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

Tuesday, 17 September 2019 09:30

Calum Baird: Modern Man

Written by Chris Guiton

in Music

Chris Guiton reviews Calum Baird's latest release Calum Baird’s new single Modern Man is a potent take on male identity. The Edinburgh-based singer-songwriter and political activist writes about socialist and progressive themes in a deceptively simple folk music style. He describes Modern Man as a “critique of masculinity as a…

Friday, 13 September 2019 16:03

The Bread and Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Award 2020

Written by Mollie Brown

in Music

Mollie Brown introduces the Bread & Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Award 2020, and 'the instinctive joy of taking control of cultural production' The Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) and Culture Matters are pleased to announce the third edition of their successful Bread & Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Award. The…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Tuesday, 10 September 2019 14:57

Attica Blues: The Power of Music

in Music

Written by Chris Guiton

Chris Guiton discusses the Attica prison riot of September 1971, and Archie Shepp's creative response to it In September 1971, the bloodiest prison riot that the United States has ever experienced took place at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York. Archie Shepp, one of the great American jazz…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 09 September 2019 13:18

By the folk, of the folk and for the folk: Joe Corrie and the Bowhill Players

in Music

Written by Tom Hubbard

Tom Hubbard writes about Fife's folk culture, past and present There are books which, discovered when you are young, remain a moral and artistic compass for you throughout your lifetime. In 1973 I bought a copy of The Penguin Book of Socialist Verse, edited by Alan Bold, and was intrigued…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 26 August 2019 13:23

Jazz and Justice

in Music

Written by Daniel Rosenberg

Daniel Rosenberg reviews Jazz and Justice: Racism and the Political Economy of the Music by Gerald Horne. Capitalism turns art into product, which is put on the shelf with other products. Here you have something that is really precious, that really mirrors the human experience, it speaks to the human…

Gerald Horne Charlie Parker Charles Mingus Fats Waller Gigi Gryce Vi Redd Mary Lou Williams Sonny Rollins Dave Brubeck

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 19 April 2019 08:01

Happy 100th birthday, Pete Seeger

in Music

Written by Jenny Farrell

Jenny Farrell honours Pete Seeger as we near what would have been his 100th birthday There are few people more famous in the political song movement than Pete Seeger. Along with his contemporaries Paul Robeson, Woody Guthrie and others, Seeger represented the might of song in highlighting the common cause,…

Thursday, 07 March 2019 14:46

The Making of a Two Tone Nation

Written by Mark Perryman

in Music

40 years on, Mark Perryman celebrates the release of the debut single from The Specials On the 3rd May 1979, Margaret Thatcher leads the Tories to a crushing General Election defeat of Labour. The next morning I pop into the small independent record shop tucked away by the platforms at…

Tuesday, 20 November 2018 22:48

Rise Up Higher than the Tower Blocks: Bread and Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Award 2018

Written by Mollie Brown

in Music

The Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) and Culture Matters are pleased to announce the second edition of their successful Bread and Roses Songwriting and Spoken Word Award.The Musicians' Union is also sponsoring and supporting the Award. The Award is an example of cultural democracy - the struggle for a more democratic…

Monday, 19 November 2018 11:32

Ordinary Giants: a review and an interview with Robb Johnson

Written by Chris Guiton

in Music

Chris Guiton reviews a great new album by Robb Johnson called Ordinary Giants, and interviews the man himself. The release of Ordinary Giants underlines Robb Johnson’s ability to write songs of great sensitivity which address big themes through the prism of ordinary lives. Based on the life of his father,…

Saturday, 17 November 2018 18:29

Ride of the Red Valkyries: Wagner, Marxism and ‘The Ring’

Written by Sean Ledwith

in Music

Sean Ledwith examines how a dialectical approach that recognises the contradictions of Wagner’s ‘Ring’ might help us prepare for capitalism’s Gotterdammerung in the 21st century. In May 1876, as part of his search for spa-based treatments for his carbuncles, Karl Marx found himself in the Bavarian town of Bayreuth. The…