Revolutionary hip-hop from RIP Lux
Written by RIP Lux
in
Music
Masquerade Shadows in Vienna
Music
An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times. I think that is true of painters, sculptors, poets, musicians. How can you be an artist and not reflect the times? That to me is the definition of an artist.
Nina Simone
The dedicated life and music of Mikis Theodorakis
Written by Ben Lunn
in
Music
Mikis Theodorakis (1925-2021) has left the mortal plane, and one can only imagine he is flying the red flag in the heavenly realm – agitating alongside the great working-class heroes of history. He has been remembered warmly by the socialist world, by his own Greek party (KKE) and almost every…
La Población: The Chilean album that celebrated a shanty town
in
Music
Written by
Tim Hollins
50 years ago, in 1972, the great Chilean singer song-writer Victor Jara released one of his final albums, ‘La Población’ . It consists of 9 songs which tell the stories of previously homelesss people, living in a shanty town in Santiago. It became an iconic musical testimony of their struggles…
The Beatle, the Bankie and the Bouquet
in
Music
Written by
Chris McGachy
Chris McGachy uncovers the full story behind Lennon’s donation to the workers as he transformed from affable moptop to militant activist following the breakup of The Beatles. 50 years ago – in the summer of 1971 – John Lennon was putting the final studio touches to his global anthem, Imagine.…
The Winners! The Bread and Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Award 2021
in
Music
Written by
Mollie Brown
The Bread & Roses Award 2021 launched in January of this year and ran until 31st March. It was sponsored by the Communication Workers' Union and supported by the Musicians' Union. We titled the 2021 Award ‘Voices from a Pandemic’ as we at Culture Matters, CWU and MU felt that…
Prokofiev and Peter and the Wolf
in
Music
Written by
Jenny Farrell
Jenny Farrell introduces Sergei Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf”, one of the most famous pieces of music for children ever written Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev is among the great composers of the 20th century. He was born 130 years ago, on 23rd April 1891 in Sontsovka in the Ukraine, into a…
A proclamation of universal human community: Beethoven's Ode to Joy
Written by Jenny Farrell
in
Music
Jenny Farrell discusses Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, on the eve of the 250th anniversary of his birth Like few other composers, Beethoven expresses the will for freedom, the democratic longing of the people. His music is the continuation of the French Revolution through the means of art; his Ninth Symphony is…
Winners of the Bread and Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word 2019/20: the CD
Written by Mollie Brown
in
Music
Here it is, a CD of the winners of the 10 winners of the 2019 and 2020 Bread and Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Awards, sponsored by the CWU and the the Musicians' Union. A snip at £5! Buy it here.....and get ready to enter the 2021 Award.....
Capitalists with guitars: the Beatles, celebrity culture and social inequality
Written by Alan Dent
in
Music
Alan Dent argues that the Beatles' success shows how pop culture entrenches inequality in capitalist societies It’s widely accepted that the Beatles are one of the most successful international pop bands, if not the most successful. It ought to be possible, by studying the phenomenon they were, to grasp the…
“Radio Station: Harlem”: Listening to Langston Hughes
Written by Ciaran O Rourke
in
Music
As increasingly militarised police forces and emboldened white supremacists provoke and attack people of colour and their allies, Ciarán O'Rourke shows the relevance of Langston Hughes' political poetry “I tried to write poems like the songs they sang on Seventh Street,” recalled Langston Hughes of his first literary forays: songs…
