Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site flairvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!akgua!mcnc!decvax!decwrl!flairvax!ellis From: ellis@flairvax.UUCP (Michael Ellis) Newsgroups: net.music Subject: Anarchy Peace Freedom Message-ID: <405@flairvax.UUCP> Date: Sun, 18-Mar-84 10:33:30 EST Article-I.D.: flairvax.405 Posted: Sun Mar 18 10:33:30 1984 Date-Received: Mon, 19-Mar-84 08:01:54 EST Organization: Fairchild AI Lab, Palo Alto, CA Lines: 81 My ability to describe is very happily quite inferior to the quality of the new music I've heard this past year. 1983 was, in fact, the best year I've ever known for new music. Here is the music that struck deep this past year *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* *Learning to Cope with Cowardice - Mark Stewart *Yes Sir, I Will - Crass Check It - Mutabaruka Horrible - Half Japanese (and Everyone knew... but me - Jad Fair) Mohnomishe - Soviet France DRI - Dirty Rotten Imbeciles Suite en sous Sol - TuxedoMoon Golden Palominos - Fier, Lindsay, Frith, Miller, Noyes, Laswell, Tacuma Flies Like Holidays - Smegma, Rancid Vat, Faulty Denial Mechanism Earth vs Shockabilly - Shockabilly My War - Black Flag Old music, still new... Winter songs - Art Bears DOA, Mission of Lost Souls - Throbbing Gristle *=described in this, the 1st article of a series of six. *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* Learning to Cope with Cowardice - Mark Stewart (On-U Sound) Anarchy distilled from a mash of Beefheart, experimental dub, industrial, and postpunk/dirge push matters entirely beyond the bounds of rational music -- majestic animalistic vocals ala van Vliet alternating between `yowzah' and `no sir, I think I'm learning to cope with cowardice', hi-tech rhythms repeatedly broken up with violent, distorted reggae echos, white church anthems sliced thru by black gospel, always accompanied by a driving dub rhythm that gradually disintegrates into total chaos most closely resembling the space between radio stations on LSD -- wildly experimental, destructive dub with ferocious purpose. Perhaps the noblest record since Troutmask Sample lyrics: I'd rather die for a noble cause than live and die as a slave Mark Stewart comes from the `Pop Group', a new wave(!) band that specialized in thirdworld human-rights tunes like `We are all Prostitutes' and `For how much longer will we tolerate Mass Murder', one of the most underplayed masterpieces of recent times (try to find this record -- I dare you). On-U Sound is a new label that specializes in British dub. Their artists are primarily transplanted Jamaicans and British working class with industrial orientation. Prince Fari worked with them before he was assassinated in October last year. *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* Yes Sir, I Will - Crass (Crass records) Perhaps the noisiest record ever made -- my vote for hardcore equivalent to John Coltrane's magnificent `Ascension' (1964) goes to this 45 minute composition that consists of belligerent antiwar lyrics, adrenalin producing rhythms, and curiously sophisticated harmonies that often resemble avant-garde jazz or classical more than the Sex Pistols. Good introduction to modern hardcore for those who are sick of the older, decadent, nihilistic punk, though not for the weak-at-heart. The music overflows with wondrous human experience, and is undescribable This band has continually defied convention since its inception in 1978 by getting more energetic and political with each album. Crass's label records many other bands who represent the last and healthiest of the British punk-derived bands, such as Dirt (featuring Shit & Vomit), the Poison Girls (with Vi Subversa, world's only middle aged punk vocalist), and Crucifix (whose reputedly excellent 1983 album I cannot locate). The sentiment is usually anti-{establishment,drugs,violence} and pro-{peace,anarchy,freedom}. *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*