In an industry that’s changed dramatically over the last couple of decades, has electronic music lost its political momentum?
Has it ever really had any in Australia?
Music has, is, and always will be intrinsically linked with politics. Joan Baez, Nina Simone and Phil Ochs rallied for basic human and civil rights and for the anti-war movements in the 1960s. Similarly, the history of house and techno music is heavily rooted in the double exclusion of race and sex in the US.
By its universal nature, music transcends geographical boundaries. I can be touched by the inimitable words of Pete Seeger half a century after their composition, or the sheer, unassuming joy of a latter-period lo-fi Frankie Knuckles Warehouse recording in my lounge room.
The equation of music and politics might sound a little dirty to an Australian society steeped in an exhausting and largely ineffectual two-party system. To overcome that notion, we need to reposition our definition of politics in more humanising terms, reconsider our roles in society, and remind ourselves of the music’s power as a progressive vehicle for change.
Music animates our societies. It is produced by people with their own set of distinct beliefs, contexts and circumstances, to be then experienced and consumed by any variety of other cultures and belief systems. While the expression of its politics might be less overt or radical than the written manifesto, it is unique in the way that it activates us physically and cerebrally.
Whether or not you’re actively aware, or whether or not you actively care (because we’re not always theoretically analysing ourselves and others while wiping sweat off our brows), the dancefloor is a fluid, shared political space, and dancing is a political act. In listening to music, we are engaging in a political exchange – in economic terms we might even see this as a labour exchange, although at this point I might hesitate to deromanticise the sheer, organic thrill of dancing. Among the primal jits and heaving nucleus, there are ideas being exchanged and identities being affirmed.
DJs/performers, promoters, clubs and dancing spaces are all especially important in establishing an enabling context and set of circumstances. It’s so important to not only have this space, but recognise how valuable it can be in the future. These are powerful environments for social change and for awareness.
This week’s playlist
It’s all about no-wave this week. Check out ESG, Liquid Liquid, Bush Tetras, Material, and of course two of the best V.A. compilations around: the 1978 Brian Eno-curated compilation of lore, No New York, and Soul Jazz’s New York Noise series. Super stuff. Sounds like an abject dance.
Recommended:
FRIDAY MARCH 24
Front Left 0.5 Minimalism Special @Inner West warehouse location
FRIDAY MARCH 31
Berlin Underground Special – Feat. De La Swing, Andy Bird, Ben Nott @Civic Underground
SATURDAY APRIL 1
Mantra Collective Fun-Raiser @Civic Underground
Bondi Beach Radio 4th Birthday @The World Bar
SUNDAY MAY 28
Soul Of Sydney Feat. The Strides, Cumbiamuffin @TBA
