REVIEW BY RUTH RATCLIFFE
Love and Rage Vol II: Warnography
Various Artists
Love and Rage Records
$12.50, order by sending a cheque/postal order to J Hutchings, Love & Rage Records, PO Box 1191, Richmond North, Vic 3121
I wrote this right here for all the little boys and girls
who wanna grow up free, live their lives to the fullest
and not have to run scared from a riot cop's bullet
I want heaven right here, it'll never come from above
So every revolutionary act is an act of love
Like many of the tracks on Warnography, MC Lynx's "Bullet in the Chamber" vents the anger and outrage that many young people feel when they look out at today's world. It's also an anthem of resistance, solidarity and commitment to the revolutionary struggle for a future.
The latest offering from Love and Rage records is a smorgasbord of resistance music — hip hop, folk, punk, disco, techno, spoken word and various combinations of the above. Listening to it is a reminder that resistance is a creative process.
The juxtaposition of the tracks make it more than simply a collection of political songs. The CD begins with a sound cut from an anonymous but impressive orator telling his listeners: "I choose to fight back! I choose to rise, not fall! I choose to live not die! And I know that what's within me, is also within you." But the CD then rips into Anti-Flag's "Angry Young and Poor".
A sound cut reporting on police violence at the September 2000 World Economic Forum protests in Melbourne is followed by Mutiny's "Police Strike Riot". This track tells the tale of the 1929 Melbourne police strike, which ended with the striking police officers experiencing the same violent repression they had been used to dishing out.
Darwin hip-hop duo ToeKeo captures the outrage of last year's anti-war demos with their track "No War, No Way". Uncle Poo proves it'd be a mistake to judge an artist by their name as his track "Protest" cleverly intercuts Prime Minister John Howard's March 20, 2003, speech to parliament announcing war on Iraq with Devo's classic "Freedom of Choice". Folk legend David Rovics contributes "Shut them Down", an anthem of the anti-corporate movement, which he sang through a megaphone in Prague in September 2000 at the protests against the International Monetary Fund meeting.
Combat Wombat keeps the struggle for Indigenous rights prominent, reminding us that "White Australia's got a black history — that never ceded sovereignty". The Adjusters track "Our Town" is in memory of two anti-racist activists murdered by Nazi skinheads in Las Vegas in 1998. And protest music veterans Chumbawumba contribute the haunting "Round em up and throw em in".
The CD is also a CD-ROM with lyrics, liner notes, articles and short stories. "Miracle in Mornington Crescent" is a sweet short story, which gives a glimpse of the other, more humane world, which is possible. There are articles by Howard Zinn, news reports and funny personal takes on life, but it is a bit of grab bag and impossible to navigate easily.
It's a shame because there's potential to have a much more targeted selection of articles referencing the tracks or the movements that have given rise to them. The websites of the various artists which are also listed on the CD cover generally make more interesting reading and provide more insight into the artists.
Overall, Warnography is an inspiring affirmation of resistance movements. It's also a call to rise up against injustice and struggle for a free world in which the creative potential within all of us can be set free. Or in the words of Zearle, one of the featured artists, it's a call to "awaken and arise! Our masses of youth and fucked over people".
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, June 30, 2004.
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