Day 12. I’m a big fan of subverting expectations & stereotypes so I’m pleased to present to you, The Veldt. The Veldt are a black Shoegaze band from the initial wave of that genre. Singer Daniel Chavis recalls how his band were viewed as “difficult to work with” as a result of them not playing “typical black music.”
The Veldt play a unique blend of soulful Shoegaze. Walls of sound akin to My Bloody Valentine shroud moody soul vocals & a funk inspired rhythm section. Until You’re Forever, in my opinion, seems to have echoes of the “Madchester” sound to it. Possibly as a result of combining Indie Pop melodicism with upbeat dance-like rhythms & synthesiser textures.
Initially released in 1994, this version is from 2019 & is just as vital & energetic as the album version.
My apologies but, for the first time, I was unable to find the lyrics to this tune to reproduce here.
Looking for some great music? Why not check out the Song of the Day (BLM) Spotify playlist.
Day 9. Rage Against The Machine, particularly guitarist Tom Morello have been in the news quite a bit this week. As a revolutionary socialist band who have been burning Stars & Stripes & wearing Hammer & Sickles since the early ’90’s it is quite surprising that RATM have any right-wing fans at all. Somehow they do. And these right-wing fans have been getting very upset about Tom Morello expressing his opinions about the current revolutionary actions of the Black Lives Matter movement. This is one of them.
Needless to say, Morello’s response was both witty & humorous. A true Twitter professional.
Check out this equally brutal Twitter putdown from a couple of years ago. Just glorious. Textbook.
Down Rodeo is a scathing blast of metallic funk. It’s lyrics deal with systematic racism, the shameful legacy of slavery & forward looking revolutionary ideas. A personal highlight for me.
Yeah I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man Since their grandparents bought one
So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man Since their grandparents bought one
So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
Bangin’ this bolo tight on this solo flight can’t fight alone Funk tha track my verbs fly like tha family stone Tha pen devils set that stage for tha war at home Locked wit out a wage ya standin’ in tha drop zone The clockers born starin’ at an empty plate Momma’s torn hands cover her sunken face We hungry but them belly full The structure is set ya neva change it with a ballot pull In tha ruins there’s a network for tha toxic rock School yard ta precinct, suburb ta project block Bosses broke south for new flesh and a factory floor The remains left chained to the powder war
Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse So make a move and plead the fifth ’cause ya can’t plead the first Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man Since their grandparents bought one
Yes I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man Since their grandparents bought one
So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
Bare witness to tha sickest shot while suckas get romantic They ain’t gonna send us campin’ like they did my man Fred Hampton Still we lampin’ still clockin’ dirt for our sweat A ballots dead so a bullet’s what I get A thousand years they had tha tools We should be takin’ ’em Fuck tha G-ride I want the machines that are makin’ em Our target straight wit a room full of armed pawn to Off tha kings out tha west side at dawn
Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse Make a move and plead the fifth ’cause ya can’t plead the first Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse So now I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man Since their grandparents bought one
Yeah I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun These people ain’t seen a brown skin man Since their grandparents bought one
Yeah I’m rollin’ down Rodeo wit a shotgun
The rungs torn from the ladder can’t reach the tumour One god, one market, one truth, one consumer
Just a quiet peaceful dance! Just a quiet peaceful dance! Just a quiet peaceful dance! Just a quiet peaceful dance! Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we’ll never have Just a quiet peaceful dance for the things we don’t have
While looking for the YouTube video for Down Rodeo, I came across this excellent video of a man reacting to it for the first time. His enthusiasm is so infectious that I just had to share this with you as well. I was especially interested that the line he picked out as a stand out was one of the most revolutionary, “Fuck tha G-ride I want the machines that are makin’ em.” We don’t want the shitty scraps from the capitalists tables, we want the means of production.
Looking for some great music to listen to? Why not check out the Song of the Day (BLM) Spotify playlist.
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Day 1 of using Song of the Day to celebrate African American music culture in solidarity to the Black Lives Matter movement & support for the protests against racist police violence currently gripping America & the solidarity protests taking place all over the globe.
Gil Scot-Heron’s revolutionary poetry, set to a live funk band backing track, was one of the fundamental building blocks of Hip-Hop. Scathingly political, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, chronicles an imaginary uprising and skewers countless sacred cows of American culture.
You will not be able to stay home, brother You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out You will not be able to lose yourself on skag And skip out for beer during commercials, because The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be televised The revolution will not be brought to you By Xerox in four parts without commercial interruptions The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon blowing a bugle And leading a charge by John Mitchell, General Abrams, and Spiro Agnew To eat hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be brought to you by the Schaefer Award Theatre And will not star Natalie Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal The revolution will not get rid of the nubs The revolution will not make you look five pounds thinner, because The revolution will not be televised, brother
There will be no pictures of you and Willie Mae Pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run Or trying to slide that color TV into a stolen ambulance NBC will not be able predict the winner At 8:32 on report from twenty-nine districts The revolution will not be televised
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers on the instant replay There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers on the instant replay There will be no pictures of Whitney Young Being run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process There will be no slow motion or still lifes of Roy Wilkins Strolling through Watts in a red, black, and green liberation jumpsuit That he has been saving for just the proper occasion
“Green Acres”, “Beverly Hillbillies”, and “Hooterville Junction” Will no longer be so damn relevant And women will not care if Dick finally got down with Jane On “Search for Tomorrow” Because black people will be in the street looking for a brighter day The revolution will not be televised
There will be no highlights on the eleven o’clock news And no pictures of hairy armed women liberationists And Jackie Onassis blowing her nose The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb or Francis Scott Keys Nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom Jones, Johnny Cash Engelbert Humperdinck, or The Rare Earth The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be right back After a message about a white tornado White lightning, or white people You will not have to worry about a dove in your bedroom The tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl The revolution will not go better with Coke The revolution will not fight germs that may cause bad breath The revolution will put you in the driver’s seat
The revolution will not be televised Will not be televised Will not be televised Will not be televised The revolution will be no re-run, brothers The revolution will be live
Stuck for something to listen to. Here’s a playlist of the Song of the Day (BLM) series.
Buy Tom a coffee?
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Scruffy Theory 