 Biafra
Delivers Another Triple
At the same time that the global anti-corporate movement was hitting the ground running,, America held a presidential race and election. The political momentum from N30 and A16 continued throughout this process. There were large demonstrations outside both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions (Philadelphia and Los Angeles, respectively). Again, police used chemical weapons and the threat of injury and/or arrest to scold the demonstrators. Biafra, the vitamin poppin' newshound that he is, was present at street-level for all of these events. In Seattle, he protested and formed a band, the No WTO Combo performing with famous local mucisians. At the conventions, Jello worked as a political reporter / commentator for the on-line Independent Media Center. Earlier, he was knee-deep in the 2000 Election: Biafra was nominated as a Green Party presidential candidate (ultimately he endorsed Ralph Nader, of course, but not before developing a creative platform and drawing some attention to the plight of deathrow inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal by naming Mumia as his running mate). For Jello Biafra it must have been a fascinating year. On Become the Media, Biafra recounts his experiences from all these events in his unique almost stream-of-conscience style. He talks about what the protests meant, how the 'powers that be' reacted to the protestors, and how reporters and the media got the whole story wrong when conveying the issues at hand to the couch potatoes at home. Biafra also shines a spotlight on the personalities involved on all sides of the protests and/or campaigns. Worth the price of the album alone is the information Biafra provides on Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman's music and TV censorship efforts. I had no clue this guy was on the Tipper Gore circa mid-80s PMRC trip. In some respects, Lieberman made George W. seem like a moderate. And this is just a kernel of what you will learn from MC Biafra. There is a ton of educational information crammed on to these three discs. As always, the amount of information Biafra packs into his spoken word efforts is often as exhausting as it is enlightening. How is one supposed to remain positive about life and civic participation when so much of modern culture is controlled by so few? and by such a misguided few at that? Well, to the two newest generations to come along in America (having grown up watching Star Wars movies and, more recently, The Matrix) Jello's reply should hit home: Knowing what's going on and doing something about it (even if that means creatively fucking shit up) is more fun than being a depressed asshole who has become nothing more than "a spectator in his/her own life." In other words... get involved and "become the media!". Do something to make the world a better place. Don't just rev up the DVD player and fantasize about being in the Rebel Alliance that is undermining the Evil Empire... join the real Rebel Alliance and start kicking some ass! Turn off the tube and join the fun. Though Jello's spoken word "performances" on Become the Media cover socio-political events all the way up until late Summer 2000, the material may seem somewhat dated already. This is only because so much stuff happened after this release was pressed. As you know, Americans, and a nervous world, spent five weeks watching "entertaining" (yeah, right) court battles over the certified Florida ballot results. But just because you know how Election 2000 ended, you cannot pass up Jello's sixth spoken word album. There is too much on it you need to know.
For more information on this release:
The Alternative Tentacles Records Site Other Biafra related items...
2001 © Raptorial Media |
|