GENERAL NEW RELEASE SPECULATION TOPIC

[Sl Flk]

[/quote]

I don't know why, but I feel Marcus is referring to Bono and U2 with this quote. It's who instantly jumps to my mind. [/quote]

Hahahha, I've just had to watch the Alan Partridge clip where he convinces his girlfriend that he's friends with Bono and she gets to meet him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew4wrtl01PA

I've never really bothered about it when artists express their political ideology. Thom Yorke does it and I still love Radiohead because their music is always cool. I've not enjoyed U2 since Actung Baby and just believe that Bono is a greedy bastard. Problems cannot be solved by throwing money at them and carrying on as 'normal'. I've never been concerned about voicing my own thoughts and beliefs and it's got me in some SERIOUS trouble within my life but I regret none of it. I feel like I suffer from some form of tourrette's syndrome If I don't speak up. There are even some artists that 'm not a fan of, but like their thinking. What boards of canada have done 'IMO' is expresses a very clear political message using their music alone, and the message is this.

https://youtu.be/57Z2SxEuuQ0

[Echelon]

I've never really bothered about it when artists express their political ideology. Thom Yorke does it and I still love Radiohead because their music is always cool

Hail to the Thief is one of my favorite Radiohead albums, (and an underrated one at that) and that paints the Bush presidency as this highly depressive dystopian universe. The music is just really cool, so I feel regardless of where you stand on that issue, the great melodic ideas transcend the ideology. Bruce Spingsteen on the other hand, sounds like Meatloaf and bad show-tunes and U2, just sound incredibly stale as they rehash their old glories with new political statements. I feel the lame music makes their ideology sound cringy regardless of what it is.

Honestly, I feel that times are getting so weird that BOC won't be able to resist coming out and making some statement to humanity with their music. Much like Geogaddi with 9/11 and TH for the decline of western civilization, I just get that vibe nowadays. It might even be a positive statement, sort of a unifying vibe. It's what we need more than ever.

[Radiobuzz]

The Radio Dept. and The Knife are two successful bands (ok not 'mainstream' successful) that manage to be political and great music too.

[SamuraiDrifter]

The Radio Dept. and The Knife are two successful bands (ok not 'mainstream' successful) that manage to be political and great music too.

Yeah. I mean, look at Rage Against the Machine, or the Coup, or Public Enemy. There are a ton of blatantly political musicians who are successful, even those with fairly radical views.

I strongly disagree with BoC's position on mixing politics and music, but I'm guessing for them it boils down to the fact that it doesn't really serve their artistic interests (psychological manipulation through music).

Also, more than likely, they have some fringe political views that they think would prove unpopular... Judging by some of their TH era book recommendations, we might be talking Ted Kaczynski level views, haha.

[Davism]

I think artists CAN be successful, but is it necessary? How many actors or artists do we need telling us how to think? To me, art transcends political persuasions. Art should unify, not divide..... and that's exactly what BoC has done.

[Geogandhi]

They might be David Icke levels, all lizards and shit so it's probably best to keep schtum in order to still sell records.
I would still love their music but if they turned out to be flat earthers, it'd kinda taint it a bit.

[Geogandhi]

Hey Geo, if you're going to do a fake, make it the acoustic MHTRTC album, will ya? I want to hear it in some form or another.

haha, that would honestly be easier to do I reckon.

[Echelon]

I think the bros are good intentioned lads, not 4chan conspiracy nuts. They're just outsiders and love freedom of expression. I don't think they make art to hurt people. Even TH was more of a lament.

They also never make comments to the mainstream press the way Aphex did when he said something about "Covid not being real" and they flipped out and he had to backpeddle. I haven't dug into that story beyond seeing the headlines so I don't know who's right and wrong, but I know that this kind of drama is something BOC would never get into. They have their own lives to worry about.

[frankixus]

I think artists CAN be successful, but is it necessary? How many actors or artists do we need telling us how to think? To me, art transcends political persuasions. Art should unify, not divide..... and that's exactly what BoC has done.

'Art should unify, not divide' I think it's more easy by making music that consists of primarily instrumentals, and no vocals. Theres not much to divide people with. But, like for instance the references to Koresh, 666 etc. will probably divide some. I really think art will always divide people. It has to be, maybe not on a political level but it certainly does on a social level. Everything is made out of a point of view some might not like, it's how society works. People will always find a reason to not understand each other especially in this day and age.

The music might not be for everyone, but the 'boc enthusiasts' certainly are. It's really cool to see how everyone respects one another regardless of their views. I think it's a lovely thing society can really learn from. Maybe if everyone magically starts loving life like we love BoC, people feel like they have more in common and people will be nicer to each other.

Something just came to my mind. My favorite Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky once wrote something like: 'True art does not go with political views'. If he says so..... maybe you're right after all.

[vonS]

I dont think they need to express their politics. Their work does it for them. There is a constellation of influences in their work, and these are either hinted at or express, that the listener can do their own work, follow up the themes and references, and come to a view on the politics.

Its like their music is a text, and the political/cultural/sociological framework is buried in the footnotes. Its all footnotes. Nothing express.

[Davism]

I think artists CAN be successful, but is it necessary? How many actors or artists do we need telling us how to think? To me, art transcends political persuasions. Art should unify, not divide..... and that's exactly what BoC has done.

'Art should unify, not divide' I think it's more easy by making music that consists of primarily instrumentals, and no vocals. Theres not much to divide people with. But, like for instance the references to Koresh, 666 etc. will probably divide some. I really think art will always divide people. It has to be, maybe not on a political level but it certainly does on a social level. Everything is made out of a point of view some might not like, it's how society works. People will always find a reason to not understand each other especially in this day and age.

The music might not be for everyone, but the 'boc enthusiasts' certainly are. It's really cool to see how everyone respects one another regardless of their views. I think it's a lovely thing society can really learn from. Maybe if everyone magically starts loving life like we love BoC, people feel like they have more in common and people will be nicer to each other.

Something just came to my mind. My favorite Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky once wrote something like: 'True art does not go with political views'. If he says so..... maybe you're right after all.

Yeah, I should have specified. I think the highest form of Art is not political. And Art can be divisive even without messages, I suppose; some people like abstract art, some prefer realism. But that's more about taste and preference.

But you're absolutely right, we need to find the most worthy thing to be in common with.

[chemical_si]

Regarding the Adult Swim short, do you think this could be for the new Psy Corner Audio release? Look at the art work.

[Gazebo4]

I think artists CAN be successful, but is it necessary? How many actors or artists do we need telling us how to think? To me, art transcends political persuasions. Art should unify, not divide..... and that's exactly what BoC has done.

'Art should unify, not divide' I think it's more easy by making music that consists of primarily instrumentals, and no vocals. Theres not much to divide people with. But, like for instance the references to Koresh, 666 etc. will probably divide some. I really think art will always divide people. It has to be, maybe not on a political level but it certainly does on a social level. Everything is made out of a point of view some might not like, it's how society works. People will always find a reason to not understand each other especially in this day and age.

The music might not be for everyone, but the 'boc enthusiasts' certainly are. It's really cool to see how everyone respects one another regardless of their views. I think it's a lovely thing society can really learn from. Maybe if everyone magically starts loving life like we love BoC, people feel like they have more in common and people will be nicer to each other.

Something just came to my mind. My favorite Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky once wrote something like: 'True art does not go with political views'. If he says so..... maybe you're right after all.

Yeah, I should have specified. I think the highest form of Art is not political. And Art can be divisive even without messages, I suppose; some people like abstract art, some prefer realism. But that's more about taste and preference.

But you're absolutely right, we need to find the most worthy thing to be in common with.

Good point. Just to add, the source of political views are opinions whereas the source of art is beauty. I think that says it all. You don't need your thinking mind to listen to and appreciate music. I guess that's why it is so relaxing for many people, because they can just put down the mind chatter for some time and appreciate beauty.

Creativity comes from within, (political) views are always some external labels. Nothing wrong with a political view though of course, just don't take it too seriously

[SamuraiDrifter]

To provide a counterpoint, politics isn't just some abstract, academic argument that results in pointless division. Political views of a society determine public policy that will affect people's real lives, and in some cases result in human beings losing their lives. The state of the planet's environment has become a political rather than a scientific issue, and the mistrust of scientists and doctors by a certain segment of the population, in favor of pundits, is a political issue as well. Who knows how many thousands or millions of lives will be lost if views do not change?

Using art to make political statements can positively impact the world and get people caring about issues they might otherwise ignore. We have seen BoC do this in the past, directly addressing their audience to speak out against censorship and warn of resource/energy depletion. They even characterized Tomorrow's Harvest as a political album, though it's shrouded in multiple layers of abstraction typical of their work.

So I would say not only do I disagree with the stance expressed in that interview (you can choose either music or politics) I think BoC have come to change their view on it as well.

[Echelon]

So I would say not only do I disagree with the stance expressed in that interview (you can choose either music or politics) I think BoC have come to change their view on it as well.

They sat out on commenting on Trump's America, so I'm curious if that was intentional or not. I wonder if now we're going to hear from them since the administration changed to something more environmentally friendly (something they like). Especially if TH was at all motivated by climate change.

[Radiobuzz]

I think every art is political, and BoC's music has been without a doubt very political in pretty much everything they've done.

[Davism]

Here’s the problem: half the people in this world have opposing views and believe their side is backed by science. You can disagree that one side is actually backed by science, but we live in a post truth society now, and nobody will change their view unless something significant happens to them. That occurrence ain’t happenin’ with BoC (or Brad Pitt) for that matter. Some people might be influenced, but all the messages from potential BoC albums or Morrisey don’t go deep enough to be truly convincing.

That’s why high art transcends political leanings/positions.

[Radiobuzz]

Of course, I don't think anyone would change their political views just by hearing BoC. However going back to Marcus' quote, I believe what he means is about being explicit in their political views, this is different to their music having political expressions, which in BoC's way you know it's borderline subliminal. The Knife (and Fever Ray for that matter) became very explicit in their proposed discussion about gender later in their career, you wouldn't miss it if you hear it. The brothers are not public in general, so they're not interested in being public with their political views, however it's impossible that those views won't be present in the art they make. IMO of course.

[Echelon]

Actually, I don't even want to think about BOC and how they relate to modern politics. They're kind of my happy place away from it. I think the cool thing about them is that if you don't like their messages about Koresh and the devil, and later in Tomorrow's Harvest, you can just not think about it and enjoy the music. That's the beauty of making instrumental electronic music.

Even if their next hypothetical album is political in the slightest, I'm always there for the music first and foremost.

As of the last 7 years, they've only said one thing to us..."You okay?"

[oliveoil22]

As of the last 7 years, they've only said one thing to us..."You okay?"

That sample definitley gave me the good kind of chills. Kind of what we all needed to hear these last few years from them.