While we're talking about radical musicians like The Weavers (see HERE), let us stop topraise veteran hip-hop revolutionaries, The Coup*. In my sole previous hip-hop centered post, I confessed "MRML can't apologize for being a mostly white-punks-on-guitars blog.
It's not deliberate; it's just what we know!" Regardless of my own musical limitation, when I hear drug-war scouring, kazoo-dominated, Anti-Flag-borrowing, shout-along ska-rap, like "You Parent's Cocaine" I get moving.
Between their supposed communist-leaning [!], their longevity [20 years strong] and their signing to Brett Geurewitz's [of Bad Religion/Epitath Records fame] Anti Records the band clearly has a different kind of cred from the mainstream of hip-hop. It's a little like how Anti put out records by country artists like Merle Haggard and Porter Waggoner who'd fallen out of the mainstream of their own chosen genre. Like those two legends, The Coup keep it real, whether means playing as a full band or giving respect to the old school (which in this case might include The Bay City Rollers and Wilson Pickett):
There's plenty of other precedents for The Coup's work; you'll hear traces of Sly and The Family Stone, The Jungle Brothers, Fishbone The Roots and dozen others I'm nowhere near cool enough to recognize.
*Imagine The Weavers' Peter Seeger singing the chorus of the "The
Guillotine" to Bob Dylan when he threatened to cut the power cables
backstage at Newport in '65!
The following bands and artists were name-dropped over the course of this post: The Weavers, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Bad Religion, Anti-Flag, Merle Haggard, The Bay City Rollers, Wilson Pickett, Porter Waggoner, Sly and The Family Stone, The Jungle Brothers, Fishbone and The Roots. Ridiculous!!
Boots Riley is one of the best damned lyricists stalking this puny planet these days. He can go straight from dizzying political polemics to heartbreaking storytelling (check out "Me & Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night" from STEAL THIS ALBUM) without breaking a sweat. Brilliant band, brilliant album.
MRML is a blog about the devestating effects of culture: music, politics, comics plus etc. blah blah blah. At times MRML will post fine, unpurchasable three-chord obscurica (punk, pop-punk, new wave, mod, power-pop, gospel, reggae, hardcore, rockabilly, folk, country...whatever.) - - - - - - "The otherwise unavailable files in this blog are posted for a limited time and are intended for educational, non-commercial use. These files were transcribed from what are believed to be out-of-print sources. If you are aware of any of these items being readily available from commercial sources, or if any of these files infringe upon rights that you hold, please notify us so that we can quickly remove the referenced items immediately." - - - SUPPORT THE ARTISTS - BUY MUSIC!
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Re: Re-Ups
MRML does not plan to restore all of the content lost in The Great Mediafire Gutting of 2012. Polite requests may be made in the appropriate section, regular commenters will get priority.
Wow. That's really cool. I had never heard of them - thanks for the heads up.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy - the whole album rocks!
DeleteOn a second listen I have to say I'm loving "Parent's Cocaine" & "The Guillotine".
ReplyDeleteCallPastorJerkface
Second listens rule!
DeleteBoots Riley is one of the best damned lyricists stalking this puny planet these days. He can go straight from dizzying political polemics to heartbreaking storytelling (check out "Me & Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night" from STEAL THIS ALBUM) without breaking a sweat. Brilliant band, brilliant album.
ReplyDeleteNow I have to go back and check out some of their earlier work!
Delete