McCarthy and Easterhouse were two underground bands that shone out amidst the sludge of anodyne 80’s pop both musically and lyrically, and were inevitably ignored by the record-buying public in part for the political content of their music. Both had very contrasting styles, yet shared a common ideological grounding and world view and were among the most articulate and exciting bands of the mid 1980’s-early 90’s, as well as being amongst the very few artists at the time who openly questioned the hegemony of free market values and the capitalist system.

“There is No Alternative” – a bitter, prophetic soundbite driven into the vernacular of our times by the current economic crisis, first popularized back in the 1980’s by Margaret Thatcher, the free market ideologues of the Chicago School of Economics and a senile American cowboy. In 1980’s Britain, 40 years of post war consensus was being erased as an ideologically charged right wing government took its opponents to task. During this tumultuous decade unfettered capitalism became simple common sense.

Culturally, Thatcher presided over a dark, pessimistic age, with the free market running rampant to the backdrop of growing unemployment, racism, homophobia and moralistic preaching of cultural reactionaries, with the likes of Wham, Duran Duran and Kid Creole & the Coconuts providing the soundtrack.

McCarthy are not a band that would normally be mentioned in the context of ‘Protest Music’. Their take on political comment was more a Kafkaesque resistance of the “little man”; bedsit revolutionaries against the world. McCarthy signaled their intentions through their choice of name, an allusion to virulently anti-Communist 1950’s American Senator Joseph McCarthy. Irony and provocation: provoking the listener to think, to act, to question…

McCarthy were originally associated with the C86 compilation of indie bands issued by the NME music paper, but soon distanced themselves from the scene both in terms of lyrical content and musical trajectory. Singer and lyricist Malcom Eden delivered his message in a wry, ironic, observational style, creating characters reflective of the times to populate his theatrical mini-dramas. He frequently played “devil’s advocate” in his songs, often representing conflicting viewpoints, driven along by the sparkling, melodious swirl of Tim Gane’s guitar playing, reminiscent of Roger McGuinn and a more folky Johnny Marr.

McCarthy made satirical, melodic, political pop; yet the potency of their political message was undeniable, with marked, albeit carefully veiled libertarian Marxist (some would say Anarchist) leanings. The Red Sleeping Beauty EP was released in October 1986 on the Pink label. Having arrived on the planet too late for punk rock, this was my “Anarchy in the UK”, the record that triggered my brain into another sphere, where it all finally made sense. Cascading guitars against a rolling, freeform tribal rhythm that supports Eden’s youthful, fragile voice, while he recounts his dreams of a world yet to be won that stood in radiant contrast to the apathy, reaction and bigotry of the times.

McCarthy – “The Procession of Popular Capitalism”

“Use your brain!” – A continual refrain in McCarthy’s music, the group exhorted intellectual engagement in times of pessimism, misanthropy and reaction. Their debut LP, I am a Wallet came out on September Records in 1987; a low budget polemical masterpiece, described by Nicky Wire from the Manic Street Preachers as “the most perfect record, a Communist Manifesto with tunes”. Two minute attacks on the fortress of Thatcherite Victorian morality and free market values in “God Made the Virus” (about AIDS) and “In the Dark Times”, growing alienation (“A Child Soon in Chains” and the poignant “Way of The World”) and the philistine excesses of Thatcher’s Britain in the majestic “Procession of Popular Capitalism” with its rag-bag assembly of “MPs, careerists and gutter press editors” leading the way to the promised land.

Eden’s eloquent, biting, ironic lyrics are firmly rooted in the acerbic tradition of Bertolt Brecht and the revolutionary romanticism of Shelley yet tempered with a tender humanism reminiscent of Russian Futurist poet Vladimir Mayakovsky; all to an intricate, driving guitar pop soundtrack. The afore-mentioned qualities of the London-based band were keenly demonstrated on 1988’s blistering Should the Bible Be Banned? EP (released on September Records), a wry attack on censorship culture, recounting the tale of a copycat killer inspired to commit his crime by the story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis. It is backed by the classic “We Are All Bourgeois Now” (one of three McCarthy songs later covered by the Manic Street Preachers) and “Saint Francis amongst the Mortals”, which recounts the travails of the holy man in modern-day London, and his subsequent crisis of faith.

McCarthy lost their way somewhat on the disappointing, over-polished second album The Enraged Will Inherit the Earth (Midnight Music, 1989), but returned to form on the third LP Banking, Violence & The Inner Life Today in 1990. This record displayed an experimental, psychedelic edge which marked the peak of their creativity and provided the blueprint for the future Stereolab sound.

McCarthy were to split soon after the album’s release in summer 1990, mutually agreeing they’d gone as far as they could. The cutting, “I’m on the Side of Mankind as much as the Next Man”, where humanity comes a poor second to profit, the gloating triumphalism of the money men in “Drinking Song of The Merchant Bankers” and the bittersweet, ironic “And Tomorrow The Stock Exchange Will Be The Human Race” all provide pertinent reminders of our present predicament.

——–

Easterhouse by contrast took a more direct, politically engaged approach to their music. Formed in Manchester in the early 1980’s by brothers Andy and Ivor Perry, they fused politically committed, leftist lyrics and direct, impassioned delivery of Andy Perry with a powerful rhythm section punctuated by Ivor Perry’s jagged, sparkling guitars. The group’s sound was reminiscent of Stretford neighbours The Smiths (whose singer Morrissey was a stalwart of the militant Mancunians), fused with the agit-prop adrenaline rush of The Clash and the fragile melancholy of another Manchester group, The Chameleons with Andy Perry clearly drawing on the lyrical tradition and charisma of Joe Strummer and Bob Marley, both in content and delivery. For Andy Perry, rock and roll was a force for self-education and social criticism in the face of an ideological onslaught from the Right, and he was quick to distance himself and the group from the prevailing musical climate of the time, insisting Easterhouse belonged to a “different tradition of music that articulated the wishes and ideas of a mass of people”.

Named after a notorious Glasgow housing scheme, Easterhouse readily acknowledged their Anglo-Irish roots and the non-conformist origins of their musical tradition, with live sets including renditions of the Irish rebel song “Johnny I Hardly Knew You”. The music of Easterhouse was a celebration of anti-heroes: no “great men”, just individuals as protagonists in their own lives and attempting to transform their conditions. Andy Perry’s lyrics debated the necessity to formulate a coherent, progressive opposition and learn from the past defeats of the Left.

In fact, the Manchester group confronted themes that made many on the Left uncomfortable: the shift to the right of the Labour Party, the implicit conservatism of the trade union movement and the resistance to British rule in Northern Ireland. Signed by London indie label Rough Trade, they issued the seminal In Our Own Hands EP in 1985, followed by the blistering “Whistling in The Dark” in 1986, a powerful, “London Calling” Clash-inspired allegory of the Miners’ Strike of 84-85, of a government’s bloody vengeance against “the enemy within” and of lessons of past struggles that went unlearned.

Easterhouse – “Whistling In The Dark”

The following single, “Inspiration” took Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands as its subject matter – a haunting tribute recalling the darkness and solitude of resistance delivered by the uncompromising, soulful voice of Andy Perry. In these times of routine Islamophobia, it’s hard to imagine that Northern Ireland was subject to a similarly paranoid propaganda treatment in the 1980’s.

Easterhouse’s debut LP Contenders came out on Rough Trade in late 1986 to critical acclaim, offering a collection of finely crafted, powerful songs that was well received by the group’s existing fan base on the indie circuit, yet failed to achieve any exposure or airplay beyond John Peel’s late night radio show. The pulsating opening track “Out on Your Own” is a stark portrait of the state of opposition to the Thatcher government, with union leaders talking profitability, ineffectual sloganeering and reformist solutions to social problems imposed from above. With Andy Perry declaring “It’s only foolishness to speak your master’s words… this foolish ideology has made the fight a mockery”, the overall conclusion is that there is no one who stands up for him, that he faces the fight alone.

Easterhouse – “Out On Your Own”

The vitriol of “Out of Your Own” is contrasted by the folky, surging “1969”, a reaffirmation of the original struggle for civil rights in Northern Ireland, the destructive British colonial presence abroad, internment without trial, H-Block torture, as well as a blistering critique of those on the Left who remained ambivalent to events in Ulster; “who talk but when the chips are down, stay loyal to their King & Crown”.

Easterhouse were also capable of irony and self-deprecation, demonstrated on “Get Back to Russia” – a classic British put-down for anyone opposing blanket conformity to market ideology, as Perry senior observes “anyone who questions is an agitator, infiltrator… You’re entitled to your say, but nothing too extreme, that’s not the English way…” .

Though promising so much, and undoubtedly committed to their political goals, Easterhouse imploded shortly after Contenders was released. Ivor Perry quit the band due to differences with his brother Andy (forerunners of the Gallagher brothers, so it would seem) to form The Cradle. Andy reassembled a new incarnation of Easterhouse to release the laboured Waiting for The Red Bird in 1989, which spawned a minor US hit “Come Out Fighting”, peaking at number 82 in the Billboard chart.

In 2011, with unfettered capitalism, misanthropy and pessimism held up as simple common sense, where the 99% thinks just like the 1%, in the midst of the biggest economic crisis since the 1930’s and the growth of reactionary ideas continuing unchecked, it seems that these black sheep of the 1980’s British independent scene have unwittingly come back into fashion and their observations and message from two decades ago are starkly relevant once more.

Illustration by Emily Hayes.

Social consciousness, the black diaspora and controvertial, charged lyricism blended with pure funk breaks and a creative sampling aesthetic. These were the characteristics of the New York Five Percenters, Brand Nubian and their first album One For All; a document of black music activism and a crate digger’s bible. iCrates untangles the samples and disseminates the message behind one of the most acclaimed 90′s underground hip hop albums.

Grand Puba, Sadat X, Lord Jamar and the DJs Alamo and Sincere founded Brand Nubian in 1989, after the split of Grand Puba’s group, Masters of Ceremony. In 1990 they released their debut album One for All, which has become one of the most aclaimed 90’s underground hip hop albums. The quest for knowledge, equality, enlightenment and the teachings of the Five Percent Nation defined the soul of the band and were a weapon for their ideological attack on opression and racism. In the track “Wake Up” we can hear Grand Puba dropping science: “As I proceed to civilize the uncivilized, word to wisdom from the groove to the wise, I guess I’m like the verbalizer for the fact I’m moving blackwards, this asiatic black man is a dog spelled backwards, the maker, the owner, the cream of the Planet Earth”.

Brand Nubian – “Wake Up”

The Five Percent Nation, also known as The Nation of Gods and Earths, is an organisation inspired by the Nation of Islam founded in the 60’s by a former student of Malcolm X. They believe that 10% of the people of the world know the truth of existence, and these elite keep the 85% in ignorance and under their control. The remaining percentage are those who know the truth and are willing to enlighten the rest – they are the Five Percent Nation.

One for All was mainly produced by Brand Nubian but also features beats by Skeff Anselm, Stimulated Dummies and Dave ”Jam” Hall. The album’s impact in the black community was massive but their commercial numbers reveal the flipside, as no more than 350,000 copies were sold.

Nevertheless the tracks “Slow Down,” “All for One,” and “Wake Up” hit the Billboard’s Hot Rap Tracks chart in 1991. In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source’s 100 Best Rap Albums, and one year later, Rolling Stone placed it on a list of the Essential Recordings of the 90′s.

Brand Nubian – “All For One” (Part 2)

A product of the popular SP-1200 sampler, the album uses a sharp variety of samples in each song and is further enriched by the vinyl scratches which mark this master piece as one of the most influencial records of sample-based music from hip hop’s golden age.

The samples are mostly taken from late 60’s and 70’s funk and soul classics, and you can hear James Brown’s “All For One“, “Can Mind” and “Funky President” sampled in the track “All For One”; The Last Poets’ “Niggers are Afraid of Revolution”, “When the Revolution Comes” and “Time” in the track “Concerto in X Minor”; Kool and the Gang’s “Jungle Jazz” sampled on “Drop the Bomb”; War’s “Sing a Happy Song” sampled on “Feels so Good”; Earth, Wind, and Fire’s “Bad Tune“ sampled on “Dance to My Ministry”; Ray, Goodman Brown’s “Another Day” and Roy Ayers’ “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” sampled on “Wake up (reprise in the sunshine)”.

Eclecticism and quality are words that come to mind when listening to tracks like  “Step To The Rear”,  “Try To Do Me” a 80’s rhythm and blues synth jam,  “Who Can Get Busy Like This Man” where they travelled to early reggae and Jamaican sound system roots, and “Slow Down” where they majestically cut Eddie Brickell and the New Bohemians’s “What I Am”.

Brand Nubian – “Slow Down”

They refer to the Zulu Nation and to the founding rap comunity in the track “Dedication” spliced alongside an excerpt from James Brown’s ”Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)”. The track “Brand Nubian” samples Cameo, Slave and J.J. Johnson.

Grand Puba’s rhyming style and the overall positive vibes fit so perfectly with the breaks and dizzy collages that listening to the whole album is no hard task. But it is the album’s rhetoric and its political attitude which transform it into a D.A.I.S.Y. age must have. They don’t make them like this anymore. Salaam Aleikum!

DJ Daniel Haaksman hasn’t looked back on baile funk since his first trip to Brazil in 2004. Grimy, loud and frenetic, it’s a sound that speaks directly from the favelas of Brazil about the plight of the working poor. He talked to us in Berlin about this cheeky Latin American genre’s circuitous story.

Baile funk is as nasty as it wants to be. Known under many names—baile funk, Rio funk, favella funk and funk carioca–the characteristic carioca sound is one of a kind. Legendary funk maestro Mr Catra, channelling Chuck D, once called it “the CNN of the favelas”. Yet the genre struggled to find mainstream appeal (unlike the universally feted samba and bossa nova) due to the violence that often followed it. On the one hand there were the notorious “corridor balls” in the 80s where gangs and drug cartels used dances to settle their turf wars. On the other, there were also the probiado, a particularly virulent strain of funk which is still banned today for its high praise of drug bosses and trafficking.

Its defenders however are more convinced that the music is as much cheek as balls. Sometimes literally; the female form is periodically touted as being no greater than the sum of its parts. And it is this cheekiness, a mischievous resistance to all that is prim and proper, that is built into the DNA of baile funk.

Injecao by Dieze Tigrona

If the horns in Injecao sound familiar it’s because it was sampled in MIA’s “Bucky Done Gun” – but it’s the lyrics that get to the core of baile funk’s cheekiness. Deize Tigrona (one of the few female baile funk MC’s around) raps about a girl getting an injection in the arse from her doctor and how she both fears it and likes it at the same time. DJ Daniel Haaksman was careful not to speak too loudly when he translated these lyrics for us as he chatted with us at a French cafe in the Prezlauer Berg district of Berlin where the yummy mummies had us significantly outnumbered.

Haaksman—the decidedly uncheeky owner of label MAN Recordings—comes off as an unusual candidate to be pushing a genre known for its illicit, drug-peddling, over-sexed lyrics. Measured, soft-spoken, and generous with his time, Haaksman is a far cry from the MC’s of baile funk who often scream their misogynistic and gang-loving choruses at ear-splitting volumes. “It’s anti-intellectual music. It’s really cheeky, about clever rhymes about things that happen in everyday life, dealing with the police. Sometimes the lyrics are also socially conscious but the majority of them are just sexual.” Haaksman advances Rap da Felicidade by Cidinho e Doca as an example of more measured and socially conscious lyrics. “It’s about an honest guy in the favelas who’s trying to get out. It’s a very melodic tune. Quite minimalist because it’s just two MC’s and a beat.”

Piece de Resistance: Cidinho e Doca

“Rap da Felicidade” by Cidinho e Doca

“People were wondering,” Haaksman recalls “why is this guy from Berlin (the world capital of electronic music) coming to Rio for music that is considered pure trash by the middle class?’ They have this view that it’s all about hard-core sex and drug-trafficking. Or that it’s very raw and it’s not very musical. Or they sing out of tune and they don’t even sing proper Portuguese.” We were wondering that too. And the story of how Haaksman came to the baile starts in the early 90s when as a young DJ he was getting increasingly fed up with his surroundings. “Shantel and me never really felt connected to it [techno] though as there was too much drugs… we didn’t think the music was sexy; it wasn’t sensual enough. It didn’t have a story to tell except for getting wasted on the dance floor for 15 hours in a row.”

Strangely enough, despite the perception of funk balls being drug-fueled raves, Haaksman felt the exact opposite about the dances he experienced in Brazil. “ In Rio, when people go to these parties it’s not just about drugs it’s also about dancing or meeting up with friends and singing along with songs. Many people who pretend to hate the music because of their social origin tend to love singing funk. When you speak to people (from a certain class) even 50 years plus they speak about funk as if it’s from the gutter but then when you see them drunk at a birthday party they all sing along with the songs.”

It was also the novelty of the music that drew him to the genre. At the time, in Haaksman’s opinion, innovation was low and retro-mania was in full swing with a lot of rock and indie rock getting more airplay in the clubs. He felt the trend really wasn’t at the heart of the music he wanted to play; particularly funk and hip-hop. However, in 2003 a close friend moved to Brazil and on his trip back brought him a clutch of vinyls and CD’s of baile funk compilations. Even prior to this his interests had been forming around the music of Brazil, but there was little in the way of vinyl that Haaksman could get his hands on in Europe. In early 2004 he decided to bring the mountain to Muhammed instead and travel towards the Amazon. And where many travelers are known to import goods of a more recreational nature back to Europe, Haaksman brought home a ton of funk; including a large number of records as a lot of the music from the 80s to mid-90s was exclusively on vinyl. Just like many of the Pan Am stewardesses who had acted as vinyl-mules to foster funk in Brazil from the US in the 90s, Haaksman was doing the same for Europe.

He had now found the innovation he was looking for. “When I first listened to it I was so blown away by the music. It had this incredible power, it was full of sampling… For me baile funk was music that no one really knew and related so much to the music I played in the 90s which came from funk, and 1980s electro plus all whipped up with Brazilian music – so it had the perfect mix.”

“If you saw City of God there’s this one scene taking place in the mid-70s where people dance at the funk party. And they play Sly Stone, James Brown, Kool and the Gang – all the American funk. At one point they start to make their own funk because they didn’t understand the lyrics and they also wanted the lyrics to reflect their own surroundings.”

Haaksman was also drawn to the purity of the sound rather than the profundity (or lack thereof) of the lyrics. “For me as a German it was very interesting particularly as I couldn’t understand the lyrics. I didn’t speak Portuguese (though I know it now) so I could listen to language as ‘sound’.” In this way he could detach himself from the lyrics in the same way he approached American hip hop. And what sound there was came very, very loud: “[I]t’s all about volume. You can’t stand it because it’s just so loud that people just don’t care – for them it’s for the physical enjoyment of the sound.”

Europe too began to warm to the sound and the reaction Haaksman received from his early sets were enthusiastic enough for him to make a compilation album for release in Europe. “Funk culture started out as a compilation culture because they couldn’t get hold of any vinyl so they started to make bootleg compilations. They would be compilations of the hottest electro and Miami Bass tracks.” Lax copyright laws allowed this culture to thrive and make use of samples without invoking a legal response.

One such compilation was Funk Brasil by DJ Marlboro; a record that sold over 150,000 copies on its release. “He was one of the first to understand the commercial value of the genre with his compilation Funk Brasil.” Haaksman notes, “after this, [baile funk] became more commercially viable.”

RIO DMC: Funk Brasil by DJ Marlboro

Marlboro Medley, DJ Marlboro, Funk Brasil.

The basis for most funk tracks was the Volt mix or 808 Volt by DJ Battery Brain which Haaksman called “the ‘Amen’ break for baile funk from ’88 through to 2003” though he now works with a loop laid down by funk legend Mr Catra.

After the compilation, MAN was born. Two major series on vinyl called Funk Mundial and Baile Masters followed as well as DJ Haaksman’s first solo album Rambazamba.

The cover on his debut album Rambazamba is a blurry shot of a stationery Haaksman, from the vantage point of a baile funk goer who is just that bit too close to the speakers. The music strays away from baile funk origins to Angola and even towards the Balkans.

Dubcheck, Daniel Haaksman ft Shantel and Boban Markovic Orkestar, Rambazamba.

“It’s about telling the story and the story about funk is complex; it tells the story about the inner city realities but it also tells the story of so many other mega cities in the Southern Hemisphere. When I put up this compilation all of a sudden it became obvious that there were other genres emerging from Luanda in Angola, the kwaito in Johannesburg… all of these music genres, which were electronically produced, were local adaptations of globally circulating music styles.”

For Haaksman, the journey of baile funk has already been cross continental and there shouldn’t be any reason for its journey to continue. “Funk is the bastard child of Kraftwerk” he says, charting a direct line from Kraftwerk’s Trans Europa Express in ‘77 to Afrika Bambaataa and Planet Rock which then led to Miami Bass (and Trance Hop) in the US–from where Rio called. With Haaksman’s efforts in Rambazamba, the prodigal children are both coming home but also going further afield.

So this is by no means the end of the story. Haaksman plans to release a new album in 2013 which he’s going to start working on this year. The concept however remains open to new narratives.

“You have this super network of DJs and producers doing this type of music and it’s also possible now to directly communicate with cultures across the globe like Brazil, Angola, South Africa without going through the major labels – it’s more person to person and that’s a very new and revolutionary moment.”

Daniel Haaksman on Soundcloud.

Photos by Sebastian Marggraf.

Across the history of Latin American music there have been remarkable bands and composers that have stood for an ideal and have screamed for revolution and change. Playing a major roll in transmitting political awareness to people, these musicians raised the hopes and beliefs of countries suffering under the tyranny of tough regimes and their social consequences.

Like their European counterparts The Sex Pistols, who shouted “God Save the Queen”, or The Clash who promoted a “White Riot” behind microphones and guitars in the late 70′s, so were Chilean band Los Prisioneros agitating in Latin America in the 80′s with songs like “Por Que Los Ricos” or “No Necesitamos Banderas”. What these bands had in common was the desire to claim their rights and arguing against everything they disagreed with through the intelligent mix of political-nuisance lyrics and great rock music. During the oppressive years of dictator Augusto Pinochet’s rule in Chile, Los Prisioneros tried to speak out without restrictions, However it was not until the fall of the military regime that these guys from East-Santiago were able to really spread their denunciations of political, bureaucratic and social systems.

Los Prisioneros – Por que los ricos

Inspired by some of the most influential activists from past revolutions in Latin America like Victor Jara and Mercedes Sosa, many artists have continued to strive for upheaval their lyrics and music. Angered by the obscured information manipulated by the administration of some governments, renowned bands like Los Fabulosos Cadillacs from Argentina have also flown a flag in the name of justice.

This ska band of tremulous beginnings gained popularity with their album Vasos Vacíos which included the song “Matador”. The tune tells the story of a man who fought for a better world but who was censored and then killed by the state. Clearly, the song was dedicated to the memory of Victor Jara, an international reference point for revolutionary music and militant of the Partido Comunista de Chile (Communist Party of Chile). Jara was assassinated by Pinochet’s dictatorship right after the famous coup d’état in Chile which brought down socialist president Salvador Allende in 1973.

Victor Jara – El derecho de Vivir en Paz

Another powerful and emblematic song by the Cadillacs was “V Centenario”. This one criticizes the celebration of the 5th centenary of the Spanish conquest of Latin America. The song argues against the celebration of a conquest that many experienced as a brutal genocide promoted by the Spanish conquerors, and one which devastated many towns and cultures, in rank disregard for human rights.

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – V Centenario

Travelling further north we find Molotov from Mexico; another hip hop / rock band who have never been reluctant to speak out about the government’s inconsistencies. Their songs are littered with allegations against corrupt authorities and denounce the U.S. abuse of power when cracking down on Mexicans crossing the state boundaries. In one of their most renowned songs Molotov advocate power to the people and the abolishment the government.

Molotov – Gimme da Power

The list of all the bands that have stood for resistance in Latin America is extensive, but it  is important to mention one of the most prolific contemporary resistance bands that continue to open people’s eyes against unscrupulous injustice in the hands of power. The duo from Puerto Rico Calle 13 are remarkable not only for breaking away from convential music genres by mixing trova, cumbia, jazz, tango and rock with reggaeton, but have developed a lucid opposition to the sinister forces within authorities and governments.

Calle 13 were provided with lyrical ammunition almost immediately. Shortly after Calle 13 signed a contract with White Lion Records for their first album back in 2005, the FBI were responsible for the assassination of the leader of the Ejército Popular Borícua (Boricua Popular Army), Filiberto Ojeda Rios from Puerto Rico. Ejército Popular Borícua was an armed revolutionary group better known as Los Macheteros which had been fighting in favor of the island’s independence for many years. The same day the leading vocalist of the band recorded a viral video of an accappella song which displayed his anger at the assassination of the leader. This was one of the fundamental tools which allowed them to first gain local popularity and respect, and then international recognition years later, all the time keeping to their blueprint of honest lyrics and clever music.

Calle 13 – Querido FBI

Years after, despite of many anonymous death threats, the band keeps raising the left fist, motivating youngsters to be aware of the often veiled authoritarian tendancies of many governments.

2011 was a year in which global wave of uprisings and protests spread around the world. In Spain on 15th May more than 150,000 people came out of their homes to shout out the indignation of over 65 cities and towns against the Spanish government and the economic crisis caused by greedy bankers. The past of revolution in Latin American and other countries is still alive and using music as the biggest force of passive resistance, people continue to fight for a better world.

Illustration by Tom McClean.

Soul Jazz records release a fantastic new retrospective of female Afro-Beat Funk from Nigeria in the 1970s. The Lijadu Sisters were the most successful female group of the era and managed to overturn many stereotypes and attitudes as they carved out a unique space for themselves in a predominantly male arena.

The Lijadu Sisters released a series of albums in the 1970s in Nigeria that blended heavyweight Afro-Beat with psychedelic Afro-Rock, High-Life, Disco and Soul in a truly unique combination. These albums are impossibly rare to find and this collection brings together the best of those recordings.

Their influences ranged from female soul singers such as Aretha Franklin, The Pointer Sisters and Miriam Makeba to the afro-beat of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti as well as the juju music of I.K. Dairo and the highlife of Victor Olaiya.

The Lijadu Sisters – “Danger”

The Lijadu Sisters, identical twins Taiwo and Kehinde Lijadu, grew up in Ibadan, Nigeria. They recorded their debut albumfor Decca Records in 1969. At the start of the 1970s the two singers joined ex-Cream drummer Ginger Baker’s short-lived all-African group Salt (which also included future members of the Afro-Rock group Blo).

In recent years, Lijadu Sisters have featured on releases on the Soundway and Strut labels. This album brings together the best of their tracks from the four albums recorded for the Afrodisia label in Nigeria – Danger (1976), Mother Africa (1977), Sunshine (1978) and Horizon Unlimited (1979).

Tracklisting:
1. Danger
2. Orere – Elejigbo
3. Erora
4. Bayi L’Ense
5. Sunshine
6. Life is Gone Down Low
7. Gbowo Mi
8. Come and Dance
9. Osupa
10. Cashing In
11. Amoebo
12. Gbalo Alogbalo
13. Not Any Longer

Licensed from Afodisia, Nigeria.

Via: Soul Jazz Records

The album will be released on Monday 20th February on 2xLP, CD and Mp3.

Over time the entire body of work of any given musical artist becomes boiled down to a specific purpose; sometimes a specific song. History allows us to look back and classify, often also to simplify in order to better understand. The Specials are a band that time has been kind to; a band whose formation, raison d’être, message, and musical achievements are focused around anti-racism. In 1976, England saw an uptick in white nationalism, and the campaign Rock Against Racism was created to steer young people away from racist sentiments. The Specials were instrumental to the Rock Against Racism movement.

The Specials uniqueness comes hand in hand with the simplicity of their goal: to form a mix-race Ska/2 Tone band. Founder Jerry Dammers’ desire to be part of a political movement meant that the band needed to embody the change it wanted to see. If their band could survive as a multi-ethnic entity, so could Great Britain. Kids across from all backgrounds could pick up The Specials’ LP (cleverly entitled Specials) and see someone who looked just like them. What’s more, they made music that sounded cool; and, in 1970’s England, that was all every rude-boy cared about. You could listen to “Too Much Too Young” and groove – while lyrics promoting contraception (a very radical idea for the late 1970s) were etched into your brain. And when you said to your friend “check out this cool song by The Specials!” you were inadvertently promoting the progressive ideals the band espoused. I mean, hey, what’s cooler than singing about birth control?

In this regard, The Specials were genius. Propelled by word of mouth through the sheer popularity of their songs, the growing momentum of Rock Against Racism and identifiable with rude-boy/mod fashion, The Specials married commercial success with progressive political drive.

They continued to gain political acclaim with the song “Free Nelson Mandela” off their second album (aptly titled More Specials). Despite the album’s waning commercial success, “Free Nelson Mandela” became an anthem for the Anti-Apartheid movement. (Although it would take another six years after the release of “Free Nelson Mandela” to free Nelson Mandela).

All of this is intrinsic to the story of The Specials (and their reunion in 2009, without Jerry Dammers). What makes it interesting now is this: when a magazine like The New Statesmen compiles its Top 20 Political Songs (“Free Nelson Mandela” ranks second behind “This Land is Your Land”), where do we have to go? In 2007 I made my way to Washington D.C. for an anti-war rally. We marched through the streets with a mobile stereo system under their campaign of “Funk the War”. Who’s music did we play? It was not our own – it was from bands like The Specials and the rest of top twenty list.

In the England of Jerry Dammers’ heyday the issues were black and white. What type of band would he have assembled today in the face of these murky socio-political, economically and environmentally unstable times? It would have to be a 600-piece orchestra. I hope The Specials are willing to expand.

The darkest chapters of a people’s history sometimes evince the size of their spirit. More so when the chapters are recorded not in prose but in verse and song. The spirituals accrued by slaves in bondage acquire this deep significance and have become an essential cultural artefact in American musical history.

Considered one of the first hybrids of Christianity and African musical traditions, Spirituals [also known as Negro Spirituals] grew out of “shouts”, an early type of holy dance that became a sign of protest whereby slaves could form their own identity. Owners of slaves generally forbade the conversion of slaves but many still embraced the new religion and a large collection of songs were collected before slavery was abolished. Spirituals continued to be composed and arranged following the abolishment of the slave trade, like “Go Down, Moses” and “Deep River” by Harry Burleigh, although the form eventually gave way to gospel and blues at the turn of the new century.

In addition to being a beacon of faith and fostering a sense of community, early spirituals were also used as a means to revolt and escape. Coded messages imbued lyrics with double meanings where words like ‘home’, ‘utopia’, ‘Jesus’ or ‘Saviour’ could carry either the religious connotation or have referred to Harriet Tubman or the Underground Railroad that transported slaves to the free North. The North turns up in spirituals in many instances as being referred to as the “promised land”.

What’s remarkable about the words and tone of these songs is that they weren’t necessarily downbeat, despite emerging from the most inhumane of circumstances. In fact, given the close connection between spirituals and African dance, many of the songs were distinctly catchy. One of the earliest groups to exploit the sheer entertainment value of the spirituals were the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University, who made spirituals financially viable, and many replicated their success. The group’s original nine members became a quartet and their recordings are among the first spiritual recordings on gramophone. These include the first recording of the most well known spiritual (at least by English rugby fans) “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”.

Following the emancipation, the spirituals outgrew their immediate use and eventually gave way in popularity to gospel music and the blues. However, in the 60’s when the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing the spirituals too experienced a renaissance. One of the more famous examples was “We shall Overcome”; a protest song paraphrased from the spiritual “No more Auction Block for Me”.

And when it came to Civil Rights pioneers performing spirituals, you couldn’t find three more contrasting artists than Paul Robeson, Mahalia Jackson and Odetta. It’s worth listening to how all three impose their own distinct styles on the classic spiritual “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho.”

Paul Robeson – “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho”

Mahalia Jackson – “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho”

Odetta – “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho”

Robeson, the dashing mesomorph footballer with a voice as deep as a river, made his first recordings of spirituals in 1925. His clearly enunciated syllables are befitting of a successful background in the theatre. Most of the songs are just Robeson with a piano and the sparse instrumental arrangement lends his voice the gravity it so rightly deserves. Mahalia Jackson however – matronly and professorial in equal parts – gave this spiritual the works; a full backing band, a jazzy, upbeat and evangelical fervour only the gospel queen could muster. After being heard singing the gospel song “Move on up a little Higher” she was signed to Apollo Records who managed to sell 2 million copies of Jackson’s rendition and went on to record her most defining LP In the Upper Room. During the Washington March where Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous “I have a Dream speech” Jackson gave a crowd-silencing rendition of “I’ve Been Buked and I’ve Been Scorned.”

Odetta had a more low-key approach to spirituals, seeing them through the eyes of the folk movement concomitant to that of the Civil Rights Movement. Having passed away only in 2008, Black History Month seems as good a time to get into Odetta’s back catalogue, starting with her early Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues which is peppered with spirituals including “Oh Freedom.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sung sparsely with only an acoustic guitar to back her, she delved to the philosophical core of oppression and asserted its universal hand. She was also able to couple the sound with the spirituals’ downbeat cousin, the blues. Unlike the blues, which was usually about individual hardship, slave songs were originally collective experiences and the emotional resonance that Odetta brings out in Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child shows how this old form gave birth to so many new ones.

Illustration by Craig Wilson.

Sessions #10 | Valentino 45
Funk is on the ONE

This mix is all about a big musical concept called “The One”. “Everything’s gotta be on the one” or “keep it on the one” is a way of saying “this shit better be tight”. In terms of the band, it meant the solid foundation, based around the first beat of the bar, over which musicians would take turns to solo. Defined by James Brown in the late 60s, this concept inspired many, many musicians, a good representation of whom feature in this little mix here. “The One” has been around for ever and is the backbone of popular music. It deserves some respect… so there!

A little something about Valentino 45:

Valentino, a huge music lover, since the tender age of about 6 when started shredding his dad’s Beatles records and one other record little Valentino was especially fond of: Wooly Bully by Sam The Sham, not to mention The Pharaohs on a 78rpm Shellac disk which was left to the 6 year olds caring hands. The Beatles were great until he discovered the Rolling Stones. A pretty standard musical taste of a kid born in well I guess about 1945! But from 1987, primary school soon opened his eyes and ears to hip hop, and by the time he was 13 he was on rap, plenty of classic rock and of course: “Black Music” as soul / RnB / funk / jazz was known as in Germany at the time. By the age of 16 he started finding his focus and started seeing things through P-Funk eyes and it wasn’t long before he started using the hard stuff: reggae, funk, disco… today he is hooked and a regular user …especially of tracks with outstanding lyrics, instrumental skills, danceability, groovyness, funkyness, originality, message, rarity, historical importance and QUALITY! Preferably on 7″ vinyl moving at 45 revolutions per minute!!!

His tunes gotta be good.. and he “Can’t Git Enuf!” of them! Incidently Can’t Git Enuf! is a series of parties Valentino 45 promotes for himself.

Tracklist:

1. Troglodyte by Jimmy Castor Bunch
2. Ngolowake by Kelvynator
3. Original African Man by Tommy Sammeh
4. Gentleman by Fela & The Africa 70
5. Funky Drummer by James Brown
5. I Didn’t Know Funk Was Loaded by Donnie Sterling
6. Trans Europe Express by Krafwerk (Edit by Mr. K)
7. Let’s Dance (To The Drummers Beat) by Herman Kelly & Life
8. Love Me For Real (Edited) by Guynamukat
9. Take Over (It’s your Power) by The Kokolo Arobeat Orchestra
10. Goro City by Manu Dibango
11. Do It (Til The Fluid Gets Hot) by Breakwater
12. On The One by Kelvynator
13. Love Is On The One by Xavier
14. The Best Of My Love by The Emotions
15. Love Gun by Rick James
16. Waltered States by Al Kent
17. The Real Thing by Pleasure
18. Stuff Like That by Quincy Jones
19. Scraaatch (Edit) by Surface Noise
20. On The One (Reprise)
21. Dedicated To The One (I Love) by The Mamas And The Papas

For More info, chatter or mixes check the following:
Facebook Page
Soundcloud Profile
Mixcloud Profile
Samurai FM Profile
BEATPLEXITY FREE DOWNLOAD

The concept behind the Vinyl-ONLY Sessions is simple: a diverse collection of DJs and music enthusiasts from all genres spin their favourite tracks in exclusive one hour mixes. From Spanish lovers rock, vintage cumbias, soul/funk, break beats, hardcore punk, Golden era hip- hop and even classical, you’ll never be disappointed with the tunes coming out of iCrates’ Vinyl-Only Sessions.
No Mp3’s, no serato, no automatic beat matching… JUST GREAT MUSIC!

.

Australia is a country which isn’t usually associated with hip hop, but with the growing popularity of a diverse range of artists out there, ‘Aussie Hip Hop’ is on its way to becoming one of the most popular genres on the Australian scene. With the help of independent record labels – set up by the artists themselves – such as Elefant Traks and Obese Records, new and upcoming musicians are being provided with the opportunity to become recognised as artists, and an ever expanding fan base is there to support them.

There are a great variety of artists that have been responsible for vigorously exploring, cutting and mixing up the received spectrum of hip hop in Australia, and the sundry of music out there is breathtaking. Any usual stereotypes associated with the genre have been quashed. And yet, despite the plethora of unique and individual styles within their music, a distinctive style has developed, with that unique Aussie slang enabling the artists to be differentiated from their global counterparts.

Stereotypically speaking, Australia is a country associated with sunshine, beaches, beer and sport. Though there is some truth in this assumption, a lot of people may be unaware of Australia’s somewhat ‘dirty’ history, and that the politicians running the country haven’t always done their best to deal with these issues. Racism is rife, as is homophobia and the mistreatment of refugees is a continuing problem. Aboriginals continue to be mistreated and environmentally speaking there is little common ground for agreement.

This new generation of young hip hop artists have been at the forefront of these issues and have taken a brave stand against both the government and bigotry in general. Regardless of the consequences of their outspokenness, these artists are taking it upon themselves to shout about the reality of Australian life.

One group from Sydney, ‘The Herd’ – who formed after the core members of the Elefant Traks record label decided to collaborate – are a hip hop outfit comprising of a full band, led by MC’s Ozi Batla and Urthboy. They all boast impressive solo careers and have continually spoken their mind about a broad range of controversial issues. The first single track to be released from their second album An Elefant Never Forgets was “Parliament”, a heavily political song, which refers metaphorically to burning down the parliament. The album was released during the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces, and somewhat unfortunately, the single release coincided with one of the worst bushfires in the Australian capital’s history.

The second controversial release from the same album was called “77%”, with the lyrics “77% of Australians are racist” responding to a national survey concerning the Tampa Affair, an incident in which the Prime Minister John Howard refused a Norwegian freighter boat containing 438 rescued Afghans entry into Australian waters. This sparked national controversy in the lead up to a federal election, with 77% of Australian voters in agreement with the Government’s decision.

The Herd – “77%”

Similarly, a brilliant track from Melbourne duo TZU’s debut album Position Correction is – “The Horse You Rode in On”, a quintessentially Australian song, which playfully brings uranium mining, sexism, racism and ‘Redneck Fucks’ together in such a catchy way, that you can’t help but dance along.

Touring with The Herd following his first EP ‘Bad Education’ for Elefant Traks in 2006, Sydney based musician The Tongue has continually explored a vast variety of issues, and allows room for his music to speak to a broad audience on many different levels. Since that first tour he has been on the road with the likes of Public Enemy, Dizzie Rascal and Drapht, has a significant number of festivals under his belt. He can also add MC Battle Champion to his name.

The Tongue’s first LP Shock & Awe spans a great number of issues, from paranoia about society in the satirical track “Somebody’s Trying to Kill Me”, to confronting the commercial music industry in “I Know a DJ”.

However, the stand-out tracks on his LP are “Animal Crackers” featuring Dudley Perkins and Georgia Anne Muldrow, and ‘Inheritance’ featuring Jane Tyrrell, that, despite contrasts in emotion, both resonate with lyrical passion. “Animal Crackers” is told in a storybook manner, taking a look at what the animals might think of humans in their environment, and making light of an incredibly controversial subject, while “Inheritance” is a much more solemn and sombre look at the world the children of today have inherited.

The Tongue – “Animal Crackers”

Another highlight would have to be from his latest LP Alternative Energy, and his track “The Show” which again utilizes a sharp wit in referencing pop and hip hop culture, but combines this with comments on politics, censorship and refugees among other issues.

The Tonuge – “The Show”

iCrates recently got the chance to ask The Tongue about the freedom of being a musician and what Aussie hip hop means to him…

As an Australian hip hop artist, you are immediately faced with a certain isolation to that of most of the world, do you feel this a hindrance to what you’re trying to get across, or is it something you feel everyone out there can relate to?

Well I write songs, and the beauty of music is that it can transcend distance and culture. I’ve never been to Jamaica but I love reggae, so I fail to see why someone in England, Germany or Brazil would have trouble relating to a good hip hop song just because the rapper is Australian. In fact, it might be more interesting to a foreign audience because it’s exotic and different.

Do you feel that political, social or environmental issues are something hip hop can help get across to the general public, and is this important to you as a musician?

Hip hop is probably the most politically minded genre in music today. Radio just plays the party songs but most of the great rappers speak on important global/human-rights issues. Nas and Damien Marley did an album together that examines the troubles facing Africa, Eminem and Lil Wayne have both done songs dissing George Bush, Jay-Z and Kanye talk about ‘black on black murder’ on “Watch The Throne”. During the recent Occupy movement various rappers voiced their support or joined in the protests directly…you didn’t see David Guetta or Katy Perry down there…it was hip hop that stood with the people.

I just use music to express myself, so if I am angry with certain issues I might write a song about it. If I’m having girl troubles that week I might write about that instead. In other words, I don’t see myself as a ‘political rapper’ because that would be limiting, I speak about whatever I like, that’s
the freedom music gives you.

The Howard era (a right wing conservative who was the second-longest-serving Prime Minister in Australia) was a rich source for many Aussie hip hop artists, do you feel that there is still an interest in presenting the issues which Australia is facing with the government today?

Nothing has changed much since John Howard was Prime Minister, our current Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, is just as bad. The wars still continue, refugees are treated like animals; Aboriginal life expectancy is still much lower than that of white Australians. The problem at the moment seems to be that radio is not embracing songs about these issues, it’s all party music, there needs to be a better balance. On the positive side, Australian hip hop is stronger than ever, and constantly growing, so we have an audience who is willing to listen.

Australian Hip Hop has come from an underground scene and is quickly becoming widely recognized, do you feel it is important to continue representing minority groups and issues which the general population might be against or unaware of?

Sure. I had a song on my last album, “Alternative Energy”, about homelessness. Rent in Sydney is crazy high, people are struggling to make ends meet and as a result more and more people are losing their homes. It’s not an issue many people rap about but it’s important to me, so I wrote the song. I also did a track on my most recent mix tape (The Sextape) called “Never Scared”, about homophobia. We have a big gay population in Sydney and I wanted to speak out against prejudice, I want everyone to feel welcome at my shows.

What do you see as the most revolutionary aspects of Australian Hip Hop in comparison to the genre in the traditional sense?

Hip hop is a template that can be (and has been) applied to any culture. I don’t think we are ‘revolutionary’; we just represent our society through our music. The best thing about hip hop here is that it is diverse; a lot of US rappers copy each other whereas we (Australian artists) all aspire to be unique and different. It is also fairly untainted by money; even the big rappers here aren’t millionaires, so everyone is pretty down to earth. It’s a colorful scene, and one I am deeply proud to be a part of.

http://www.thetongue.com.au

http://www.elefanttraks.com

Illustration by Adair Imrie.