Do you think there's no good protest music these days? So did I, until I started looking for it. The truth is, it's always been out there, but it's sometimes just a bit difficult to find. Every month, I search it out, listen to it all, then round up the best of it that relates to that month's political news. Here's the round-up for January 2023.
1. WINKY D - EUREKA EUREKA听
On January 1, , which blasts the ZANU-PF government and its derailing of the country鈥檚 decolonisation. Its track 鈥淒zimba Dzemabwe鈥 asks: 鈥淚s this the land we cry for, we die for?鈥 The song 鈥淚botso鈥, meanwhile, rails against divisive policies that keep the poor killing each other 鈥渨hilst the authors of their misery and poverty remain unscathed鈥. The album sparked a backlash from pro-government forces, including the Economic Empowerment Group, which arranged a press conference where it called for Winky D to be de-platformed. Its move followed similar actions against Zimbabwean protest musicians in the past. A week later, the African People鈥檚 Socialist Party held an update on a copycat crackdown on the African diaspora in the US. The move came after the US Federal Bureau of Investigation targeted party members in raids last July.
2. RASHA NAHAS - AMRAT
On January 26, , including two civilians, Palestinians said. The move followed controversial Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 return to power with the country鈥檚 most right-wing government yet, supported by Australia. A week earlier, Palestinian musician Rasha Nahas released her new album, recorded in the occupied Golan Heights. The record expresses her longing for home and on its title track, she sings of reclaiming the city of Haifa. The album followed the release of US-based , which addresses similar repression in his home country. There was hope to the north, however, as . That followed the release of . Discussing it, they said: 鈥淲e represent the underclass鈥 and a vision of a world without borders.鈥
3. RUSSKAJA - TURBO POLKA PARTY
鈥淣o Borders鈥 is also a standout track on the new album by self-described 鈥淩ussian Turbo Polka Metal鈥 band Russkaja, released on a January 5 single as Russia continued to wage war on Ukraine. On it, they sing: 鈥淏ombs are falling again, can you understand? It's the 21st century and nothing has changed. Digital media is blinding our eyes, turning friends into enemies with all those lies. The hunt is on just like in ancient times. Open fire on our brothers who cross the line. We're puppets of dictators again and again. I see the more things change the more they stay the same. 听No borders, no wars, we鈥檙e equal, all the same. No nations, no fighting, just stop this fucking game.鈥 The record came as activists fought for the release of Ukrainian journalist and human rights campaigner Maksym Butkevytch, now held by Russia as a prisoner of war. Butkevytch founded the No Borders Project, which defends refugees.
4. ANTI-FLAG - LIES THEY TELL OUR CHILDREN听
On January 6, a Pentagon document revealed that the US had lied about Afghan civilians killed in a 2021 drone strike. The same day, US political punk stalwarts Anti-Flag released their aptly-titled new album, Lies They Tell Our Children, which also blasts borders and wars. On the opening track, "Sold Everything", they holler: "Well, they sold all our bodies, collected our names, sold all our fears, stole all our birthdates. Every thought we have exchanged for windfall. If they gave you nothing, you'd have nothing at all. Fuck all their borders and fuck all their wars, the violence of Wall Street and profiteer cures. Neoliberal white saviours, Murdoch and Fox News. Fuck the Pittsburgh Police and the President, too." Discussing the record's intent, they said: 鈥, and those people can change the fucking world.鈥
5. MARGO PRICE - STRAYS听
On January 23, . The 1973 US Supreme Court decision protected abortion rights, but the court reversed the decision last June. On January 13, US country musician Margo Price released her new album. It includes after she passed by a women鈥檚 health clinic before the Roe v Wade decision was reversed. 鈥淭he song feels like a premonition now, with women鈥檚 rights being stripped and all the abortion bans happening,鈥 she said. The album followed the release of a , which includes the anthem 鈥淯nited Women Of The World鈥, and the , titled Precious Rage. On January 13, their fellow in Canberra amid an ugly new anti-abortion debate among Australian politicians.
6. DISPLEASURE - VORTEX OF SHIT
On January 19, New Zealand鈥檚 Prime Minister听. The move prompted countless eulogies in the media contrasting male world leaders' cruelty with her more "compassionate" politics. Taking a more critical view of her country鈥檚 political scene is the , the 鈥渄igital subsidiary鈥 of punk trio Unsanitary Napkin, who released a scathing album last year. They say the new record tackles 鈥渢he swirling mess of scaremongering bullshit rearing its increasingly ugly head in political discourse in Aoetearoa 鈥 things have reached the point where disgruntled science-denying farmers are teaming up with perverse toilet-obsessed transphobes, raging anti-vaxxers and evangelical megachurch despots in a horrific whirlpool of shit ideas manipulated by white supremacists and alt-right trolls鈥.
7. SERJ TANKIAN - MADOFF: THE MONSTER OF WALL STREET听
On January 4, streaming giant Netflix launched a show about infamous Ponzi scheme fraudster Bernie Madoff. The series is impressively soundtracked by Serj Tankian, who also fronts the hugely successful political metal band System Of A Down. 鈥淚t鈥檚 right that this deep dive is more concerned with the how than the why,鈥 said . Yet surely, given the way the average global citizen is constantly bombarded with messages to consume, the only surprising thing about Madoff鈥檚 tale is why more people like him haven鈥檛 been exposed. , was clearly brainwashed by luxury brands鈥 advertising. And America鈥檚 latest version, , has ridden the worldwide belief in . Yet financial yet.
8. IGGY POP - EVERY LOSER听
Netflix鈥檚 Madoff show came as such mindless capitalist consumerism continued to wreck the planet. On January 5, it was reported that Australian . The same day, The Sydney Morning Herald reported a . On January 17, activists were sentenced for stopping a train from the Australian coal mine owned by billionaire . The same day, for protesting against coal in Germany. On January 25, it was revealed US president Joe Biden had granted more oil and gas permits than his predecessor, Donald Trump. And on January 6, the same day that , punk legend Iggy Pop released in his beloved Miami.
9. ZIGGY RAMO - SUGAR COATED LIES听
Also despairing at the eco-vandalism is the new album from Aboriginal rapper Ziggy Ramo. Released on January 26 鈥斕齮he day some Australians celebrate the 1788 arrival of the country鈥檚 European invaders, while others protest against the celebration 鈥斕齣t came with a warning. 鈥淓very day is invasion day on stolen land. I鈥檓 Blak all the time, not just on the 26th of January. I鈥檝e never called myself political, I鈥檝e never called myself an activist. I am a human being. I make music about my lived experience, which is inherently deemed political because I鈥檓 Blak ... I don鈥檛 want to change the date, I want to change the entire state." It followed albums by , which laments the destruction of the land, and , which raises the enviro alarm on its song 鈥淗ot Planet鈥.
10. SONGS OF DISAPPEARANCE - AUSTRALIAN FROG CALLS听
Joining the chorus of alarm is the 听by Songs Of Disappearance, whose previous album about endangered birds soared to No.2 on Australia's ARIA charts. "The majority of recordings on this album are high-quality public recordings of threatened frog species submitted to the national FrogID project," said the record's producers. "This project, being promoted as part of FrogID Week, shows that Australians will not allow these precious voices to be silenced." The album, which eventually , came after the COP15 United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Montreal. That summit, which received far less attention than the COP27 climate conference just weeks earlier, highlighted the dire state of species loss. It came as companies began mining seabeds, threatening further environmental collapse worldwide. 听
Video:听Winky D ft Shingai-Dzimba Dzemabwe -听.
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