Aki & Dave of Fun^Da^Mental Speak, as does Natacha Atlas

I'm somewhat tardy in posting this, due to distractions on the personal front. John Hutnyk ("Trinketization") has a very interesting post on a London event to discuss the controversy over Fun'Da'Mental's new album, All Is War, and to premier the video of "Cookbook DIY," the most controversial track on the album. Among those who spoke were Aki Nawaz and Dave Watts of Fun'Da'Mental and Natacha Atlas, who records (in England) on Aki's label, Nation Records. Read the whole thing, but here are some bits:
Aki:

Aki starts speaking about how democracy is a weapon that kills, that there is a silencing that is as much blame, that the leader in Downing St needs to be put on a donkey and paraded through the city, and that he can’t understand why there is nobody doing anything. He is really angry. The youth in Britain are angry, There are people being killed in thousands and everyone seems to be going on and on as if there was nothing they could do. They tried to protest against the gulf war, but were ignored and since then, nothing. Why, he says, aren’t people out there burning down town halls and the like? (This last comment almost an aside, but it will become more and more the hot topic of the night).

Natacha:

...she talks of her Syrian partner, the troubles musicians have getting visas in Europe, her anger and frustration at the war, and she apologises for being emotional. In fact it’s the most passionate thing I’ve heard her say ever, and not at all prima donne-esque. Great.

Aki:

in response to questions the point was made forcefully by Aki that the issue was British foreign policy. A simple persuasive argument he offers runs: we put up with years and years of racism and it did not mean any young people felt the need to strap on bomb belts and jackets and blow the trains; we endured years and years unemployment and it did not mean anyone went out to bomb buildings [well, Baader Meinhof excluded, but …]; but now the nightly news footage of innocents killed one after the other in their hundreds and no-one wants to discuss it, no-one listens, no debate, no significant movement to defend Muslims; no defence of mosques from attack; no way the STW coalition was going to deliver on its promise that ‘if Blair goes to war we will stop the whole country’, despite 2 million marching in February 2002…the problem is foreign policy. Change that and its over.

Dave:

Dave Watts from FDM stands up. The discussion has dragged on and his frustration as clear as many. He starts by saying he understands why people want to be suicide bombers, he understands the frustration that would make someone want to go out and do it. You can imagine how this rubs up against the Gandhians. Dave says there has to be some understanding of where those who have tried to discuss have now ended up – ready to do violence and blow up buildings [code words]. But then he says he is a man of peace, a lover of peace, but he is angry and we have to fight for peace. The video clip we are about to see is called ‘Cookbook DIY’ and Dave explains its in three parts, that the person who in frustration because the is no other avenue for discussion, expression, action, has made a home bomb for 50 quid, is a small version of the guy who makes a dirty bomb, with materials bought on the black market, but neither are as obscene as the scientist who kisses his wife in the morning – Dave mimes a smooch, playing to the audience – who then goes off to work in a pentagon lab or some such to make a neutron bomb that kills all the people but leaves the buildings intact. Have a look at the video people … at which point, the screening [of Cookbook DIY]

Tags: Fun-Da-Mental, Natacha Atlas

Sun Ra - Brother From Another Planet: BBC Video

Acclaimed Documentary on this Visionary Musician

A wonderful BBC documentary, 58 minutes long, on the amazing, indescribable jazz artist Sun Ra. Without Sun Ra--would Parliament-Funkadelic ever have existed? Would psychedelic lightshows have been invented? Would there be Afro-Futurism? Check it out!

And: watch this live Sun Ra performance on "Saturday Night Live," 1978. A weirder and more visionary musical act probably has never appeared, before or since, on the show.

Tags: Sun Ra, jazz

The Gossip "Listen Up!" Video

Great song from The Gossip's 3rd album, Standing in the Way of Control. With their new drummer, Hannah Billie, The Gossip have a very different sound, a rhythm that makes their sound even more soul and funk-based than in the past. The instruments are still minimimalist, but who knew that guitarist/bassist Nathanie/Brace could bring the funk so well? Vocalist Beth Ditto has always sounded like a punked-out Aretha or Bessie Smith, but now the southern grits and collard greens are even more in evidence. (Beth and Nathaniel are originally from Searcy, Arkansas.) In the vid, Nathaniel plays the bass in his bedroom, looking like a bored teen. Drummer Hannah pounds the cowbell. Beth looks rather grandmotherly, most of the time, sitting and knitting. And then, acting on her pro-fat stance, she pushes pizza. Meanwhile, teen punkettes get up and dance to the music. Riot grrrl lives! -- despite the untimely retirement of Sleater-Kinney.

Tags: The Gossip, riot grrrl, punk

Sound Comments...

Turn on Fox News, turn off the sound, and listen to:

DJ Ahmedenijad aka Cesar Chavez (Tehran, Lebanon)
2/5 BZ (Turkey)
Gözel Records (Turkey)
Ramallah Underground (Palestine)
free mp3s of Iraqi music

Thanks to wayne&wax for these listening suggestions.

and don't forget Fun'Da'Mental here and here (click on 'Goodies' and scroll down to the bottom for mp3s)

Addendum: at the suggestion of wayneandwax--check out soot records, and in particular these artists who do stuff with a Middle Eastern flavor: Nettle, dj/rupture, Filastine and Mutamassik. Poke around; sometimes in the news section you can find mp3s.

Tags: music, Middle East

More on "From Beirut to ... Those Who Love Us"--and a new video letter

Check out this article by Jim Quilty for The Daily Star, on the video letter "From Beirut to ... Those Who Love Us," and a new one called "Dead Time," from the Beirut Development and Cinema film collective. (Quilty probably wouldn't want anyone to know, but for awhile he was a Hawg--doing graduate work in History at the University of Arkansas in the late nineties. I think he made a good career choice, switching to journalism. Although now, in Beirut?)

Says Christine Tohme of Ashkal Alwan: "The 1982 invasion had news coverage but very little art came out of it. One thing we can do is make sure that isn't the case this time as well. Resistance isn't something new to us: It's been embedded in all our work since long before this war began."

Check out the two video letters here. (Earlier posting here.)

Tags: Lebanon, Beirut

Don't Forget Gaza

News of the ongoing Israeli onslaught of Lebanon is overshadowing, vanishing in fact, all news of Gaza, where the onslaught is equally awful. Here's a reminder.

Tags: Gaza, Israel, Palestine

Civil Resistance in Lebanon

Civil resistance in Lebanon, along the lines of Palestine's International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and with ISM's participation. The first action, and coming actions, are described here. Be sure to hunt around on the lebanonsolidarity.org site. You can also download posters like the one featured here, as well as banners (like the one in the right-hand column) to put on your website. From the press release:

On August 12 at 7 am, we will gather in Martyrs’ Square to form a civilian convoy to the south of Lebanon. Hundreds of Lebanese and international civilians will carry relief as an expression of solidarity for the inhabitants of the heavily destroyed south who have been bravely withstanding the assault of the Israeli military.

After August 12th, the campaign will continue with a series of civil actions for which your presence and participation is needed. Working together in solidarity we will overcome the complacency, inaction, and complicity of the international community and we will deny Israel its goal of removing Lebanese from their land and destroying the fabric of our country.

Tags: Lebanon, Israel, resistance

How the BBC, and Kathleen Parker, report on Lebanon

Here's a sentence from a BBC report yesterday which I believe sums up the difference between news media reporting on Lebanon in Europe vs. media coverage in the US.

More than 900 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict, the Lebanese government says. More than 90 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed.

The US public almost never hears or reads reports like that. Instead, we get comment like Kathleen Parker's (opinion columnist for The Orlando Sentinel), which appeared in my local paper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, last Friday (and was syndicated in many papers throughout the US). Here are some relevant extracts, with my commentary.

By bringing the war to suburbia [HUH?! Kathleen: your, er, class location is showing!] in violation of the Geneva Conventions and launching rockets from villages such as Qana, Hezbollah virtually ensures that civilians will die.

Here Parker trumpets the official Israeli line, that Hezbollah is to blame for the death of Lebanese civilians.

Pending an investigation, many facts are unknown, including whether the building in which the children died came down as a result of Israeli fire. The Associated Press and others now report that the Israeli strike on Qana came between midnight and 1 a.m., but the building didn't collapse until 7 or 8 a.m., possibly as a result of munitions inside the building.

Maybe the Israelis didn't really kill those people anyway!

Whatever the case, Israeli Defense Forces had dropped leaflets into Qana a week beforehand, warning residents to evacuate. Although international humanitarian law forbids the deliberate targeting of civilian areas, exceptions are tolerated under certain circumstances.

Those dumb children, they should have left. They were warned!

As Human Rights Watch explains on its Web site (humanrights watch.org), a civilian area can be targeted if it "makes an 'effective' contribution to the enemy's military activities and its destruction, capture or neutralization offers a 'definite military advantage' to the attacking side in the circumstances ruling at the time."

Parker's hypocritical use of HRW language to support Israel really defies belief, doesn't it? Especially since Human Rights Watch has released a report criticizing Israel's indiscriminate attacks on Lebanese civilians.

The humanitarian guidelines also call for "proportionality" in "dual use" areas and for precautions to protect civilians.

Parsing the language of "dual use" when bombs are killing sleeping children seems absurd when measured against such senseless loss. But it is also necessary if we are to maintain perspective against a cowardly enemy that hides among women and children, then relies on emotion to gain traction on the battlefield of public opinion.

Why some residents of Qana didn't leave given fair warning is a point of speculation, but Hezbollah reportedly has blocked residents from evacuating other areas. Proportionality is a trickier question, but let's be clear on the issue of moral equivalence. There is none. Hezbollah aims to kill civilians; Israel aims not to. But by firing rockets from civilian areas, Hezbollah forces Israel to return fire, thus inciting the condemnation of civilized nations and fueling the reliable outrage of the Arab street.

I've never seen reports of Hezbollah blocking the exit of civilians--who, especially when we're talking about Shi'ites in the south, are almost unanimous in their support of Hezbollah. And of course "some" residents of Qana, and probably most of them, did leave. Others stayed because they were afraid: of being attacked by Israeli warplanes while fleeing. Others stayed because taxi fares have become exorbitant, too high for the poorest to afford. And some, legitimately, resisted Israel's warnings to leave. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of what is going on in South Lebanon knows this, but in the US, all you need is ideology to qualify as an opinion columnist.

"Hezbollah aims to kill civilians; Israel aims not to." Does Parker not know basic math, the kind the BBC finds so easy to manage? And..."by firing rockets from civilian areas, Hezbollah forces Israel to return fire," that is, Hezbollah forces Israel to blow up an entire country, destroy its infrastructure, create a million refugees, destroy Lebanon's coast, etc. Israel has no choice but to respond this way. Israel is entirely blameless, Hezbollah entirely culpable.

Such commentary is no anomaly, but instead represents entirely conventional US media commentary on Israel's invasion Lebanon. I'm having a hard time trying to puzzle out why I shouldn't say that such commentators have the moral integrity of Goebbels.

Tags: Lebanon, Israel, BBC, Kathleen Parker

Patti Smith: the last rocker with a social conscience left?

From Jon Pareles' NY Times report on Lollapalooza, in Chicago this past weekend:

It had one stage devoted to music for children, where none other than the punk-rock poet Patti Smith performed on Sunday afternoon. There, in one of the festival’s most blunt political moments, she sang a newly written song about children killed by bombs in Lebanon, with bitterly graphic imagery: “limp little bodies caked in mud.”

Is anyone else in the US pop culture field saying anything that is even a little bit critical about Lebanon?

This sentence from Pareles' report seems to capture the current state of pop music: "The new Lollapalooza happens only in Chicago; it’s also clean-cut, having made peace with corporate sponsorship and Chicago’s civic pride."

And, from another Pareles report:

Lollapalooza, meanwhile, is branded every which way: on stages, on the field, in its advertising. Its main sponsor is AT&T, and I have to wonder if Lollapalooza's new rectangular logo, with a few letters on each line, has been remade in the image of a telephone keypad. (Meanwhile, AT&T is webcasting parts of the festival at blueroom.att.com) Does all the corporate presence make any difference to music that's rarely nonprofit by intention? "Enjoy Capitalism," said one audience member's T-shirt - and Capitalism, of course, looked like a Coca-Cola logo.

As for Patti, here's her recent statement about the Qana massacre, from her website:

QANA

The Israeli practice of collective punishment is a war crime under the Geneva Convention. Why are they allowed to do this? Because they have our permission?

We send over four billion dollars in aid and weapons to Israel every year. We are paying for this devastation. The slaughter of children. The country in ruins.We are paying for this. George Bush willfully rejected a truce and now we have the Qana massacre on our head. Thirty seven of the dead were children.

Qana is considered by some as the location of the first miracle of Christ. Turning water into wine. There is no wine flowing in Qana today. Only blood. Only blood.

Consider these lyrics, from "Babelogue" (Easter, 1978): "In heart I am a Moslem; in heart I am an American; in heart I am Moslem, in heart I'm an American artist, and I have no guilt." And check out her lyrics to "Where Duty Calls" (Dream of Life, 1988).

P.S.: John Schaefer (see comments) called my attention to the fact that Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips also had something to say about Lebanon at Lollapalooza. According to the Chicago Tribute, "Coyne prompted the massive crowd to sing along in an effort to 'stop traffic' in the area and to 'stop Israel from bombing Lebanon.'" The Flaming Lips: Who woulda thought? And the Flaming Lips are a band from the heartland: Oklahoma City. (Thanks, John.)

Tags: Lebanon, Patti Smith, Israel

Fun^Da^Mental's "All Is War" Available 7 August

Fun^Da^Mental's controversial new album All Is War (the benefits of g-had) will be available for downloading on August 7 from the group's website.

Says Aki Nawaz, the group's leader:

"We are not soliciting for your money but your genuine support. Even if you download 1 track and preferably the “I Reject” track you are contributing to putting the middle finger up at the system.

The results for the music industry, media, and the establishment if the track appears in the download charts, would be horrific but absolutely brilliant in terms of dissent.

We promise to donate part of the money to “VERY WORTHWHILE CAUSES” and the rest will be used to carry on pushing politics out of the conventional box of deceit and lies."

The physical album will be released on 28th August via Vital Distribution, on the new label Five Uncivilized Tribes, created because two silent directors of Aki Nawaz's label, Nation Records, threatended to resign over All is War's release.

The track “Cookbook D.I.Y,” which has received the most media attention due to the fact that it treats, among other things, a suicide bomber making his bomb, has been made into a video (available to the media by emailing Fun^Da^Mental). Other videos are in preparation.

Aki Nawaz issued the following statement:

"We have now found a secret location outside of Europe where the album is been manufactured. My intention was to expose the hypocrisy and contradictions of democracy and free speech, which is evident and real, that has been achieved.

I would say we are living in times of “Democratic Nazism” and there is an epidemic of institutionally fuelled racism against the communities. In time and predictably in a colonial mentality, an indigenous “lord or sir” will conclude this after siphoning the tax payers money in its thousands and only then will the “establishment” acknowledge the reality and its error.

However until then as previously we will speak out whatever the consequences at the hands of the State.

Democracy has been hijacked by a few to execute their own demonic aspirations least of all Tony Blair, a Crime Minister of the 1st degree. Foreign Policy is the root cause of the reaction and reality we live in.

I do not fear Prison; far better people have done their time for bigger and worthier struggles.”

The label adds:

"we request that people should first support the people in Lebanon with their money rather than buy the album, their need is greater and far more important however we will happily donate money from the sales to where it matters."

As for the album's provocative album cover: it's totally punk rock. (Aki's first music gig was as drummer for Southern Death Cult.)

Earlier Fun^Da^Mental posts here, here, here, and here.

Tag: Fun^Da^Mental

Video Letter from Beirut: "From Beirut to...Those Who Love Us"

Beirut's artistic community refuses to die! Please watch this video letter from Beirut, produced by Beirut based film collective Beirut DC, entitled "From Beirut to...those who love us.“

According to the letter I just received from them, "The collective is part of grassroots coalition SAMIDOUN which set up the first relief centre for refugees in Beirut, the last count hold around 10,000 internally displaced persons who have fled from Southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Its various committees, like the medical team, the meal distribution team or the social intervention team carry out various projects in support of the refugees.

The video-letter raises awareness for the situation in Lebanon and shows alternative images to the ones we see in the media on a daily basis. Beirut DC aims the film to be shown in cinemas and cultural spaces all over the world, encourages a wide distribution of the work and welcomes TV stations to acquire the broadcast rights. All revenue from TV-sales will be entirely used to finance the work of SAMIDOUN....

Donations are welcomed at
Samidoun c/o Green Line Association
- Bank Name: Bank of Koweit and Arab World
- Swift Code: BKAWLBBE
- Account Number: 6189003

Please don't hesitate to contact us for further information, for interviews or photos.

With kind regards

Jad Abi Khalil (Beirut DC), phone: +961-3-853625, mail: beirutdc@inco.com.lb or jadabikhalil@gmail.com"

Tag: Lebanon

Interzone Radio: All Lebanon

As is usual for me on a Tuesday evening, I did my radio show, "Interzone Radio," on the local college radio station, KXUA. Yesterday was August 1, the birthday of Jerry Garcia but also, and much more important for me, the birthday of my late mother. If she were still alive, she would be, like me (and my father and the rest of my family), going crazy about what is happening to Lebanon. She lived there from 1964-1972 and simply loved it (again, like we all do).

Last night I decided to play all Lebanese music for two hours. (Playlist is here.) My decision had nothing to do with my mother, it had everything to do with Lebanon, but doing it certainly made me think of mom. (I've also wanted to eat Lebanese food lately--meaning, since I'm in Fayetteville, that I have to make it myself. I also wish I could get my hands on some 'araq.)

Putting the show together, and then listening to the music, reminded me of what a rich and diverse musical culture Lebanon has. And I only scratched the surface. I focused mostly on the more recent material. Fairuz, of course, mostly songs produced by her son Ziad Rahbani. I still find "El Bosta" from her album Wahdun (released in 1979), with its disco overtones and cinematic production, to be quite amazing. I played "Ya mariamu" from Wala Kif, her song in tribute to the Virgin Mary. It's produced by Ziad, has a very Brazilian feel to it, but what is really remarkable is the way she plays with the lyrics, draws out short syllables, making them long, and her timing and enunciation, which is very jazzy. (Reminds me of the best of Sinatra.) Her song, "Li Beirut," the last number of the night, from Maarifti Feek, nearly brought me to tears. It's a beautiful, beautiful tribute to Beirut; the lyrics are by Joseph Harb:

To Beirut-peace to Beirut with all my heart,
And kisses to the sea and clouds,
To the rock of a city that looks like an old sailor's face.
From the soul of her people she makes wine,
From their sweat, she makes bread and jasmine.
So how did it come to taste of smoke and fire?

And of course I played some Ziad Rahbani, a major singer and performer in his own right. And some Marcel Khalifé, who became known throughout the Arab world in the mid-seventies for his nationalist songs, in particular for his songs set to the poems of celebrated Palestinian poet Mahmud Darwish. I played "Ummi" (Mother) from this period. Khalifé's music from the seventies and eighties is very much identified with the cause of the Palestinians and with the struggle of South Lebanon against the Israeli occupation. In those days, Khalifé could fill football stadiums with fans when he gave concerts. Khalifé is a very talented and innovative 'ud player, his singing voice is marvelous, and he's an ambitious composer. I find much of his work over the last twenty years to be somewhat schmaltzy and over-reaching in its classicist ambitions. But he continues to produce creative and boundary-pushing music. The cuts on Concerto Al Andalus (2001) where he works with a small ensemble, including his two sons, is really wonderful, with the dynamics of a jazz ensemble, or the classical Arabic takht.

It's interesting to note that all three of Lebanon's most renowned performers, Fairuz, Ziad Rahbani, and Marcel Khalifé, are Christian, and all are associated variously with progressive, secularist politics. (Joseph Massad discusses Fairuz and Khalifé's engagement with the question of Palestine in the book I co-edited with Rebecca Stein, Palestine, Israel, and the Politics of Popular Culture.)

I played some cuts from Haifa Wehbe, Nancy Ajram, and The 4 Cats, female artists who are part of that larger cultural phenomenon that Marc Lynch calls the Lebanese pop tarts. Sassy, fun, sexy, and a huge sensation throughout the Middle East, particularly as a result of their edgy music videos (video clips) that are broadcast by satellite all over the world, and that can now also be found on Youtube.

And some Lebanese hip-hop (from Clotaire K and Rayess Bek) and some Lebanese rock (by Monsieur Untel)--the latter cut from a compilation of Lebanese rock and alternative put out by the Lebanese music magazine, CD-thèque. Another group on that compilation is Soapkills, who I simply adore. They've been described as a Lebanese trip-hop band, which doesn't quite capture their sound but will have to do. (Listen for yourself at their website here.) Alas, Soapkill recently broke up--singer Yasmine Hamdan (pictured) has gone solo and Zeid Hamdan is now working with a group called Saboon. I didn't play much "traditional" or "folkloric" Lebanese music, but I did play a cut from the late buzuq master Mohammed Matar.

Finally, in this very small sample of the great diversity of Lebanese music, I spun a cut from Chromatic, "Al Kawafel," which I got from another CD-thèque compilation called Jazz Is Alive And Well And Living In Beirut. Jazz, rock, Arab pop, classicist-based innovation: alive in Beirut! That was the hope, and that was what was in fact happening in Lebanon as it managed to rebuild itself, post-civil war, post-Israeli occupation, from the mid-nineties until mid-July 2006. That Lebanese musicians manage to produce such vital and creative work, despite the disasters and traumas of the last three decades, is almost miraculous. My show, without being overtly political, at least was an attempt to testify to that spirit.

Will these musicians, and others like them, be able to continue, given the events of the last three weeks?

(Here's a report on the Beirut's cultural life as a war casualty from Ramsay Short, editor of Time Out Lebanon.)

Tag: Lebanon

Very useful resource on Hizballah

A primer, from Middle East Report, on Hizballah, written by anthropologist Lara Deeb. Deeb is the author of the award-winning An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi'i Lebanon.

As noted by The Arabist, it shows: "there is no distinct 'Hizbullah' before 1985, it is not clear what Hizbullah’s responsibility with the 1982 Marine barracks bombing is, and it cannot honestly be called a terrorist group like Al Qaeda."

Tags: Lebanon, Hizballah,

Blues in My Heart

Blues in My Heart
Originally uploaded by tsweden.

For some reason, today I felt like hearing Elmore James' "Sunnyland Blues." So I dug into my record collection and drug out this LP. After I listened, I noticed the cover, and was reminded that I had bought it in Beirut, Lebanon, in '73 or '74. I lived there between 1964 and 1976. Those were great years and also crazy years; Beirut was wonderful, cosmopolitan, and yet the gap between rich and poor seemed to be growing and one could foresee a social explosion, which came in the form of horrendous civil war in 1975 and which eventually forced me, along with many others, to flee. Among other things, I played in a blues band, The Bliss Street Blues Band, from 1973-75. (See a photo here.) The group played a reunion gig in summer 2003 in London, which I made it to, and this summer in Beirut, at the end of June. (For various reasons, I didn't make it.) The band members, including George Bisharat, fortunately all made it out before Israel started blowing up Lebanon again. I've not been able to get back to Lebanon since 1976. This would have been a good summer to go; now maybe it'll be 10 years more before on would want to go again.

Lebanon is being blown up, and I've got blues in my heart. (But maybe not rhythm in my soul!)

Note the yellow label, which says "Prix imposé au Liban 12 LL" (price in Lebanon, 12 Lebanese pounds, a little less than $4 at that time.)

I bought quite a few blues album's at Beirut's record stores in those days. I even own an Etta James album that was made in Lebanon. That's how cosmopolitan it was.

Tags: Lebanon, blues

Give Money to This Guy!

At last, a courageous Democrat. (OK, so 7 Congresspeople voted against the "we support Israel 1000% percent" bill recently passed.) Jonathan Tasini, challenging Hilary Clinton in the upcoming primary, is actually critical of Israel's actions in Lebanon and Gaza, reports the New York Times. Israel has “committed many acts of brutality and violations of human rights and torture,” he said in an interview with the blog Room 8. "Are your actions in violation of the international norms of the Geneva Convention, and so on? And I think it’s sad to say, but it’s clear, yeah.”

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson responded, "It’s outrageous, offensive and beyond the pale.” Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations said of Tasini, “His ignorance is appalling.”

For Hilary's enlightened views on Israel, go here. (In her running after Israel, of course, she is not at all out of line with mainstream Democratic leaders. Reid, Pelosi, and Kerry all expressed their outrage yesterday at Iraqi PM al-Maliki's criticisms of Israel.)

One Way to Help Lebanon

I quote from an email from The Nation: "Nation columnist Naomi Klein is urging support for the Sanayeh Relief Center, established by a group of non-sectarian Lebanese leftists. Sanayeh is providing relief at 27 schools in the city of Beirut, which are currently housing 9,117 displaced people--more than 1,000 under the age of five--from the southern regions of Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut."

Check out the Sanayeh Relief Center's blog for updates. Here are the details on how to contribute. The girls pictured here have taken refuge at Sanayeh park, in central Beirut, where hundreds are "camping out," in the open.

Tag: Lebanon

Peaches' "Downtown" Video and more!

Check it out here. Peaches plays the male and the female part--nasty herm that she is.

And a snippet of Peaches performing at Irving Plaza, and a great MTV of Peaches performing "AA XXX" in concert in Japan in 2004 (you have to register for this one due to the "inappropriate" content). This is before-the-band (the Herms) vintage, and demonstrates the inimitable Peaches showmanship.

And, check out her podcasts on AOL Music's the interface. Live performances of "Tent in Your Pants" and "Hit It Hard" for you to download.

Tag: Peaches

Pareles on Peaches

New York Times critic John Pareles reported yesterday on Peaches' New York City concert. His report, correctly!, is positive, and includes some smart, and not-so smart, observations:

"Every one of her songs is about sex: straight, gay, bi, all-purpose."

"Lately she has been shifting from raps, which take a lot of writing and rhyming, to hard-rock songs that allow for far more repetition; luckily, Peaches can sing, wailing like Joan Jett, and now she occasionally plays guitar." (Comment: I'm not sure why Peaches made this shift, which I noted in my review of the Lawrence concert, but I'm sure it's not because she was averse to writing and rhyming. Her writing and rhyming were brilliant, but not to be judged, as Pareles does, by comparison to rap. Peaches did not just start picking up the guitar, but used to play it in her previous concerts. She plays a bit more now than she used to.)

"The musical upgrade [playing with a band], as Peaches called it, puts more punch and variety in her music and frees her for more showmanship. At Irving Plaza she performed onstage, on a speaker cabinet, in the balcony and on the dance floor." (Comment: no, it just allows for a different kind of showmanship. Without a band, Peaches also used to perform on any surface she could get to.)

"Compared with Ms. [Joan] Jett, Madonna or Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Peaches is less an object of desire than a pep-rally yell leader; her raps often have the rhythms of football cheers. Her material is closer to a checklist than to a fantasy, and her audience finds it amusing, not shocking." (Peaches frequently refers to herself as a "sexual conduit," someone who enables sexual turn-ons.)

What's funny about reading Pareles article is that he can't really describe what Peaches is about, because, as he says, "Most of her lyrics can’t be quoted in this family newspaper."

It appears from Pareles' report that the NYC show did not feature the kind of dancing I witnessed in Lawrence. Someone told me that there were no dancers at the Philadelphia shows as well. So maybe the Lawrence show was the most provocative! What, indeed, is the Matter with Kansas?

Now I'm going back to reading the incredibly depressing news about Lebanon...

Tag: Peaches

Kufiya footnotes

Here are some particularly dumb attacks on kufiya wearers: one a video from Michelle Malkin (it takes her a couple minutes to get there) dating from June and a blog from Malkin today, linking Zapatero and other "jihadis" and "anti-Semites" wearing "hate couture" (like Ricky Martin and Howard Dean) with links to other sources linking kufiya-wearing to solidarity with "terrorists."

Kufiyaspotting #11: Spain's PM Zapatero

Ha'aretz reports that Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero accused Israel of using "abusive force" in Lebanon while addressing a meeting of young Socialists on Wednesday. Israel's ambassador to Spain said that these remarks had "damaged" Spanish-Israel relations. According to Ha'aretz, Zapatero was wearing a black-and white "Palestinian scarf" (Ha'aretz can't say kufiya, although the word is well known in Israel--but perhaps Reuters, the source of the report, is to blame) while making the remarks, given to him by one of the young Socialists.

Last kufiyaspotting here.

Tags: Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Spain

What Are You Doing To Prevent This?

Tags: Israel, Lebanon

Peaches Falls into The Gap

I had just finished the review of Peaches' Lawrence concert below, and was eating lunch and watching a rerun of last night's "The Colbert Report." An ad for The Gap came on, and I recognized Peaches' song "Do Ya" from Impeach My Bush. "Livin' the dream, whatever that means/It's time to come clean, when you're rockin' the scene..."

It's a great song (nothing that you couldn't play on college radio and not get fined by the FCC), no overt sexual messages. Sorry to see it put to the uses of The Gap. If I'd been reading my New York Times closely, I would have known that the Talauega Brothers were responsible.

Tag: Peaches

Peaches Rocks the Shocker in Lawrence

I've seen Peaches in concert twice before, in Memphis in October 2003, and in Austin in 2004. She is out on tour again, promoting the new release Impeach My Bush. For the first time, she's touring with a band; its members are JD Samson (Le Tigre) on keyboards, Samantha Maloney (Hole, Courtney Love Band, Motley Crue, Eagles of Death Metal) on drums, and Radio Sloan (The Need, Courtney Love Band) on guitar. I caught her in Lawrence, Kansas, at the Granada Theatre, on July 16, on what I think was the second date of the tour.

Peaches started the show appearing onstage alone, performing "Tent in Your Pants" (from Impeach) wearing a silver outfit that reminded me of what Nona Hendryx used to wear in the early 90s: leather, metallic, space-age shoulders. The song is hilarious, a great way to start. One of the great lines: “Hurts so good I got a soregasm.” The band appeared on stage, also dressed in those N. Hendryx-style outfits, for "Fuck or Kill" (from Impeach). (JD managed to look very macho, unlike his/her nerdy look when I saw him/her performing with Le Tigre last August.) Drummer Samantha looked terrific, her blonde hair blowing in the wind of the fan, her drums on a raised pedestal. Radio Sloan looked pretty butch too. Favorite lines from the song: "Let's face it, we all want tush. If I'm wrong, impeach my bush." A few times, Peaches let silence stand in for the "my," yielding: Impeach...Bush. The Lawrence crowd cheered. Next up, "Hit It Hard" (Impeach), followed by "Hot Rod" from The Teaches of Peaches: "You like it when we play hardcore/the panty war/then you get pussy galore."

Then, the outrageous "Two Guys (For Every Girl)" from Impeach, where Peaches performed the amazing task of getting a mostly hetero crowd (yes, there were some boys in dresses and some drag queens) to cheer for a song with the lyrics:

I wanna see you boys get down with each other
I wanna see you do your lil nasty brother
Just one thing i can't compromise
I wanna see you work it guy on guy

Next up, "Rock the Shocker" (Impeach) which featured six or so female dancers onstage, dressed, and moving, like strippers. Peaches demonstrated with her hands how to "rock the shocker": "thumbs up, fingers out, pull back" and got the audience to participate. Now everyone knows how to perform digital sex ("Stop relyin' on your dick").

"Rock Show" ("You came to see a rock show, a big gigantic cock show") from Teaches of Peaches is next, a song that highlights Peaches' rockstar qualities. She plays a V-neck guitar; as the song ends, she licks the crotch of the v-neck. Next, "Do Ya" off of Impeach, another pure rock song. Peaches plays guitar again, even performing a short, dissonant guitar solo. The very nasty "Downtown" (Impeach) follows, a song featuring a very sweetly sung chorus: "Cause I wanna take you down town/Show you my thing, show you my thing" and more lowdown verses: "You keep on pinin' for me to go dinin'/ I had me a meal and that keep me belly from whinin'." Two female dancers are onstage for this one, using boa umbrellas to reveal and conceal themselves, going "downtown" on each other behind the boas. Eventually, they strip down to reveal star pasties. (Can't believe this for a "rock" show!)

The famous "Lovertits" follows (from Teaches). By now Peaches is wearing a metallic burgundy bikini, and she gets on a bike and rides around on stage. This references the Super 8 "Lovertits" video she made, which is up on her website. (Go first to "photos+videos" and then to Super 8. The vid is uproarious, featuring two women riding around on oldschool bikes, stroking the chrome.) At the end of the song, Peaches stops the bike and puts her feet up on the handlebars, spread wide, mimicking the female position on the gynecologist's stirrups. (Thanks to my compadre Lissa for spotting that.) "Lovertits" is followed by the anthemic "Shake Yr Dix," (from Fatherfucker). Peaches' faithful tool, the Roland MC 909, is rolled out for her to play (almost all the sounds on Teaches and Fatherfucker are produced by the Roland). Six female dancers fill up the stage, and there is some serious titty shaking (especially from the girls with the pasties.) Meanwhile, guitarist Radio Sloan is at work with a hand pump, and then an enormous dick balloon appears, and is erected behind the drums. (This seems to substitute for the lack of males on stage shaking their dix.) Next up is "AA XXX" ("Only double A but I'm feelin' triple X") from Fatherfucker, with Peaches again playing the Roland. She's on the Roland again for "Slippery Dick" ("it's just a fish in the Atlantic") which features the hilarious lyrics "Can you cut the custard to clear the mustard?" During the song, the big balloon dick falls down. Efforts are made to revive it, and then two male roadies appear with a big stretcher, to clear it off. (Reminding us that the dick is mostly NOT hard, NOT omnipotent. The real material dick is no phallus.) Peaches then pushes the Roland, and it moves offstage, like a robot.

Back then to some more hardcore rock'n'roll with "Give'er" from Impeach. Next, "Boys Wanna Be Her" (Impeach), with both Peaches and Radio Sloan playing hard-driving guitar. "The boys wanna be her, the girls wanna be her": genderfuck. (And this is true: boys do wanna be Peaches.) For "You Love It" (Impeach), Peaches changes into a black bikini and puts on her patented black-and pink cape with the letters "XXX," and it's time for "You Love It," another rock number. ("I scream and pull my own hair/I turn into Linda Blair...You love it when I'm mad.") Finally, what is arguably Peaches' most famous song, "Fuck the Pain Away" from Teaches (which shows up, among other places, in the film Lost in Translation). I still wish I understood what a "Chrissy behind" is--who's the Chrissy? "What else is in the teaches of Peaches? Like sex on the beaches." On this, and I think all of her "old" numbers that she performed, Peaches fools around a bit with the lyrics, delivering the words with a slightly different emphasis and intonation, making the song new.

The group goes off the stage but comes back for an encore after prolonged applause. Peaches does "Hanky Code," a song that is not on Impeach, but available on the "Downtown" EP. (I downloaded it from itunes.) "Hanky Code" refers to the "code" of wearing hankies, whose position on the body and whose colors indicate particular preferences for sexual acts. Lots of girls came out on stage, shaking it, and wearing hankies in various positions and colors. A tall drag queen came out and simulated various acts with the girls, based on the preferences indicated by the hanky. This was a raucous, crazy number, very campy and burlesque. Next, "I U She" from Fatherfucker, Peaches' anthem to kinky bisexuality. "I don't have to make the choice, I like girls and I like boys...Whips, crops, canes, whatever, come on, baby let's go/Cuffs, chains, shorts or leather, come on, baby let's go." Appropriately, at this point Peaches and her band are wearing matching outfits with black denim jackets, and we learn from what is written on the backs of the jackets that the band is named: Peaches and the Herms. (Peaches got the notion of herm, a combination of her and him, from JD Samson. I guess JD Samson may have got it from the work of Anne Fausto-Sterling.) Third song of the encore set is "Get It" from Impeach, with Peaches back again on the Roland. "We got givin' and gettin', that's all that we've got": about sex as exchange rather than domination/subordination. Last song of the night is the kick-ass anthem "Rock 'n' Roll" (Fatherfucker). It's pure, celebratory rock'n'roll, with Peaches screaming "rock'n'roll" over and over and over. Again, the stage is filled with girls, some of them stripped down to the pasties. (By now, we are clear that they are there not just for the male spectator but for the female as well.)

The first two times I saw Peaches it was just her onstage (accompanied on 2 or 3 numbers by dancers), just her, larger than life, with all the presence and swagger and charisma of any famous rockstar. In the course of those shows where she was solo, she occupied and channeled numerous sex/gender positions, performing lots of costume changes. At one moment she was a blonde-wigged bimbo churning on a guitar like a cock-rock god, another moment she was channeling Elvis, in go-go boots, then she was in bondage, then she was shaking her tits and then shaking her microphone dick. Her music is its own, sui generis genre, a combination of classic rock, electro and hip-hop (but this description is inadequate). (3-4 years ago she was often classified as "electroclash," a label she correctly rejects.)

The solo shows were amazing spectacles, high energy, anarchic, with Peaches scrambling all over the stage, hanging from the rafters, climbing up the stacks of amps, jumping on the pool table, stomping on the bar in her high-heeled white boots. They were like queer performance art. With a band, it's a bit different. Peaches is of course the center of the show, but there's more going on onstage (the band, obviously, the props, all the dancers.) It's as amazing and as powerful a performance as the solo ones, but more like a queer burlesque rock'n'roll show (thanks LIssa!) now than performance art. Peaches does fewer costume changes and when she does, she gets the help of her roadies (perhaps it's the above-the-knee boots that she keeps on that cause her to need the assistance). She's not channeling so many different sex/gender positions. Instead, the songs do that, with all their props and the lyrics themselves, running from going "Downtown" and "Rocking the Shocker" (activities that both male and female spectators can practice at home) to the reversal of the male fantasy of sex with two girls who also do each other (on "Two Guys [For Every Girl]") to the celebration of dick ("Tent in Your Pants") and the dick's good-humored deflation ("Slippery Dick") to equal-access exhibitionism ("Shake Yr Dix") to hard-core cock-rock appropriated and performed by chicks (except JD Samson doesn't look like no chick, deliberately). It's an entirely queer show, queer not in the sense of a synonym for GLBT, not in the sense of identity. Rather queer as a set of actions that problematize and destabilize straight notions of gender and sex and sexualities. It's a queer notion that, unusually, is very inclusive of hetero males. In fact, the whole Peaches project is very much aimed at them. As she has recently stated, "her real mission is to help those with the most perceived power in society: straight men. 'They're the only ones in society who haven't had a liberation movement...I want to tell them something really revolutionary," she says. "It's okay to be vulnerable.'" She manages to do this, successfully I think, by using humor. Adolescent humor. Whenever I listen to her, and especially in concert, when I'm paying special attention to the lyrics, I find myself constantly chuckling. For instance, on "Two Guys (For Every Girl," where she's talking about two guys doing it, and says, "He's covered in marmalade," or on "I'm the Kinda Bitch": "my labia majora soft as angora." Peaches is never a male-bashing queer feminist, she's instead always working to entice, seduce the male, always with jokes and kindness. There may be whips and chains and leather but it's all a game. Even when it's boy on boy, as in "Two Guys," it's all in fun:

I'll slink in when you boys are in a french knot
We play a game its like your gonna get caught
That's the time you're gonna get so damn hot
You wanna see my pussy pop pop pop

Even if that scenario doesn't entice you, it's bound to make you laugh.

The band was great. I was particularly impressed with JD Samson, who looked so tough and was so good at producing those electronic old-school basslines, and great on backing vocals. Samantha Maloney looked fabulous on her drum platform, like the epitome of the rock'n'roll drummer. I particularly liked it when she came to the front to play 80's vintage electronic drums. Radio Sloan on guitar and occasional electronic keyboard was great too, and especially lent the rock'n'roll numbers an edge. Performing with the band, Peaches' show was a bit more rock'n'roll focused than in Memphis or Austin. This reflects the album, which also features more singing than the previous two Peaches releases.

The dancers, a provocative and fun part of the show, were all from Lawrence, as I discovered when I met a couple of them after the show. I would never have guessed it, their performances all seemed so rehearsed and yet fresh and spontaneous to me.

Opening acts were SSION (from Kansas City), who were fun, very theatrical, queerish punk, although I thought the quality of the music did not quite match up to the level of the theater. Next up were Eagles of Death Metal, who are on the tour with Peaches. They are a very fun and energetic metal band, but I don't care for metal, at least their sort. In their defense, two members of the band make guest appearances on Impeach My Bush.

Unfortunately, cameras and VCRs were banned, so I only got to take a couple shots when I managed to find Peaches in the alley after the show. (But cellphone cameras were ok. This is the only time I've ever wished I owned one.) You can get a sense of what the show looked like from these photos here and here. If you go to flickr and search for the tag Peaches, there are now lots of photos--but not of Lawrence. Do not miss this, whatever you do, if it's anywhere near your area. (My only regret: Peaches did not perform "Back It Up, Boys," her song about "pegging.")

(Addendum: Katherine [see comments] claims that "Chrissy behind" is Chrissy Be-Hynde, standing for Chrissy Hynde of The Pretenders. Sounds plausible to me. Thanks, Katherine!)

Tags: Peaches, queer

Positive review of Fun^Da^Mental's "All Is War"

At last, a critic able to actually engage with Fun^Da^Mental's forthcoming release (due out at the end of the month) All Is War--a review by Chris Campion, writing in The Observer. Some choice bits:

Strip away the outrage, then, and what's left is an album pieced together with great consideration. To provoke not just a reaction but thought and debate...Musically, too, it's audacious and, at times, exhilarating...it is underpinned by a militant faith: a faith in humanity to lance the boil afflicting society and reveal the poison swelling up within. Fear, intolerance, ignorance and self-interest are the hallmarks of Blair's Britain underneath its thin veneer of civility and morality.

(Previous Fun^Da^Mental posts here, here, here and here.

Tag: Fun-Da-Mental

Israel Lobby?

Here's an amazingly candid article about Israel and Congress from today's Washington Post. A few choice quotes:

Democratic and Republican congressional leaders are rushing to offer unalloyed support for Israel's offensive against Hezbollah fighters, reflecting a bipartisan desire to not only defend a key U.S. ally but also solidify long-term backing of Jewish voters and political donors in the United States, according to officials and strategists in both parties.

Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman punctuated the day with a speech to Christians United for Israel last night, declaring that "today, we are all Israelis."

Many Democrats, who are among the largest recipients of Jewish votes and money in federal elections, are working with Republicans to pressure President Bush to reject calls to strike a more measured tone and prod Israel to show greater restraint.

Based on a study by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Republicans are also getting a larger percentage of money from Jewish political committees and self-identified Jewish donors. So far this election cycle, Republicans have received about 42 percent of money from Jewish groups and individuals. If that number holds, it would be the highest percentage since the center started tracking these donations in 1990.

Without massive pressure, which will take years to organize: no chance that anything good will come out of Congress with regard to Israel, Palestine, Lebanon...

[Addendum: BUT that work should be done, and here are some suggestions from United for Peace & Justice about actions to take.)

Tag: Israel

Hillary on Israel, Lebanon and Gaza

Presumptive presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addressed a crowd of "thousands" at rally in support of Israel on Monday. Here are some of her entirely predictable words:

"I want us here in New York to imagine if extremist terrorists were launching rocket attacks across the Mexican or Canadian border, would we stand by or would we defend America against these attacks from extremists?...We will stand with Israel because Israel is standing up for American values as well as Israeli ones...America will support Israel in her efforts to send a message to Hamas, Hezbollah, to the Syrians, to the Iranians - to all who seek death and domination instead of life and freedom - that we will not permit this to happen and we will take whatever steps are necessary."

American values: to date, upwards of 200 Lebanese civilians killed, 12 Israeli civilians killed. Beirut's airport bombed, Lebanon's searoutes blockaded, highways and bridges bombed, Beirut's lighthouse destroyed. Electricity cut off in Beirut.

I participated in a demonstration on Saturday, calling on Hillary to come out for a quick withdrawal of US troops from Iraq; she is certainly showing her cred as a "peace" candidate. Hillary is also a big fan of Israel's apartheid wall.

Tags: Israel, Palestine, Hillary Clinton, Lebanon

Peaches in Lawrence, Kansas

Peaches, champagne, dancers
Originally uploaded by tsweden.

I went up to Lawrence yesterday to see Peaches perform at The Granada Theatre. She's touring to promote her new album, Impeach My Bush, and performing for the first time with a band, Peaches and The Herms. The show was theatrical, provocative, sexy, fabulous. I'll post a more detailed report soon. (I managed to track her down after the show, and to share a bit of champagne with her.)

Tag: Peaches

Demo urges Hillary to get some spine

July 15, 2006 Appeal for Peace
Originally uploaded by OMNI Photo Center.

Hillary Clinton spoke in Rogers to a crowd of 650 at the Arkansas Federation of Democratic Women on July 15. The Omni Center for Peace Justice and Equality organized a picket outside, in the blazing 92 degree heat. About 30 people showed up, including me (but I forgot to bring my camera). As far as I can tell, the event received ZERO media coverage. Media coverage of HIlary was instead, fawning.

My favorite sign reads (click on it to enlarge): Hilary: Get spine or run as a Republican.

Tags: Hillary Clinton

Dave Zirin on why he supports Zidane

A head-butt against racism!

"According to a FIFA employee transcribing what was said during the match, Materazzi's called Zissou a "big Algerian shit. A Brazilian television program that claims to have used a lip-reader said Materazzi called Zissou,s sister "a whore. The highly respected French anti-racist coalition SOS Racisme issued a press release stating, "According to several very well informed sources from the world of football, it would seem [Materazzi] called Zissou a 'dirty terrorist'....

Zissou is the son of Algerian immigrants who has sparred verbally with Europe's far-right political machine for more than a decade. He is an outspoken anti-racist on a team that has defined itself by its multiculturalism and stubborn insistence to stand up against bigotry both inside and outside the sport. Materazzi on the other hand, will be playing this year for the Italian team Lazio, where his father was the former coach. Lazio's fan club, The Ultras, are notorious for their Fascist-friendly politics. Lazio's hardcore Ultras, known as the "Irriducibili," have members in Italy's extra-parliamentary far right and try to use the club to recruit. The group has frequently uses racist and anti-Semitic banners, one time hanging a 50-foot banner that said their opponents were a 'team of niggers.'"

And an update: Zidane apologizes and claimed that Materazzi said something personal about his mother and his sister. Materazzi denies saying anything about Zidane's mother or calling Zidane a terrorist.

"Soul on Islam": Ahmad Cleaver

Ahmad Cleaver, son of Black Panther Party leaders Eldridge and Kathleen Cleaver, has recently published Soul on Islam (riffing, obviously, on his dad's Soul on Ice). The book deals with his experiences growing up in exile, in Algeria and France, and his subsequent conversion to Islam. Ahmad is currently on a book tour. Here is the description of the book from its publisher, Seaburn Books:

I am a child of what America is and how she came to be. I come from a story that starts with the Africans who arrived on American shores some 400 years ago. So begins this heartwarming and non apologetic book by Mr. Cleaver.

My father was a soldier, a fighter and a writer. He used to run with the Black Panther Party troops across the battle lines of America’s ghettos in the turbulent 1960’s. Those were the days when some of the young Black men went from being hunted by the police to being hunters of bad policemen who liked to see African-American blood. My father and my mother were part of the leadership of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, Eldridge and Kathleen Cleaver. His voice was heard by many. His was “Soul on Ice” and mine is “Soul on Islam."

About the Author:

“Soul on Islam” is the first book by Ahmad Maceo Eldridge Cleaver, the son of Eldridge Cleaver, best-selling author of “Soul On Ice.”

The book is an informative memoir sketching Cleaver’s life with his parents, activists in America's civil rights movement. It includes details of their life in France, America and Algeria, where he was born. The book continues to unfold and gives the reader a very moving description of when the author discovered and embraced Islam twelve years ago.

For the past decade, Cleaver has traveled amongst Muslims in countries within Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. He shares stories and scenes of his experiences while living in Sudan and in Qatar.

Ahmad Maceo Eldridge Cleaver graduated with a B.A. from the Africana Studies and Research Department at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Since embracing Islam, he is a dedicated student of Islamic studies and the Arabic language and studied the teachings of Islam under Imams in America, Sudan, Kuwait, and Qatar.

He currently lives in Doha, Qatar.

Ahmad is not the only son of famous Pan-Africanist militants to have taken up residence in the Arab world. David Dubois, son of W.E.B. Dubois, resides in Cairo, at least part of the year. Gamal Nkrumah, son of Kwame Nkrumah, is a very fine journalist, living in Cairo, who writes for al-Ahram Weekly.

Roger Waters Concert

Here's a report from War on Want on Roger Waters' recent concert (June 22) in Israel, at the "mixed" community Neve Shalom.

The crowd of 50,000--mostly Israeli Jews, due to the relatively high prices--received Waters enthusiastically, and reacted positively to his subtle and his direct criticisms of the (apartheid) Wall. War on Want reports: "It was not until the encore that Waters decided to speak out directly against the Occupation, asking Israelis to tear down the wall!', before launching into Pink Floyd mega-hit Another Brick in the Wall."

We learn from the report too that Sting recently visited Palestinian refugee camps and has called the occupation "an obscenity." (Recall Sting's collaboration with Cheb Mami on the 1999 hit "Desert Rose" and the boost the video gave to the Jaguar Corporation.) I'm still looking for more information on Sting's trip...

On a side note, it turns out that Waters' father worked in Palestine between 1934 and 1938, a period of Palestinian history that I'm quite interested in. (See my Memories of Revolt: The 1936-39 Rebellion and the Palestinian National Past.) According to the report, "The night before the concert, Waters met with Palestinian musicians at the Edward Said Consortium of Music in East Jerusalem as part of a tour organised by UK anti-poverty group War on Want. He recalled that his mother would receive letters from his Dad telling of the migration of rich Jews into Palestine and their hostile attitude toward the Arab people."

Tags: Israel, Palestine, Roger Waters

Alessandra Sanguinetti: Virtual Gallery at ArteEast

Remarkable photos from Palestine by renowned New York photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti, from ArteEast. Accompanied by a very smart essay from Lori Allen, who argues that Sanguinetti captures a “tragic magical realism” in Palestine and does not replace the liminal uncertainty there with “message, hope, symbolism or sentiment.” The photo above shows two Palestinian schoolgirls in front of the separation barrier (apartheid wall) at Qalqilya.

Tags: Palestine, photography

Palestinian Hip-Hop

Filmmaker Joyce Salloum is at work on a film about Palestinian hip-hop, SlingShot Hip-Hop: The Palestinian Lyrical Front, to be released this winter. A CD has been released, called Free the P, available here, to raise money for the film, featuring mostly Arab-American groups, but also including a cut from the most high-profile Palestinian hip-hop group, DAM. Listen to the CD here. Read about the film project here.

Tag: Palestine, hip-hop

Hutnyk on Aki

Check out John Hutnyk's post on Aki, from his blog Trinketization. Says Hutnyk: "Aki Nawaz is just the sort of threat we need much more of, in the sense that we have to debate, discuss, challenge and change." And check out the comment, there's one from Aki. (It's the same post, dated July 4, found on the fun-da-mental website.)

The Fund-Da-Mental site now has the lyrics available for All Is War. (I hope to have a chance to look at them more closely, soon.)

Tag: Fun-Da-Mental

Yet more Aki

Another report on All Is War (The Benefits of G-Had) from the BBC on June 28. This provides some clarification about why Aki says he could face prosecution for this forthcoming album (scheduled release date is now July 31). According to the BBC's legal affairs analyst Jon Silverman, "the album could result in a prosecution under glorification of terrorism laws, passed earlier this year, but may require the consent of the Attorney General."

In the article, Aki makes clear that "As far as terrorism and the killing of innocent people goes, I find it repulsive."

Even more interesting than this article is the video (see upper right hand corner of the BBC report) of Aki's appearance in the BBC studio. He defends his rights as an artist to make his comments and opinions known. The interviewers challenge him for rendering equivalent the actions of "the leader of the free world" (George Bush) and Usama Bin Laden, and the other person on the couch (Tory MP Michael Gove, author of Celsius 7/7) asserts that the album may be dangerous, that it may give succor to angry young Muslims and encourage them to resort to violence. Aki responds that the bombers of London on July 7, 2005 (7/7) were "inspired" by the policies of Tony Blair in Iraq.

Aki is cool, logical, coherent. And wearing a kufiya.

Tag: Fun-Da-Mental

More on Fun^Da^Mental

An article appeared in today's Guardian about the controversies surrounding Fun^Da^Mental's upcoming release. Nice quote from Aki: "I have a right to push the boundaries as much as anyone else has, whether it's Ken Loach or Harold Pinter or George Galloway or Neil Young or the Sex Pistols." (Photo is from The Guardian story.)

(A kufiyaspotting note: look what Aki is wearing!)

Tag: Fun-Da-Mental

New Fun^Da^Mental Release in Trouble?

The new release from Fun^Da^Mental, All Is War: The Benefits of G-had, from Nation Records, is due to drop on July 17. But according to an announcement from Nation on June 20, the album "has caused the directors of Nation Records to offer their resignations in the event the album is released through Nation Records. Martin Mills and Andrew Heath (Beggars Banquet Group [Nation's "parent" company]) both have expressed their concern and fear in the event they are linked to the many provocative and controversial elements of the album." According to Fun^Da^Mental's "leader," Aki Nawaz, "The album is challenging the notion of freedom of speech and creative dissent especially in current times and my background gives me the perfect platform to express the issues from a [personal] point of view and not from a mainstream imposed, misguided, patriotic perspective. I have the right equally and without condition as others to expose the hypocrisy and contradictions of democracy, [being] a Muslim does not mean I have to subservient, loyal or silent to the State or any of its illegal activities against any peoples, anywhere around the world."

Aki wrote to me awhile back saying he was worried he might be jailed for putting out this album. It's not clear exactly what is going to happen, the last post (June 21) on the Fun^Da^Mental website tells us that more news will appear real soon. I will keep looking. The site also offers a "manifesto" on All Is War, including what I take to be descriptions of all the songs. "Che Bin Pt 2 ant PT 1" is described as a "discussion on resistance and terrorism, word by word by Che Guevara and Osama Bin Laden. What makes the two men different? What makes one a symbol of resistance and the other a terrorist? What do they have, if anything, in common?"

So, All Is War promises--assuming it actually comes out--to be Fun^Da^Mental's most provocative release ever. Inshallah I'll get one in the mail when it's released, and I hope to write up a report soon thereafter.

Nation Records is responsible for releasing loads of great music, mostly in the vein of what has been termed the "Asian Underground" (although Aki describes what Fun^Da^Mental do as "global chaos"). Among the artists it has released (some of whom have since moved on to bigger labels): Natacha Atlas, Tranglobal Underground, Loop Guru, Asian Dub Foundation, TJ Rehmi...

The t-shirt pictured here is also courtesy of Fun^Da^Mental.

Tag: Fun-Da-Mental

Review of Kamilya Jubran & Werner Hasler, "Wameedd," plus Le Trio Joubran and Wissam Murad

Here's my review for RootsWorld, which appears in RootsWorld Bulletin #356. RootsWorld is a great source of information on world music, of all sorts, and it is on a subscription drive ($20 a year for the bulletin). Well worth supporting. Eventually this review will go up on the RootsWorld website. RootsWorld, through CDRoots, is also a great source for world music, and often, the only source in the US for many recordings. For instance, I think it is the source for the Kamilya Jubran/Werner Hasler (pictured) and the Wissam Murad CDs that I review below; it's also the source for the music of Sabreen in the US. So there are multiple reasons to give RootsWorld your support. Go here for more sources on these musicians.

Kamilya Jubran and Werner Hasler, Wameedd (Artist released)

Le Trio Joubran, Randana (Fair Play)

Wissam Murad, Min Ba'd (Sabreen Productions)

Three recent recordings by Palestinian (plus one Swiss) musicians, each, in its own way, quite brilliant. Taken as a whole, they give a sense of the range of contemporary Palestinian music, from the rooted-in-tradition to the most avant-garde. Two of these recordings are from artists with what is probably the most important and creative contemporary Palestinian ensemble, Sabreen. Kamilya Jubran served as Sabreen's lead vocalist and qanun player for twenty years (1982-2002), while Wissam Murad remains one of Sabreen's core members. Sabreen's music has always been characterized by deep roots in the traditions of Arabic music, particularly that of the takht, the classical small ensemble known for its use of improvisation. Throughout its long recording career, Sabreen has been known for its creative ability to incorporate the rhythms and sounds of jazz, reggae, rembetika, blues, contemporary Arabic pop music, and even hip-hop, while at the same time to remain firmly grounded in the tradition. Although the members of Le Trio Joubran are not connected to Sabreen, their work too is at once innovative yet tradition-grounded.

I got a sense of Sabreen's classicist foundations in summer 1993 when I was invited to a party at Kamilya Jubran's house in Ramallah. One of Sabreen's members (it may have been Wissam Murad) was playing 'ud and singing for the 40 or so assembled guests. The rule of the night was that all the songs would have to date from before 1920. The 'udist played for two or three hours, and what I found remarkable was not just that he knew so many old songs, but that his audience, composed of university-educated and Westernized Palestinians, knew all the songs too, and sang along on each number. If I recall correctly, many of the songs were penned by the Egyptian composer and singer, Sayyid Darwish.

Of these three recordings, Kamilya Jubran and Werner Hasler's Wameedd is the most challenging, creative, and disturbing. Hasler, a Swiss composer and performer of electronic music, provides an eerie, subtle, and remarkably appropriate sound background for Jubran's voice and 'ud. Jubran's 'ud playing is mostly basic and spare, her repetitive lines and note-bending often bearing a family resemblance to that of Mississippi delta blues guitarists. The focus here is less on melody than on emotion, feeling, and the words. For Wameedd Jubran has set to music texts chosen mostly from contemporary Arab poets, like Paul Shaoul and Aïcha Amaout, as well as from the celebrated Gibran Khalil Gibran and Greek poet Dimetri Analis. Jubran's expressive vocals and the instrumental atmospherics make it easy to appreciate Wameedd without understanding the lyrics, but nonetheless a key element will certainly be missed. So here's a hair-raising sample, from the end of the song, "Nafad al-Ahwal 2": "I remembered the day I was killed, raped, cut to pieces lemon by lemon, cigarette by cigarette, was ripped and for the first time I cried for my death and for nature." (Listen to the extract here.)

These lyrics are by Lebanese poet Paul Shaoul, who frequently writes about his experiences during Lebanon's horrific civil war (1975-1990). No doubt these lines resonate somehow with the experiences of Kamilya Jubran, one of Israel's second-class Palestinian citizens, who was born in Akka (Acre), and who moved to the West Bank in the early 1980s to live under the Israeli military occupation, now in its 40th year. Jubran has lived in France, in voluntary exile, since 2002 but her music still resonates with the emotions, the trauma, and the cultural vitality, of her homeland.

Le Trio Joubran's Randana is the work of three brothers, also Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, born in Nazareth. Samir, 33, also eventually took up residence in the West Bank; more recently he too has gone into temporary exile in Europe. He has been performing and recording solo for the last several years, especially in Europe, to growing acclaim. In 2002 Samir released the album Tamaas, recorded with his younger brother Wissam, 22, an 'ud player and maker, a graduate of the Antonio Stradivari Institute in Italy. On Randana, Samir and Wissam are joined by their younger brother Adnan, 20. The inspiration for this recording, according to Samir, was the guitar trio of Al Dimeola, Paco de Lucia and John McLaughlin. Mercifully, Le Trio Joubran don't sound much like their inspiration; there's no speed picking or overblown energy. I don't hear much trio playing either, but rather solo or duo playing, and I'm unable to distinguish between the three 'udists. The instrumental compositions, by the trio, are rooted in the improvisational taqsim tradition, and are mostly contemplative, quietly rather than emotionally expressive. The 'ud playing, improvisation, and composition rank among the finest I've heard, although they don't quite achieve the level of master 'ud innovators like the Tunisian Anouar Brahem or the Iraqi Nassir Shamma. The only weak spot on the album is the group's live rendition of the Muhammad Abdul Wahhab composition, "Ahwak," made famous by the great Egyptian singer, Abdel Halim Hafiz and performed as a kind of sing-along. Samir's vocal is so inadequate to the task that I always want to stop the CD and listen to Abdel Halim's version again. (Listen to an extract from Randana here)

Wissam Murad's Min Ba'd is his tribute to the great Egyptian poet Bayram al-Tunisi (1893-1961), who attempted to revolutionize Arabic poetry by promoting colloquial ('ammiya) poetry addressed "to the people" and denouncing high/ classical (fusha) poetry as elitist. The album consists of four songs where Murad has composed music to accompany some of al-Tunisi's well-known verses; the other four numbers are instrumentals. Min Ba'd in many ways resembles the sounds of Sabreen's recent recordings, with its strong inventive ensemble playing in the improvisational and loose style of the takht, but with a modern sensibility, provided in particular by the bass playing of Oystein Bru Frantzen. I prefer the instrumentals on Min Ba'd to the songs. I am not overly fond of Murad's vocal style; it's a little too warbly for me. Nonetheless, this is a very fine recording, a kind of an Arabian trad-jazz style, in the best Sabreen tradition.

Although none of these albums is overtly political and none comments directly on the Palestinian condition, each emerges from the very difficult predicament that Palestinians find themselves in today. Each album represents a kind of heroic testimony to the continuing persistence and vitality of Palestinian culture, a kind of miracle of art and beauty, an oasis of hope, produced under the harsh conditions of war, resistance, and military occupation. - Ted Swedenburg

Listen to complete tracks:
Jubran and Hasler here
Wissam Murad here

CDs available from cdRoots
Wameedd
Randana
Min Ba'd

Tag: Palestine

Roger Waters at the Wall

Roger Waters (ex-Pink Floyrd), on a visit to Israel and Palestine and who will perform at Neve Shalom today, visited the apartheid wall (separation barrier in Zionist doublespeak) at Bethlehem yesterday, the first stop on the tour. He tagged it with "tear down the wall." I wonder when some famous US popstar will ever get involved in this issue. Or will it just be more Sharon Stones, bussing with the likes of Shimon Peres? (Said Sharon: “I admire you, sir, so greatly, it’s beyond discussion or I would just sit here in a puddle of tears. That I can sit here beside you is my greatest achievement.”)

More on Roger Waters' engagement with the Wall here and here. On Hilary Clinton and the Wall, here and here. Banksy's Wall graffiti are here.

Tag: Palestine