we can also see the mainstreaming of a more political rap style. Indeed, engaged rap is popular because there are representing certain youth from ghettos. As explained by the French rapper Youssoupha, the success of rappers in society is a “militant act” in itself rather than its militancy being bound to the art-form or the lyrics.

As engaged rap is spread, it carries with it a message. As an example, in the nineties, famous French rappers such as Kery James, IAM, Minister AMER, Assasin, NTM and many others used their popularity for the hit “11’30 against racists laws”.

Also, at the international scale, we are witnessing the coming of popular engaged rappers who wake people up to listen. One of the most famous is Jay-Z who talked about racism and the black experience in America in his Grammy-nominated album, “4:44.”. We can also cite Eminem or Kendrick Lamar with his Grammy-nominated album “Damn” and his 2015 album “To Pimp a Butterfly”. In this last one, we can listen featuring lyrics such as: “Donald Trump’s in office/ We lost Barack and promised to never doubt him again/ But is America honest, or do we bask in sin?”.

Originally, rap, by tackling topics such as money, delinquency or insecurity, was born from pain and contestation. And even if today we are witnessing a mainstreaming of rap which implies the arrival of white middle-class rappers, this engaged DNA is not dead.

A style still alive: political rap during social crisis

Political rap is especially prominent while a society faces an important crisis, whether it’s a political or historical one, or one concerning identity. In France, the day following the access of the presidential election second round by Jean-Marie Le Pen had led famous rappers to gather and incite youth to block far-right accession with the song “La lutte est en marche”. The French rappers Kery James who is considered as the king of French engaged rap had made the hit “Letter to the French Republic” (“Lettre à la République”) where he tackles the demonization of Muslim people in France and inhabitants of French ghettos who comes from a France that has forgotten its colonial past and its discrimination.

We can talk about Donald Trump’s access to the White House, which has created a wave of engaged rap song. We can cite Eminem with his explosive freestyle rap which he unleashed on the President. About the same target, Childish Gambino with his brilliant and brutal music video “This is America” criticized US modern society; the video clip had more than 1 million views in less than 24 hours. With this song, he raised awareness about the fact that guns have more value than human life and the banalization of violence especially against Black American. In addition, in the United Kingdom, the rapper Stormzy with his song “Vossip Bop” included a gem on Brexit and Boris Johnson: “Rule number 2 don’t make the promise/ If you can’t keep the deal then just be honest/ I can never die I’m Chuck Norris/ Fuck the government and fuck Boris.”

As described by the journalist Karim Madani, rap involves provocation. According to him, “politics and rap are a bad melange. We are in a censured period with the politically correct but Rap Music by its nature is inherently politically incorrect”.

by Pauline Zaragoza

Photo Credits

Eminem-04, Mika Väisänen, CC BY-SA 4.0,

Tupac graffiti New York, JJ & Special K, CC BY-SA 2.0,

Jay-Z concert, i am guilty, CC BY-SA 2.0,

Festival des Vieilles Charrues 2017 – Kery James – 170, Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Mahraganat: How a New Musical Genre Emerged in Egypt

Michael Schätzlein — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 13:26:10 +0000

A few years ago, no one would have imagined that Salam City, a poor suburb in the periphery of Cairo, could become the heart of a music scene that would come to influence the whole of Egypt. The town, which was erected after a 1992 earthquake, now houses artists that, although hardly known outside of Egypt, have succeeded in establishing a new musical genre that is played all over Cairo and is slowly spreading to other parts of Egypt. This new genre, which is called Mahraganat- “festival” in Arabic, combines heavily audiotuned lyrics written in the local slang with traditional Egypt shaabi music and influences from hip-hop and electronic music and hit the scene in 2009, just a year before the revolution began.

Mahraganat, also known as electro shaabi, can be understood as music created by the poor for the poor. Its listeners are mostly young working class people with low prospects for the future and the quality of music is not very high, since the technical possibilities are quite restricted due to a lack of funding. It started off on a local level, with online video platforms, like Youtube, being one of the primary ways of distribution. Artists would sing about the life in their neighbourhood, which made them quite popular with the people living there. Although Mahraganat has grown, spread and evolved over the years, it still retains its focus on the artists’ respective neighbourhoods and remains the music of the streets.

In the turmoil of the demonstrations that would lead to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak’s government and the ensuing chaos, it was easier for the artists to promote their music by giving concerts in spaces formerly reserved for bigger artists as there was nobody to hinder them from doing so. In a way, the Arab Spring paved the way for this anti-traditional kind of music.

It is also the Arab Spring that provided the main incentive for an evolution of the genre. With thousands occupying Tahrir Square in Cairo from January 2011 onward, it was inevitable for the artists and their music to be politicised. Their focus had shifted toward political expression and nowadays, the music also tackles social issues like the ever present sexual harassment of women in Egypt, drugs and violence, breaking with the taboo issues in Egypt’s traditional society. Other than most other genres, Mahraganat music dares to speak up openly, which is why it is considered too vulgar to be played on public radio stations and is viewed with contempt by most middle- and upper-class people.

The most famous amongst the Mahraganat artists, Sadat, is often credited with being the first musician of the genre, has become a hero of the young people of Salam City. He is a former aluminium factory worker who was able to overcome problems, like his social status, and is now a successful musician known all over Egypt, for example, his wedding party was attended by about 20,000 people. Sadat also inspires others to do as he has and despite his success, he stays true to his neighbourhood of Salam City where he continues to live and perform free concerts. Just like other artists, he still relies on performances as a primary source of income, as the Mahraganat scene is mainly directed via genre websites that provide the music for free.

Mahraganat, however, is not an isolated case. Various other music genres have emerged in the past few years in the Islamic world. Slowly, traditional Islamic society is opening up for what can be called a Westernisation of music. Muslim punk, also called Taqwacore, was popularised following the publishing of Michael Knight’s novel The Taqwacores in 2003. Taqwacore, although still tightly bonded to Islam, takes a more radical approach to religious themes than Mahraganat, which is also why religious authorities are feeling challenged by the ideas of Taqwacore. The scene witnessed a major crackdown in 2012, when Indonesian police forcibly shaved the heads of concert-goers in an effort to “rehabilitate” them into Indonesia’s predominantly Muslim society.

But not all of the new genres are critical of Islam. Muslim hip-hop, which developed during the 1990s, spawned a new sub-genre called “jihadi rap” following the events of 9/11 and the wars in Afganistan and Iraq. Artists of this genre rally against the USA and its allies, promote self-sacrifice and seek to inspire young Muslims to join the Jihadist movements. The USA quickly became aware of this and launched campaigns using hip-hop as a means of cultural understanding, with rap artists touring the Islamic world, like the national ping-pong team did in China back in the times of ping-pong diplomacy.

Following the politicisation of the music and media coverage on the Arab Spring, Mahraganat also became known outside of Egypt with various artists of the genre enabled to perform abroad. A circumstance which also inspired cooperation with the London-based urban music radio station Rinse FM, which tries to support Mahraganat music by giving artists opportunities to collaborate with UK electronic music artists and to learn not only about technical subjects such as mastering, but also about how they can sell their music better in order to expand. Sadat is one of them.

By Michael Schätzlein

Image Credit:

Picture 1: Ron Rothbart, licensed under CC BY 2.0

Picture 2: Ramy Raoof, licensed under CC BY 2.0

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