Yes I know I accidentally said baclava instead of balacvala, but I'm worried if I delete and reupload the video will get even more content id'd then it already has.
Not even watched a second of the vid, and I will quote Skunk Anansie "Yes, it's F^*king political! Everything's political." Now, on with what I'm sure will be an insightful watch!
@@benm12310there’s a lot of commentary on the industrial revolution in what you said alone, let alone the wider movement. Which ties into the historic noise music movement of about a century ago. It’s good reading
don’t care about any politics when it comes to music, music is actually my form of escape from politics. Inaccept everybody’s opinion as their own - left , right, doesn’t matter. It’s their opinion not mine. Don’t care.
Welllllll... to be fair: it's "I want to like your X but I can't because I don't like your politics." ...but still. It think it says something about people that they feel like they can make these kinds of demands on creators. ...There are plenty of artists I don't engage with because I don't like their politics; for me, it just means walking away. It's interesting to me that so many people feel like they should stay and try to ... shame the artist to ... change? The world is strange. People are REALLY strange.
My music is almost entirely instrumental. Literally me saying "Hi, my name is Lexi, I'm a trans woman who makes music" makes me a "political musician". If I wanted to "get politics out of my music" to the standards of the people that rhetoric usually comes from, I'd have to never show my face or play live or relate much of my life experiences on the internet.
Ah, is that the origin of the phrase? I have a DIY Eurorack module (AI Synthesis, AI004, MS-20 filter) that has this imprinted on the PCB, which I thought was really cool.
NEVER SURRENDER! ✊ Once upon a time, I marched in SF against the Gulf War as part of the local rave scene (ravers 4 peace) and we were always about PLUR and political and social protest. If I go anywhere with the music I'm currently producing, you better bet your gay red fuzzy tail that I'll be using it to witness and protest any and every form of repression. 🏳🌈🏳⚧👩
I was surprised you didn't mention Wendy Carlos in the spirit of pride politics. She is the first openly trans person I ever knew about and was a prominent early synth artist. Trans people have been fighting right wing attacks a lot recently, and I think it bears mentioning that the synth community has always been in their corner.
@@markfish8403so many makers of synths, if that were the case then all manufacturing would be doing this, all America, and Europe, and Africa, and You.
To add a few more: Negativeland. They were an early experimental act (1981), and they have always been very political in terms of their messaging. While they use audio collage, they also use a ton of synthesizers. Also Devo! Devo's entire mission statement is one around politics. They were an early punk band, but they have used synths as a core part of their sound for a long time. Likewise how can we forget Kraftwerk, which LONG incorporated political messages into its music, it's not all about pocket calculators, sometimes it is about being against nuclear weapons. Likewise mentioning LGBTQ+ rights since we are in pride..."Chains of Love" from Erasure is a very political song. It is flat out about liberation when the community was DEEP in the AIDS crisis and a wave of homophobia. The lyric of "Don't Give Up" was a message of hope when the community didn't have much. Yeah, its an electronic pop song, but for those that understand its context understand it wasn't a love song, it was a LGBTQ+ liberation anthem. Or maybe just bother to read the lyrics to early Depeche Mode songs. I mean People are People. All of these bands were political. Music is political. The entire "keep politics out of music" is just absolute nonsense that doesn't understand how much politics is a core part of music. Especially electronic music. It's often about liberation from oppressive right wing systems. For the record electronic music started by people who were excluded by mainstream society. If you spend 10 minutes understanding people like Wendy Carlos, Daphne Oram, Laurie Spiegel, and even Jazz Musicians who embraced synthesizers early like Sun Ra, you would get this. Lest we forget Frankie Knuckles was a gay black man living in Chicago when he layed the foundations of house music. Whenever someone says "they want politics out of music" that tells me they are often a right wing fascist. It says everything about them personally.
NEGATIVLAND is so important. I love them so much. They have a great way of balancing political commentary with humor, connected through satire. Brilliant. Their new stuff is amazing too, new folks have stepped in after the death of one of their members about 10 years ago.
It's always people with reactionary views who complain about politics in entertainment. "They put women in my video game so now I'm xenophobic and must vote for the far right"
Oh hell yes. Consolidated had an awesome impact on my malleable teenage mind and I am forever grateful I had the chance to encounter them before the rest of the world could get in there and muddy the waters of my psyche.
I still remember watching Trent dump WATER all over that synth. Great video, and I LOVE the thesis statement about artists being able to say things in a way no one else can. Very inspiring. Thanks for the hard work.
If just being queer somehow counts as being political, i'd like to point out Wendy Carlos, a trans woman and musical genius who not only has a long and storied discography including scoring A Clockwork Orange and Tron, but she also aided in the development of the original Moog synthesizer.
Trent Reznor's new YT channel where he reviews new synthesizers. "I really like the compactness and affordability of the Yamaha Reface DX... We were talking about making something like a Pez dispenser where it just shoots another one out after I wreck 'em on stage."
I will never forget the time I saw a comment on a video by Devo: "keep your politics out of my music" Devo was founded after the Kent State massacre where the national guard shot and killed students protesting the Vietnam war. The entire band is built around and named after the idea of de-evolution. Whip It is a satire of American optimism and a tongue-in-cheek rallying cry for Jimmy Carter, their Freedom of Choice album parodies American patriotism, the opening scroll on their 1980 live video tape outwardly states that Ronald Regan's election is a "dark time." The comment was on a video of one of the band members memorializing the Kent State massacre.
Anyone who says "Stay in your lane" or "Keep your politics out of my music" has never been oppressed, hurt, threatened, or had to struggle for their own existence. Music and art are the start, change minds and hearts,
Dude. DUDE. There's like a million RUclips channels doing synth reviews/tests/jams, but I've not seen anyone else looking at the crossover from synths to politics. This is VERY FUCKIN INTERESTING. And I think there's milage here for you as a content creator. I would love to see you do a deep dive into each of the artists you've featured here, but from your studio, using the gear they used and showing us how they used it while going deeper into their political and cultural impact.
I know it takes so much to produce things like this, and you're hurting too. Thank you for doing this work. We're all told to ignore all of this all the time, and while I try to pay attention, I fail a lot too. People like you help us learn what we should already know about.
Glad you mentioned NIN Year Zero. Highly underrated album from Trent. Also people tend to forget that music and art reflects life and reflects music and art. The politics of the time will always be reflected in the music of that time.
Lets not forget that synthesizers and transgender are heavily intertwined (for reasons most people here should already be familiar with), and with how transgender is being treated right now in the world, saying anything about how music/art "shouldn't be political" is bullshit from the highest order. Thanks for making this video!
It’s interesting that you mention Radiohead after Massive Attack because in 2021 Radiohead played in Israel despite the outcries of many people to boycott. York was aggressive and dismissive about it. Basically saying that he wouldn’t tell anyone to where to play so no one should tell him where to play. I don’t mention that to criticize you *at all*. I bring it up to show how people’s politics can always be conditional. It’s easy to see something that’s happening outside of yourself or what’s happening to you and say “that’s wrong.” It’s a lot harder to look at what you’re doing. Especially when you consider yourself a “good person” and therefore may subconsciously justify anything you do as what a good person does. I think about how so many on the left have consumed conservative talking points when justifying no longer caring about COVID or disabled people in general. This was a great video and I appreciate you talking about this both as a musician and fellow queer. Art’s political, happy Pride, wear a mask!
Yup I actually knew about that, and it sucks. It's really hard to find anyone threading the needle perfectly because we're all imperfect but that one really stung.
That has tainted my enjoyment of their music. I remember when the band Queen were on their way out pre Live Aid and took the money to play Sun City during apartheid South Africa
Even electronic music pioneers like Tangerine Dream and Jean Michel Jarre had a bit of "political" messaging in their work. Oxygene's cover art is famous for its environmental metaphor, and TD's Kiev Mission... well, it seems as relevant now as it was back then.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that the folks taking issue with politics don’t have an issue with “songs” like “try that in a small town”. I’m sure they’d be fine with the politics if it aligned with theirs.
I learned about feminism from the liner notes of Moby's "Everything Is Wrong" album. I love his music, but I can truly never thank him enough for his essays, which helped to shape me into the person I'm proud to be today.
One of main reasons why i am abdolutely not listeng almost any music with lyrics .. i don’t care about politics, i am nterested in music because of music not because of political agenda of people who made that musix .. i strictly split music from political opinions of music creators .. i just don’t care about politics, it’s wasting of time
Why waste your time telling us? If you don't like politics in music get off the Internet channels of people who talk bout music. They will never stop, so go hide under a rock listening to your ambient music.
@mycosys his outburst seemed kind of emotional, so I would say they're probably a sociopath, not a psychopath. A psychopath would have actually not cared or more likely, just joined in with the same opinion as the majority, to seem more normal. @raysubject "if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice" - Rush, Freewill Not only are you involved in politics whether you like it or not, because you are either the oppressed or the oppressor, part of an in-group or an out-grouo. But you also interjected yourself into a discussion about politics. Most of us don't bother going around wasting our own time like that. Why don't you put those strong feelings to use. Create some art. Let everyone know why you think politics are a waste of time and I'm sure you'll find out a lot more about yourself than you expected.
Thanks for the recommendations! I’m of a generation that remembers Paul Hardcastle more than some of the more recent examples, so it’s great to learn about some new-to-me artists. I would add (deep breath) Bronski Beat, Pet Shop Boys, Coil, 808 State, Orbital, The Prodigy, Neneh Cherry, Gary Clail, Sleaford Mods, … and I’m sure a whole lot more will come to mind as soon as I’ve finished this comment.
Stereolab is my favorite because its not so obvious. You have to scratch a bit under the surface or translate the lyrics from french and then you realize oh yeah this is European libertarian communism going on here.
Thank you for this! Music and art have been the voice of righteous indignation forever and are some of the most powerful voices. That is why it is constantly attacked for being that voice. I appreciate your voice! To your list: - Zack de la Rocha, of course, digging for windows, very electronic. - Skinny Puppy has always carried a political message. In fact the whole industrial music scene is soaked in politics (not all of it pleasant!). - KLF literally burned money
So, so thankful for this video and the history it conveys. everything down to the keyboard you type on is political, but the people that complain about politics know that and will gleefully point out an iphone user too worried about industrial capital. you know how it is. anyways atari teenage riot was banger after banger, have a special place in my heart for them
Shame we never got the Year Zero TV series. It was being developed at HBO with Trent Reznor and NIN art director/designer Rob Sheridan along with Daniel Knauf (creator of HBO's Carnivále). The story and ARG behind Year Zero is actually pretty cool. It's kinda nuts what they did with the whole Year Zero rollout.
love this ! sometines it takes people a while to understand that everything is political as long as you live in a society, or group. Being apolitical is just pretending bombs don't fall on people, but most people confuse being apolitical with having no favorites in the political scene. (i know i did)
Politics is about power and who controls it, and anything that can have power struggles over it's control will necessitate politicization. These power struggles can be a company making moves to dominate a market (the natural result of a system that dictates business decisions solely being made by an owning class). ...Or they can be a bit more nuanced, like the struggle to control or influence the commonly accepted narrative of an event in the public eye. Hypothetically, if ideology demanded, wars could be fought over a single blade of grass.
I think it's more necessary than ever for music to be political, lest it just become another form of content amidst the glut of AI mush. Also, I'd be remiss to fail to mention Johny Greenwood of Radiohead's apologism for Zionism (his wife has written fairly repellant things about Palestinians)
Thank you for this video Jeramy. It’s ridiculous to think that politics are off limits to any form of cultural expression. Particularly electronic music. Great to see this!
Dude…dude…DUDE! You’ve totally taken it to another level with this video! What a documentary, definitely worthy of an award. I don’t know what award but something to recognize what an amazing piece of material you’ve put out there for everyone to enjoy ❤
Surprised you didn't mention anything about Wendy Carlos! For those who don't know, Wendy Carlos was an openly trans woman all the way back in the 70s that was instrumental in the development of the Moog synthesizer, was responsible for the first piece of recorded classical music on said synthesizer with Switched on Bach, as well as several famous soundtracks such as Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and the first Tron movie, amongst other accomplishments. The documentary Sisters with Transistors covers her and is worth watching, it's all about the underappreciated female pioneers of electronic music.
Fantastic, Mr. Fox. This was a cool video dude. I recently got into electric music/synths from your pocket operator videos a few months ago, and I wouldn't be opposed to seeing more videos about synth history on this channel if you ever feel so inclined.
And by the way... That there is something like electronic (or electroacoustic) music in the first place was the political act of people like Stockhausen, who rejected the notion of returning to classical music after the end of Nazi Germany. They wanted to invent music from the ground up, to sewer the threads (looking at you Wagner), that may have led to humanities darkest times (yet).
In a way, there are similarities to the conversation 'should music be funny?'. Weird Al can do it, but not everyone can, and it will always be a niche, and not without risk. I don't listen to music for comedy, political opinion, or recipe ideas, there are way better media for those things, and music has power that those other media lack. Go for it, though, the passion may translate into something powerful like we saw with Year Zero or RATM. If you just want to wave a flag, though, music isn't going to elevate you into the realm of high art.
The idea that music hasn't basically always been political. The titles of classical music compositions were oft subtle political decisions. This was a great list though with a nice spread.
AAAHHHHB IT SOO COOL YOURE COVERING MATMOS! I chose to cover them for a college presention about queer artists and it was hilarious that you mentioned that BUTT magazine article because i quoted it for the presentation. It was super cool how they met when Drew Daniel was a go-go dancer in San Francisco. I love looking at their interviews together because they're absolutely hilarious. Micheal talking about how industral music changed overtime and all that i found to be a pretty interesting perspective because this duo i believe maintains the ethos of industrial as a radical reinvention of musical composition. Their contributions to the world of music genuinely inspires me so much.
Usually, those that say "music/synths aren't political" usually side with the opressors and the rich... as they only listen to their leaders, not to what an artist may be screaming at their face. Great video.
Great video! What many of these bozos claiming something should not be "contaminated" with politics do not understand is that everything is political. Even if you claim you are not political, that in itself is a political statement. It's the same with wanting journalism to be objective or neutral somehow. Not ever the intention of good journalism and impossible to achieve anyway. Props for giving ATR some space and exposure, they were visionaries and are still awesome!
I immediately go to Devo when I think of political messaging in music (of which a lot of theirs is synth oriented), so thanks for raising awareness to even more. Stay cool!
That's a great chronology, great video. Nicolas Jaar and Bolis Pupul and Charlotte Adigéri are so awesome. More politics and-synths bands: Big Audio Dynamite, Peuple de l'Herbe, St Vincent, Chairlift, Laurie Anderson, Art of Noise, Everything but the Girl, Ultravox, Depeche Mode, New Order. Pomplamoose ("If you Go to Mars" is quite synthy)
Thank you for staying true to you and making this awesome compilation of rad artists. In an era of not radical synth videos featuring the latest consumer product or some kooky gear/sound idea that is severed from music emotional catharsis, I personally want more politicized or just plain aware youtubers that aren't afraid to come to terms with what is happening around us making noise.
I love that people in the comments are suggesting an endless stream of musicians and bands not covered in the video, because there is just SO MUCH political music that's been made with electronics it would be impossible to cover them all.
Wow that was an excellent report, very well curated and visually powerful. Well done Jeremy and the supporters who helped. A few artists/bands there I wasn't aware of and will definitely listen to. Thankyou foxy
Anohni (et al.)'s "My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross" quickly worked its way into my all time favorites, some of the tracks are absolutely devastating but they're all beautiful.
Good summary. I may have missed them in your discussion but I feel the Pet Shop Boys are important for being a couple of out gay guys working together for decades who are 100% now seen in Britain as part of the furniture, national treasures and that is not nothing. Obviously several songs of theirs like “It’s A Sin” cover personal politics too. I don’t know how known they are in the US though.
Everything is political, unless you are lucky enough to be in one of the "in" groups, in which case you have the LUXURY of saying things like "oh, I don't get involved in politics". It's so much easier when your group isn't being systematically eliminated.
19 is a classic and in the UK was pretty thought-provoking because even those of us old enough to remember Vietnam hadn't really put ourselves in their shoes. 19 hammered it home in a way the movies didn't.
Good lord, whoever says 'Music isn't political' is effing asleep. Beatles, Black Sabbath, Neil Young, RATM, Woodie and Arlo Guthrie. I can keep listing examples. I know you are trying to keep to synths, but dude, music is political.
People who think artists in general aren't political don't even know how to experience art and yet they think they get to make the rules. Try sports buddy, but that's probably going to get political too. Because it involves people.
Yes I know I accidentally said baclava instead of balacvala, but I'm worried if I delete and reupload the video will get even more content id'd then it already has.
How delicious...
Sticky Balaclava would be a great name for a punk band.
it's okay nobody would know who they were if they had phyllo dough on their face either
100% the best part of the video. Who wouldn't want to see a political music video made by a tasty treat.
Not even watched a second of the vid, and I will quote Skunk Anansie "Yes, it's F^*king political! Everything's political."
Now, on with what I'm sure will be an insightful watch!
“Are synthesizers political?”
*laughing in the entire industrial genre*
laughing with you in freetekno.
Can u explain? I thought industrial used sound shaping to replicate the repetitive rhythm of factory machines.
@@benm12310there’s a lot of commentary on the industrial revolution in what you said alone, let alone the wider movement. Which ties into the historic noise music movement of about a century ago. It’s good reading
Hi from the doofers.
@@kaitlyn__L so if I sample noises from the heavy machinery I use at work and make it into a song it will have a political undertone?
"Politics don't belong in X" translated: I don't like your politics
don’t care about any politics when it comes to music, music is actually my form of escape from politics. Inaccept everybody’s opinion as their own - left , right, doesn’t matter. It’s their opinion not mine. Don’t care.
potential expansion: "I am ashamed of my politics and don't want to be confronted with them"
What do you listen to? Ambient soundscapes?
everything that happens in society is political. by its very nature, civilization is political.
Welllllll... to be fair: it's "I want to like your X but I can't because I don't like your politics." ...but still. It think it says something about people that they feel like they can make these kinds of demands on creators. ...There are plenty of artists I don't engage with because I don't like their politics; for me, it just means walking away. It's interesting to me that so many people feel like they should stay and try to ... shame the artist to ... change?
The world is strange. People are REALLY strange.
When you are not interested in politics it gets interested in you.
For real
Politics asked me out yesterday
@@YShape Did you say yes?
Please folks, phonebank to sign up people to vote in swing states. (Google it) The next Presidential election is crucial.
Please folks, phonebank to sign up people to vote in swing states. (Google it) The next Presidential election is crucial.
My music is almost entirely instrumental. Literally me saying "Hi, my name is Lexi, I'm a trans woman who makes music" makes me a "political musician". If I wanted to "get politics out of my music" to the standards of the people that rhetoric usually comes from, I'd have to never show my face or play live or relate much of my life experiences on the internet.
Sometimes "don't be political" just means "don't be yourself" and it's never right.
A persons sex should never be political. It’s only bigots who make it so
@@mmoncur and sometimes it mean "don't be"
I came for the quirky OP-1 videos, but I stayed for the in-depth documentaries.
...I stayed for Jeremy. Just him. He's cool.
@@jriceblue So very, very true.
@@jriceblue Jeremiah Samsonite got this guy beat any day of the week, he's got DRIP unlike this Germy fellah
"This machine kills fascists!" - sticker on Woody Guthrie's guitar. Right on RMR.
Ah, is that the origin of the phrase? I have a DIY Eurorack module (AI Synthesis, AI004, MS-20 filter) that has this imprinted on the PCB, which I thought was really cool.
NEVER SURRENDER! ✊
Once upon a time, I marched in SF against the Gulf War as part of the local rave scene (ravers 4 peace) and we were always about PLUR and political and social protest. If I go anywhere with the music I'm currently producing, you better bet your gay red fuzzy tail that I'll be using it to witness and protest any and every form of repression. 🏳🌈🏳⚧👩
I was surprised you didn't mention Wendy Carlos in the spirit of pride politics. She is the first openly trans person I ever knew about and was a prominent early synth artist. Trans people have been fighting right wing attacks a lot recently, and I think it bears mentioning that the synth community has always been in their corner.
so many synth pioneers are trans 🏳️⚧️
Check out the vid from a year ago.
Yeah, but she didn’t lean into it, she just made the music…
@@notsure1135 Recording Beethoven's 9th is political in itself. Celebrating universal brotherhood is a political act.
“Why do you have to make it political?!” = “I am personally comfortable, please don’t rock the boat.”
Exactly this!
Every viewer’s synth money is being funneled to Ukraine so their leaders can buy more yachts. 😢
@@markfish8403so many makers of synths, if that were the case then all manufacturing would be doing this, all America, and Europe, and Africa, and You.
Love for RMR political content!
@@markfish8403dude you need to stop watching OANN and Alex Jones
To add a few more: Negativeland. They were an early experimental act (1981), and they have always been very political in terms of their messaging. While they use audio collage, they also use a ton of synthesizers.
Also Devo! Devo's entire mission statement is one around politics. They were an early punk band, but they have used synths as a core part of their sound for a long time.
Likewise how can we forget Kraftwerk, which LONG incorporated political messages into its music, it's not all about pocket calculators, sometimes it is about being against nuclear weapons.
Likewise mentioning LGBTQ+ rights since we are in pride..."Chains of Love" from Erasure is a very political song. It is flat out about liberation when the community was DEEP in the AIDS crisis and a wave of homophobia. The lyric of "Don't Give Up" was a message of hope when the community didn't have much. Yeah, its an electronic pop song, but for those that understand its context understand it wasn't a love song, it was a LGBTQ+ liberation anthem.
Or maybe just bother to read the lyrics to early Depeche Mode songs. I mean People are People.
All of these bands were political. Music is political. The entire "keep politics out of music" is just absolute nonsense that doesn't understand how much politics is a core part of music. Especially electronic music. It's often about liberation from oppressive right wing systems. For the record electronic music started by people who were excluded by mainstream society. If you spend 10 minutes understanding people like Wendy Carlos, Daphne Oram, Laurie Spiegel, and even Jazz Musicians who embraced synthesizers early like Sun Ra, you would get this. Lest we forget Frankie Knuckles was a gay black man living in Chicago when he layed the foundations of house music.
Whenever someone says "they want politics out of music" that tells me they are often a right wing fascist. It says everything about them personally.
NEGATIVLAND is so important. I love them so much. They have a great way of balancing political commentary with humor, connected through satire. Brilliant. Their new stuff is amazing too, new folks have stepped in after the death of one of their members about 10 years ago.
"I get gay on synthesizers" == 1 subscribe!
It's always people with reactionary views who complain about politics in entertainment. "They put women in my video game so now I'm xenophobic and must vote for the far right"
I feel like an aside like, "Oh, and also, basically all of hip-hop" might have been nice.
People who think that their music isn't political aren't listening to good music.
Or just aren't listening.
Or they aren't leftists, because only leftists think everything is political.
@@real_anxst or listens to Taylor swift and Beyonce
@@shawnc4957 even they have some politics
Art can express lots of things. Including politics. No need to gatekeep.
Ministry - new world order
Art of noise - instruments of darkness
Consolidated - censorship is just a smokescreen
Any Considated ever, tbh
@@sub-jec-tiv Friendly Fa$cism sounds more pertinent now than it did when it was released, 33 years ago.
Oh hell yes. Consolidated had an awesome impact on my malleable teenage mind and I am forever grateful I had the chance to encounter them before the rest of the world could get in there and muddy the waters of my psyche.
I still remember watching Trent dump WATER all over that synth. Great video, and I LOVE the thesis statement about artists being able to say things in a way no one else can. Very inspiring. Thanks for the hard work.
If just being queer somehow counts as being political, i'd like to point out Wendy Carlos, a trans woman and musical genius who not only has a long and storied discography including scoring A Clockwork Orange and Tron, but she also aided in the development of the original Moog synthesizer.
Trent Reznor's new YT channel where he reviews new synthesizers. "I really like the compactness and affordability of the Yamaha Reface DX... We were talking about making something like a Pez dispenser where it just shoots another one out after I wreck 'em on stage."
He has a RUclips channel?
I will never forget the time I saw a comment on a video by Devo: "keep your politics out of my music"
Devo was founded after the Kent State massacre where the national guard shot and killed students protesting the Vietnam war. The entire band is built around and named after the idea of de-evolution. Whip It is a satire of American optimism and a tongue-in-cheek rallying cry for Jimmy Carter, their Freedom of Choice album parodies American patriotism, the opening scroll on their 1980 live video tape outwardly states that Ronald Regan's election is a "dark time."
The comment was on a video of one of the band members memorializing the Kent State massacre.
Lol. Reminds me of a tweet a couple years ago in which someone complained that Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine had become political.
Anyone who says "Stay in your lane" or "Keep your politics out of my music" has never been oppressed, hurt, threatened, or had to struggle for their own existence.
Music and art are the start, change minds and hearts,
"I get gay on the synthesizer" XD
Mate, you are such a feckin' gift on this website! Wonderful curated list of music to explore here, thank you!
I threw KMFMD in to the suggestions for this. I think that the artists chosen are fantastic. Resist.
But, but, but, kmfdm sucks?
So synths are trans and gay AND political? Wowsers.
I KNOW
only wavetable synths
round round, get around, we get around yeah
Dude. DUDE. There's like a million RUclips channels doing synth reviews/tests/jams, but I've not seen anyone else looking at the crossover from synths to politics. This is VERY FUCKIN INTERESTING. And I think there's milage here for you as a content creator. I would love to see you do a deep dive into each of the artists you've featured here, but from your studio, using the gear they used and showing us how they used it while going deeper into their political and cultural impact.
Man. I thought for sure you were going to include Emergency Broadcast Network. But, your point about how many acts you care to mention is well taken.
I know it takes so much to produce things like this, and you're hurting too. Thank you for doing this work. We're all told to ignore all of this all the time, and while I try to pay attention, I fail a lot too. People like you help us learn what we should already know about.
Just added so many of these to my listening Playlist. AWESOME work.
Glad you mentioned NIN Year Zero. Highly underrated album from Trent. Also people tend to forget that music and art reflects life and reflects music and art. The politics of the time will always be reflected in the music of that time.
Lets not forget that synthesizers and transgender are heavily intertwined (for reasons most people here should already be familiar with), and with how transgender is being treated right now in the world, saying anything about how music/art "shouldn't be political" is bullshit from the highest order. Thanks for making this video!
Jeremy actually made a whole video on the topic, similar to this one! :D
Wendy Carlos’ ‘Beauty in the Beast’ has been playing in my car all week…
It’s interesting that you mention Radiohead after Massive Attack because in 2021 Radiohead played in Israel despite the outcries of many people to boycott. York was aggressive and dismissive about it. Basically saying that he wouldn’t tell anyone to where to play so no one should tell him where to play.
I don’t mention that to criticize you *at all*. I bring it up to show how people’s politics can always be conditional. It’s easy to see something that’s happening outside of yourself or what’s happening to you and say “that’s wrong.” It’s a lot harder to look at what you’re doing. Especially when you consider yourself a “good person” and therefore may subconsciously justify anything you do as what a good person does. I think about how so many on the left have consumed conservative talking points when justifying no longer caring about COVID or disabled people in general.
This was a great video and I appreciate you talking about this both as a musician and fellow queer. Art’s political, happy Pride, wear a mask!
Yup I actually knew about that, and it sucks. It's really hard to find anyone threading the needle perfectly because we're all imperfect but that one really stung.
@@RedMeansRecording It stung for me too. They colored a lot of my life and it was hard to let go of them.
That has tainted my enjoyment of their music. I remember when the band Queen were on their way out pre Live Aid and took the money to play Sun City during apartheid South Africa
Well that's increased my respect of Radiohead immensely then. We need more support for Israel. York is da man.
Even electronic music pioneers like Tangerine Dream and Jean Michel Jarre had a bit of "political" messaging in their work. Oxygene's cover art is famous for its environmental metaphor, and TD's Kiev Mission... well, it seems as relevant now as it was back then.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that the folks taking issue with politics don’t have an issue with “songs” like “try that in a small town”. I’m sure they’d be fine with the politics if it aligned with theirs.
I learned about feminism from the liner notes of Moby's "Everything Is Wrong" album. I love his music, but I can truly never thank him enough for his essays, which helped to shape me into the person I'm proud to be today.
Cabaret Voltaire, Coil, meat eat manifesto , nizzer ebb , front 242, suicid3 all fantastic bands that use deliver politics over a synth backing
Pffft --have the people saying "Politics don't belong in music" ever heard a lyric?
One of main reasons why i am abdolutely not listeng almost any music with lyrics .. i don’t care about politics, i am nterested in music because of music not because of political agenda of people who made that musix .. i strictly split music from political opinions of music creators .. i just don’t care about politics, it’s wasting of time
Why waste your time telling us? If you don't like politics in music get off the Internet channels of people who talk bout music. They will never stop, so go hide under a rock listening to your ambient music.
@@raysubject You dont need to tell everyone you are a psychopath - thats best kept to yourself.
@mycosys his outburst seemed kind of emotional, so I would say they're probably a sociopath, not a psychopath. A psychopath would have actually not cared or more likely, just joined in with the same opinion as the majority, to seem more normal.
@raysubject "if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice" - Rush, Freewill
Not only are you involved in politics whether you like it or not, because you are either the oppressed or the oppressor, part of an in-group or an out-grouo. But you also interjected yourself into a discussion about politics. Most of us don't bother going around wasting our own time like that. Why don't you put those strong feelings to use. Create some art. Let everyone know why you think politics are a waste of time and I'm sure you'll find out a lot more about yourself than you expected.
@@Lazarus_G lol you made ma laugh 🤣😂
wonderful video, thank you so much for making it. I'm feeling very inspired.
Thanks for the recommendations! I’m of a generation that remembers Paul Hardcastle more than some of the more recent examples, so it’s great to learn about some new-to-me artists. I would add (deep breath) Bronski Beat, Pet Shop Boys, Coil, 808 State, Orbital, The Prodigy, Neneh Cherry, Gary Clail, Sleaford Mods, … and I’m sure a whole lot more will come to mind as soon as I’ve finished this comment.
Stereolab is my favorite because its not so obvious. You have to scratch a bit under the surface or translate the lyrics from french and then you realize oh yeah this is European libertarian communism going on here.
Their English lyrics too. One of their biggest singles is about how capitalism drives war. In English.
@@sub-jec-tivwhich one is it?
@@LewiniumPing Pong
Thank you for this! Music and art have been the voice of righteous indignation forever and are some of the most powerful voices. That is why it is constantly attacked for being that voice. I appreciate your voice!
To your list:
- Zack de la Rocha, of course, digging for windows, very electronic.
- Skinny Puppy has always carried a political message. In fact the whole industrial music scene is soaked in politics (not all of it pleasant!).
- KLF literally burned money
Shouts out to Abe of AI Synthesis for printing Woody Guthrie's famous "This Machine Kills Fascists" on his PCBs.
YEAHHH so happy you’re keeping with videos like these (and ofc they keep getting better wtf) thanks for the new music listening homework
Thank you for speaking loud and proud, Jeremy.
Muslimgauze is a very prescient inclusion for this list
Came here to say this.
Now more than ever, and a discography deep enough for years more, sadly.
Had that exact thought
Love you Jeremy. Keep making waves in the most benign way possible. Life is political, “not being political” is political. ❤️🏳️🌈❤
Love that you included Topical Dancer. that album is absolutely amazing
So, so thankful for this video and the history it conveys. everything down to the keyboard you type on is political, but the people that complain about politics know that and will gleefully point out an iphone user too worried about industrial capital. you know how it is.
anyways atari teenage riot was banger after banger, have a special place in my heart for them
Shame we never got the Year Zero TV series. It was being developed at HBO with Trent Reznor and NIN art director/designer Rob Sheridan along with Daniel Knauf (creator of HBO's Carnivále). The story and ARG behind Year Zero is actually pretty cool. It's kinda nuts what they did with the whole Year Zero rollout.
Holy shit
love this ! sometines it takes people a while to understand that everything is political as long as you live in a society, or group. Being apolitical is just pretending bombs don't fall on people, but most people confuse being apolitical with having no favorites in the political scene. (i know i did)
Politics is about power and who controls it, and anything that can have power struggles over it's control will necessitate politicization.
These power struggles can be a company making moves to dominate a market (the natural result of a system that dictates business decisions solely being made by an owning class).
...Or they can be a bit more nuanced, like the struggle to control or influence the commonly accepted narrative of an event in the public eye.
Hypothetically, if ideology demanded, wars could be fought over a single blade of grass.
I think it's more necessary than ever for music to be political, lest it just become another form of content amidst the glut of AI mush.
Also, I'd be remiss to fail to mention Johny Greenwood of Radiohead's apologism for Zionism (his wife has written fairly repellant things about Palestinians)
EWWWW that sucks
Yes, I was gonna note the whiplash of discussing Radiohead immediately after Massive Attack! BDS has actually been calling Greenwood out.
Thank you for this video Jeramy. It’s ridiculous to think that politics are off limits to any form of cultural expression. Particularly electronic music. Great to see this!
Dude…dude…DUDE! You’ve totally taken it to another level with this video! What a documentary, definitely worthy of an award. I don’t know what award but something to recognize what an amazing piece of material you’ve put out there for everyone to enjoy ❤
Your editing is great. You are one of the main reasons I got into techno, thanks!
Surprised you didn't mention anything about Wendy Carlos! For those who don't know, Wendy Carlos was an openly trans woman all the way back in the 70s that was instrumental in the development of the Moog synthesizer, was responsible for the first piece of recorded classical music on said synthesizer with Switched on Bach, as well as several famous soundtracks such as Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and the first Tron movie, amongst other accomplishments. The documentary Sisters with Transistors covers her and is worth watching, it's all about the underappreciated female pioneers of electronic music.
Fantastic, Mr. Fox. This was a cool video dude.
I recently got into electric music/synths from your pocket operator videos a few months ago, and I wouldn't be opposed to seeing more videos about synth history on this channel if you ever feel so inclined.
Laibach
Skinny Puppy
Massive Attack had it like that since ‘99? Crazy. This is inspiring. Thanks for the context.
I'd say the complainants actually are pissed that it's the "wrong kind of politics" as opposed to politics per se. Not their politics, in other words.
Correct
Long live Israel.
@@eklipseRomania I agree.
NOTHING in the history of the world has ever not been political.
Get it bud. My heart goes out the Iranian rapper on death row rn. Music is politics.
R E S P E C T 👊🏿
Also, 700 Bliss, Justin Broadrick, and the Neneh Cherry album "Broken Politics", produced by Four Tet
Please also see Polyphonic's history of Small Town Boy and Bronski Beat's Age of Consent album.
And by the way... That there is something like electronic (or electroacoustic) music in the first place was the political act of people like Stockhausen, who rejected the notion of returning to classical music after the end of Nazi Germany. They wanted to invent music from the ground up, to sewer the threads (looking at you Wagner), that may have led to humanities darkest times (yet).
Always happy to see a RMR talky video pop up on my feed. Thanks, Jeremy!
In a way, there are similarities to the conversation 'should music be funny?'. Weird Al can do it, but not everyone can, and it will always be a niche, and not without risk. I don't listen to music for comedy, political opinion, or recipe ideas, there are way better media for those things, and music has power that those other media lack. Go for it, though, the passion may translate into something powerful like we saw with Year Zero or RATM. If you just want to wave a flag, though, music isn't going to elevate you into the realm of high art.
The idea that music hasn't basically always been political. The titles of classical music compositions were oft subtle political decisions.
This was a great list though with a nice spread.
AAAHHHHB IT SOO COOL YOURE COVERING MATMOS! I chose to cover them for a college presention about queer artists and it was hilarious that you mentioned that BUTT magazine article because i quoted it for the presentation. It was super cool how they met when Drew Daniel was a go-go dancer in San Francisco. I love looking at their interviews together because they're absolutely hilarious. Micheal talking about how industral music changed overtime and all that i found to be a pretty interesting perspective because this duo i believe maintains the ethos of industrial as a radical reinvention of musical composition. Their contributions to the world of music genuinely inspires me so much.
Usually, those that say "music/synths aren't political" usually side with the opressors and the rich... as they only listen to their leaders, not to what an artist may be screaming at their face. Great video.
Yep, people who “don’t like talking politics” usually just don’t want to have to defend their shitty opinions in public
@@EiseniaFoetidaor live in a privileged life where they don’t have to think of politics because it never directly affects them, or even benefits them.
I love this sooooo much - thank for sharing this!
( insert clip of Cabernet Voltaire , coil, test department etc etc )
I volunteer Belgian performer and avid synthesizer user, Stromae, for this list.
Great video! What many of these bozos claiming something should not be "contaminated" with politics do not understand is that everything is political. Even if you claim you are not political, that in itself is a political statement. It's the same with wanting journalism to be objective or neutral somehow. Not ever the intention of good journalism and impossible to achieve anyway. Props for giving ATR some space and exposure, they were visionaries and are still awesome!
I immediately go to Devo when I think of political messaging in music (of which a lot of theirs is synth oriented), so thanks for raising awareness to even more. Stay cool!
What an awesome video! You made me feel excited about my synthesizers again!
Thank god Underground Resistance was included
yes
They're killer
Asterisk tho: I am fairly sure they performed in balaclavas, not baklavas
@@MikeFilemaker i feel like UR are baklava enjoooyooors as well lol
That's a great chronology, great video. Nicolas Jaar and Bolis Pupul and Charlotte Adigéri are so awesome. More politics and-synths bands: Big Audio Dynamite, Peuple de l'Herbe, St Vincent, Chairlift, Laurie Anderson, Art of Noise, Everything but the Girl, Ultravox, Depeche Mode, New Order. Pomplamoose ("If you Go to Mars" is quite synthy)
So happy Matmos made the cut
Thank you for staying true to you and making this awesome compilation of rad artists. In an era of not radical synth videos featuring the latest consumer product or some kooky gear/sound idea that is severed from music emotional catharsis, I personally want more politicized or just plain aware youtubers that aren't afraid to come to terms with what is happening around us making noise.
“I had to, like, open the bruise up, and let some of the bruise blood come out to show them"
I absolutely love your work Jeremy, it is so rare these days to find someone these days who is so unapologetically themselves. Keep going!
Wow, one of the best/most enlightening synth videos. Politics is in all our lives, and should be, embrace it for the good of others.
Seeing this video from you makes me even more proud and excited that you're a Guest of Honor at FWA.
I love that people in the comments are suggesting an endless stream of musicians and bands not covered in the video, because there is just SO MUCH political music that's been made with electronics it would be impossible to cover them all.
Wow that was an excellent report, very well curated and visually powerful. Well done Jeremy and the supporters who helped. A few artists/bands there I wasn't aware of and will definitely listen to. Thankyou foxy
Anohni (et al.)'s "My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross" quickly worked its way into my all time favorites, some of the tracks are absolutely devastating but they're all beautiful.
Brilliant. I went from nodding to laughing to applauding. Great work top to bottom.
This was well needed and very to the point. Stay angry mr. Recording, we need this.
This video is more important than ever ! Thank you for this !
Remember that one time ATR went all in on NFTs and BitCoin? That was something.
Ugh
theyre also heavily zionist... i mean theyre german after all
NFT'S Brah!!!😅😅😅😅
Favorite video yet. You should consider doing more electronic music history videos.
Wait seriously? This was elektron? I might have to sell my elektron gear now. Surely not buying any more… ugh
Can't talk about Thom York's politics right after talking about Gaza without mentioning he's a long-time Israel supporter too
An amazing, and, very powerful message in this video! Thanks for sharing Jeremy! Keep them coming, the world needs more content like this.
Good summary. I may have missed them in your discussion but I feel the Pet Shop Boys are important for being a couple of out gay guys working together for decades who are 100% now seen in Britain as part of the furniture, national treasures and that is not nothing. Obviously several songs of theirs like “It’s A Sin” cover personal politics too. I don’t know how known they are in the US though.
i wrapped myself n puff pastry and poured honey over my body.. i was in the mix.
Hey pastry is political. "Let them eat cake" heralded a revolution.
@@jdavies1296 brioche*
Lol
I found your argument persuasive in the first five minutes. Stayed for the awesome history lesson
Everything is political, unless you are lucky enough to be in one of the "in" groups, in which case you have the LUXURY of saying things like "oh, I don't get involved in politics". It's so much easier when your group isn't being systematically eliminated.
19 is a classic and in the UK was pretty thought-provoking because even those of us old enough to remember Vietnam hadn't really put ourselves in their shoes. 19 hammered it home in a way the movies didn't.
Goddamn, I love this channel.
Good lord, whoever says 'Music isn't political' is effing asleep. Beatles, Black Sabbath, Neil Young, RATM, Woodie and Arlo Guthrie. I can keep listing examples. I know you are trying to keep to synths, but dude, music is political.
People who think artists in general aren't political don't even know how to experience art and yet they think they get to make the rules. Try sports buddy, but that's probably going to get political too. Because it involves people.