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

Wednesday, 06 January 2021 15:37

Callout: the Bread and Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Award 2021

Written by Mollie Brown

in Music

Bread & Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Award 2021 The Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) and Culture Matters are pleased to announce the fourth edition of their successful Bread & Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Award. The Musicians’ Union is also supporting and sponsoring this award. The Award is now open…

CWU MU

Friday, 04 December 2020 10:01

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…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 11 November 2020 14:50

Winners of the Bread and Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word 2019/20: the CD

in Music

Written by Mollie Brown

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.....

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 20 September 2020 09:46

Capitalists with guitars: the Beatles, celebrity culture and social inequality

in Music

Written by Alan Dent

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…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 11 September 2020 09:14

“Radio Station: Harlem”: Listening to Langston Hughes

in Music

Written by Ciaran O Rourke

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…

Black Lives Matter

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 26 August 2020 14:31

Rule Britannia and the shameful arrogance of right-wing class politics

in Music

Written by Stuart Cartland

Stuart Cartland criticises the jingoistic response to the BBC's decisions about Rule Britannia. Image above: Aboriginal prisoners, Australia If as a nation we are to be serious about addressing racism and legacies of oppression then the recent furore about the possibility of dropping Rule Britannia from the BBC's Last Night…

Boris Johnson British imperialism slavetrade

Monday, 03 August 2020 16:12

Singing new forms of escape: Paul Robeson's afterlife in a U.S. prison

Written by Shana Redmond

in Music

Shana L. Redmond writes about Paul Robeson’s afterlife in a U.S. Prison “I have begun to undertake the task of trying to establish a Paul Robeson month here at Marion Federal Penitentiary,” wrote Bil Brown-El. An incarcerated person in the medium security prison in rural Illinois, USA, Brown-El addressed his…

Scottsboro Boys Trenton Six CPUSA The Emperor Jones James Baldwin Black Lives Matter

Thursday, 25 June 2020 10:28

From Seoul to Detroit: Techno Amidst Protest and Pandemic

Written by John R. Eperjesi

in Music

John R. Eperjesi outlines the connections between techno, COVID-19, and Black Lives Matter. The article is in memory of Mike Huckaby So we make music. We make music about who we are and where we’re from. - Jeff Mills We need images of tomorrow; and our people need them more…

Mike Huckaby George Floyd Black Lives Matter Covid19 Techno

Wednesday, 11 March 2020 14:58

The Winners! The Bread and Roses Award for Songwriting and Spoken Word

Written by Mollie Brown

in Music

Mollie Brown presents the results of the latest Bread and Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Award, sponsored by the CWU and the Musicians' Union After a very difficult time judging all 48 fantastic entries, we finally agreed on five winners, one from each category - Climate Emergency, Workers' Lives, More…

Friday, 31 January 2020 18:02

Chopin and the revolutionary inspiration of his Polonaise in A flat major

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Music

Jenny Farrell discusses Fryderyk Chopin and the revolutionary inspiration, force and vigour of his Polonaise in A flat major Fryderyk Chopin was born on 22 February 1810 in Żelazowa Wola near Warsaw, to a Polish mother and a French father. He grew up in Warsaw but left Poland in 1831,…