(no subject)

[jfb]

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.

Comments

[rollerboogie.livejournal.com]

It's very long (twenty tracks) and I like about half of it, which is pretty good for a comp like this. My favorites are the Reputation track and the J.Robbins track (he covers "Fear is a Man's Best Friend" by John Cale). There's also good stuff from Ted Leo, Death Cab for Cutie (with Harvey Danger's Sean Nelson on vocals), and creepy stuff from Q and Not U and Enon--all in all, a very good collection of indie rockers, and it's $10 PPD for a worthwhile cause (proceeds go to a Vietnam Vet charity), so I'd recommend it. If nothing else it's a good study to see how modern day indie rockers try to make these songs their own--because they're not songs or an era that many seem inclined to touch. Hit and miss, but when it hits, it's very poignant. I think it's worth it for the Reputation track alone.