Moods of Revolution
A soundtrack for a Summer of facemasks and protest
Twenty-twenty sure has been a weighty year, and many turn to music to cope or empower oneself. From the COVID-19 pandemic to unemployment, to police state rampages, we can utilize art and music to guide our emotions through struggle and civil unrest. So let me introduce to you, the one and only ten-song playlist I’ve curated for your protesting enjoyment:
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Gil Scott-Heron
Since day one of the US civil unrest I haven’t been able to get “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron out of my head. The resistance en masse reminds me of a similar time back in the ’70s when the Black Panthers and leftism were on the rise. To me, this song draws a parallel back to that time and in some ways, we can find confidence in the reminder of a not-so-distant revolutionary history in the US. Not to mention the track’s determined drone-led flute groove. Super cool.
Sour Times by Portishead
On the night of day two, the mass protestors at the Capitol building in Denver dispersed into the streets demonstrating riot tactics like dumpster fires, tagging, and barricades. A dumpster fire just so happened to ignite in front of our apartment and we hosted a few folks hiding from DPD’s tear gassings and rubber bullets. In order to get people where they needed to be, we had to smuggle them through the streets in what felt like a covert operation fit for a war zone. I look back at the memory listening to Portishead’s “Sour Times”, recalling the din of slashing chopper blades, the searchlights scanning for fugitives.
Jazz Thing by Ultimate Spinach
“Jazz Thing” by Ultimate Spinach conjures the calm, cool, and empowering mood that can emerge during protest hours in the heat. Those unexpected lulls in the action are relaxing but serious, a little like this amazing yet largely forgotten psych band of the 1960’s. This one comes highly recommended.
Asteroid Blues by Yves Tumor
I walk and hear protestors blasting ‘60s political psych-rock, ‘70s protest anthems: CCR, Jimi Hendrix, and so on. To quote Jake Gyllenhaal’s character in Jarhead “That’s Vietnam music. Can’t we get our own music?” That we can, and “Asteroid Blues” off of 2020 release Heaven to a Tortured Mind is a chunky avant-funk track by Yves Tumor fit for the present but looking for the future. It’s got a precise punchiness yet a buzzy rawness that only mastering of the new decade can achieve.
Hood Took Me Under by Compton’s Most Wanted
We’re all blasting the patron saints of anti-cop rap; NWA, Public Enemy, and Wu-Tang guide cities groping through tear gas, which is to say now’s the perfect time to spin Compton’s Most Wanted classic, “Hood Took Me Under”. MC Eiht walks you through the living hell of engineered urban poverty and the pressures of survival in the racist Skinner Box known as LA.
Iglesia de San Miguel Canoa by Los Macuanos
While the death of George Floyd is fresh on our minds, we can’t forget the struggle of Denver’s Chicano activists and the moral blight on our city that is GEO Group’s for-profit migrant detention center in Aurora. This track goes out to the Chicano and Mexican folks who have also been targets of systemic racism. “Iglesia de San Miguel Canoa” is a tune by Tijuana electronic band Los Macuanos, a group that melds regional Mexican music of the fronterizo with the spooky dystopian sounds of goth-electronica.
Kill My Landlord by The Coup
If you’ve seen the 2018 sci-fi comedy-drama Sorry to Bother You, you may know about its communist director Boots Riley and his Black revolutionary politics. You might not know that he’s been producing music with the rap group turned pop outfit The Coup since 1991. I’ve always loved the song “Kill My Landlord”, a proper jam and a Marxist broadside against rent’s exploitative role in working-class struggle. Consider the necessity of shelter during a pandemic, the ruthless predation of landlords and banks who refuse to halt profiteering during one of the largest periods of unemployment in world history, and you can start to appreciate a sonic polemic like “Kill My Landlord”.
Opps (with Yugen Blakrok) by Vince Staples
I first heard this song in a sub shop somewhere near the University of Denver. Since then I’ve popped this song on every now and again, having no clue that this was part of the Black Panther movie soundtrack. “Opps” featuring Kendrick Lamar and Yugen Blakrok is a dramatic hip hop track with an unorthodox four-on-the-floor beat. It carries itself like a techno dance track and almost militantly so, a potent combo. Keep your ears peeled as a buoyant Vince Staples delivers one of the wittiest lines of the track with signature gusto:
They don't wanna see me gettin' to the check, they just wanna see me swimmin' in the debt. Don't drown on ground, wait until you hear, 9-1-1, freeze (zoom, zoom) dead.
Borough Check by Digable Planets
“Borough Check” has been one of my all-time favorites from Digable Planets. Ishmael Butterfly, Ladybug Mecca, and Doodlebug Irving all talk Brooklyn (or should I say Crooklyn) and aren’t afraid to talk Maoism. A beautifully constructed track.
Sad Mood by Ken Parker
Among the dreaded, ambient moods of our time, I come back to exhaustion and despair at the criminally sinister acts of the state onto its people. “Sad Mood” by Ken Parker is my soundtrack for mourning. Remembering the lives lost can make you want for a good cry (and you should), but as you do, remember their names: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Elijah McLain, Tamir Rice and hundreds, if not thousands more mentioned in the protests. Black execution has to come to an end now, not tomorrow. Rest in power.
*About the Author: Jeff Thomassen is a musician and activist from the Denver area.
