Music Notes : May 2021
Some things then.
- Wayne Kramer – The Hard Stuff
Warts and all autobiography from the former MC5 guitarist. Pretty compelling stuff. - Zoundz – The Curse of Zounds
Anarchist pop-pop on the Crass label. Bought their first single about four decades ago, and it had a poster with a quotation by Proudhon. Huh. Still irresistibly catchy after all these years. - Louder than War is the magazine/web site managed by John Robb of the Membranes. They’ve had some hard times lately, and are looking to build their subscriber base along with a tiered structures for supporters. Worth giving a few bob.
- Olivia Rodrigo – “Driver’s License”
OK, teen pop, but way more bitter. Give it a listen. - Geoff Pevere – Gods of the Hammer: The Teenage Head Story
One of the great shames of my life, and there have been many, is that I never saw Teenage Head. Not ready sure why, as I lived in Hamilton in the eighties. Just never happened. Well, there’s always those great records, and there’s also this bio by the also great Geoff Pevere. - Can – Tago Mago
Spending a lot of time listening to the new Can live album, but this old classic keeps finding its way into the rotation as well. - Teenage Fanclub – Endless Arcade
One of those bands. You know how some bands suffer from the law of diminishing returns? A great record, and then a series of not so good ones. Then there are bands who effortlessly turn in brilliant albums. Guess which category TFC falls into? - Paul Humphrey
Humphrey has the singer for Toronto new wave band Blue Peter. Great band with some very catchy songs (“Factory Living,” “Take me to War” and “radio Silence” among my favourite). Passed away last month at the age of 61. - “The End of the World”
It’s a real kick hearing that old nugget in the new Eternals trailer. Not sure whether I prefer the Skeeter Davis original or the version Sharon Van Etten recorded for the Man in the High Castle soundtrack,. - Bob Dylan.
He turned 80 last week. It’s been a long road, and I haven’t enjoyed everything, but Dylan is probably the greatest American songwriter of the 20th century. Many happy returns.
I Get Knocked Down
You know my feelings about Chumbawamba – love them. Here’s the trailer for the movie about them.
Who Says (Proletarian) Romance is Dead?
The Test of Communism
Pretty interesting piece by Jasper Bernes, the former editor of The Commune.
Hate Zines
Back in the day, my own little art project Red & Black Notes was a self-produced labour of love. I wrote most of the article, then glued in the images on the masters, photocopied then, and stapled each copy, before printing the labels then lugging them to the post office to mail them. But I also collected other people’s zines – political, music, comics etc. In Canada, the magazine that championed this, and sometimes gave me good reviews (though not always) was Broken Pencil.
There’s an interesting piece on neo-Nazi and skinhead zines in the current issue.
Freedom
Conducted a little experiment this morning. Googled the word “freedom.”
First hit, “Freedom Mobile.” (Not an ad, it’s the company home page.) I’m aware of how Google’s spiders prioritize entries, but it’s still depressing that the concept has been reduced to the ability to choose between version of the same commodity.
Chumbawamba
I have a lot of respect for the band Chumbawamba. Loved the music, but also for the band as well.
When I was living in Calgary in the 1990s, I helped put together two solidarity tours to raise money for striking Liverpool dock workers and also for striking Detroit newspaper workers. During the latter, tour, the band played Calgary, and allowed us to set up a lit table, had striker Dennis Nazelli address the crowd, and helped us raise over $500 for the strike. Good people.
When my daughter was small, I used to sing to her. We had some favourite like Roy Bailey and the Wiggles (odd pairing I know), but Chumbawamba’s “Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire” and “The Day the Nazi died” were up there as well.
Yesterday my daughter, now in her 20s, told me two of her new favourites were “Give the Anarchist a cigarette” and “Mouthful of Shit” both from the album Anarchy.
I’m a good dad!
Red May 2021
Red May is an annual event in Seattle of anti-capitalist talks and discussions. It started this past Saturday and runs for the rest of the month. Really worth investigating.
May Day 2021
173 years since Marx and Engels wrote the Manifesto of the Communist Party.
150 years since the Paris Commune
137 years since Haymarket
104 years since the Russian Revolution
85 years since the Spanish Revolution
53 years since the events of 1968
Doubtless more events could and should be added: Big explosions; little earthquakes, and all the while class struggle continues.
“Working people of all countries unite – you have nothing to lose but your chains”
Notes from Underground 