The Gory Underside of the Arts Communities' Oppression Fantasies

As various individuals purporting to represent Canada's arts community attempt to monopolize more and more media time with staged scandals and contrived outrage, it's becoming more and more clear that many Canadian artists seem to be both prone and eager to imagine themselves as an oppressed community in Canada.

The most public examples have been self-appointed "martyrs" Margie Gillis and Franke James. The former averaged more than $90,000 a year in arts grants over a 13-year period between 1998 and 2011. The latter is apparently outraged that the federal government chose not to fit the bill for her to take her mediocre anti-oilsands art on a self-lionizing tour of Europe.

But as it pertains to the tendency of some Canadian artists to imagine themselves as an oppressed minority, James and Gillis are but the tip of the iceberg.

An interesting case study is that of a band calling itself Trike. Originating from Vancouver, Trike now mostly plays in Europe.

In 2009, Trike announced they were going to stay in Europe. They haven't been missed.

They also apparently didn't lose interest in Canada. In July 2010, they uploaded a music video to YouTube entitled "Get Out, Get Out".

It's amazing that something like this could fester, largely unnoticed, on YouTube for more than 14 months.

The first thing that stands out about the video is the song. The first thing that stands out about the song is that, frankly, it's shit. God-awful shit. Irredeemable shit. Anyone who makes it past the 0:55 mark of the video should be applauded for their endurance.

After that, the next thing that stands out is the deranged nature of the video. While the two members of Trike drone on about murdering someone, someone wearing a hastily-constructed Stephen Harper mask smashes their keyboard and murders the band, stabbing them multiple times with multiple knives.

It's hard to escape the conclusion that the video is meant to suggest that Stephen Harper is killing Canada's arts community. Frankly, it's a comical notion.

In 2009, when the band announced its "exile" to Germany, they declared that Canada had become "anti-art".

“Canada is our home, but it’s going through a bit of a right-wing, bureaucratic, anti-art phase right now, which would make it next to impossible to live as artists.”

Those lacking the sense of entitlement that has come to afflict the Canadian arts know differently. Canada isn't going through an "anti-art phase", and no anti-art phase would be necessary to make it impossible for Trike to live off their art.

The banality and mediocrity of Trike's art is what does that. Trike can't live off their music not because Canada has become "anti-art", but because their music is just so goddamned awful.

The trinity figures of Margie Gillis, Franke James and Trike seem to bring an unsurprising reality to light: bad artists rely on government grants to keep them out of having to seek work in industries more appropriate for their talents... like fast food.

Bad artists also seem to rely on a shared sense of ideological vanity to make their art more marketable to those who share their political beliefs. In a video posted after the 2011 election, band member Xania Keane declares that she was considering moving back to Canada, but can't live in a country with a conservative government.

(She apparently hasn't taken note of Angela Merkel.)

Keane says she isn't coming back to Canada, and apparently expects people to care. It doesn't seem like many do. It all works out pretty well for Canadian music fans, who are now spared from having to be subjected to Trike's tripe.

Dispatches From Terrible Music Land

Approximately a year ago, Lindsay Stewart (aka Pretty Shaved Ape) released a self-produced album of rockabilly-esque music. Or something like it.

Recently, the Nexus received a bootleg recording of one of Stewart's performances. Apparently, the scene was not pretty.


(Before any zealous members of the Clowncar Brigade raise their hollow objections, yes this is a joke. Also, hat tip to Maffew of Botchamania fame.)

Bands That Make Deliberately Pretentious, Yet Empty Music...

...Make deliberately pretentious, yet empty political statements.

Making Guns Uncool

In Guns are Cool, novelist Courttia Newland confronts the glamourization of guns through venues such as video games, movies and gangsta rap.

Clearly, Newland seems to think of himself as a black Michael Moore; Newland goes so far as to place an on-camera call to Nike to complain about 50 Cent's lyrics. But beyond that, Guns are Cool raises some important questions, while largely ignoring others.

Newland points out that, like in Canada and the United States, the black community in Britain is disproportionately affected by gun crime. Newland insists that this is because black communities are "socially deprived" (which seems to be a rather left-ish method of saying they're impoverished).

Newland suggests that the identification of "black on black" crime as black on black is, in itself, a form of soft racism. But the film declines to confront the question of why so many black Britons target one another as the victims of their crimes.

The idea of creating a nationwide stigma against gun crime, however, promises a method of gun control that would be more effective in the long term than some of the methods of gun control currently being used -- such as the handgun ban that deprives Britons who would use such weapons for self-defense rather than for crime.

At the Going Down of the Sun, and In the Morning, We Will Remember Them

Regularly-scheduled Assholery will resume following the completion of Open or Shut. Stay tuned.

God Hates... Terrible Music? Redux

Justin Bieber WBC's most recent random target

If there was any doubt that the hate-worshippers at the Westboro Baptist Church were picking the targets of their protests at random, the announcement of their most recent target has pretty much confirmed it.

When Justin Bieber fans turn up to his concert in Kansas City, they can expect to be confronted by Fred Phelps and his congregation.

While the WBC's recent attempts to picket at the San Diego Comic-Con and at Lady Gaga Concerts met with a humiliating response, it seems that this church has resorted back to its original, cowardly tactics:

Pick on those unlikely to fight back.

After all, it's unlikely that the pre-pubescent teenage girls attending Bieber's concerts even know who the WBC are, let alone are they likely to be prepared to meet the church's bigotry with the response it deserves: contempt and ridicule.

Sadly, it seems Bieber fans are about to get a crash course in precisely how deep and dark the malice of a bigot truly runs.

Lady Gaga 1. Westboro Baptist Church Can Go Fuck Itself

Singer of terrible pop music finds something she can do right

If God's love were apportioned according to the distribution of musical talent, the Westboro Baptist Church would have had something right when they declared that God hates Lady Gaga.

But few proper-thinking Christians could have ever made that error.

For a group that has long convinced many that they basically choose their targets at random, singling out Lady Gaga seemed to confirm those suspicions. For her own part, Lady Gaga seems to have figured out the appropriate response.

In a message to her fans ahead of a show in St Louis, Missouri at which the WBC had promised to show up and protest, Gaga told her fans to simply ignore the group, whom she aptly described as "hate criminals":

"I would like to make my little monster fans aware of a protest being held outside the Monsterball in St Louis tonight. Although we have had protesters before, as well as fundamentalists at the show, this group of protesters are hate criminals and preach using lewd and violent language and imagery that I wish I protect you all from. Their message is of hatred and divisiveness, but inside at the Monsterball we preach love and unity.

My request to all little monsters and public authorites is to pay these hate criminals no mind. Do not interact with them, or try to fight, Do not respond to any of their provocation. Don’t waste your words, or feelings, no matter what you hear or see you are more fortunate and blessed than they are, and in your heart just pray for them. Although I respect and do not judge anyone for their personal views on any politics or religion, this group in particular to me, is violent and dangerous I wanted to make my fans aware of my views on how to approach, or rather not approach, these kinds of hate activists.

Be inspired to ignore their ignorant message, and feel gratitude in your heart that you are not burdened or addicted to hate, as they are."

Although the WBC demands attention -- and occasionally even warrants it -- the appropriate response to these hell-bound scumbags is really nothing more than sheer contempt. Nothing more, and nothing less.

While Lady Gaga couldn't write a decent song to save her career, at least dealing with the Westboro Baptist Church is one thing she can get right.

The Crass: How Subversive Was it?

When one measures the influence of bands from the late 1970s-early 80s punk rock, many presume that The Clash were the most influential.

If one were to judge the matter according to influence on popular music as a whole, they would be correct. But in terms of inluence on punk rock more specifically, many punks would argue that the Crass is more important.

While many punks respect the Clash, they idolize the Crass.

If the success of a punk band is to be decided by how politically subversive their music is, the Crass were incredibly succesful. As related in There is no Authority But Yourself, the Crass managed to become a Parliamentary controversy during the Falklands War, when the band received -- and disseinated -- information alleging that the British ships struck by Exocet anti-ship missiles were ordered not to deploy chaff (an anti-missile countermeasure) in order to divert attack from a naval ship carrying a member of the Royal Family.

Margaret Thatcher responded to these reports by declaring the Crass to be persona non grata within the British Conservative Party. This decree led to Labour Party MPs teasing the Conservatives about who had or hadn't listened to the most recent Crass record.

That is a feat that the Sex Pistols, even at the height of their fury, was never able to match.

The Ragged Edge of Prejudice

A significant portion of the third part of Folk in America deals with the close links between the folk music scene and the civil rights movement during the 1960s.

Among other artists, Bob Dylan performed at rallies for Martin Luther King Jr in support of racial integration.

The film also highlights the role of the famed New Port folk festival in helping to facilitate the process by bringing many black folk musicians out of retirement to perform live for the first time in years.

The power of music to challenge racial prejudices has been recognized for decades. Elvis Presley brought black rythm and blues and gospel music to an audience that had long been insulated from such stylings. Before long, black culture didn't seem nearly as alien and threatening to many people as they once did.

But Folk in America also reminds us that there are limits to the tolerance of any group, even those purported to be the most enlightened.

It was at the very same New Port festival where so many black folk artists were brought out of retirement, Bob Dylan committed what was regarded by so many folk enthusiasts as a cardinal sin -- he went electric.

Musical purists who were the most eager to accept racial integration -- and rightly so -- were among those least eager to accept musical integration between folk music and rock n' roll. Just as those who resisted racial integration were doomed by history, so were those who resisted musical integration. By the time the Beatles arrived in the United States, the matter was a fait accompli -- much like racial integration was largely inevitable by the time of JFK's arrival.

The march toward musical integration continues today in some ways that would have previously been deemed unthinkable. The combination of folk and country music with rap and hip hop still finds intense resistance, yet such musical stylings continue to find larger and larger audiences continually in search of something new and fresh.

But there are purists among each musical style who fervently resist such integration. While it may be en vogue to dismiss such critics as racially intolerant, this fallacy is largely supported by the notions that few musical genres have ever been as black as rap, and have never been as white as country.

Yet artists like Charley Pride or Eminem (say nothing about Vanilla Ice -- period) would beg to differ. Artists like Kid Rock or Buck 65 even more so.

The Missing Link of Folksy Copyright Law

Woody Guthrie's music reminds one of a central fact about not only folk music, but about modern cultural products in general: under many conditions, the contemporary notion of authorship can be rendered antiquated.

Guthrie freely admitted that much of his music was borrowed from previous folk musicians, and from songs that were part of what legal scholars deem the "cultural commons". In many senses, Guthrie wrote and re-wrote songs that had already been written and played for generations, meaning that many previous musicians served an authoring function in his music.

As one considers cultural products in the modern context, many different levels of authorship emerge. Music is written not by one individual, but by various musicians, mixed by sound engineers, packaged with art created by graphic designers, and this process is supervised by a team of producers and executive producers.

Through the recording process, a myriad of people fulfil various portions of the author function, usually under the employment of a large multi-national corporation.

In the United States, objections have been raised to the repeated extensions of copyright, in some cases, up to the lifetime of the author plus another 70 years, after which that product is to enter the cultural commons, and be considered public cultural property.

There's a fallacy at the heart of this notion, however. It's predicated on the assumption that a cultural work -- be it music, a book, a movie, or almost anything else -- was created by one and only one creator.

In the case of modern music, it could be argued that multinational corporations that fulfill an author function -- by virtue of having organized the entire process -- could hold onto a copyright indefinitely. After all, corporations are not bound by biology to have a finite lifespan. Rather, the lifespan of a corporation is larely determined according to its financial success or failure.

Moreover, recognizing the various author functions within a cultural product leads to some other challenges. A copyright law that recognized such differences would have to recognize that it may not be logically feasible to copyright a finished product as if it were indivisible, leading separate individuals to seek separate copyrights over their own contributions to that finished product.

A postmodern copyright law for a postmodern era could lead to some complications that even the most brilliant legal scholar may not predict.

Political Anthems of a Distant Yesteryear

Folk in America is a three-part BBC documentary mini-series exploring the rise of folk music in North America.

As the film reveals, folk music presented musical stylings that were at once quaint and deeply political. The disaffection felt by the Southern United States following the end of the civil war in time gave way to the disaffection felt by a region depressed by the economic disadvantages it faced comparable to the industrialized Northern states.

The music became particularly popular in mining regions like the Appalachians, where they became protest anthems of a long-lost yesteryear.

The yesteryear that produced the folk musicians spoken of in the film seem all the more distant because they haven't merely been displaced from the current day in terms of time -- it has also been displaced by an economic model that was only beginning to be explored at the time when record companies first began to produce folk music.

The popularization of southern folk music provided a model for the popularization of other regional musical forms. A classic example would be the rise during the 1970s of Reggae music. In time, various regional musical stylings would be deeply incorporated into the genre that we today know as folk music.

Like folk music from the Southern United States, reggae music became popular at a time when the Jamaican economy had little else to offer. In fact, the recording industry was one of the driving forces of the Jamaican economy during the 1970s, and it relied heavily on record exports, as a depressed domestic economy provided fewer opportunities for Jamaican artists to sell their music.

Not that they didn't manage -- Jamaicans were often noted to choose between spending their meagre earnings on necessities of life or on the newest LP by their favourite reggae artist.

But in time as reggae popularized it also commercialized, taking on elements of other popular forms of music. In some cases, this helped give birth to new musical genres like Ska or dancehall reggae. In other cases, it simply resulted in stale or uninspired attempts at reggae.

In the time before the popularization of folk music, and the various regionalized genres that have become incorporated within it, music was cultivated within tightly-woven communities and within the home. This lent a vibrancy to the music that many musical genres lack today.

With the rise of web 2.0 and new options for musicians to produce and market their own music, this model has become partially resurgent. But wherever commercial success is to be found, the desire to mass produce potentially profitable products -- such as music -- will lurk.

And when music is mass-produced, the first thing to suffer is the passion and creativity that lends itself to truly time music -- such as early folk.

God Hates... Terrible Music?

Westboro Baptist Church protests pop star

If one were to ask Reverend Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church, one could quickly learn that God hates an awful lot of people these days.

Homosexuals, dead American soldiers, Sweden (the whole country), Barack Obama, and... Lady Gaga.

"‘Art’ and ‘fashion’ are the euphemisms, the guise under which proud whore Lady Gaga teaches rebellion against God (incidentally, her claim to the title of ‘lady’ is sound only if she tacks on ‘of the night,’ thereby alluding to another euphemism of what she is.) As much as she’d like to pretend otherwise, there’s nothing new or different about this particular hussy’s pretentious prancing. Does the simple slut truly think that she can change God’s standards by seducing a generation of rebels into joining her in fist-raised, stiff-necked, hard-hearted rebellion against Him? Get real!”

All this being said, if all it takes to keep Fred Phelps and his congregation from spewing their hateful message in regards to issues of actual consequence is terrible music, maybe Lady Gaga's on to something after all.

Got Beef?

Beef part #1
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As politics becomes more and more acrimonious, it becomes alarming how intensely personal political differences can become.

Beef part #2
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While some countries -- like, famously, Japan -- Parliamentary politics has crossed that boundary between verbal and physical violence, there are few cultural spheres in which words can translate into violence as quickly as in hip hop music.

Beef part #3
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Fortunately, Canadian parliaments haven't devolved into violence -- although at least one party leader, Richard Coliver of the Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party, has been beaten up by a political opponent (according to certain accounts, he may have actually deserved it).

Beef part #4
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While in politics the matter of contention is expected to be issues and ideas, the matter of contention in hip hop -- particularly in gangsta rap -- tends to be matters of status and dominance. Whoever can insult their opponent better -- or just threaten them more harshly -- tends to be considered the winner.

Beef part #5
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Like in politics, the key to victory in a rap beef is not necessarily in getting the last word, but in getting the definitive word. But one shouldn't confuse the definitive word within one's particular camp with a decisive victory. One can get what one's own camp considers to be the definitve word, but when one steps outside of that particular group, find a very different reality.

Beef part #6 [50 cent vs ja rule]
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Although, one hopes that politics never becomes quite that personal.

Beef part #7 fin
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The Sound of Revolution

Covering the development of American punk rock from California outward, American Hardcore examines punk rock as a reaction to the social vagaries of the Ronald Reagan era, not only in the United States, but in other places as well.

(The film frequently mentions Vancouver, BCs DOA.)

Many commentators in the film -- and it's always entertaining to witness how much individuals like Henry Rollins have mellowed in their old(er) age -- suggest that for many people punk rock served as the alternative to the organized left. Many of them go further still to suggest that there was no organized left during the 1980s.

But this is almost certainly an exaggeration.

As President, Reagan succeeded Jimmy Carter, whose policies had made him not onloy a darling of the American left, but also one of the more spectacular failures as the President of the United States.

When Carer was unable to secure the release of American hostages during the famed Iran Hostage Crisis, it was Ross Perot who eventually intervened to stage a dramatic rescue. While Carter remains well-regarded by he political left by virtue of the breakthrough that was the Camp David Accord.

But the political forces that helped Carter win the election were evntually marginalized -- partially by the failure of so many of Carter's policies, and partially by the social climate of the 1980s, which is remembered -- particularly in films like American Psycho -- as the yuppy age, when the famed "me generation" ranged supreme.

But moreover than this, the political left of the day represented everything that punk rockers were rejecting. It was institutionalized, organized, and outwardly taking on many of the same characteristics that punk rockers found so revolting about the culture of 1980s America.

But with that institutionalization and organization came a seeming lack of energy in the United States' mainstream political left. It wasn't until the mainstream political left began to take on some of the energy that characterized punk rock in the 1990s -- and again later in this decade -- that it became successful once again.

But deeper changes may be afoot today.

As Byron York notes in Vast Left Wing Conspiracy, the United States' modern-day political left has begun to institutionalize organizations that otherwise could (and should) be considered part of the far left. By doing this, American progressivism was able to build an elaborate political infrastructure they could use to campaign for any candidate or cause of their choice.

Conventional political wisdom would suggest that political parties should make use of this infrastructure, but keep it at arm's length.

The true genius of the Barack Obama campaign was in using those politically and socially diffuse elements -- such as the hip hop community -- within his campaign, thus harnessing the youth vote like never before.

But the American left needs to beware. In movements like the Tea Party movement and (shudder to say) the 9/12 movement, American conservatism seems to have found its own way of harnessing energies that may otherwise be considered marginal.

When next the sound of revolution is heard, it may sound more like John Rich or Tobey Keith than Black Flag.

Ending It Jordan-Style

Jay-Z speaks about Obama campaign

One of the brilliant aspects of the Barack Obama Presidential campaign was its ability to use celebrity, in particular to get out the youth vote.

So far as the youth vote goes, rap and hip hop artists were instrumental in inspiring African American youths to vote. Obama must have known that, as an African American candidate, he had a unique opportunity to meld hip hop-oriented political action and speech -- known in general as raptivism -- within his campaign.

Thus a personal call to, among others, Jay-Z.

"He was calling me saying it was the fourth quarter and how we need to end this game Jordan-style," Jay-Z said. "He was joking. He has a good sense of humor."

Involving individuals like Jay-Z and even the comparatively-terrible Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas turned out to be a stroke of opportunistic genius for Obama. It helped him harness the youth vote and end the Presidential election decisively. Jordan-style.

But there is a dark and troublesome side to the move.

Given how closely most American voters hold the issue of crime to their hearts, it's tough to decide whether to be alarmed or amused at the notion that Obama would turn to someone who -- despite the fact that he makes fabulous music -- is a known former crack dealer.

Of course, Jay-Z wasn't the biggest problem Obama ran into during his campaign. Rapper Ludacris produced a song in which he suggested that Obama should give him a pardon if he ever winds up in jail, and suggested that John McCain belongs in a wheelchair.

Critics of Obama briefly flirted with invoking Jay-Z when his song "99 Problems" was played at an Obama campaign event.

Of course, these troubles began and ended with Obama's campaign. To pretend that Jay-Z or Ludacris have had much of any kind of an influence in Obama's administration would be laughable.

But for his own part at least Jay-Z has a new perspective to offer in regard to media commentators who have (hysterically) accused Obama of racism.

"I don't think it's straight racism, but they're talking to a racist audience, which is dangerous," he said. "But they're doing it for ratings. It's sensationalism, right? They're doing it for this type of attention."

That particular perspective -- at very least the "sensationslist" part -- could well prove to be a Jordan-style method of ending that particular debate.

Pop Culture and Philosophy vol. 4: Slim Shady, Dawg Philosopher

"Eminem is better than the best," writes BET vp (music and talent) Stephen Hill. "In his own way, he is the best lyricist, alliterator and enunciator there is in hip hop music. In terms of rapping about how other disenfranchised people feel, there is no one better than Eminem."

Much of Eminem's music captures the cynicism with which many such disenfranchised people have begun to view the world. To people who cannot meet what so-called societal elites deem to be the expectations of society, cynicism often emerges as a natural defense mechanism.

Eminem's music deeply embraces that cynicism, and often hands it down as an indictment of these societal expectations.

Despite it's extremely bad rap, cynicism's ancient Greek origins reveal a deeply philosophical nature to true cynicism. Ancient Greek cynics were branded as dog-like kynikos. These were individuals who offended the societal elites of their day by speaking truth to power. The ancient Greeks saw dogs as disobedient, corrupt, and indecent individuals. The implicit accusation against the kynikos was that they were disloyal to Greece.

The kynikos lived to provoke outrage. They often sought to reveal hidden dilemmas within well-accepted traditions and social norms. As such, if the kynikos were traitors to ancient Greece in any form, it was through their philosophical challenges to the mainstream Greek culture of the day. It's because of their philosophical work that the kynikos are also known as dog philosophers.

Diogenes of Sinope has been hailed by many as the prototypical dog philosopher. Diogenes is perhaps most famed for winning the favour of Alexander the Great not by submitting to the great Greek conqueror, but by speaking truth to his power.

Humour was known to be a favoured tactic of the kynikos. It was often their preferred tactic of provoking outrage.

More than 2000 years after Digoenes, Eminem has emerged as the modern-day prototype of a dog philosopher.

Humour has been the strong point of Eminem's music.

When he burst on to the music scene in 1999 with "My Name Is", the message of the song was implicit: that the world is a fucked up place, and that traditional values have done little or nothing to avert this:



The outrageous and (delightfully) obscene content of Eminem's first major release, The Slim Shady LP succeeded in provoking outrage. The criticisms of Eminem's music ranged from GLAAD insisting that the album encouraged hatred and violence against homosexuals to Tipper Gore and Lynne Cheney eventually naming him before a Senate committee.

Eminem responded to these kinds of criticisms with the song "Criminal":



In concert, Eminem donned a prison outfit to embody his indictment of his critics -- because the world has become fucked-up despite the influence of their social values, criminalizing people like Eminem for writing music about how fucked up the world is, and demonizing them for finding humour in it does nothing to solve the problem.

As with Diogenes, the outrage provoked is a symptom. It most certainly is not the cure.

In "White America", Eminem's indictment of American society reaches its most grandiose peak:



In "White America", Eminem makes his response to his critics much more clear: there are serious problems in the world -- in the video, topics such as racism, school violence and teen drug use are addressed -- yet time and energy that could be better used addressing those problems are often being used to attempt to silence those who speak out about these problems.

But like with any good dog philosopher, the ultimate goal for Eminem is not to accrue personal glory, but rather to get the message out. Far from reveling in it, Eminem has often demonstrated a distinct discomfort with his fame -- something Steve Berman mocks in a skit on Eminem's most recent release, Relapse.

Eminem best exhibits his discomfort with this fame in "Toy Soldiers", a song he wrote about people being killed over hip hop:



Eminem clearly recognizes that, for rappers as with dog philosophers, fame can be a catch .22. Being famous clearly makes it easier to disseminate a message. However, at the same time that fame can obscure the message, making it harder to separate the intended message from the controversy, just as some find it difficult to separate hip hop from the violence that has embroiled it over the past 20 years.

Regardless of whatever consequences his fame has had for his message, Eminem has firmly established his bona fides as not only one of the greatest rappers of all time, but as perhaps the greatest dog philosopher -- or dawg philosopher -- hip hop has ever produced.

Striking a New Chord for Race

Afro-Punk suggests that many of the divisions between punk rock and hip hop are largely artificial. In a certain sense, hip hop could be looked at as little more than punk rock for African Americans.

As numerous cultural theorists have suggested -- and often demonstrated -- music is a key ideological tool for the socialization of youth. Youths are sent key messages about who they are culturally by the kind of music they are expected to listen to.

Music has often proven to be racially segregated. Country music has long been a bastion of the southern and midwestern United States. Rock n' roll was considered offensive within these particular portions of the US because it incorporated elements of soul and blues -- otherwise considered to be "black" music.

Of course those who abhorred rock n' roll for its ethnic roots failed to anticipate what would eventually become known as the "Elvis affect". Elvis Presley would eventually help coopt this music and turn it effectively "white", and in the imaginations of many its ethnic roots would be forgotten.

African American artists who would attempt to break the colour barrier in music genres such as country music would find it extremely difficult. Although extremely talented, Charley Pride spent his career relegated as a fringe performer despite the excellence of his music. When Muzik Mafia member Cowboy Troy attempted to incorporate hip hop stylings into country music, the response from more traditional country music listeners bordered on threatening violence.

Clearly, race was very much a factor in this response. Despite the fact that Tobey Keith had previously tried -- with disastrous results -- to incorporate rapping within some of his songs, and Detroit-area rapper-cum-rocker-cum-country crooner Kid Rock had been embraced within country music circles, the image of a rapping black cowboy proved to be a little too much for many country music listeners.

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, an intriguing element of the metamorphosis of musical genres has long taken shape.

In Japan, country music is mostly enjoyed by wealthy members of the upper class.

Even more interesting however, is a burgeoning Japanese hip hop scene. The subject of race -- omnipresent in hip hop -- is turned on its ear in Japan by conflating traditional Japanese caste systems into de facto races.

Whatever one may have to say about the effective racial segregation of music, it is clearly declining. White rappers like Eminem and Canada's own Swollen Members continue to have increasing successes, and the continuing success of white and black artists alike in R&B are clearly demonstrating a de-racialization of many musical genres.

There is one other key point of interest in regards to the increasing desegregation of genre music, and that is the increasing prevalence of interracial dating, mating and breeding.

It's interesting to note that, as Jane Junn notes, ever since the United States began allowing citizens to be recorded as multi-racial in its annual census, this has been the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States.

The ethnic desegregation of music has built many bridges between people of different races, and so has certainly been a factor in this.

This, of course, begs an important question: if the racial desegregation of music continues to break down these barriers, one has to wonder how people may think of race fifty years from today. Perhaps one should fully expect that modern notions of race and racism will be obsolete within the lifetimes of many people alive today.

Whatever notions of race and racism may predominate in the future, one can only hope that they will be a significant improvement on the racial ideas of today, which in turn are a significant improvement on the racial ideas of 50 years ago.

The Sound of Dissent in Dixie

When leader singer Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks spoke out against the Iraq war on March 10, 2003, she provoked a firestorm from the American right wing.

Speaking out against the war in Iraq, Maines told an audience in London that she was ashamed the President was from Texas.

Various right-wing activists, bloggers and media figures targetted the Dixie Chicks for nothing less than complete professional destruction.

Shut Up and Sing documents how, in a period of weeks, the Dixie Chicks went from being lucrative corporate shills to being branded as un-American or anti-American.

American country music radio stations fed the fire by caving under the pressure being exerted by far-right groups like Free Republic. By complying with the boycott -- refusing to play the Dixie Chicks' music and in some cases even organizing mass destructions of their CDs -- these radio stations emboldened these activists.

Had those radio stations not been as compliant with the de facto mass censorship it's likely that the campaign against the Dixie Chicks would have failed.

What all too often escapes scrutiny in the affair is the role of then-President George W Bush in the affair. As President of the United States Bush was obligated to defend the freedoms of American citizens regardless of whether they agreed with his war or not.

A conscientious leader would have defended the Dixie Chicks despite their criticism of him. A concientious leader understands the value of freedom of speech, and understands the value of dissent.

This being said, to describe Bush as a conscientious leader would be a mistake. This is an individual who strictly adhered to a specific ideological programme even after it became evident that this programme was failing. In his approach to policy Bush proved to be far too rigid to ever be described as conscientious. Not only Americans, but countless others, continue to suffer the consequences of his failed economic policies, in particular.

Bush may not have explicitly encouraged the sustained attack on the Dixie Chicks, but in failing to speak out against it, and speak supportively of their freedom of expression, he failed to live up to his responsibility as President of the United States of America.

Unsurprisingly, John McCain -- the man who very well could have been elected President in 2000 if not for Karl Rove's infamous "secret black baby" push-polling stunt -- seemed very Presidential when grilling radio executives over whether or not they were "networks" and whether or not politically-motivated programming decisions were being made.

The contrast with Bush's "they shouldn't have their feelings hurt" comments is both obvious and profound.

On a day when Americans are celebrating their hard-earned freedoms, it's important for people all over the world to remember precisely how tenuous and how costly exercising those rights can be, and remember that political leaders have a responsibility to uphold those rights.

This Day in Canadian History

May 26, 1969 - John Lennon records "Give Peace a Chance" in Montreal

If there is any one iconic image of John Lennon and Yoko Ono it probably should be Yoko breaking up the Beatles.

Yet, somehow, it isn't.

Rather, the iconic image of Lennon and Yoko Ono is actually the two of them in bed together, making music while photographers documented that event for posterity.

As it turned out, that event happened in a Montreal, Quebec hotel room. At the Queen Elizabeth Hotel Lennon and Ono staged their second "bed-in" for peace, and held court for dozens of celebrities.

It was during this Montreal bed-in that they recorded "Give Peace a Chance", easily one of the most iconic peace songs in the history of the genre.

Harbinger of Democracy?

In Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, Canadian anthropoligist Sam Dunn traces the history of heavy metal music and compares its historical cultural overtones to the outrage expressed against it by those who consider themselves a cultural elite.

In Global Metal Dunn takes his studies to the rest of the world and uncovers a startling and intriguing motif: heavy metal as a force for democracy.

In Brazil, Carlos Lopes of Dorsal Atlantica provides an intriguing thesis -- of heavy metal as a sound of Brazilian democracy. He relates the tale of how Brazil emerged from under the dictatorship of Marshal Emilio Garrastazu Médici and embraced heavy metal as a symbol that Brazil had finally become a free country. He and others treat the staging of a massive heavy metal festival in Rio Di Janeiro featuring Iron Maiden helped symbolize the arrival of freedom and democracy there.

Like democracy, heavy metal can be a potent vehicle for mobilizing nationalisms. In Brazil, Sepultura has become "the flag of Brazilian heavy metal". They accomplished this partially by embracing tradition Brazilian culture within their music. On Roots, Sepultura incorporated tribal Brazilian drumming into their music, coagulating specifically Brazilian cultural passions within their fan base.

Just as politicians can endear themselves to voters by embracing tenets of traditionalized culture -- or, in the case of multicultural Canada, cultures -- musicians can endear themselves to their fans by embracing their traditional culture.

Few things are as democratic as an icon. By nature of the mass embrace of the populace, individuals can become larger than life, and begin to represent more than even their music may symbolize.

In Jamaica, Bob Marley is precisely such an icon. Marley was already beloved by the Jamaican populace before 1976 due to his strict adherence to Rastafarian culture. However, Marley ascended to icon status when he appeared at the Smile Jamaica concert even after having been shot by extremists who opposed an end to the violence between factions from Edward Seaga's Jamaican Labour Party and Michael Manley's People's National Party.

By agreeing to play the concert, factions from the JLP believed Marley was siding with the PNP in a forthcoming election Manley and the PNP would win. (However, in 1980 Seaga and the JLP would win government.)

Two days before the concert PNP gunmen attacked Marley at his home. Legend has it that Marley was shot in the chest and survived, giving rise to his iconic status. In actuality, a bullet grazed his chest, coming within inches of his heart. While Marley never in his life formally declared support for the PNP or any other political party -- he rejected politics as not part of Rastafarian culture -- many credit the Smile Jamaica concert with helping the PNP win the 1976 election.

Marley's true purpose in playing the Smile Jamaica concert was in uniting the Jamaican people. Marley succeeded in bringing Jamaica together, but the concert did not overhwelmingly unite the country under one political flag. The margin of victory for the PNP in the 1976 election was 13% -- far from a political single-mindedness.

The character of Marley's music certainly helps account for its power as a force of unity.

Sepultura has rarely addressed politics as part of its music, but one particular song - "Refuse/Resist" speaks distinctly about Brazil under the military regime, and cements it as a voice for democracy in Brazil.

In China, meanwhile, heavy metal represents an intriguing break toward broader democratization. In the film, the proprietors of a shop in China that sells heavy metal music and T-shirts explains that traditionally, Chinese people have a tendency to listen to what they are told. But heavy metal provides those who feel so inclined with an opportunity to actually speak.

Considering the central importance of freedom of speech to democracy, the democratic significance of heavy metal in China cannot be overlooked.

In Indonesia, a country formally governed by an Islamic theocracy, heavy metal serves to highlight many of the injustices of their society.

Former Sepultura lead singer Max Cavalera (now of Soulfly) remarks about the brutality of the Indonesian regime, and about how seeing it first-hand surprised even him -- someone who had lived under a military dictatorship.

At a Metallica concert in Jakarta, a riot broke out when police confronted heavy metal listeners, whom they denounced as "communists". The government would respond to the riot by banning all heavy metal concerts in Indonesia, judging them to be far too much like political rallies for their liking.

The denial of freedom of assembly -- even for something as mundane as a rock concert -- seems to underscore precisely how threatening the theocracy finds the music. Indonesian heavy metal bands sing about political and social issues.

Not all bands are explicitly critical of the theocracy.

One band, Tengkorak, criticizes capitalism and Indonesia's treatment by the rest of the world. They even play a song entitled "Destroy Zionism", in which they insist that the goal of the Jewish people is to destroy Islam, and so Zionism must be destroyed. Many Indonesian metalheads interviewed seem reluctant to embrace Tengkorak's message.

While this may seem to be at odds with the argued democratizing motifs of heavy metal, one has to also remember that the right to agree with the government -- even undemocratic governments -- is actually a democratic right.

In Israel, some heavy metal bands fuse traditional Jewish instruments with Muslim vocal stylings. According to one metal musician interviewed, this is intended to represent Israel -- and Jarusalem -- in terms of cultural harmony, even as the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians continues to rage around them.

Many Israeli metal musicians play their music as a refusal to conform to, and participate in, this ongoing conflict. They demand a peaceful resolution to the conflict -- the peaceful resolution of conflicts (wherever possible) is the ultimate democratic demand.

They can also challenge perceptions of what is and is not acceptable speech. Salem, an Israeli metal band, drew criticisms from a member of the Knesset because they played a song about the Holocaust, which that individual argued is "sacred", and so cannot be played about in a heavy metal song. Fortunately, a Knesset colleague disagreed, and appreciated heavy metal as a vehicle for teaching about the Holocaust.

The same band nearly received a mail bomb from Vark Vikernes -- the famed murderer and church burner in Norway -- took issue with Salem for playing a song about the Holocaust. Sadly, heavy metal can become a vehicle for undemocratic political violence as well as democracy. As Vikernes demonstrates, heavy metal can become a vehicle for bigotry as well.

Iran is another country where the democratic motifs of heavy metal has found itself at odds with a theocracy. The Iranian regime will not allow heavy metal CDs or T-shirts to be sold in the country. Even merely having long hair can attract the attention of police. In many cases, fans have to travel to places like Dubai and Turkey in order to listen to the music they enjoy.

As one listener notes, the Iranian regime considers heavy metal to be anti-moralistic -- the same charge levelled against the music by Tipper Gore and the PMRC.

Heavy metal isn't the only genre of music oppressed in Iran. All forms of western music are outlawed in Iran. Dubai, marketing itself as one of the world's top tourist destinations, has embraced heavy metal as a tourist industry. Through concerts in places like Dubai -- one place to which many Iranians are allowed to travel freely -- heavy metal is slowly seeping into Iran.

When considering that downloading is the only method of receiving heavy metal music in places like Iran, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich actually becomes quite supportive. Downloading heavy metal in a country where it's forbidden is certainly an act of political resistance. Iranian fans find in metal an opportunity to speak out in a country that offers very few opportunities for them to do so.

One has to wonder how Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would react to an Iranian metalhead listening to Salem.

Heavy music has brought together millions of people -- not just within countries, but internationally as well. Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickenson notes that he shouldn't be surprised at this, but admits to often being astonished at the ability of his music to unite diverse groups of people.

In an increasingly globalized work, using tools such as the internet and export music catalogues, heavy metal can disseminate its democratizing message across the world and across varying cultures.

Heavy metal may only be one sound of democracy, but it is rapidly becoming part of a global rumble toward this noble ideal. This, in defiance of the music's reputation of being "unsophisticated" and "stupid".