Arts and Culture - Music | Truthdig http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/category/music/ Truthdig, a Web magazine that provides expert in-depth coverage of current affairs as well as a variety of thoughtful, provocative content assembled from a progressive point of view. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman. en editor@truthdig.com Copyright 2011 2011-11-04T23:41:10+00:00 http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/category/music/ http://www.truthdig.com/images/rss_feed_promo.gif Truthdig logo The Power of Protest Contest: Find Out Who Won http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/the_power_of_protest_contest_find_out_who_won_20111104/ http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/the_power_of_protest_contest_find_out_who_won_20111104/ bob marley, contest, economy, leonard cohen, music, occupy wall street, protest, ry cooder, Music

We have a winner, folks. Or make that two: a winning song and the Truthdig reader who named the tune. It wasn’t easy to settle on just one out of all the possibilities—and we’ll give nods to some of those after the jump—but it was fun.

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]]> 2011-11-04T23:41:10+00:00 The Power of Protest Music Contest http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/contest_the_power_of_protest_music_20111012/ http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/contest_the_power_of_protest_music_20111012/ contest, music, occupy wall street, power of protest music, powerofprotest, ry cooder, Music

Here at the Truthdig office, we’ve been listening a lot to Ry Cooder’s new album, “Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down.” With songs like “No Banker Left Behind,” which was inspired by a column by our own Robert Scheer, the album is refreshingly political, with roots in the tradition of protest music. Here’s your chance to win a copy. (more)

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]]> 2011-10-12T21:51:55+00:00 Exclusive: Ry Cooder’s ‘No Banker Left Behind’ http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/exclusive_ry_cooders_no_banker_left_behind_20110526/ http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/exclusive_ry_cooders_no_banker_left_behind_20110526/ bailout, economy, kasia anderson, military, money, music, no banker left behind, politics, pull up some dust and sit down, race, robert scheer, ry cooder, speech, truthdig radio, war, white house, Music

The legendary musician tells Robert Scheer that his new album, including a song inspired by one of Scheer’s Truthdig columns, was written out of feeling frustrated, helpless and angry with current events.

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]]> 2011-05-27T02:02:54+00:00 Lupe Fiasco Calls Out Obama, Among Others http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/lupe_fiasco_calls_out_obama_among_others_20110328/ http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/lupe_fiasco_calls_out_obama_among_others_20110328/ economy, hip hop, israel, lupe fiasco, music, obama, politics, rap, terrorism, war, war on terror, words i never said, In the News, Music

Lupe Fiasco is returning hip-hop to its best tradition: actually saying something. With his new track, “Words I Never Said” (listen after the jump), the rapper confronts such diverse topics as the war on terror and the foreclosure crisis, with rhymes such as “Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit | Thats why I aint vote for him, next one either | I’ma part of the problem, my problem is I’m peaceful.”

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]]> 2011-03-28T23:54:28+00:00 Joyful Noises and Joyless Measures in New Orleans http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/joyful_noises_and_joyless_ordinances_in_new_orleans_20100702/ http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/joyful_noises_and_joyless_ordinances_in_new_orleans_20100702/ bourbon street, french quarter, hbo, hurricane katrina, music, new orleans, street musician, treme, Music N.O. musicians

David Simon’s HBO series “Treme” picks up on a theme that courses through the show: the longstanding tension between the city’s culture bearers and its powers that be. That tension has ratcheted up, or at least has grown more pointed, since 2005.

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]]> 2010-07-03T00:50:00+00:00 A Ginger’s Response to M.I.A. http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/a_gingers_response_to_mia_20100427/ http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/a_gingers_response_to_mia_20100427/ advertisement, born free, ginger, mia, music, palestine, red hair, tamil, tamil tigers, video, Music mia

M.I.A.’s controversial nine-minute, banned-from-YouTube music video fails to show that discrimination is about real, historical inequalities.

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]]> 2010-04-27T09:22:24+00:00 These Iranian Troubadours Show How Music Can Corrupt the Soul http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/these_iranian_troubadours_show_how_music_can_corrupt_the_soul_20091206/ http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/these_iranian_troubadours_show_how_music_can_corrupt_the_soul_20091206/ afghanistan, culture, fisk, iran, iraq, islam, lebanon, middle east, music, robert fisk, saudi arabia, Music

Music and Islam have a dodgy relationship. I guess it’s really all to do with that most jealously guarded commodity, the human soul, over which music exerts such passion.

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]]> 2009-12-07T01:59:23+00:00 Yes We Can Can http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/20080829_yes_we_can_can/ http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/20080829_yes_we_can_can/ anniversary, convention, democrat, denver, dnc, hurricane katrina, jazz, larry blumenfeld, mardi gras, obama, president, yes we can can, Music Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club

New Orleans has figured into this election season as a reminder of the Bush administration’s bungled, uncaring response to Katrina. Yet amid so much talk of hope and change, on this anniversary of disaster, many in New Orleans hope for a change of policy—the kind of federal assistance that can make a dent in crises of housing, public safety, education, health care and levee protection. It makes sense for musicians to kick-start that conversation.

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