Signs of life | Pulse

The soundtrack of dissent, must-haves for your iDissentPod [or similar]

Proven fact: any protest is more fun if it has a good song. The Beatles generation had Imagine, Zombie [The Cranberries] simultaneously stripped any illusions of honour from the sectarian maelstrom of Northern Ireland and catapulted it into the public conscience, and the karaoke booth. Despite its involvement in the mercenary, even criminal acts of aggression and inhumanity which they decry, the UK can be proud that the talents of native artists have produced two of the best songs of dissent of the current day.

Mass Destruction

That hot summer of the invasion of Iraq rang with the arresting and moving words of Faithless’ Mass Destruction voiced by Maxi Jazz. So eloquent is the deconstruction of that famous jargon term ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction‘, [coined and repeated unendingly, it turns out without reference to anything in existence, to frighten us into acquiescence to military belligerence], that the provocative accompanying video can barely compete with the listener‘s imagination. As if to highlight the aptness of the track’s content, it was lifted from the album version’s meditative tempo by P*nut and Sister Bliss’ remix whose distinctive percussion make it ideal for blasting out loud [to yourself] as you take up the banner of reason, peace and good will to all men women and children.

The song came from a seminal album itself inspired by the untold stories of war and inequality. Other songs spoke for the displaced, the refugees and orphans [No Roots], or dissected the politics of tyranny by fear [Love Lives on my Street/Bluegrass], which by the way is the original definition of ’terrorism’. In The End exposed the gulfs between society’s winners, and those we try to walk past in the street. Also demanding acknowledgement are Bombs, illustrating how the War on Terror will most likely recruit its own ‘enemy combatants’, and for the emotionally masochistic, To All New Arrivals catalogues all the worst symptoms of the modern world’s socially diseased condition.

Illegal Attacks

More recently, and more damming, Ian Brown has enlisted the help of Sinead O’Connor to attack through song the kind of brutal mercenary political-economic architecture that will be familiar to all who have read Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine [to be discussed later]. From his new album, The World is Yours, the abrupt, and satisfyingly bluntly titled Illegal Attacks rapidly brings the blood to a fearsome boil that only the elegantly simple video might have the impact to chill. It’s rare for dissenting artistic work to incorporate references to the traditionally emotionally uninspiring territory of the Dow Jones and Nasdaq, but lines like ‘These are commercial crusades, ‘cos all the oil men get paid’ help to successfully integrate the economic aspect, without which, as it seems unanimously agreed and understood, there would be no such war to dissent against. Ian Brown’s distinctive style, somewhere between indie, hip hop and orchestral [comparable to Rob Dougan] sets him apart and really takes flight on this snarling right hook for conscientious objection.

So there are the top two of iDissent’s music charts, but they are by no means the only good ones out there. You might also want to arm yourself with the following:

Bomb The World --- [Michael Franti & Spearhead]
Prayer for England ------------- [Massive Attack]
False Flags --------------------- [Massive Attack]
You Make Me Like Charity ----------- [The Knife]
Dance 4 Life ---------------- [Tiesto ft. Maxi Jazz]
I Want More -------------------------- [Faithless]
DIrty Ol’ Man ------------------------- [Faithless]
Six Days ----------------------------- [Dj Shadow]
Some Folks Are Hollow -------------- [Ian Brown]

Save Us ------------------------------ [Ian Brown]

On the live circuit, any dissident will enjoy a good Massive Attack concert. These heroes of trip hop, hailing from the infamously non-aligned Bristol scene of creative individuals, make it into our top rated with Prayer for England and there's even more to them than that. While the majority of their music is not overtly political, their gigs are synonimous with the scrolling text display which reels off statistics and facts on world inequalities, defence spending and so forth behind them as they perform. A previous incarnation of their official website took a very minimalist form, featuring almost only a reproduction of that scrolling display. Not just wonderful music and a fantastic night out, a Massive Attack gig also provides a lesson in the underbelly of world politics and of course a great opportunity to meet like-minded folks while you're soaking in the sounds.

the massive attack stage display at Glastonbury 2008