The Null Device

An article inquiring about the absence of protest music, so prevalent during past conflicts such as Vietnam and the Gulf War, but all but nonexistent during Bush Jr.'s global adventure. There are protest songs on MP3 websites, but none appearing on new albums next to the "tribute to heroes" compilations; meanwhile, anti-war songs like John Lennon's Imagine have been pulled from centrally-controlled airwaves, and former dissenters from Neil Young to the Wu Tang Clan have recorded patriotic war anthems. Is it because the US recording and broadcast industries are now controlled by a handful of corporations who see no room for unpatriotic (or unmarketable) material, that nobody wants to be the commie ratfink who's first to stop singing God Bless America and cheering on the daisycutters, or just that music these days (including the independent labels) is purely about consumerism and lifestyle, and dissent doesn't shift enough units?

consider the question that Bay Area anti-prison activist and Freedom Fighter Music co-producer Ying-Sun Ho asks in reference to rap: "You don't think a song that talks about nothing but how much your jewelry shines has a political content to it?"

(via Unknown News)

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This afternoon, I went along to the blogmeet Graham had called together, meeting up with Graham, Cos, Lev, Dave, and a SubGenius named Alex in Edinburgh Gardens. After a while, we repaired to the nearby Lord Newry Hotel (which seems like a fairly typical pub, though with some decent music on the jukebox), where a lot of Guinness was consumed and considerable conversation was had (not to mention a few games of pool, testing the hypothesis that intoxication improves one's game). All in all, an enjoyable afternoon.

Afterwards, I went to the Corner (along with Graham), to catch the Eaze Bootleg CD launch, though we got there late, and all but two bands had finished.

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