Here's a look back at March's political news and the best new albums that related to it. What albums would you suggest? Comment on听,听, or听email.听
1. THINK WOMEN - SISTERHOOD SESSIONS, VOL. 2
As activists worldwide rallied for on March 8, Californian record label collaborated with non-profits in the US and Britain to release an written and performed by girls, including many living on the margins. Despite the dated-looking artwork, Sisterhood Sessions Vol. 2 is surprisingly cutting-edge, its polished pop, trap and indie a result of the big-name producers who lent their talents. The release came as the United Nations published research that found almost . Fighting the sexism was legendary London recording studio Abbey Road 鈥 of Beatles fame 鈥 which marked International Women's Day by announcing , a program to support women in music production and audio engineering. In doing so, it : "The world of sound recording has proved off-putting and inaccessible to women. Indeed, today just 5% of all audio engineers are female." 听
2. THICK - 5 YEARS BEHIND听
Also throwing a spotlight on sexism in the music industry were New York "girlwave" punks Thick with their new album, released on March 6. On standout track "Mansplain", they tackle the experienced by women worldwide. "I don鈥檛 really appreciate being spoken down to in any context," bassist Kate Black. "But I do find it frustrating when someone is talking to you in a professional setting where you鈥檙e setting up on stage or you鈥檙e in the middle of the set and they鈥檙e speaking over a loudspeaker saying things that show that they鈥檙e making the assumption that you don鈥檛 know what you鈥檙e doing and that you haven鈥檛 been in a band for however many years ... we鈥檝e had some crazy stuff in other cities. Someone was making motions at Shari鈥檚 drums and stormed the stage." "I had to shove him off and no one noticed," said drummer Shari Page. "No one called security ... that鈥檚 part of the expectation of being a woman in music."
3. ARMAND AMAR - WOMAN (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK)
On March 3, women rallied across India to lead a new mass movement against Indian fascism. On March 8, Turkish police to disperse an International Women's Day march in Istanbul. The next day, women deliberately across Mexico to protest against the thousands who go missing in the country each year from gender violence. Documenting the oppression and resistance of women worldwide was the new feature-length documentary Woman, soundtracked by French composer Armand Amar. "The project deals with topics such as motherhood, education, marriage or financial independence but also menstruation or sexuality," the producers. "What Woman would like to underline most is the inner strength of women and their capacity to change the world despite all the difficulties they are facing ... the aim of the film is not only to call for rights or focus on problems, but to find solutions and try to reconcile the two genders."
4. JB DUNCKEL - CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK)
Another powerful soundtrack came this month from JB Dunckel, one half of famed French dream pop duo Air. Capital In The Twenty-First Century is the film adaptation of radical French economist Thomas Piketty's acclaimed book of the same name. The film and its heavily synthesized soundtrack came as arguing for socialism, just as the global economy fell into a tailspin sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. As billionaires called for people to and get back to work, governments lined up to bail out firms that had "avoided taxes, safety regulations and ". The inequality of the rescue package even caused the financial press . Activists, meanwhile, tried to stop taxpayers' money rescuing polluting companies that risked health further, : "This economic stimulus package should not exacerbate two other ongoing crises: climate change and environmental injustice.鈥
5. IAN WILLIAM CRAIG - RED SUN THROUGH SMOKE听
The consequences of propping up such were revealed on March 23. A preliminary assessment published in the Medical Journal of Australia said last summer's bushfires exposed about three-quarters of the population to prolonged levels of smoke, "". Three days earlier, Vancouver-based experimental electronic musician Ian William Craig released his new album, Red Sun Through Smoke. He wrote it in his grandfather's house in Kelowna, British Columbia, while his grandfather lay dying after his lungs filled with fluid as a result of the smoke from forest fires encircling the city. Days earlier, British Columbia band Small Town Artillery had a gig in Kindersley, Saskatchewan, cancelled after local to the band's support for environmental indigenous movement . Raging against such injustices was , the impassioned new protest album from fellow Canadian David Clayton-Thomas.
6. PEARL JAM - GIGATON听
Also trying to halt was respected experimental electronic musician Tom Middleton. His was made to be played in Nissan's all-electric Leaf car by the 60% of new parents who try to get their babies to sleep by driving them around at least once a week, resulting in 70kg of CO2 emissions a year per car. The album blends lullaby music with engine sounds, which is what makes babies sleep rather than the movement of the car. The need for musicians to take such credibility-sapping corporate work was underlined as the coronavirus their precarious livelihoods. Also raging against climate change was the from grunge music legends Pearl Jam, released on March 27. Gigaton鈥檚 album cover is a photograph of a glacier in Svalbard, Norway, that scientists say is warming faster than any other place on Earth. Throughout the album, they address both the fragile nature of Earth and its climate wrecker-in-chief, US President Donald Trump.
7. BODY COUNT - CARNIVORE听
As Trump labelled the coronavirus "The Chinese virus" 鈥 a move that was by racist bashings and stabbings of Chinese people 鈥 anti-racist rap pioneer Ice T released his new album with his heavy metal band Body Count. The band shot to fame with their controversial 1992 anthem "Cop Killer". But in discussing their new album, Ice T stressed that song was about racist police, : "I don't hate cops, I hate racists." Nowadays, Ice T is often asked if he plans to enter politics, to which the former street criminal replies: 鈥淚 got out of crime, man.鈥 Fittingly, as the Democrats hoping to defeat Trump dropped out of the race to become the Democratic nominee for president, they all swung their weight behind former no-hoper Joe Biden to try to crush his leftist rival Bernie Sanders. But is Biden any less racist than Trump? Well, he as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy". 听 听
8. CORNERSHOP - ENGLAND IS A GARDEN听
On March 4, London's Metropolitan Police of four men who allegedly assaulted a Singaporean student, as similar coronavirus-related attacks against Asians . Two days later, pioneering anti-racist British-Asian band Cornershop released their new indie pop album, England Is A Garden. Discussing it, singer Tjinder Singh : "My father said to me once: 'They鈥檒l not always want you here in this country.' That鈥檚 always stuck with me. And that鈥檚 why our songs have always reflected that right from the start." Singh also reflected upon the way the band publicly called out pop star Morrissey for his provocative statements years before the former Smiths singer became a media pariah for his far-right outbursts. As if on cue, on March 20, Morrissey released his latest politically provocative I Am Not A Dog On A Chain, whose title alludes to his right not to be silenced. One review听 as: "Old man yells at cloud." 听
9. RIZ AHMED - THE LONG GOODBYE
Also rejecting the racism of Brexit Britain was actor-turned-rapper Riz Ahmed, whose new album, released on March 6, makes the political powerfully personal. Over bass-heavy, Indian-flavoured beats, The Long Goodbye depicts the breakdown of his relationship with Britain as a break-up with an abusive lover called Britney. On the opening track he wails: "New kids born in our house, a new movement. A future of mixed cultures, but I was so fucking stupid. Didn't stop to think how badly it would just confuse them. Like, 'Daddy why does Mum hate me? She looks at me and says 'Who's this?'" Discussing the album, Ahmed : "I wanted to open up these heartbreak feels of thinking, 'OK! Wow. My country is breaking up with me after we鈥檝e built this home together.' If you look at the comments that even our Prime Minister's made, it makes you feel you鈥檙e getting dashed out of your own house! They鈥檙e trying it, or at least making us feel unwelcome in our homes."
10. WHEN OUR TURN COMES - WHEN OUR TURN COMES
So as the world reels from racism, climate change and a deadly pandemic that's revealed jobs and state services to be totally screwed by neoliberal politics, what's the answer? Look no further than the debut EP from radical Melbourne five-piece When Our Turn Comes, fronted by long-time 麻豆传媒 contributor Zane Alcorn. "This no-holds-barred release explores issues like systemic racism and tackling neo-Nazi groups, everyday economic struggles and union politics, and the climate crisis," the band. "The group's diverse members bring together the best of conscious hip-hop, a punk ethos, huge metal guitars, experimental jazz, and a funky rhythm section. These wild and divergent forces come together with creative intensity to form a final product that is radical yet cohesive." The lyrics, rapping and music are actually all world class, coming across like a more organic, dynamic, loose and innovative version of Rage Against The Machine. Truly great.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mat Ward has been writing for听麻豆传媒 Weekly听since 2009. He also wrote the听听Real Talk: Aboriginal Rappers Talk About Their Music And Country and听makes听political music. This year, he released a new concept album听about the media. You can download the deluxe version free for a limited time听.
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