Here's a look back at January's political news and the best new music that related听to it. You can also listen to a podcast of this column, including all the music,听.
1. TASMAN KEITH - TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN听
On January 1, Australian prime minister Scott "ScoMo" Morrison marked the new year by changing the words of the national anthem from "we are young and free" to "we are one and free". He did so " the timeless spirit of the ancient land we call home, and the connection to this place of Indigenous peoples who have cared for our country for thousands of years". But if Australians were truly "one and free", the incarceration rate of Indigenous Australians would not be that of non-Indigenous Australians. If Australians were truly "one and free", the white man suspected of killing Aboriginal children in the New South Wales town of Bowraville in the 1990s would probably not still be walking free. Indigenous rapper , who was born in Bowraville, tackles on his , by "showing his confidence to racists/bigots", in his .
2. BEANS ON TOAST - KNEE DEEP IN NOSTALGIA听
Of course, ScoMo's "one and free" inclusivity does not stretch to refugees who come to Australia fleeing war and persecution, a brutal policy that culminated in at its offshore Christmas Island detention centre on January 5. ScoMo's "I stopped the boats" refugee-bashing is so well known that it even crops up on the new album by British folk singer . On "", he sings about touring Australia: "I ain't seen any spiders yet, but I've seen lots of kangaroos. I love the way you shorten words and add an 'O'. This is not a conversation, it's a convo. It's not a registration it's a rego. Down Under in Australia, picking up the lingo 鈥 and for all intents and purposes, I'd like you to call me Beano. Your Old Mate Beano... And what about ScoMo? I heard he hates homos and reffos. Back home we call that an arsehole."
3. SLEAFORD MODS - SPARE RIBS听
Back home in Beans On Toast's country, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was copping plenty of flak as he finally implemented Brexit by breaking Britain away from the European Union. Rocketing all the way up to was a single titled "Boris Johnson Is A Fucking Cunt" by comedy punk band The Kunts, whose has to be heard to be believed. Following that up the charts was Asian Dub Foundation's unconventional Brexit-bashing single "Coming Over Here". Also putting the boot into Brexit were electronic punks Sleaford Mods, with their new album, as "a searing masterpiece". On "Out There" they spit: "Let's get Brexit fucked by a horse's penis until its misery splits, ugly rich white men get shagged by it." Talking about the album, singer Jason Williamson Irish media: "Right now it鈥檚 embarrassing to be English. I feel ashamed, frankly."
4. NICK LUTSKO - SONGS ON THE COMPUTER听
On January 6, shameful nationalism also came to a head when US President Donald Trump incited white supremacists to break into the Capitol building in an attempt to invalidate the US election he'd lost. The rioters were led in part by members of QAnon, a group of conspiracy theorists who Trump will save the world from an evil cabal of Democratic paedophiles and liberal celebrities who harvest children's blood. The next day, comedy songwriter Nick Lutsko released his insanely catchy new , which features the track "Baby Blood". On it, he : "Celebrities are hot because they all drink baby blood. And Donald Trump is saving us from satanic, pedo scum. Why do you think he looks like shit? 'Cause he refuses to put baby blood against his lips. Why is his name all over Epstein's list? 'Cause he's been playing the long game, duh. He had to trick 'em." 听
5. THE ANTI VIRALS - BRAINWASHED
After white supremacists freely roamed the Capitol building without being arrested, three House Democrats announced they had tested positive for COVID-19, prompting that the siege had turned into a super-spreader event. Four days after the insurrection, aptly-named Californian band released their of raw, Sex Pistols-style punk, which was inspired by the US government鈥檚 handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its denial of science, as well as the right-wing backlash against wearing masks. On "Idiot Nation", they seethe: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e exactly what鈥檚 wrong! The world will thrive when you鈥檙e gone! Last idiot generation, last idiot, idiot nation.鈥 Singer Brian Coakley calls the screed a 鈥渟ong of hope鈥 because he thinks that eventually wiser generations will rise out of such turbulent times.
6. GRANDSON - DEATH OF AN OPTIMIST听
However, even a president as depraved as Trump was able to claim the moral high ground over his predecessors when he proclaimed in his farewell speech on January 19: "I am especially proud to be the first new president in decades who had started no new wars." That pitiful fact won't have escaped Canadian protest musician Grandson. Describing the song "WWIII" on his hook-laden and heavy debut album, he : "What鈥檚 more American than war? This [song] is through the eyes of a soldier who believes initially that what he鈥檚 doing is the right thing, but he starts realising that this isn鈥檛 like the video games: 鈥業 shot a kid who was same age as me / just because he鈥檚 not from the same place as me.鈥 The war in Afghanistan is old enough to have a beard and drive a car at this point 鈥 it鈥檚 so crazy that we鈥檙e still in these things and the exit is so unclear.鈥
7. VARIOUS ARTISTS - HOPE RISES听
As 80 countries joined a new United Nations nuclear treaty on January 22, ScoMo to sign Australia up, instead welcoming with open arms as he backed the nation's coal industry for . Rightly raising the alarm were award-winning protest duo Emma's Revolution, who channel climate activist Greta Thunberg on their song "Our House Is On Fire", which opens a new protest compilation of young activist artists put together by Noel "Paul" Stookey of fabled folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. "Melting glaciers, put out the fire," sing Emma's Revolution. "Rising seas, put out the fire. Bleaching coral, put out the fire. Our house is on fire. Shrinking shorelines, put out the fire. Sinking islands, put out the fire. Growing drylands, put out the fire. Our house is on fire." 听
8. THIS FRONTIER NEEDS HEROES - GO WITH THE FLOW听
Equally enraged by the climate lunacy is US country artist This Frontier Needs Heroes, who rails against such madness on "Fossil Fuel Fascists", found on his new album, released on January 20. "'Fossil Fuel Fascists' is a song I wrote when Trump nominated Rex Tillerson to be Secretary of State," he . "Democracy was limiting their ability to make profits and destroy the planet with impunity so they just took over the levers of our government. The normal corrupt artifice was not enough." On taking power, new US President Joe Biden announced he was cancelling the bitterly-contested Keystone XL pipeline that carries oil from Canada to the US. The move prompted so-called "progressive" Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to announce that he was "" with the move. Meanwhile, Biden dozens more oil drilling permits in his first few days as president. 听
9. DUBROW - POLITE UNTHREATENING POP SONGS听
Having been banned from Twitter, Trump turned to his favourite media outlet, Rupert Murdoch's climate change-denying , to broadcast his thoughts in the dying days of his presidency. On January 15, Murdoch's son, James Murdoch 鈥 who quit the family firm in protest at its climate coverage 鈥 media companies like Fox for egging on Trump and fomenting the Capitol insurrection. The move came as Australia's Senate submissions to former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's call for a Royal Commission into Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Instead, Murdoch was handed an Australia Day lifetime achievement award on January 26, and used his speech to "awful woke" culture. Summing up the cringe was the innovative new album from Melbourne musician Dubrow, on which he sings: "The day Rupert Murdoch died, nobody cried." 听
10. ANI DIFRANCO - REVOLUTIONARY LOVE听
As US federal agencies that the divisions sown by the likes of Fox News are likely to breed domestic terrorism in the US for years, veteran protest singer Ani DiFranco released her new album on January 29, which tries to bridge the divide. She its title track, "Revolutionary Love", is "about carrying the energy of love and compassion into the centre of our social movements and making it the driving force. It鈥檚 about finding it within ourselves to stay curious about our opponents instead of shutting down.鈥 On the song, the long-time feminist activist's lyrics sound like those of an abused lover as she : "I will tend my anger. I will tend my grief. I will achieve safety. I will find relief. I鈥檒l show myself mercy. I鈥檒l show myself respect. I鈥檒l decide when I鈥檓 ready, to forgive but not forget... Yes, I will bring the love. The revolutionary love."
Video:听Baby Blood.听.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mat Ward has been writing for听91自拍论坛听since 2009. He also wrote the听听Real Talk: Aboriginal Rappers Talk About Their Music And Country and听makes听political music. This month, he released a concept album听about the controversial mission to make humans an interplanetary species. You can download the expanded edition free for a limited time听.
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