jfb | (no subject)

A few things I ran across earlier on Google:

Damon Albarn makes the case for protest music in the Times of London.

Louise Kennedy writes in the Boston Globe about why musicians aren't writing anti-war songs. Among other things, she points out that the anti-war songs of the 60s didn't come along until, well, the war was underway.

Jeff Chang writes in Metro (last April) about protest music, media conglomeration, and self-censorship. Lots of good perspectives in this piece. Both Kennedy and Chang look to hip-hop as a probable source of protest music for the new millennium.

Brent Staples writes about protest music, but mostly about the consolidation of radio ownership in the New York Times, following a related article by William Safire.

Barry Stoller asks "Where are the new anti-war songs?"--not just "little indie groups" but "supernova chart power". But his ideas for chart-topping artists are Dylan, Baez, McCartney, Ono, Ozzy Osbourne, Neil Young, and Johnny Rotten. I think he's making some kind of point, but it just makes him look out of touch.