Artists and Professors Examine God’s Place in America
Whether it’s jazz, hip-hop, or rock, music is often born of the two headed beast of religion and politics. While in the hands of the much-maligned Bush Administration, the country has seen an explosion of politically fueled records. And given the influence of religion on today’s divided political landscape, it’s no surprise that many musicians have also been grappling with notions about God.
With over two decades in one of music’s most influential punk bands, Bad Religion frontman Greg Graffin has been one of the most outspoken voices on religion in society. Holding a master’s in geology from UCLA and a Ph.D. from Cornell University, Graffin will soon pack up the road gear from this year’s Warped Tour and head to UCLA where he teaches life science courses. […]
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Tags: Features · Books · Music · Religion
As we race into the 21st Century, music — like much else — seems sadly lacking in originality. Everything has roots and nearly every new avenue somewhat retraces the steps of a bygone era. Just in the last fifteen years of music, we’ve witnessed several sonic rebirths that have faded as quickly as they had become sensations. […]
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Tags: Features · Music · Protest
How Björk and Sigur Rós spawned the booming post-rock movement
Something supernatural on the east coast of England birthed the Beatles in the 60s. Fans in the United States fainted at their mere presence. During the 70s and 80s, the Sex Pistols and the Clash demanded a revolution and American street kids gave them one. During the 90s, the likes of Carl Cox and Paul Oakenfold held the torch as electronica swept across the ocean and over the dance floors of the United States. Simultaneously, bands like Oasis, Radiohead, Coldplay and the Muse grabbed a hold of America’s musical landscape and have yet to let go. This post-rock movement continues to boom as we blaze into the twenty-first century
And America has fallen in love again. But this time, not with England. […]
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Tags: Features · Music
The Story of Earthwork Music
An overview of Earthwork Music and a discussion with Seth Bernard.
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Tags: Features · Folk · Music
Getting to Know the Beehive Collective
Insects such as locusts or wasps are morphed with modern military apparatus, while blood-sucking mosquitoes represent corporations drilling for oil.
Mural painting, or public art, is one of the oldest and most important forms of artistic, political, and social expression. From prehistoric cave paintings to the frescos of ancient Greece, humanity has demonstrated that art, in its true essence, is a communal enterprise. Picasso used the technique in 1937 to express his intense anti-war sentiment in the masterpiece ‘Guernica’. Mural paintings were used to communicate the political ideals of the Russian Revolution in 1917, and to promote China’s new cultural direction following the 1919 May Fourth Movement. Among the most famous political muralists of the 20th century were the Mexican social realist painters, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco who portrayed their vision of social justice in the 1920’s through fresco painting. Presently, a group of activists based in rural Eastern Maine known as the Beehive Collective have reinvented this form of visual imagery to create intricate, anti-copyright murals which communicate the dilemmas of corporate globalization. […]
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Tags: Features · Mural · Paintings
