Talk:List of anarchist musicians

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Contents 1 Bands 2 Organization of the List 3 Sex Pistols? 4 Big Problem! 5 Added Riotfolk Musicians 6 How are we defining "anarchist musicians"? 7 I think that you should remove Zack de la Rocha and Rage Against the Machine 8 Bands without articles should be removed

[edit] Bands

from Talk:List of anarchists

Does anyone know of any good anarchist metal bands? I really like punk, but (some) metal sounds really cool, but most of the lyrics suck. Anyone have ideas. I just got Napalm death's new cd and that's pretty good. Any ideas?

Ok, I removed Avail, Hot Water Music, and No Use for a Name for now. I've been listening to these bands for a while, never heard them called anarchists. So, if someone can please offer proof of some sort we can put them back in (I've been looking to no...avail ;) yes I'm lame). --Tothebarricades.tk 20:38, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I've heard the no use for a name are anarchists (though I doubt it) but that they have now gone really pop punk and don't have any politics in their songs. I got one of their cds from my local library thinking they would be political and was greatly disappointed (glad I didn't waste money on it)

I'm not sure about Discount either, but I'm not as familiar with them. --Tothebarricades.tk 21:01, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I'm wondering about Pitchshifter. Does anyone have anything explicictly saying they're anarchists or had anarchist tendencies? - DNewhall

I propose scrapping rise against. They seem too much along the lines of anti-flag for me (pop punkers with middle of the road socialist tendencies being labeled as anarchists). Also, I am not really familiar with Reagan Youth, but their page says nothing about their being anarchists--radical leftists yes, but anarchists, not really sure. Same with MDC.

MDC are very much anarchists... the advocate killing cops.

I am the one who wasn't sure about MDC (I have an account now). I also have one of their cd's now too, and I agree with you, they are anarchists. The Ungovernable Force 20:07, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Ok, I answered part of my own question, Reagan Youth are anarchists or at least their lyrics seem like it.

I am curious to know why Asian Dub Foundation are listed. I can't find anything on the net that says they are an anarchist group & they recently did a benefit gig for the Scottish Socialist Party -- it is unusual for anarchists to support the "parliamentary road" to social change. james

As of 17th June somebody has removed a whole load of bands -- RATM, Negativland, Propagandhi, T(I)NC and others. Why? I think that if people are going to take stuff out they should give a reason. The first three bands i mention are definitely anarchist, so why take them out? If anyone knows something I don't could they please explain here? thanks -- james

I personally don't know about the removal but RATM are often viewed as manufactured rebellion so a lot in the anarchist movement resent them and don't want them there. I would agree personally. Never listened to Negativeland but I thought they were anarchists. I have one cd by propagandhi and I think they are probably anarchists, but they don't label themselves as such. They say on their website that they don't want to be labeled and that they encourage people to find their own ideology as to how to destroy capitalism. I would personally consider them anarchists though (or pretty damn close). Only heard two songs by T(I)NC. I think they are debated a lot too, people on infoshop.org gave them a thrashing one time with regard to their touring with the offspring. They are political though.

It's a shame that people bitch so much about musicians -- RATM, T(I)NC, etc. I want Propagandhi to stay on the list, along with RATM & others. I hope that people don't just take artists off the list because they don't tour with the right people! -- james, 8.7.05

I removed The Angelic Upstarts from the list because their politics were definately socialist and not anarchist. They also had a patriotic slant about them as well.

Marilyn Manson? Hes very far from an anarchist

Are Jello Biafra and Dead Kennedys anarchists? I'd say Jello is more of a progressive and he ran with the Green party.

just a hint, if you've maybe never heard the song "Baby, I'm An Anarchist" by Against Me, so I'm going to go ahead and put them right up there in the A section. Thats all.

The song "Baby, I'm An Anarchist" is mainly satirical though rather than an actual call for anarchy. Also they supported Kerry on the Rock The Vote tour.

[edit] Organization of the List

I think it would be a good idea to better organize this list. For instance, put all the anarcho-punk bands in one section, classical composers in another, etc.

[edit] Sex Pistols?

Do they really belong here? Although they do seem to self-identify this way, they come across more as nihilists than anarchists. Sarge Baldy 21:47, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

oh yeah, they're total anarchists--didn't you see sid in that swastika shirt? I don't think they belong here. I also wonder why Johnny Rotten's page calls him an individualist anarchist. I really doubt he is truly an anarchist. I could be wrong though.

[edit] Big Problem!

This list is just a collection of bands people have written down without any basis for it. Any left wing band that someone has heard of has been put down, RATM, for example, were socialists/communists, not anarchists. This needs a major shake up. --Horses In The Sky 13:15, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

What definition of Anarchism are we using again? And why should we use only that definition for this list? I do not believe you can seriously call one of the most significant left wing bands of the past decade non-anarchist without proof. If you will recall, the RATM book list on their own website has works such as "ABC's of Anarchism" and works by Chomsky in its collection, and in my opinion that would imply that the band at least takes elements from some form of anarchism. I do not see why some people who term themselves anarchist feel their view is 'genuine' while others are 'superficial' should get the right to declare who is and who is not an anarchist band, politician, person, etc. It is simply elitism, the very antithesis of anarchism. It is normal for humans, even of similar ideologies, to have serious disagreements over certain particulars of their ideology, so why are we acting as though it is a mortal sin to do so in the realm of music?

Additionally, should we simply remove any and every musican that has not outright called himself an anarchist in public? Or do you have to sing with the 'right' line of thought in your lyrics to qualify? How can we judge this with anything resembling objectivity? Is there a party line we must follow now to ensure adhesion to the manual, never to deviate or call it by any other name than The Line?

In my opinion, the only use this list could possibly have is to get people to listen to bands that have anarchist content in parts of their music. Otherwise, this list will be short and elitist, since very few bands (and essentially no well known bands) adhere to a strict ideological line proclaimed by a central authority or set of authorities. Since the meaning of poetry used in music is almost nothing but subjective interpretation, I do not think we should remove musicians unless they have absolutely no political content or are obviously authoritarian, such as Britney Spears (guess which she is). If a band is disputed, we should make a new discussion section for it and let the people who know something about the band hash it out until a general concensus is made by the parties involved.

Does anyone else agree with my analysis and suggestions? I would really like to have a sincere and cooperative discussion about this. -- BBUCommander

[edit] Added Riotfolk Musicians

I added the names of 8 folk singers that are part of a revolutionary collective known as Riotfolk. You can check them out on http://www.riotfolk.org/ if you want to make sure they qualify.

[edit] How are we defining "anarchist musicians"?

Is it as musicians who also happen to identify as anarchists? Or musicians who use their music as anarchist agitprop? Or do you have to do both? I'm a little confused. Rage Against the Machine, for example, never explicitly identified as anarchists, had anarchist books in their reading list, had a Marxist guitarist and an anarchist vocalist who incoroporated that into his lyrics. John Lydon identifies as an anarchist, but his music has never promoted anarchism. The (International) Noise Conspiracy, according to their article, identify as communists (I thought they refused (bad pun!) labels), but they are normally regarded as anarchists (as anarchist communists, autonomous Marxists, etc.). Anti-Flag were anarchists earlier on, but now deny it and are more mainstream socialists. What gives? -Switch ^t 13:43, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I think that you should remove Zack de la Rocha and Rage Against the Machine

Zack and the boys from the band have never described themselves as anarchists or lent support to an Anarchist cause to my knowlegde. they have however described themselves as Marxists and supported Marxist causes. Alot of Communists, epecially nowadays with the collapse of most communist-run governments have allied themselves or lent sympathy towards Anarchists; and RATM did have obvious links and was very support towards the EZLN. But even the EZLN is not an Anarchist organization, they have only borrowed some Anarchist ideals such as "voluntary socialism" and association through their rebel autonomous municipalities.

Anyway, i dont think they have ever seen themselves as Anarchists! So I think you should remove them. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.115.97.190 (talk) 05:05, 5 January 2007 (UTC).

When have they ever identified as Marxists? Ever. Honestly. They've never said that.

Their reading list includes books critical of Marxism, including What Is Anarchist Communism by Alexander Berkman and Animal Farm by George Orwell. Their reading list includes works by both anarchists (Noam Chomsky, Henry David Thoreau, Howard Zinn) and Marxists (Che Guevara, Vladimir Lenin, and Karl Marx himself), as well as by people who do not identify as either, and a few philosophical works (Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre) and other books even more confusing (M. C. Escher's The Graphic Work). Obviously, that doesn't help much, but it does show that they aren't out-and-out Marxists.

Tom Morello identifies as an anarchist here. I think that's enough said in his case.

Zack de la Rocha's lyrics are confusing. He makes references to Frantz Fanon, Mao Zedong and others in the first two albums; in The Battle of Los Angeles, however, he makes reference to Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, Crass, Peter Kropotkin and similar.

What they have done to make you think they're Marxists is used images of Che Guevara in their art, and had The Internationale played before live performances. Not quite enough to disqualify them in my opinion. ~Switch ^{t c g} 10:37, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bands without articles should be removed

Bands without Wikipedia articles should be deleted from the list because there is no way of verifying whether they belong on the list. Spylab 22:50, 7 January 2007 (UTC)