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 November 2022.
1. NEWTOWN NEUROTICS - COGNITIVE DISSIDENTS听
On November 3, climate activist Greta Thunberg was interviewed on the eve of the COP27 climate summit. "The only way for me to consider COP27 a success or a step forward would be if more people realised what a scam it actually is," she said. "Wake up and treat the climate emergency as an emergency." One band who get it are , whose new album released just days earlier opens with the song "Climate Emergency". It even quotes Thunberg's words for leaders: "How dare you." On November 7, five Australian teenagers were arrested for protesting against coal. But on November 15, Australia's climate change minister told COP27: 鈥淎ustralia is back as a constructive, positive and willing climate collaborator.鈥 He then declined to sign a statement to 鈥渆nd new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector by the end of 2022鈥.
2. NEIL YOUNG - WORLD RECORD听
On November 7, Colombian President Gustavo Petro told the COP27 conference capitalism would not solve the climate crisis. 鈥淭he market and the accumulation of capital produced it, and they will never be its cure,鈥 he said. Four days later, US country musician , containing the song: "I Hate The Capitalist System". On November 21,听his country's longstanding claim its coal was "cleaner" than that of other countries was a scam. That came just days after Aussie band containing the sarcastic anthem "There's Nothin' Wrong With Coal". On November 18, legendary country rocker , World Record. It was not available on Spotify, which Young had left in protest. But it was available via and went on strike. 听
3. JESSE JETT - THE CO-OPT听
4. IBRAHIM MAALOUF - CAPACITY TO LOVE听
As Republicans blamed Donald Trump for their midterm woes, French jazz musician Ibrahim Maalouf released his new album, which . Among the album's many guests is Hollywood actor Sharon Stone. Her biting monologue leaves no one in doubt about who she's addressing, despite not mentioning Trump by name. "Our country is not a toy," she hisses. "It's time to walk away boy. Put your head down and walk. Walk on, motherfucker, walk." As Twitter's new owner, and , 1980s hitmakers . Talking about its song "Who Killed Truth?", they said: "People no longer care about lying because they know that you know they're lying." Meanwhile, Trump seemed reluctant to rejoin Twitter from his tiny social media platform, Truth Social. 听听
5. GORDON KOANG - COMMUNITY听
As people flocked to Twitter to follow , critics pointed out that up to 6500 people had died building its stadiums. FIFA's president replied that , given their past and current behaviour. Well aware of that behaviour would be the Australian team's , which he says is a "perfect fit" for him; and and runs 鈥淏arefoot to Boots鈥 to ensure better welfare for asylum seekers. The Cup controversy played out as Gordon Koang, a blind musician who fled Sudan's civil war to seek asylum in Australia, released his new album on November 11. It includes the track "Australia" and was released by not-for profit Melbourne label Music In Exile, which champions diversity.
6. COSMO & THE OBJEKTORS - COP THIS - THE ALBUM!听
Also standing up for refugees is Welsh protest singer Cosmo, who released his new album on November 12, just days after . On "Immigration Raid" he sings: "Face on the floor, slap on the jaw, there鈥檚 no hiding in the shade. Ask no questions, tell no lies, it鈥檚 an immigration raid." And on "No Welcome In Dover", he pledges: "From the cops that all protect them, to the state that profiteers, we鈥檒l drive fascists out this land while refugees are welcome here." The album began when he performed a protest song outside the COP26 climate summit and the video went viral. He followed that up with more videos, whose songs are compiled on this record. The musician has also put听his money where his mouth is, donating the proceeds to homeless, climate and refugee charities. Well-written, clear-voiced and catchy, this is the protest album of the year for me.
7. BIG JOANIE - BACK HOME听
Also supporting the homeless are , Back Home, released on November 4. Discussing the record, they said: "Living in London, you kind of feel like you鈥檙e going to have the rug pulled out from under you at any time because ." On the same day, US protest singer with rapper Mic Crenshaw, which takes aim at landlords on the song "Just A Renter". A week later, Australian punks , whose songs "No Homes" and "No Balconies" bemoan affordable housing drying up as prices skyrocket. A fortnight after that, their fellow Aussie punks on their new album, with the song "A Conversation With Your Old School Friends About Negative Gearing".
8. FINSTA - CUNTYGRRRL听
On November 19, Anderson Lee Aldrich听 in Colorado Springs. A drag queen performing at the club said Aldrich was stopped only when . Aldrich's homophobic, Republican, porn actor father, said his first reaction on hearing the news was: The attack came as , who is described by pop queen Madonna as "my favourite DJ ever", released her new album, which is sure to fill gay dancefloors. Those wanting a more raw take on the scene might turn instead to the innovative new album by supremely talented Indian trans artist Finsta, which addresses violence within the community. "," she said. "A heterosexual or cis person listening to the album should feel like a voyeur."
9. SPECIAL INTEREST - ENDURE听
After a bombing in Instanbul on November 13, Turkey instantly blamed the Kurdistan Workers Party and Syrian Democratic Forces. Both strongly denied any involvement. But on November 19, Turkey carried out cross-border attacks on Kurdish towns across northern Syria and Iraq, killing at least 31 people by November 21. On the same day as the Istanbul bombing, 3CR Community Radio in Melbourne interviewed Farhad Bandesh, a Kurdish refugee who has fled persecution in Iran. Nine days earlier, radical New Orleans , which contains the pertinent track "Kurdish Radio". And as protests continued to rage in Iran over the killing of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, . The record is dedicated to "all the Iranian women and girls on the front line of the revolution of the Iranian people".
10. THE RESISTANCE COMPANY - IN MEMORY OF听
Hitting back at the likes of Turkey's military violence is the latest album from New York indie rocker activists The Resistance Company. On "Drop the M.I.C." they tackle their own country's policies with the words: "Big oil putting blood in the soil. Investing in your enemy's fuel aggression. Big oil putting blood in the soil. A budget for their criminal minds... Resist the war. Resist the war. Where are we now? Drop the military-industrial complex." The album came after the US Department of Defence, "the largest institutional contributor to global warming on planet Earth" and "whose carbon footprint exceeds that of nearly 140 countries" claimed it was going green, sparking accusations of . On November 25, fresh from skewering such greenwash at the COP27 climate summit, for inaction on climate change.
This column is taking a break and will return at the end of January.
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