Suggestions of Good Marxist Bands ?

[TheLuddite]

Thanks in advance

[RHIZOMES]

the Coup
International Noise Conspiracy
Rage Against the Machine (They've never openly declared themselves Marxists as far as I'm aware though, but they've expressed support for communist people's movements in the past and all their lyrics are militantly anti-capitalist)

[praxis1966]

Well, there are a ton of left-wing bands out there, whether they're specifically Marxist is another question. At any rate, some that I like are as follows:

Rage Against the Machine
Dropkick Murphys
The Coup
NOFX
The Clash
Immortal Technique
Against Me!
Anti-Flag
Agnostic Front
Dead Prez
Bob Dylan
Ten Years After
Country Joe Fish
Johnny Cash
Propagandhi

Those are just to name a few. Also, and I know I'm going to get crucified for this, but I rather like David Allen Coe. Now I know what people are going to say, that he's a country singer so he has to be right wing. However, he describes himself as a 'Marxist redneck,' and a cursory glance at his lyrics bears that out.

[redSHARP]

chumbawumba (spelling) has produced many albums that never reached US shores, and some has strong union and anti-facist undertones. while not marxist per say, they come pretty close. "Non Servium" is a band from Spain, i dont now spanish but the band is strong in labor and class identification and marxist ideas, plus they hate hippies (not sure how that can be taken), best song is "Anti-Nazi" and "El Espíritu del Oi!". also try the "Redskins", a popish band from the 80's, "go get organized" is the best song. Catch 22, a US 3rd wave ska band put out an album call "cultural revolution" which outlines Trotski and his fall from grace (a plus for anti-stalinists, which again, i am not sure how that can be taken). Angelic Upstarts is an English OI band who are fucking awesome, try the song "solidarity". if i come across some more i will post here again, hope it helped!

[jaffe]

Well, there are a ton of left-wing bands out there, whether they're specifically Marxist is another question. At any rate, some that I like are as follows:

Rage Against the Machine
Dropkick Murphys -- NEIN
The Coup
NOFX
The Clash
Immortal Technique
Against Me!
Anti-Flag
Agnostic Front -- NO
Dead Prez
Bob Dylan
Ten Years After
Country Joe Fish
Johnny Cash
Propagandhi

Those are just to name a few. Also, and I know I'm going to get crucified for this, but I rather like David Allen Coe. Now I know what people are going to say, that he's a country singer so he has to be right wing. However, he describes himself as a 'Marxist redneck,' and a cursory glance at his lyrics bears that out.

these are not marxist bands

[Coprolal1an]

Since no one said it: Zearle

[RHIZOMES]

these are not marxist bands

A few are.

The Coup, Rage Against the Machine and Immortal Technique definitely ARE, not doubt about it. I either know the rest aren't or I don't know enough about them to make a judgement.

[jaffe]

singing about it, isn't the only thing that makes you a marxist in my opinion.

+ I've never seen AF singing about marx.

o yeah suggestions

seein red (punk,fastcore)
manliftingbanner (youthcrew/ they called it red edge)
die commandantes (punk covers of old left wing songs)
Lärm (early seein red)

[AGITprop]

This is something I've wanted to bring up.

Now I'm not a big music fan, but I do listen to a few groups. Regardless of what you think of them, SOAD (By far my favourite band in terms of music style) are, I believe, Anarchists.

What do you think. I know they've never openly said it, but there lyrics are quite left-wing though I wouldn't qualify them as reformists as they talk of the tyranny of money.

What do you think?

Also, theoretical question; do they qualify as petit-bourgeoisie? I would think so.

[redSHARP]

i dont want to sound like an idiot but i hear petit-bourgeoisie alot, what is that? another suggestion just look up bands on youtube, try "marxist bands" or "antifa", you should get some hits.

[AGITprop]

i dont want to sound like an idiot but i hear petit-bourgeoisie alot, what is that? another suggestion just look up bands on youtube, try "marxist bands" or "antifa", you should get some hits.

You should redirect your question to the learning forum. Don't worry, no one will think your an idiot, and if they do, it is them who is an idiot. The site is here for us to learn and expand our knowledge.

[redSHARP]

this forum site fucking rocks!

[Kronos]

I have a strange suggestion, but first I want you to consider that an effective strategy in dismantling capitalism is in antagonizing consumer culture, which of course is a bedfellow of capitalism. Humiliating the consumer is one step closer to communism's success.

Frank Zappa.

Although a supporter of capitalism, Frank Zappa produced some of the best parody of consumer culture that I have ever seen...er, heard, rather.

The idea here is to put the consumer into the spotlight and make him see himself, what he does, how he acts, what he values, etc.

I could bore you to death talking about Frank, so I'll just mention that I made several videos (pictures....I have the old windows movies maker software) over many of his songs. They are in my video collection at my youtube account in my signature box. The videos will say "song by Frank Zappa, etc." in the info.

[Unicorn]

Agit-prop and KOM-teatteri.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTLScFjXZXE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENLLTd_KSOo&feature=related

[Dust Bunnies]

Any Metal/Rock bands that have our Comrades?

[Entrails Konfetti]

Napalm Death, Carcass, Catherdral
not necessarily Marxist, but Leftist/Anarchist.
Carcass sings alot about ritting flesh and the joys of work.

[Malakangga]

napalm death,nasum,rage againts the machine,filastine. Oh, ya one thing, Morrissey

[More Fire for the People]

The Coup, dead prez, RATM, Digable Planets.

I'd also add Poor Righteous Teachers, EPMD, Nas, Gang Starr, Mos Def, Saul Williams, KRS-One, Public Enemy, Jedi Mind Tricks, and Talib Kweli. (Not Marxists, but politically left / conscious rap).

[communard resolution]

David Allen Coe referring to himself as a "Marxist redneck"? Could you tell me the source you got this from? I searched the internet up and down to find anything backing this, but I couldn't. Coe even had a few racist songs in the 70s, in one of which he sings about catching his girl in the act with a "greasy nigger". Forgive me if I think of Coe as more of a right-wing type for that.

I actually like some of Coe's music, but listening to him is always a very guilty pleasure if you know that he's done racist songs before. However, I'm willing to learn, so I'd be curious where you got the Marxist bit from.

[communard resolution]

Anarchist: Crass, Conflict, Oi Polloi, Dead Kennedys, Subhumans, Poison Girls, Grazhdanskaya Oborona (in the 80s, turned National Bolshevik = Russian Fascist upon comeback in '92), Berurier Noir, Die Skeptiker, Ton Steine Scherben, La Polla Records, and tons of late 70s/early 80s British anarcho punk bands

Marxist: The Clash, Manic Street Preachers, Rage Against The Machine, Red London, Angelic Upstarts, International Noise Conspiracy, Attila The Stockbroker, Tom Robinson Band, Redskins, Stage Bottles, Brigade Flores Magnon

I don't speak French well enough to be able to tell for sure, but there were a few French Oi bands in the early 80s whose band names sound leftist and who at least used some 'red' imagery: Komintern Sect, Trotskids.

Italian skinhead band Nabat are strongly anti-fascist/leftist too, but I'm not sure what current of leftism they adhere to

[communard resolution]

Two more Marxist bands: The Communards, ABC (yes, the 80s pop bands!)
Two more anarchist bands: Atari Teenage Riot, Noize Punishment

[Destroy capitalism]

The Clash frontman Joe Strummer did solo work Earthquake Weather, only available in U.S. as mp3 download also his last band The Mescaleros, 3 albums Rock Art and the Xray style, Global a go go and Streetcore.All growers bearing repeated listening, give it a chance ClashArmy. and has anyone mentioned Billy Bragg who wrote new lyrics to the Internationale, it's on you tube, i don't have link posting priviliges

[durdenisgod]

Gang Of Four!

[The New Manifesto]

I also love SOAD.


Lamb of god? Do they qualify?

[Post-Something]

Fugazi. Ian Mackaye is an inspiration to humanity.


Also, Choking Victim are good (along with the other bands that stem from that general group, Like Leftover Crack, Morning Glory, etc

[gilhyle]

Anarchist:
I don't speak French well enough to be able to tell for sure, but there were a few French Oi bands in the early 80s whose band names sound leftist and who at least used some 'red' imagery: Komintern Sect, Trotskids.

My memory is that Komintern Sect were not political but rather a kind of industrial noise (like DAF) band.

Someone else mentioned Berouier Noir - great band, real fun live, anarchists : but not really political as a band...more performance art in nthe Bonnoit Gang/Absynthe french anarchist tradition. (Came out of Guernica another good anarchist punk band)

Angelic Upstarts werent OI, if I remember right....predate that. Redskins werent 'pop' they were skinheads.

[Sam_b]

Gang Of Four!

Yaaaaaaaaaassssssss

[Os Cangaceiros]

Finally Gang of Four is mentioned!

I figured that they would be one of the first, actually.

[jaffe]

Anarchist: Crass, Conflict, Oi Polloi, Dead Kennedys, Subhumans, Poison Girls, Grazhdanskaya Oborona (in the 80s, turned National Bolshevik = Russian Fascist upon comeback in '92), Berurier Noir, Die Skeptiker, Ton Steine Scherben, La Polla Records, and tons of late 70s/early 80s British anarcho punk bands

Marxist: The Clash, Manic Street Preachers, Rage Against The Machine, Red London, Angelic Upstarts, International Noise Conspiracy, Attila The Stockbroker, Tom Robinson Band, Redskins, Stage Bottles, Brigade Flores Magnon

I don't speak French well enough to be able to tell for sure, but there were a few French Oi bands in the early 80s whose band names sound leftist and who at least used some 'red' imagery: Komintern Sect, Trotskids.

Italian skinhead band Nabat are strongly anti-fascist/leftist too, but I'm not sure what current of leftism they adhere to


brigade flores magon are CNT members.
angelic upstarts were an oi band and still are.
and if you want to know something about the redskins just ask Bazza.

[communard resolution]

My memory is that Komintern Sect were not political but rather a kind of industrial noise (like DAF) band.

Someone else mentioned Berouier Noir - great band, real fun live, anarchists : but not really political as a band...more performance art in nthe Bonnoit Gang/Absynthe french anarchist tradition. (Came out of Guernica another good anarchist punk band)

Angelic Upstarts werent OI, if I remember right....predate that. Redskins werent 'pop' they were skinheads.

We must be speaking about two different bands called Komintern Sect, then. The one I mean were as Oi as it gets: simple punk with growly skinheads vocals and terrace chant choruses.

As I said, I don't speak French well enough to know for sure, but that one record by Berurier Noir that I've got has an anti-Front National lyric, and another one seems to be about Palestine. Some other lyrics seem to just be 'absurd' from what I can tell, so maybe they were doing a bit of everything?

Angelic Upstarts started out in 1977 and were just a working class punk band without the fashion/Kings Road/bondage stuff prevalent at the time. So in a way they were Oi before Oi. When Gary Bushell coined the term Oi in 1980, two Upstarts tracks were on his very first compilation album, which I suppose makes them an Oi band. Not sure what they thought of the term later, esp when 99% of Oi degenerated into patriotic, beery, "non-political" = conservative, bovver punk.

[communard resolution]

Berouier Noir - great band, real fun live, anarchists : but not really political as a band...more performance art in nthe Bonnoit Gang/Absynthe french anarchist tradition. (Came out of Guernica another good anarchist punk band)

Are there any recordings by Guernica?

[RedDawn]

Snog - very left wing with a lot of Marxist jargon
Laibach - IMHO, they seem like total Yugophiles.

[communard resolution]

See, I've listed quite a few leftist bands, but I've got to say that the majority of bands I listen to myself aren't leftist at all. Most great bands have a liberal-capitalist outlook at best.

I'm not sure as to why that is. I find most leftist bands to be didactic, grey, and humourless (Dead Kennedys being an obvious exception). Most of the music lacks a sense of danger, which is crucial to make rock'n'roll work, particularly punk. I also feel that most music made by leftists is oddly asexual - and no, I don't think macho cock rock is the only expression of sexuality possible.

There are some great rock songs which you could say convey a sense of angst felt in capitalist societies or metaphorically depict some ill-effects of capitalism ('Gimme Shelter' by the Stones off the top of my head), but these are not consciously leftist.

I wish this weren't the case, but that's the way I perceive it. Do you agree? Any ideas why that is?

I don't feel the same way about leftists in other music genres. When I listen to the great Soviet composers (Prokofiev, Shostakovich, etc) I hear passion, danger, beauty, vitality, lust, drama, joy, sensuality, even humour. I just think that in rock/punk/pop/etc, the revolutionary left hasn't fared too well, and I'm wondering why.

[gla22]

I think a perfect circle is either anarchist or Marxist judging by their song imagine.

[Pirate Utopian]

There are some great rock songs which you could say convey a sense of angst felt in capitalist societies or metaphorically depict some ill-effects of capitalism ('Gimme Shelter' by the Stones off the top of my head), but these are not consciously leftist.

That's personally what I perfer, if the usually apolitical got something to say you know something's wrong in the world.
I also really dig the straightfowardness and sometimes naitivity these protest songs by apolitical bands have.

[jossfritz]

Blaggers ITA! (especially United Colours of... and Bad Karma lps, the latter being the more pop-oriented of the records)

Capital Letters (roots reggae and ska band--I wouldn't say Marxist, but easily as politically left as the Clash)

The Housemartins had their moments ("Don't shoot someone tomorrow that you can shoot today")

Redskins (someone mentioned them already, but the only band I know of that was always singing about socialism)

Newtown Neurotics (if you like power-pop punk, this is a great band with clever lyrics ranging from the frustrations of unemployment to the frustrations of early pub closing times)

The Pop Group (funk/punk noise with good agit-prop lyrics)

TV Smith, The Mekons, Tom Robinson Band (seconded)...

Billy Bragg, of course, along with a slew of folk singers like David Rovics, Phil Ochs, and so forth.

Along anarchist lines there are simply loads of bands, Crass, Poison Girls, Cravats, Anthrax, Omega Tribe, The Ex, Thatcher on Acid, really anything on the CRASS records label.

[RedDawn]

Christie Moore
Modena City Ramblers

Boy Sets Fire

[communard resolution]

Why didn't I think of the MC5 earlier? One of my favourite bands. Some say that only their manager John Sinclair was a revolutionary and pushed them in that direction while they just wanted to be rock stars. Whatever the case, they had a lot of leftist rhetoric early on and their music was fantastic.

I read a book on the Rote Armee Fraktion ('Baader-Meinhof gang') which said that the RAF people listened to the MC5 a lot in the early 70s. Also Miles Davis, whose music they thought of as revolutionary. If you're not allergic to jazz (I used to be), I recommend Miles Davis's album *****es' Brew, which is just fucking mindblowing.

[The New Manifesto]

Flobots? Here's the lyrics from there song Mayday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyE-0B_zOi0&NR=1



born in the flood
bloody fingerpaint sets
blackmarketed fresh
water canons forget me not
epitaph airbrush with death
white t's
wife beaters
button up
reattach flesh

in between the lines
outside of the law
underneath the veil
we dig our foundations
we navigate the globe
trying to find a pattern to break the mold
with a family to feed
theres nowhere we wont go
but what if were caught
they say Im a snitch
shot at the check point
found with his throat slit
theres spray paint on the teleprompter
anchorman screams that hes seen a monster
mayday
theres bloodstains on his shirt
mayday
they say that hes gone berserk


sometimes
when I wanna shut out this world
wanna rip up this page
wanna pour out this heart
wanna get up on this stage
and my lips become percussion
and my fists become the rage
and I pound on this table
til it gives me something to say
then I think about things that Ive seen
right in front of me
that I dont wanna believe
gimme one of these mikes
lemme letem know
the way that it is is not how its gonna be
not if we dont letem get ahead of us
the present tensions no threat
its just a fence across the path
that were already ready to walk
rock solid footsteps
letem put up obstacles
and prove that it isnt possible
fuck that
we dont giveem any weight
true liberty and freedoms at stake
peace will never become passive
live my life until my last day

it was half-past eight in the bat cave
when the cracks in the plaster collapsed
and gave way to gaps in the pavement
mayday mayday
put it on blast
for the passengers and messengers
cause this is a disaster
where the fuck are the rescue workers
not far
off pissing on a cop car
in the hall with a poptart
sipping liquor in the rockbar
everyone climb to the frontline
lunchtimes cancelled
all hands on deck to pull survivors from the landfill
onlookers passers-by shake off that rubble
brush off your shoulders
break free from your standstill


signs of a better world
causes we understand
failures we expected to occur
and bring redemption for our sins
safety from the crowds
in the shadows on the run
we write our own cider house
rules to keep alive
rituals that prove their worth
search for systems we can trust
rhythms we can lock into


this is madness salvage teams
can't bandage
hope when its damaged
or broken compassion
not enough rope in the van when
world is collapsing
our mode of action
broadcast through the glass
its all we can manage
donate with the plastic
scraps from the salad
hoping to balance
emotions invalidated
and staged on 4:3 aspects
just ballast for sadness
lives shattered are standard
fare for cameras and channels
stare no abracabras

no faster answers
or mantras for disasters
remastered and plastered
got it all backwards
do you know the faction your backing
its another man down
another mother gone
child drowned
another silenced song
solitude
another kind of strong
I miss you
another strung along
missing in action
another page is blackend burned
turned to ashes to ashes
dust off the flags and the caskets
we will never find another you
despite the life of love we knew
these lightning times are trouble who
cant count the strikes that punished through
the bonds we thought would never break
and never will and never fade and never change
but there is the rage
of losing you to their mistakes


in between the lines
signs of a the next movement
refuge from the crowd
outside of the law
causes we understand
hands that trace
instructions for descendants in the
shadows on the run
underneath the veil
failures we expected to
occur and bring redemption for our sins
in between the lines

[Invader Zim]

McCarthy

[communard resolution]

I read someone's blog entry on Fela Kuti the other day. Fela was a Nigerian afro-beat star in the 70s and 80s. I am not too sure about his political views, but the blog entry says:

"Fela Kuti was a major activist for Pan-Africanism and anti-colonialism, and because of his socialist beliefs, had many run-ins with the authorities of several African countries."

Now I'm not too clued up about Pan-Africanism and what exactly it entails, and I'm aware that one person's liberalism is another person's 'socialism'. Then again, the blog goes by the name of "An Unrepentant Communist" and seems to hold Fela Kuti in high esteem.

Looking through Wiki proves a bit less promising. They call him a "human rights activist" and say that

"the American Black Power movement influenced Fela's political views. He was also a supporter of pan-Africanism and socialism (although in a 1982 documentary he can clearly be seen rejecting both capitalism and socialism in favour of a third way that he described as Africanism), and called for a united, democratic African republic."

Is this some sort of Africa-specific Third Positionism? I honestly have no idea.

Whatever the case, his music is well worth checking out.

[communard resolution]

Jim Jones and the Revolutionary People's Temple Choir! :laugh:

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/02/he_was_able_mp3.html#more

[Comrade B]

Didn't see the Blue Scholars on there, but I saw that one of the moderators had a quote from them on their posts.
If you like Hip Hop, please, listen to these guys, they are awesome

[gla22]

Thanks to whoever recommended state radio.

[Dean]

Snog - very left wing with a lot of Marxist jargon
Laibach - IMHO, they seem like total Yugophiles.

I think I love you.

Anyways, my list:

Chumbawamba
Cage
Blood for Blood
Clawfinger

[Bad Grrrl Agro]

singing about it, isn't the only thing that makes you a marxist in my opinion.

+ I've never seen AF singing about marx.

o yeah suggestions

seein red (punk,fastcore)
manliftingbanner (youthcrew/ they called it red edge)
die commandantes (punk covers of old left wing songs)
Lärm (early seein red)

Seein Red, they are from Europe, are they not?
I saw them on their U.S. tour here in Wisconsin. Oddly enough, they were playing at the Legion Hall.

I'm not sure from where in Europe but I think they might have been from Holland.

[jaffe]

yes they're from the netherlands.

[Plagueround]

I think a perfect circle is either anarchist or Marxist judging by their song imagine.


http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l156/phobosblack/johnlennon.jpg
He's staring at you in disbelief.

[RHIZOMES]

I read someone's blog entry on Fela Kuti the other day. Fela was a Nigerian afro-beat star in the 70s and 80s. I am not too sure about his political views, but the blog entry says:

"Fela Kuti was a major activist for Pan-Africanism and anti-colonialism, and because of his socialist beliefs, had many run-ins with the authorities of several African countries."

Now I'm not too clued up about Pan-Africanism and what exactly it entails, and I'm aware that one person's liberalism is another person's 'socialism'. Then again, the blog goes by the name of "An Unrepentant Communist" and seems to hold Fela Kuti in high esteem.

Looking through Wiki proves a bit less promising. They call him a "human rights activist" and say that

"the American Black Power movement influenced Fela's political views. He was also a supporter of pan-Africanism and socialism (although in a 1982 documentary he can clearly be seen rejecting both capitalism and socialism in favour of a third way that he described as Africanism), and called for a united, democratic African republic."

Is this some sort of Africa-specific Third Positionism? I honestly have no idea.

Whatever the case, his music is well worth checking out.

Fela Kuti was a sexist who had like 400 wives and had a song about why the man is better than the woman.

I feel bad for liking his music. :blushing:

[communard resolution]

Fela Kuti was a sexist who had like 400 wives and had a song about why the man is better than the woman.

I feel bad for liking his music. :blushing:

What exactly is he saying in that song and what's the title?

[communard resolution]

MDC - 80s San Francisco hardcore with Marxist rhetoric
The Dicks - early Texas punk, communist

[gla22]

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l156/phobosblack/johnlennon.jpg
He's staring at you in disbelief.

yeah i know john lenon did it first, but that song confirmed what i thought about perfect circle and tool.

[JimmyJazz]

The Clash frontman Joe Strummer did solo work Earthquake Weather, only available in U.S. as mp3 download also his last band The Mescaleros, 3 albums Rock Art and the Xray style, Global a go go and Streetcore.All growers bearing repeated listening, give it a chance ClashArmy. and has anyone mentioned Billy Bragg who wrote new lyrics to the Internationale, it's on you tube, i don't have link posting priviliges

I think Strummer was more or less a Trotskyist. I swear, although I can't find it by googling, that he at one point said "We are a Marxist-Leninist group." He also wore a Brigade Rosse t-shirt on and off throughout the band's touring career. Check out the youtube video where he takes a drunken and barely coherent Trotskyist position (start the video at 3:20). You can find the video by searching youtube for "rude boy part 3".

Don't know if anyone's mentioned Stereolab yet, but some critics have said that the lyrics to "Ping Pong" reveal them to be a "Marxist band". Then again, most music critics, like most people, don't know 2 shits about Marxism and use it as a catch-all term for anything left-wing that doesn't neatly fit into the mushy liberal mold. I don't see anything distinctly Marxist in the lyrics.

Finally, someone mentioned Billy Bragg's Internationale EP. It's good, but so is the rest of his music. Songs like "There is Power in a Union", "Help Save the Youth of America", "The World Turned Upside Down" (a song about the Diggers) and especially "Waiting For the Great Leap Forward" all have radically leftist lyrics. I really recommend the Must I Paint You a Picture? anthology. Bragg is one of my favorite political artists.

I'm not *exactly* sure why Rage Against the Machine are considered Marxist. They do include The Fire Last Time by Chris Harman (a Trot), and the Marx-Engels reader, among the books pictured in the liners for the album Evil Empire. But I've also heard them talk up Nader and the Greens so they're not dogmatic revolutionaries. Zack de la Rocha is also a huge fan of the Zapatistas, and Subcomandante Marcos has said "I shit on every Vanguard party on this earth" (paraphrased). I think RATM are just general left-wing propagandists, not Marxists or anything too specific. Which is cool in my opinion.

[jaffe]

Joe strummer played a tour for the anarchist organisation Class War, I don't know if he ever referred himself as an anarchist.
MDC is anarchist to tha bone. I saw them a few times and they are great people.

[communard resolution]

MDC is anarchist to tha bone.

Have you read the book American Hardcore? I seem to remember someone in there saying that back in the day, the MDC vocalist kept talking about Marx and Marxism so much that everybody else got sick of it.

I might remember it wrong though, so I'll ask my hardcore obsessed friend to confirm.

[JimmyJazz]

Joe strummer played a tour for the anarchist organisation Class War, I don't know if he ever referred himself as an anarchist.

He did not. I'm sure I would have heard it/read it.

Strummer wasn't all that politically sophisticated objectively speaking, although for a mainstream rock musician he certainly was. Here's an excerpt from a 1981 interview:


M: In the song "The Equalizer" you talk about everyone having equal income...

S: I'm not saying that. I read this thing in Marx that really hit me about why is the person who owns the factory allowed to take more of the profits than the person who does all the work? It's an equal input - you own the factory and I do the work - so we should split the profits.
"Split the profits" - geezus. Then again, I dunno if he was gearing that comment toward uninitiated readers or if he actually had such a fundamental misunderstanding of Marxism.

I don't want to fail to give him credit where it is due. He incorporated the Labor ToV into his lyrics ("The Magnificient Seven"). And the song "Washington Bullets" was a serious spur to me to go and learn about U.S. imperialist foreign policy, because when I first heard it, I didn't recognize most of the references in it:


Oh! Mama, Mama look there!
Your children are playing in that street again
Don't you know what happened down there?
A youth of fourteen got shot down there
The Kokane guns of Jamdown Town
The killing clowns, the blood money men
Are shooting those Washington bullets again

As every cell in Chile will tell
The cries of the tortured men
Remember Allende, and the days before,
Before the army came
Please remember Victor Jara,
In the Santiago Stadium,
Es verdad - those Washington Bullets again

And in the Bay of Pigs in 1961,
Havana fought the playboy in the Cuban sun,
For Castro is a colour,
Is a redder than red,
Those Washington bullets want Castro dead
For Castro is the colour...
...That will earn you a spray of lead

For the very first time ever,
When they had a revolution in Nicaragua,
There was no interference from America
Human rights in America

Well the people fought the leader,
And out he flew...
With no Washington bullets what else could he do?

'N' if you can find a Afghan rebel
That the Moscow bullets missed
Ask him what he thinks of voting Communist...
...Ask the Dalai Lama in the hills of Tibet,
How many monks did the Chinese get?
In a war-torn swamp stop any mercenary,
'N' check the British bullets in his armoury
Que?
Sandinista!Bottom line is Strummer was a great guy and a great musician, but nobody should be taking their political cues from rock music (if that wasn't already obvious).

[communard resolution]

Let's say his heart was in the right place, whether he was sussed out or not. I also think his influence on the punk scene was a positive one. He helped to steer the anger and energy of the early punk movement in the right direction (Rock Against Racism, etc) - it could have easily gone the other way.

[jaffe]

Have you read the book American Hardcore? I seem to remember someone in there saying that back in the day, the MDC vocalist kept talking about Marx and Marxism so much that everybody else got sick of it.

I might remember it wrong though, so I'll ask my hardcore obsessed friend to confirm.

Yes, but that's probably the Dicks ore the Proleriat however I'm not sure of this. In their latest best of LP they write about creating anarchy and smashing the state.

[Sasha]

angelic upstarts ARE life long socialists/reds and ant-fascists but as you can guess from the lyrics of "solidarity" very anti-authoritarian, i think they still identify as marxist though.



Laibach - IMHO, they seem like total Yugophiles.

laibach is anything but marxist, from their wiki:


Controversy

Laibach has frequently been accused of both far left (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_left) and far right (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_right) political stances due to their use of uniforms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform) and totalitarian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarian)-style aesthetics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesthetics) and also due to the Wagnerian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner) influence found in some of their music, notably the thunder in "Sympathy for the Devil (Time for a Change)" and releases such as Macbeth. They were also accused of being members of the neonationalism movement which reincarnates modern ideas of nationalism. When confronted with such accusations, Laibach are quoted as responding, "We are fascists as much as Hitler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler) was a painter" .[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laibach_%28band%29#cite_note-VH1-0) As Hitler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler) was in his early life a painter, this reply is not an outright denial but rather entirely in keeping with the band's cultivation of ambiguity.
Laibach is notorious for rarely stepping out of character (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_character). Some releases feature artwork by the Communist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist) and early Dada (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada) artist/satirist, John Heartfield (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Heartfield). Laibach concerts have sometimes aesthetically appeared as political rallies. When interviewed, they answer in wry manifestos, showing a paradoxical lust and condemnation for authority.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laibach_%28band%29#cite_note-VH1-0)
Richard Wolfson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wolfson_%28musician%29) wrote of the group:

Laibach's method is extremely simple, effective and horribly open to misinterpretation. First of all, they absorb the mannerisms of the enemy, adopting all the seductive trappings and symbols of state (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State) power, and then they exaggerate everything to the edge of parody... Next they turn their focus to highly charged issues — the West's fear of immigrants from Eastern Europe, the power games of the EU (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union), the analogies between Western democracy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy) and totalitarianism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laibach_%28band%29#cite_note-1)


one of my favorite "art" bands though

[communard resolution]

angelic upstarts ARE life long socialists/reds and ant-fascists but as you can guess from the lyrics of "solidarity" very anti-authoritarian, i think they still identify as marxist though.

I recently found a bizarre Angelic Upstarts interview from a 1981 fanzine:

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/1196/upstarts.html

Quotes:

"The trouble is there's not enough people in this country who are proud to be English."

"Niggers are more racist than white people are."

"You shouldn't be ashamed to be English and white which is another thing the SWP put over, it's as if it's our fault we were born white, we should all have been born niggers. I've got nothing against niggers but I'm proud to be white. But the way things are in this country, if you're proud to be English and white you're branded as a nazi, and it's time it's stopped."

"I'll tell you who I thought was a really good politician who got slagged down, and that was Enoch Powell. I don't think he was a racialist at all, he just predicted things that DID happen. He was probably the most under-estimated politician of all time, until he was exiled in some remote Irish constituency. The papers branded HIM as a racist. If the NME get hold of this fanzine and read this interview they'll brand ME as a racist. I think he should have been Prime Minister, there you are."

Make of this what you will.

[Pirate Utopian]

Here's a list of anarcho-punk bands: http://www.punk77.co.uk/anarcho_punk/anarcho_bands.htm

Also I'd recommend early Californian punkband The Dils who used Marxist rethoric alot with songtitles like Class War, I Hate The Rich and Red Rockers.

Here's I Hate The Rich:
IbQ6h0zYdoY

[jaffe]

I recently found a bizarre Angelic Upstarts interview from a 1981 fanzine:


In their beginning days they used to wear swastikas for shock value. But I think this the worst interview that I've ever read about them. Angelic Upstarts is one of england's most militant antifascist band (together with Blaggers ITA) . Their lead singer Mensi even featured in a BBC docu about AFA.

[communard resolution]

In their beginning days they used to wear swastikas for shock value. But I think this the worst interview that I've ever read about them. Angelic Upstarts is one of england's most militant antifascist band (together with Blaggers ITA) . Their lead singer Mensi even featured in a BBC docu about AFA.

Yeah, this interview is quite shocking when you know what they stand for now. I read an interview with Ian Stuart of Skrewdriver on some white power website (probably Blood & Honour) where he said "Angelic Upstarts were nationalists in the beginning, they only went red later" blah blah blah. I thought that was a load of tosh, but after reading this Upstarts interview... I mean, do you think he might have had a point?

[jaffe]

No he wished.

[communard resolution]

Hmm... that interview sounds pretty nationalist to me. "Proud to be white and British" may just be youthful naivety, and maybe the term "niggers" was more common usage then, but Enoch fucking Powell for Prime Minister???

[jaffe]

i think the interview is pure shit. Look at the answers he's giving it's just bullshit.

[Sasha]

racism was rampant under the white working class in the 80's in britain to bad to hear that the upstart where no exception but they came to their senses and menski is a famous for getting into brawls with fash nowadays and the upstarts play a lot of (antifa) benefit shows.

[communard resolution]

menski is a famous for getting into brawls with fash nowadays and the upstarts play a lot of (antifa) benefit shows.

That's a good thing then.

[mykittyhasaboner]

catch 22, one of the best known ska-punk bands ever.

their last album is called "Permanent Revolution". its all about Trotsky, and the Russian Revolution.

[communard resolution]

laibach is anything but marxist, from their wiki:Fuck knows what they ultimately are, but their impressions of Fascism are hilarious. I don't think they are meant to be taken seriously at all. Their singer cracks me up in this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YE_j0xIsJA

JAWOLL! JA! JAWOLL!


one of my favorite "art" bands thoughMine too. I find it's their sense of humour that makes them so enjoyable.

[LiberaCHE]

Not a "band" per se ... but I love the music of the unapologetically Marxist Cuban composers Carlos Puebla and Silvio Rodríguez.

Many of their songs focus on the Cuban revolution, Fidel, and more than anything - the heroism of Che Guevara.

[communard resolution]

Not a "band" per se ... but I love the music of the unapologetically Marxist Cuban composers Carlos Puebla

Is he the one who wrote and/or performed Hasta Siempre Comandante?

Can you recommend a compilation of revolutionary Cuban music if such an album exists?

[LiberaCHE]

Is he the one who wrote and/or performed Hasta Siempre Comandante?

Yes, Carlos Puebla wrote the original "Hasta Siempre" in 1965 on the night after Fidel read Che's farewell letter, where he resigned from the Cuban government.


IBtOzkkeab0


- It has since been covered dozens of times by Joan Baez, Wolf Biermann, Buena Vista Social Cluba, Nathalie Cardone etc.





Can you recommend a compilation of revolutionary Cuban music if such an album exists?

I would recommend: "Chante Cuba: The Best of Carlos Puebla" & "Tribute to Che Guevara: Hasta Siempre".

Both can be found on Ebay.

[communard resolution]

Yes, Carlos Puebla wrote the original "Hasta Siempre" in 1965 on the night after Fidel read Che's farewell letter, where he resigned from the Cuban government.


Thanks, comrade. I found a great version of the song that features a female lead vocal:

http://www.sovmusic.ru/english/download.php?fname=hasta2

This belongs in Film, but I highly recommend this Soviet-Cuban co-production about the revolution, if only for purely cinematic reasons:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Cuba

The narrative may be a little bit flimsy, but the images are supernaturally beautiful.

[CChocobo]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Fifteen.
Good band, Jeff Ott has done a lot of good work, with various groups, and in punk music.
A lot of their songs talk about homelesness, environmentalism, drug addiction, child abuse, racism and sexism, etc. good stuff.

I'd say propagandhi is probably one of my favorite political bands.
along with fifteen, leftover crack/choking victim, good riddance, MDC, so on.

If anyone likes good leftist political themed folk punk i recommend the following:
Ghost Mice
Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains
Wingnut Dishwasher's Union (same guy from johnny hobo)
This Bike Is a Pipebomb
Mischief Brew
Tom Frampton
Evan Greer
Asking For It

[Ztrain]

I dont think the Dropkick Murphys are very left wing...while they are very working class the freaked out on Anti Flag for hanging upside down flags...that isny very marxist!

[AK]

I dont think the Dropkick Murphys are very left wing...while they are very working class the freaked out on Anti Flag for hanging upside down flags...that isny very marxist!
Anti-Flag :wub:

[Ztrain]

Well the Cou is Marxist...Heaven shall burn is a good anti rascist band...Crass is excellent anarcho punk

[AK]

Well the Cou is Marxist...Heaven shall burn is a good anti rascist band...Crass is excellent anarcho punk
Heaven Shall Burn :wub:

[Foldered]

I may just be repeating, but The (International) Noise Conspiracy and some Anarcho-Folk bands I listen to may appeal: Andrew Jackson Jihad, Defiance, Ohio, Mischief Brew, This Bike is A Pipe Bomb and Jeffery Lewis' album of Crass covers is pretty good.

[RED VICTORY]

Zearle is amazing. Now that's serious Marxist philosophy put to audio. " Givin rythm to socialism" !!!!!

[MQDuck]

Really? No one's mentioned Pete Seeger?? And what about Phil Ochs? Come on!

Check out Pete Seeger and Phil Ochs.