Cultural dissent

Black Against Empire, the History & Politics of the Black Panther Party
Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin Jr, University of California Press, 2013, 560 pp., $54.95

The United States in the 1960s was a tinderbox of unresolved racial tensions. With Jim Crow racism dominating the South and oppressive police patrolling the northern ghettos, Martin Luther King’s Civil Rights Movement ignited hopes for change nation-wide.

More Light
Primal Scream
First International
Released May 13, 2013
www.primalscream.net

British indie rockers Primal Scream are best known for Screamadelica, the breakout dance-crossover album that embraced ravers in a sweaty bear hug in 1991 and left them in a state of blissed-out awe.

Lately it seems that we can’t get away from the hard, simple fact that art requires labour — both in the actual creation and in the conditions that make it possible.

Where there’s labour there’s normally a lot of hard work and sacrifice. And where there’s hard work and sacrifice, there’s normally some bastard at the top looking to squeeze as much as they can out of those of us who actually work.

Much as some of us would love to act like art exists in a separate realm from all of this, it doesn’t.

Tall Man
Written by Angela Betzien
Directed by Leticia Caceres
La Mama, Melbourne

Despite the cold I ventured out to La Mama - a small, quirky and iconic theatre in Melbourne to see Tall Man, a new work by the infamous Melbourne theatre posse Real TV – the partnership of writer, Angela Betzien and director Leticia Caceres.

Within seconds I was transported into the hot, seething heart of the Australian bush, deep in the Dee Ranges of Central Queensland.

The Campaign
Kings Konekted
Class A Records
April 19, 2013
www.classarecords.com

Kings Konekted have just released some of the choicest cuts in Australian hip-hop - and they were inspired by some of the whackest cuts in Australian politics.

The Brisbane b-boys' new EP The Campaign paints a pretty gritty picture of life under cost-cutting Queensland Premier Campbell Newman.

Greening The Media
Richard Maxwell & Toby Miller
Oxford University Press, 2012
246 pages, $44.80 (pb)

There is a reason why the typical electronic product warranty lasts only 12 months, say Richard Maxwell and Toby Miller in Greening the Media.

Most digital devices are designed to “break or become uncool” after just a year, requiring regular product replacements or upgrades.

Last year, multi-award-winning playwright Angela Betzien undertook a three week residency in the Queensland town of Mt Morgan where she researched and developed a play exploring the impact of mining. Tall Man, a 50-minute two-hander, received standing ovations when it toured for one night only in three mining towns in Central Queensland.

“The play made us cringe and laugh,” said one Mt Morgan resident. “It challenged a room to acknowledge its story.”

Green left Weekly's Brianna Pike talked to Betzien about the play.

British groups have for three months been pressing Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to withdraw its festival invitation to Israel's National Theatre, Habima, in response to the Palestinian call to boycott Israeli cultural institutions, Mondweiss.net said on March 29.

The Bryte Side Of Life
Bryte
Too Solid / MGM
April 5, 2013
www.brytemc.com

Bryte's new album, The Bryte Side Of Life, may urge his listeners to think positive, but it's not all sweetness and light. The Aboriginal rapper has lost none of the political bite that snarled from his award-winning first album, Full Stop, four years ago.

The Perth-based performing poet kicks off his latest long-player with "World On Strike", a rallying call for global industrial action.

Silence The World
Adept
March 22, 2013
Panic & Action Records
www.adeptofficial.com

Swedish post-hardcore band Adept put plenty of politics into their punk, but never forget how to party, wherever they are in the world. Green Left’s Mat Ward spoke to vocalist Robert Ljung about their new album, the melodic metalcore masterpiece Silence The World.

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Efforts And Means
Astpai
Jump Start Records, 2012
www.astpai.org

Austrian hardcore punks Astpai jack up heavy slabs of guitar with speeding snares and leering lyrics. They serve up a rare and biting musical take on Austrian politics. Green Left’s Mat Ward spoke to frontman Manfred Herzog, also known as Zock.

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Beyond Capitalism? The Future of Radical Politics
Luke Cooper & Simon Hardy
Zero Books, 2013

Luke Cooper and Simon Hardy should be congratulated on producing a thoughtful contribution as to how we build a movement capable of defeating capitalism and creating a socialist society.

From climate change to the financial crisis and austerity, the neo-liberal project has failed. Where it once promised prosperity, it can only deliver ashes.

Football Rebels
Presented by Eric Cantona
Al Jazeera
Started screening March 11
http://aje.me/YaPbYC

Al Jazeera is screening a five-part documentary on the stories of five football heroes whose social conscience led them to challenge unjust regimes, join opposition movements and lead the fight for democracy and human rights.

A selection of this week's celebrity news...

Lady Gaga Recovers From Hip Surgery in Gold Wheelchair http://eonli.ne/X4Peop

Fifty Shades of Grey Porn Film Lawsuit Settled http://eonli.ne/X4A0jr

Giuliana Rancic Teams Up With Nonprofit Bright Pink for Fab-U-Wish™ Initiative to Help Women Battling Breast cancer http://eonli.ne/X4votx

That Taylor Swift Fan Letter You Spent Hours Glitter-Gluing? Well, It Ended Up in the Trash! http://eonli.ne/12NcbV0

Rihanna gets naked for a good cause http://eonli.ne/15L034B

All That I Am, A Novel
By Anna Funder
Penguin 2011
370 pp, $29.95

Germany at the end of World War I entered a political and cultural maelstrom that tested the integrity of all its participants. This factually based narrative, or “open-source novel” as author Anna Funder calls it, brings to life some of those who committed their lives to trying to bring socialism to Germany and combat Hitler.

The gold shall not be sold
For thirty pieces of silver
No to the mine that contaminates
No to the mine that kills ya!

The copper shall not be sold
For thirty pieces of silver
No to the mine that contaminates
No to the mine that kills ya!

Conga no way…
Conga’s just not happening…
That’s the verdict of the people
And there’s no reversing

The NEWMONT conquistadors
Come not with cross and sword
They come with five billion dollars
And they leave you with nothing

The NEWMONT conquistadors
Come not with bibles and diseases
They come with their heavy machinery

"Look, the people you are after are the people you depend on. We cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances. We guard you while you sleep. Do not... fuck with us.”

The board members of HMV Group might be now wishing they hadn’t stocked so many Fight Club DVDs now. The massive UK entertainment retailer -- specializing in music, film, video games and other entertainment -- rang in the new year by running aground, with its British stores going into administration and its Irish locations shuttering entirely on January 15th.

Watch Me
Sam Khan
www.bsomebody.co.uk

At the age of 23, British Muslim rapper Sam Khan was the CEO of his own company, a clothing range, website and a record label called Be Somebody. Three years on, he has launched The B Somebody Project to raise funds for orphans in Gaza. The project follows in the fundraising footsteps of previous music he has done for Pakistani flood victims. Green Left's Mat Ward spoke to him.

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Searching for Sugarman
Directed by Malik Bendjelloul
Starring Rodriguez, Malik Bendjelloul
Music by Rodriguez
Now showing at selected cinemas

Director Mike Malik Bendjelloul’s film Searching for Sugarman, which has been nominated for best documentary film at this year’s Oscars and the British Film and Television Awards, traces the efforts of two South African fans to find out what happened to the mysterious Mexican-American folksinger known as Rodriguez.

It appears that the movement for a cultural boycott of Israel can claim another victory. On January 5 guitarist Stanley Jordan announced he will not be performing at the winter installment of Israel’s Red Sea Jazz Festival.

In a brief statement on his Facebook page, Jordan stated: “My performance at the Red Sea Jazz Festival has been cancelled. I apologize for any inconvenience to anyone.” Jordan, an acclaimed an innovative guitarist, had been billed as a headliner at the festival.

Vibes, Love, Revolution
Fear Nuttin Band
Released 2012
www.fearnuttinband.com

Fear Nuttin Band blend Jamaican yardie culture with American hardcore punk in the hybrid genre of “yardcore”. The Massachusetts-based group also throw in plenty of pugilistic politics and sharp satire. Front man Prowla and guitarist Christafari Regan spoke to Green Left's Mat Ward.

Fifty years ago, on February 13, 1963, the publication of US writer and activist Betty Friedan’s book The Feminine Mystique sparked a new awakening in the thinking of women across North America.

Friedan denounced the repression women suffered in the aftermath of World War II, when they were forced out of wartime jobs and convinced to accept the role of keepers of the home.

Profiteers of the market launched an unrelenting but subtle propaganda campaign to venerate women as wife and mother. This role, Friedan said, was the “feminine mystique”.

Eureka: An Unfinished Revolution
Peter FitzSimons
William Heinsmann Press, 2012

“And so I call you, all my fellow diggers, irrespective of nationality, religion, and colour, to salute the ‘Southern Cross’ as the refuge of all the oppressed from all countries on Earth.” So said Raffaello Carboni at the Eureka Stockade, Bakery Hill, on November 29 in 1854.

With these words, Carboni and the diggers on the Victorian goldfields raised the Eureka flag and launched their rebellion against the unjust licence fees imposed on miners by the Victorian government.

A selection of this week's celebrity news...

Elton John Welcomes Second Child With David Furnish—Check Out Their Baby Boy's Name http://eonli.ne/13BvH4k

Edward Furlong Charged With Misdemeanor Battery for Allegedly Shoving Girlfriend http://eonli.ne/13Bbw6O

Prince Harry beats George Clooney as Most Eligible Bachelor. http://eonli.ne/W4qoFn

Victor Garber Confirms He's Gay, Living With Longtime Partner Rainer Andreesen http://eonli.ne/W8WhfI

Rihanna Goes Topless for Complex Cover, Defends Chris Brown Collaboration http://eonli.ne/13zNuJt

Left-wing singer-songwriter Rory McLeod is on a tour of Australia. As usual, the veteran English-born folk singer’s performances are not to be missed.

His six-week tour began at the Woodford Folk Festival, which he described as more diverse than other folk festivals he's been to. “You can be crossing 50 or 60 borders in a day [at Woodford]”, he told Green Left Weekly, referring to the wide variety of music styles presented.

From there, he will pass through all states and many towns — large and small.

The Wikileaks Tapes
Directed by Cathy Vogan
Featuring John Pilger, Noam Chomsky, Christine Assange, Daniel Ellsberg, Mary Kostakidis, Senator Scott Lundlam, Julian Morrow & many more
Dual-layered DVD
Thing2Thing.com

I Believe In Revolution
Darah
Darah Music
2012
www.darahmusic.tumblr.com

Darah says it was a fellow Aboriginal rapper who inspired him to take a more radical direction on his latest album, I Believe In Revolution. "This whole album was largely inspired by Big Luke’s album Message From A Black Man," the Victorian emcee tells Green Left.

Just as Big Luke took a no-holds barred approach on that album, so Darah has come out with both guns blazing on his latest effort. But Big Luke is not just an inspiration to Darah.

A round-up of this week's celebrity news...

One Direction meets Queen Elizabeth while looking adorable and humble! http://eonli.ne/S8KoHB

Glenn Beck Puts Barack Obama Statue in Jar of Pee: Buy His "Art" for $25,000 http://eonli.ne/Uc3fA3

Jamie Foxx Calls Barack Obama "Our Lord and Savior" at Soul Train Awards, Catholic Group Fires Back http://eonli.ne/SpRK80

Chris Brown's Twitter Feud: The View's Elizabeth Hasselbeck Says Comments Were "Verbal Rape" http://eonli.ne/SpCZlH

Justin Bieber defends wearing overalls to meet the Prime Minister http://eonli.ne/V8B7Cb

Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class
By Owen Jones
Verso updated 2012
300 pages, $15:00

“It's not the existence of classes that threatens the unity of the nation, but the existence of class feeling,” an official British Conservative Party document stated in 1976.

Indeed, abolishing classes was the last thing on the mind of the Tories' new leader at the time, Margaret Thatcher. She merely wanted people to forget which class they belonged to, says Owen Jones in Chavs.

Soldaten, On Fighting, Killing & Dying: The Secret WWII Transcripts of German POWs
By Sonke Neitzel & Harald Welzer
Scribe Publications, 2012
448pp, $22.99

Our Harsh Logic, Israeli Soldiers Testimonies from the Occupies Territories, 2000-2010
Compiled by Breaking the Silence
Scribe Publications, 2012
400pp, $22.99

There is unmitigated evil in both these books ― cruelty, violence, criminal’s countries. The fact that the awful truth comes out of the mouths of the perpetrators makes it all the more shocking.

Verbal Diary
Sneake1
www.facebook.com/Sneake1Music

When George Sambo was about seven years old, he used a wad of crooked cash to shout all his mates sausage rolls. The Queensland schoolboy couldn't have known then that those fatty rolls would set him rolling on a path to making phat rolling beats. But that's what happened.

"The first time I stole was when I was, like, Grade Four, Five, jumping in someone's window," he tells Green Left, fresh from stepping off stage at the Oxford Arts Factory in Sydney.

I spoke with the Coup’s Boots Riley at an auspicious time. Right before calling him, I’d returned from a downtown rally of thousands of striking Chicago teachers and their supporters. It was arguably the most significant American labor battle in thirty years, trading in the calcified, ineffective style of “union-management cooperation” for an old school, knock-down, drag-out, class struggle unionism that gets actual results.

The Sacrifice
By Bruce Mutard
Allen & Unwin, 2012
Paperback, 252 pages

I don't know about you, but Australia's World War II years are obscured in my mind by a melange of family reminiscences and ad hoc snippets of history.

My parents were of the generation caught up in the war effort locally and offshore, so the family album began life with pics of folk in khaki.

Us baby boomers were delayed sprogs of them days. But as far as I was concerned, and those of my generation, them days were their's not mine.