I am a little sad this morning because I have broken up with The Herd. Much like a relationship with a boyfriend, we just don’t talk like we used to and now we are parting ways – hu, I hear you say?
Last week there was a dramatic day in Australian politics with Julia Gillard ousting Kevin Rudd as Australia’s Prime Minister. I was, like many, caught out, not expecting the change to come so soon. Then this morning while walking I was excited to listen to The Herd, only to realise very soon that we were actually breaking up. The last album from The Herd, an Australian political hip-hop group, has two songs in particular that I loved when they were first released. The songs 2020 and The King is Dead refer to the magical moment in Australian political history when the former Prime Minister John Howard was defeated in the 2007 election by Kevin Rudd. How the words resonated with me – “Crook you got your ass played in Mandarin” were only tempered with “Keep your eye on the new kid, ...we knew where Johnny stood, where’s Kevin?”. But today the words were that little bit more hollow as I realised that the songs have now dated. This is the end of their relevance and their shift to the past, like a relationship that has ended with just the photographs to reminisce with. Perhaps I should eat some chocolate?
Political music is commonly grouped into two forms, the narrative and the anthem. Narratives more commonly relate to specific events and while they can take some time to develop they are nonetheless considered to have a limited scope and relevance. Often depicting a broader social issue, for example Bob Dylan’s Hurricane, they nonetheless tell a story that is specific in time. For this reason they may be more easily characterised as a summer romance. We are far less likely to expect them to resonate with us for an extended period of time.
Anthems on the other hand can be either specific or general. I consider The Herds songs to be more specific than other songs, for example Edwin Starr’s ‘War’ (‘What is it Good For’). But our relationships with anthems tend to be more passionate as they drive a sense of inclusion and celebration – a sense of unity and purpose. Like a relationship that suddenly ends, those based on politics have a limited life span but without a loss at an election, the ending is sudden and unexpected. Its not me – its them!
There are of course songs which overlap these categories and are far less easily determined but one good example in this case is the song From Little Things Big Things Grow – a song which samples a lot of the speech to the stolen generation by Kevin Rudd in one of his most positive contributions to Australian history – the apology in which he said sorry for the removal of Indigenous children from their families under the White Australia Policy. Here the song tells the story of the apology but in an anthem style implores Australians to see this as a new beginning. The song is specific in nature in so much that it relates to the apology itself but unlike The Herd songs which relate to Rudd’s election, here the song relates specifically to his speech and indeed samples another former Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating. While I adore this song, it was dated from the moment it was released.
The limited life span of more specific anthems is something that appears to bring an emotional disturbance with it. I was really aware of how the John Butler Trio’s song, The Gov Did Nothing, which is about Hurricane Katrina, really missed its purpose because it was released so long after the events. And today I am again reminded of the limited life span of the more specific anthem. While the songs by The Herd do more commonly celebrate the end of Howard holding office, the other side of this was inevitably the celebration of Kevin Rudd as a more suitable and compassionate leader.
I have to admit to being polygamist here though – I am in a long term relationship with my Obama songs and will ddefinitely cry the day they are not longer relevant. The up side I suppose is the anticipation of new music, I hope Australian political artists are ready to celebrate the first female Prime Minister in Australian history and hope that there is a rush to the first song that samples or includes Julia – it would be a testament to the Australian feminist movement to see a song released that commemorates this amazing event.
So as a I lament the loss of a relationship and the loss of music from the present to the past, I hold hope that a new relationship is about to start and will try my hardest to always think of The Herd as being relevant in an historical sense. I still love them, its just that we’ve grown apart, at least for now.
Afterword
I just sat down to a cup of tea only to hear 'Ghostwriters - Political Animal' and wish to dedicate this song to Kevin Rudd - "politics is fine, if you want to wreck your life".
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Solid Rock 2010
A song that I played frequently on Music with a Message, my radio show a couple of years ago was Goanna's Solid Rock. This song, from the 1980s, is a well known Australian anthem that speaks of the sacred land of Australia and its important to the country's Indigenous people.
Listening to Triple J (Australia's ABC Youth Radio station) this afternoon, I heard an adaptation of this song by an Australian Hip-Hop group called Street Warriors. The adaptation takes the Solid Rock anthem and restyles it as a hip-hop track while adding to the passion and intensity of the original song by sampling Indigenous Australians in the background. It was pleasing to hear this song covered and changed in a way that brings the sentiments of the pro-land rights message into this century.
Check out the track on their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/streetwarriorsmusic
Listening to Triple J (Australia's ABC Youth Radio station) this afternoon, I heard an adaptation of this song by an Australian Hip-Hop group called Street Warriors. The adaptation takes the Solid Rock anthem and restyles it as a hip-hop track while adding to the passion and intensity of the original song by sampling Indigenous Australians in the background. It was pleasing to hear this song covered and changed in a way that brings the sentiments of the pro-land rights message into this century.
Check out the track on their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/streetwarriorsmusic
Friday, June 11, 2010
Women’s Revolution Blue King Brown
Updated: Today Blue King Brown, one of my most favourite Australian bands, released a new single called Women’s Revolution. This song has been previewed this week on Australia’s Government Youth Radio station Triple J but I was not lucky enough to hear it until I purchased it myself. The release of a new album or song by an independent group such as this serves as a great example of how the internet can assist with the dissemination of information about music.
I was notified through an email that the release date was today and have patiently waited all week to be able to listen to the song. Interestingly enough there is a mention of finishing their new album on Facebook but so far no post about the release of the new single. I had also read that the song was available through MySpace this week but when I visited their page I could not see the song available for streaming (maybe I missed something). Googling the song this morning for the lyrics showed that the lyrics do not appear to be available independently from the song as yet however there were some write ups about the song. This begs the question as to whether they are really using the web in the most productive way to communicate their messages.
While it is early days yet in the promotion of the new single, this appears to be a disjointed release which could have been coordinated a little better. The other perspective, of course, is that a staggered web release may actually extend the time in which the single gains exposure. I will attempt to keep an eye on how this is managed, and if lucky enough to ever interview them (yes have sent in my ethics approval report to keep this as an option for my doctorate) I will be sure to ask what strategy they employ and what they see as being the most effective way for an independent band to use the net for getting the word out about their music.
In the former spirit and vein of a vinyl single, an iTunes purchase results in two tracks – the first listed being a remix featuring Queen Ifrica (with video clip) and the second being the song (only)with slightly different lyrics. I appreciate getting two versions of the song for the price of one and respect them for not short changing their listeners. Indeed, on their website, which contains a relatively small graphic about the single, they state: “The special price and free video download is our way of saying thank you to all the fans who have supported BKB over the years”.
The song is more like a sound track than a popular song in places with a beat and tempo more suited to listening or watching than dancing. Indeed while the song is reggae/hip hop in style, the most notable thing to me is the tempo. Depicting the way women are held back in the world through sexism, violence and systematic discrimination, the pace of this song feels like it is being held back too.
The two versions of the song have slightly different lyrics but they are otherwise very similar. The central message is one of unity against rape and the unfair treatment of women. The lyrics speak of sisters, inequality, revolution, and not being afraid. The chorus states that through women’s resistance ‘freedom finds a place to dream’.
The instrumentation and use of samples help to create a sense of dreaming with the unity of voices through both the backing singers and Natalie/Queen Ifrica illustrating the collective voices of women around the world. The structure of the song is unusual and seems to reflect the complexity of womens issues.
Blue King Brown are undoubtedly the thinking audiences’ band and it is no surprise that they would release a single with a strong feminist message. Despite not speaking directly to their male listeners they are not likely to suffer detriment because of this. Their consistency as writers/recorders of political songs is a fundamental part of who they are and for them this is not a risky song but true to their overall objectives and style.
More Information
Blue King Brown Website: http://www.bluekingbrown.com/
I was notified through an email that the release date was today and have patiently waited all week to be able to listen to the song. Interestingly enough there is a mention of finishing their new album on Facebook but so far no post about the release of the new single. I had also read that the song was available through MySpace this week but when I visited their page I could not see the song available for streaming (maybe I missed something). Googling the song this morning for the lyrics showed that the lyrics do not appear to be available independently from the song as yet however there were some write ups about the song. This begs the question as to whether they are really using the web in the most productive way to communicate their messages.
While it is early days yet in the promotion of the new single, this appears to be a disjointed release which could have been coordinated a little better. The other perspective, of course, is that a staggered web release may actually extend the time in which the single gains exposure. I will attempt to keep an eye on how this is managed, and if lucky enough to ever interview them (yes have sent in my ethics approval report to keep this as an option for my doctorate) I will be sure to ask what strategy they employ and what they see as being the most effective way for an independent band to use the net for getting the word out about their music.
In the former spirit and vein of a vinyl single, an iTunes purchase results in two tracks – the first listed being a remix featuring Queen Ifrica (with video clip) and the second being the song (only)with slightly different lyrics. I appreciate getting two versions of the song for the price of one and respect them for not short changing their listeners. Indeed, on their website, which contains a relatively small graphic about the single, they state: “The special price and free video download is our way of saying thank you to all the fans who have supported BKB over the years”.
The song is more like a sound track than a popular song in places with a beat and tempo more suited to listening or watching than dancing. Indeed while the song is reggae/hip hop in style, the most notable thing to me is the tempo. Depicting the way women are held back in the world through sexism, violence and systematic discrimination, the pace of this song feels like it is being held back too.
The two versions of the song have slightly different lyrics but they are otherwise very similar. The central message is one of unity against rape and the unfair treatment of women. The lyrics speak of sisters, inequality, revolution, and not being afraid. The chorus states that through women’s resistance ‘freedom finds a place to dream’.
The instrumentation and use of samples help to create a sense of dreaming with the unity of voices through both the backing singers and Natalie/Queen Ifrica illustrating the collective voices of women around the world. The structure of the song is unusual and seems to reflect the complexity of womens issues.
Blue King Brown are undoubtedly the thinking audiences’ band and it is no surprise that they would release a single with a strong feminist message. Despite not speaking directly to their male listeners they are not likely to suffer detriment because of this. Their consistency as writers/recorders of political songs is a fundamental part of who they are and for them this is not a risky song but true to their overall objectives and style.
More Information
Blue King Brown Website: http://www.bluekingbrown.com/
Sunday, June 6, 2010
John Butler Trio – Revolution
My ‘Song of the Moment’ right now is the first track on the John Butler Trio’s new album April Uprising. This song is another brilliant composition from this band. It starts with a soft dawning of sounds – the dawning of the Revolution.
The track goes onto develop as an anthem with the tempo increasing as the song progresses. Just prior to the chorus there is a loud crash of cymbals announcing that the time has come to take action. The lyrics near the end of the song shout out in a demanding tone: ‘Take back your hands, take back your feet, take back your words, take back your land, take back your heart, take back your pride, don’t got to run, don’t got to hide – Revolution’.
I really love this song – I find the passion in John Butler’s voice uplifting and empowering. The album has only been out for a few weeks and so far this song has not been released as a single but I hope it is and that it is put on high rotation by radio stations world wide. It is a fantastic song and just one of many great songs on the April Uprising album.
More Information
The Jon Butler Trio website: http://jbtserver.com/blog/
The track goes onto develop as an anthem with the tempo increasing as the song progresses. Just prior to the chorus there is a loud crash of cymbals announcing that the time has come to take action. The lyrics near the end of the song shout out in a demanding tone: ‘Take back your hands, take back your feet, take back your words, take back your land, take back your heart, take back your pride, don’t got to run, don’t got to hide – Revolution’.
I really love this song – I find the passion in John Butler’s voice uplifting and empowering. The album has only been out for a few weeks and so far this song has not been released as a single but I hope it is and that it is put on high rotation by radio stations world wide. It is a fantastic song and just one of many great songs on the April Uprising album.
More Information
The Jon Butler Trio website: http://jbtserver.com/blog/
Childs Play
Recently I spent some time with a group of children who consistently and for a period of time no creator should endure, played the mimicking game in which they repeated all of my phrases and in some cases my body language.
To begin with I ignored what was happening hoping that it would end on its own without further comment. As the person in the hot seat I was focused on more important things than the repetition of my language. However as time went on it became something more along the lines of annoyance. I found myself starting to wonder about why it was that they found this game so rewarding. Later, after another extended period of time, I became more or less used to the repetition and started to play a long a little.
This experience led me to think about cover versions – I jokingly said on more than one occasion that they were a poor cover version and made reference to the TISM song ‘Thou shalt not Britney’. The lack of original composition, the misinterpretation and misuse of my language was an interesting experience to analyse.
In Australia, unlike the United States, one must still seek a license in order to cover an original song. With limited fair dealing provisions, none of which are clearly stated to provide a solid basis on which to adapt a song readily, cover versions and samples both require legal assistance to ensure one does not breach copyright law. Of course, in the United States a license is automatically granted on the payment of a set royalty for cover versions, whereas samples require a license – a situation that, like Australia, more commonly than not, requires legal assistance. Precedent with respect to samples in the United States at this point fails to adequately accommodate creators wishing to build on the works of others under the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act. Parody and satire are defences in both countries that fall within the lawful reuse of expression but the boundaries are not clear.
And so here I am with this group of children, holding them out at arms length and wondering why this would be such a compelling game. Often people refer to cover versions as an easy way to establish a new act. The repetition or “modernisation” of a song already known to the public seems to allow older audience members to relate to new artists by renewing a connection from the past thus emulating an emotional context established at an earlier time. But here the repetition by these children was immediate, these children were in fact teasing me with my own language – could this be a ‘political’ use of my speech? (Indeed it was not just for fun but was to undermine my position in relation to them and my authority).
I have only around 1000 songs on my iPod, most of which I accumulated whilst a presenter of a political music program on community radio called ‘Music with a Message’. Despite having such a small collection of songs (I believe the average iPod user holds around 3 times this amount or more) I have some pairs of songs. I have a Red Gum Song titled ‘I was only 19’ from the 1980s which refers to the Vietnam war as well as a modern version of the same song by The Herd. Furthermore I have the Paul Kelly song ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ also from the 1980s as well as an adapted version of this song by a number of artists that was released in support of the Stolen Generation in 2008. Finally I have ‘The Guns of Brixton’ by the Clash, again from the 1980s, and have tried to purchase ‘The Guns of Brooklyn’ by Bliss and Esso (so far without luck). This is the political re-use of music.
It seems to me that there is a continuum with respect to the copying of expression. At one end there is the sample, followed by the cover version, then adaptations, transformative uses, and finally parody and satire. Like shades of white to black with much grey in the middle, the law attempts to dissect and categorise without clarity unless one is at the polar ends of the continuum. Moral rights with respect to non derogatory treatment further intensify the legal complexities in Australia while in the United States these rights do not exist.
The main difference between the children in this instance and follow on creators is the intention with which the copying takes place. In my experience I was the person that they sought to undermine whilst for follow on creators, particularly with respect to political music, the intention is to educate or motivate a third party, namely an external audience. What in one instance may be best referred to as ‘childs play’ by analogy translates into reiteration and iteration with a view to changing people and the world. The original creators, when they have a choice, my not wish to allow a repetition of their expression but in some respects should see it more as a complement rather than as a personal attack.
To begin with I ignored what was happening hoping that it would end on its own without further comment. As the person in the hot seat I was focused on more important things than the repetition of my language. However as time went on it became something more along the lines of annoyance. I found myself starting to wonder about why it was that they found this game so rewarding. Later, after another extended period of time, I became more or less used to the repetition and started to play a long a little.
This experience led me to think about cover versions – I jokingly said on more than one occasion that they were a poor cover version and made reference to the TISM song ‘Thou shalt not Britney’. The lack of original composition, the misinterpretation and misuse of my language was an interesting experience to analyse.
In Australia, unlike the United States, one must still seek a license in order to cover an original song. With limited fair dealing provisions, none of which are clearly stated to provide a solid basis on which to adapt a song readily, cover versions and samples both require legal assistance to ensure one does not breach copyright law. Of course, in the United States a license is automatically granted on the payment of a set royalty for cover versions, whereas samples require a license – a situation that, like Australia, more commonly than not, requires legal assistance. Precedent with respect to samples in the United States at this point fails to adequately accommodate creators wishing to build on the works of others under the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act. Parody and satire are defences in both countries that fall within the lawful reuse of expression but the boundaries are not clear.
And so here I am with this group of children, holding them out at arms length and wondering why this would be such a compelling game. Often people refer to cover versions as an easy way to establish a new act. The repetition or “modernisation” of a song already known to the public seems to allow older audience members to relate to new artists by renewing a connection from the past thus emulating an emotional context established at an earlier time. But here the repetition by these children was immediate, these children were in fact teasing me with my own language – could this be a ‘political’ use of my speech? (Indeed it was not just for fun but was to undermine my position in relation to them and my authority).
I have only around 1000 songs on my iPod, most of which I accumulated whilst a presenter of a political music program on community radio called ‘Music with a Message’. Despite having such a small collection of songs (I believe the average iPod user holds around 3 times this amount or more) I have some pairs of songs. I have a Red Gum Song titled ‘I was only 19’ from the 1980s which refers to the Vietnam war as well as a modern version of the same song by The Herd. Furthermore I have the Paul Kelly song ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ also from the 1980s as well as an adapted version of this song by a number of artists that was released in support of the Stolen Generation in 2008. Finally I have ‘The Guns of Brixton’ by the Clash, again from the 1980s, and have tried to purchase ‘The Guns of Brooklyn’ by Bliss and Esso (so far without luck). This is the political re-use of music.
It seems to me that there is a continuum with respect to the copying of expression. At one end there is the sample, followed by the cover version, then adaptations, transformative uses, and finally parody and satire. Like shades of white to black with much grey in the middle, the law attempts to dissect and categorise without clarity unless one is at the polar ends of the continuum. Moral rights with respect to non derogatory treatment further intensify the legal complexities in Australia while in the United States these rights do not exist.
The main difference between the children in this instance and follow on creators is the intention with which the copying takes place. In my experience I was the person that they sought to undermine whilst for follow on creators, particularly with respect to political music, the intention is to educate or motivate a third party, namely an external audience. What in one instance may be best referred to as ‘childs play’ by analogy translates into reiteration and iteration with a view to changing people and the world. The original creators, when they have a choice, my not wish to allow a repetition of their expression but in some respects should see it more as a complement rather than as a personal attack.
4 months later
Due to some personal issues I have been unable to access the internet properly for around the past 4 months. As I have so often noted, suspension or disconnection of internet accounts as a remedy for file sharing is an extreme, unnecessary and damaging penalty that in effect amounts to an overreaction for the crime that has allegedly been committed. (Sorry to those that had been relying on my posts and links – hopefully things will return to normal over the next month).
So what has my experience been? Life without the net is something I have feared in the past. Having only had broadband services for a relatively short time span, my internet connection is something that I both cherish and depend upon.
For the past four months I have been unable to communicate effectively with a range of people including my family, colleagues and others (both via email, facebook and chat). I have been unable to do my banking on line which has been both time consuming and resulted in the mismanagement of my funds (agh! FIXED). Furthermore I have been in the dark with respect to what has been happening in the digital music field. The end result was the downloading of some 448 emails the other day and another 133 today. I have just started to plough through them to see what is happening – BNA – one of the newsletters I have relied on heavily in the past announced in April, apparently, that they are no longer going to be sending out their daily news update and instead have replaced it with a subscription model. One of my favourite artists, the John Butler trio, launched a new album (which I have bought) but I have missed out on other information including new film clips and tour information and interviews which I would have loved to have read/seen much sooner.
These are just some of the negative consequences of having been disconnected from the internet for a 4 month period. I once broke a leg that took 16 weeks to heal and the frustration, inconvenience and suffering are very similar.
I have long denounced the imposition of disconnection and suspension of internet accounts and now with personal first hand experience will remain an active and even louder opponent of this penalty.
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