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socio-political musical referrals

Rhonda Hunt-Conklin wrote:
> I was wondering if some of you may have suggestions
> about bands who are political/have a political
> message to their music, such as Rage Against The
> Machine, U2, Midnight Oil, etc. I'm just looking
> to get into some new music.

other good bands in that realm:
downset., Ozomatli, Ani Difranco, and Testament &
Tourniquet (mayhaps)...

-> downset. has three albums... _downset._ (1994,
mercury records), _Do We Speak a Dead Language?_
(1996, mercury records) and _Check Your People_
(2000, epitaph records).  they are in the hip-hop
hardcore realm.  on their first 2 albums, the band
consisted of 2 christians, 1 jew, and 1 athiest.
diverse spiritual, political-themed music.  they
are an L.A. band, rich in the hip-hop (taggin')
culture.  first two albums are rap metal (before
it was cool), and their latest is more hardcore
(straightedge and whatnot influenced).

-> Ozomatli has two albums... _Ozomatli_ (1998,
almo sounds/interscope) and _Embrace the Chaos_
(2001, almo sounds/interscope).  they were there
outside the democractic party convention that
Rage Against the Machine was at as well.  the
riots erupted during the 1st song of Ozomatli's
set.  they are a latin band (nice instrumentation
and party feel), that usually has guest hip-hop
artists on it.  their first album had guest DJ
Cut Chemist and MC Chali 2Na (both of Jurassic
5).  their latest album (_Embrace the Chaos_)
has guests from De La Soul... and i think maybe
?uestlove from The Roots (but i forget).

-> Ani Difranco... she has too many records to
count.  she's prolific, and feisty.  i think her
usual turn-around time for a new album is 9 mos
or so. :)  she's an excessively independant
singer-songwriter/ businesswoman.  started in
1990, and continuing strong on her own to this
day.  "aggressive-acoustic-folk" is what i'd call
her stuff.  my fav albums of hers are _Little
Plastic Castle_ (1998), _Dilate_ (1996), and
Revelling/Reckoning (double-disc from 2001)...
all on her own Righteous Babe Records.  she's
very political, relationship-y, social, real
life shit, etc.  ya know, everything a good
folk artist aims for.  she also has a lot of
"women's issues" songs.  i applaud her for this,
but sometimes i feel as though she's not giving
the male listeners a fair shake.  there are many
non-machisimo non-"alpha-males" out there that
are sensitive and not like the males she slams
many times...

-> also see Utah Phillips spoken word stuff on
Ani Difranco's Righteous Babe Records.

-> Testament.  brutal metal.  their _Low_ album
(1994, atlantic records) has some political
stuff on it.  as "evil" as some of their cover
art makes them seem, they're really a good,
positive band.  really.  they are.  they are
now out on their own Burnt Offerings record label.
i'd check out _Low_ first, maybe _Live at the
Fillmore_ (1995) or _Demonic_ (1998) next.

-> Tourniquet is a christian speedmetal band that
would make PETA proud.  originally all vegetarians
(now, i don't think so).  they write many songs w/
a medical and/or animal rights slant.  their debut
_Stop the Bleeding_ (1990, frontline/intense) had a
few good tunes, but was pretty atrocious otherwise.
"Ark of Suffering" was a gem off of that album.  my
fav Tourniquet albums are _Psycho Surgery_ (1991,
frontline/intense) & _Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance_
(1992, frontline/metal blade records).  many times
with lyrics that dealt with social issues and
related them to medical terms and analogies.  also,
kinda high on the spiritual level, sometimes
preachy, but not too preachy to get licensed to
metal blade records.  after those three albums,
they got a new lead singer, dropped their original
2 guitarists and bassist, and became kinda shitty,
IMO.  their drummer/songwriter, Ted Kirkpatrick,
stayed with the band, but he can't carry them.  he
*is* phenomenal- the Neil Peart of speedmetal
drumming, IMO.

um... that's all i can think of that have a definite
socio-political slant to their muse...

a wealth of *useless* musical knowledge,
Dan

np: remy zero - the golden hum


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