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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