The Drone » caribbean

A Steelband Covers Joy Division in Manchester (Blog)

Clément Mathon — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:57:09 +0000

The last 5th July was taking place in Manchester the 1st Jeremy Deller’s Procession. This london-born Turner-Prize winning artist who is also one half of the Acid Brass combo, launched this carnival that he describes as “northern social surrealism”, combining social clubs, special interest groups, popular music and invited individuals with traditional processional stalwarts such as Rose Queens and brass bands.

During the procession, the whole Manchester identy was being paid a tribute to, Joy Division included.

Rage against Guantanamo (Blog)

Clément Mathon — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:12:22 +0000

What’s the common denominator between Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, REM, Billy Bragg, Roseanne Cash, Pearl Jam, Jackson Browne and Steve Earle? They all stood against Guantanamo (also called by the military personnal “Gitmo”) because of the use of music as a torture tool in military interrogations!

For those who had the chance to see Rage Against The Machine during their tour last summer, you probably saw them dressed like prisoners opening their act with a minute of silence. Well, last October, the 20th, they launched “Close Gitmo Now” with bands mentionned above and retired generals who supported Obama’s plan to close the jail during the election.

Banned by the UN and the European Court of Human Rights, Music Torture had been used to break down muslim prisonners blasting loud heavy metal! It’s been reported the following songs have been played loudly and constantly to prisonners:

David Gray’s Babylon, Metallica’s Enter Sandman, Don McLean’s American Pie, Queen’s We Will Rock You, songs by REM, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Bruce Springsteen, and even theme tunes from Sesame Street!

Check out this 24 minutes short documentary, it gives you a good idea about the camp:

Adrian Baschuk for Current. “Most controversial Jail in The World”.

Future Shock (Videos)

Clément Mathon — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:47:05 +0000

Far from their tropical homeland on the island of Trinidad & Tobago, birthplace of the sound system, a new generation of calypso competitors are making some serious noise. Based in Queens, NY, dozens of teenage kids of Caribbean origin are now blasting out their loud music through the streets of the Big Apple.

In Trinidad & Tobago, ever since the abolition of slavery from the British in 1834, Calypsonians have been competing at the annual island carnival. Today in Trinidad, these same verbal fights, which look a lot like hip hop clashes, are broadcasted on TV. Although the kids (like the Futur Shock featured in this video) have brought the culture of the music competition to New York, the good old calypso now sounds more like Chutney, Socca and Reggeton. Even so, the fights that take place at these block parties still go by one motto : no mercy.