IDM Mailing Archive

I really hate to quote bumper stickers, but this thread made me think of one I saw recently - "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." I don't think any thoughtful music should be apolitical at this time in history. What's the point of being apolitical in times like these? What I mean by saying that is that all of our basic liberties are being threatened by the politics that some are choosing to ignore. Our governments consider our music political! They look at underground electronic music, and they see a political movement. We are all part of a demographic whether we like it or not. They don't care whether the people making the music are sitting in their bedrooms ignoring politics. I'm no conspiracy theorist or anything, but over the thirteen years that I've been a part of the electronic music scene, I've seen many laws passed and wrongly enforced that seem to be trying to single out this "apolitical" music. I believe that the biggest difference that anyone can make in this messed up world is through personal interaction. I have way more respect for artists like Herbert, Timeblind, Matmos, Coldcut, etc, than I do for artists whose politics are a mystery to me, and it sounds like some other people on this list feel similarly. "i'd like to say that more artists should express their political views more. music can be a very powerful tool when it's used properly and plus we need a public enemy-type element in this sound..." I completely agree. It's wierd that the political atmosphere (in regards to music) that surfaced during the Reagan/Bush years hasn't come about recently, even with the current political atmospheres in the US/UK --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search

Regarding politics & music, the Monthly Review wrote a great article on Joe Strummer. It's definitely worth reading! http://www.monthlyreview.org/0603ambrosio.htm I'm reading the new Michael Moore book "Dude, Where's My Country" and there's some pretty amazing stuff in that book that most people don't know about. The Bush family have been involved with the Bin Ladens going back as far as 1977. If you are interested in reading about it search "Arbusto" + "Bin Laden" and you'll see Osama's brother invested $5 Million in Bush Jr's first oil venture back in 1977. Other Bin Ladens have been involved for decades with the "Carlyle Group" which Bush SR is a part of. And MUCH MUCH MORE. I think political message fit better with more aggressive styles of music like hip hop, punk and even some industrial. I don't know how well it would fit with idm. I'm sure it could be done well. <sean_djblues@yahoo.com> wrote:

quoted 40 lines I really hate to quote bumper stickers, but this

> I really hate to quote bumper stickers, but this > thread made me think of one I saw recently - "If > you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." > I don't think any thoughtful music should be > apolitical at this time in history. What's the point > of being apolitical in times like these? What I mean > by saying that is that all of our basic liberties > are being threatened by the politics that some are > choosing to ignore. > Our governments consider our music political! They > look at underground electronic music, and they see a > political movement. We are all part of a demographic > whether we like it or not. They don't care whether > the people making the music are sitting in their > bedrooms ignoring politics. I'm no conspiracy > theorist or anything, but over the thirteen years > that I've been a part of the electronic music scene, > I've seen many laws passed and wrongly enforced that > seem to be trying to single out this "apolitical" > music. > I believe that the biggest difference that anyone > can make in this messed up world is through personal > interaction. I have way more respect for artists > like Herbert, Timeblind, Matmos, Coldcut, etc, than > I do for artists whose politics are a mystery to me, > and it sounds like some other people on this list > feel similarly. > > "i'd like to say that more artists should express > their political > views more. music can be a very powerful tool when > it's used properly and > plus we need a public enemy-type element in this > sound..." > > I completely agree. It's wierd that the political > atmosphere (in regards to music) that surfaced > during the Reagan/Bush years hasn't come about > recently, even with the current political > atmospheres in the US/UK

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On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 14:02:06 -0700, Sean Horton wrote:

quoted 5 lines I agree with you and strongly feel electronic music could (and should) help

>I agree with you and strongly feel electronic music could (and should) help >to expose the political injustice. Ideally I think every creative movement >should help to expose this considering it is the arts that suffer most. I >think the fact that much electronic music is instrumental is a bit of a >hurdle, but there are other ways to make a political statement with

actually

quoted 2 lines speaking it. I really like Herbert's Radioboy concept (sampling sounds of

>speaking it. I really like Herbert's Radioboy concept (sampling sounds of >various corporate products being dismanteled).

I disagree. This defies the fragrant nature of 'art'. The Nazis and Communism have unmistakably demonstrated what the result of such a venture is: purpose without art However, I believe that an artist (actually not just artists but every person) can and should use the media attention she/he has to express his/her political opinion, especially when she/he makes a living from it. Music companies are well aware of this and to prevent the loss of whole segments of buyers (of those not agreeing or those opposing the opinion of the artist) they castrate their artists and worse still, use their money to stamp out short lived hypes that are completely under their control and can easily be replaced. The reason why people wont buy the work of musicians that express their opinion is probably because they are tired of the 'in your face' strategy of the musicians that instrumentate their music. The circle closes.

quoted 1 line Our country has been hijacked GODDAMMIT!!!!!!!

>Our country has been hijacked GODDAMMIT!!!!!!!

you have been hijacked by a rich and greedy group lacking the most profound ethics, rather than a political group. this should be separated clearly. c.a. -- NEU FÜR ALLE - GMX MediaCenter - für Fotos, Musik, Dateien... Fotoalbum, File Sharing, MMS, Multimedia-Gruß, GMX FotoService Jetzt kostenlos anmelden unter http://www.gmx.net +++ GMX - die erste Adresse für Mail, Message, More! +++ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org