On Jan. 13, 2023, crowds from different parts of the world gathered in the heart of Washington D.C. to showcase solidarity with Gaza. The Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas triggered a war that has spanned for over 100 days, where more than 20,000 Palestinians are estimated to have perished. The crowds in Washington D.C. demanded an immediate ceasefire and for the Biden administration to take robust action in pressuring the Israeli government to stop its military operations.
Photo by Abdalla Najjar
The march was attended by several influential figures who have delivered a few key remarks. Cornell West, an independent presidential candidate, called for the necessity of Palestinian freedom. “You won’t have Jewish safety or Jewish security if you didn’t have Palestinian Safety and Palestinian security”, West said. He also emphasized that “Nobody is calling for the annihilation of Jewish brothers and sisters”.
Photo by Abdalla Najjar
In addition to West, Josh Paul, a former director at the U.S. Department of State, delivered an address. Paul recently resigned from his position, citing the American support for the Israeli response to the Oct. 7 attacks as one of the reasons. During his speech, Paul highlighted that the participants of the march and himself “will not stay silent about the atrocities that are continuing in Gaza”.
The participants of the march felt the necessity to voice their concern for the Gazans who have to endure the current war. Some of the participants were from North Carolina and shared their thoughts on why they attended this march. Ben Bienvenu, a Raleigh resident who recently moved from New York City, attended the March with his wife Shanie. Ben mentioned that he “attended the march at the invitation of some colleagues at NY who serve as campus ministers across the USA”. Ben reported that he wanted to “live out faith actively and march to pray and redress [the US government] to account for financing [the Israeli] campaign”.
Photo by Abdalla Najjar
This march comes at a critical time when the ongoing Russia Ukraine war, combined with the Israeli-Palestinian situation, is presenting many challenges for the current US administration. With the elections coming up, one could only wonder how the Administration’s responses could affect the voting turnout for the next cycle. It has been speculated that the Biden administration’s response to the Palestinian situation will alienate a large demographic that has voted for him in the last elections. It is difficult to tell if these marches will pressure the US government to take action in calling for a ceasefire, but it would only be a matter of time before it becomes clearer.
As of writing, I have not had a good, full night of sleep in two days. The fact that the weather has been sub-freezing has not helped, either. There is naught that I desire more at the present moment other than pillow, blankie, and, of course, bed.
I also have a wide variety of music that I listen to regularly before bed to get me into the mood for being cozy and ready for bed. However, I don’t listen to music when actually asleep for fear of what it could do to my psyche, and also because I feel like it’d be weird to wear earbuds to bed, and also because I don’t own any earbuds.
Today, I dare to ask the theoretical question: what if I did listen to this while asleep? What would that do to myself while dreaming? Would it even work at all?
I was going to write about some Chicago hardcore (hc) punk band, but I stumbled across this short little EP instead. Inflicter is from the UK and makes quick, ripping-loud, noisy, thrashy hc music. This kind of music makes my ears pop like they were clogged up from a bad cold.
The sparse smattering of vocals drew me into this album. It feels like spoken word mixed with Egg punk mixed with classic punk vocals. In “Denied” the vocals are echoey and what I would describe as flavorful. They sound like a bubble ready to pop with lots of hatred about to spill out of it. Super cool and unique to put simply.
Inflicter has another EP, “7 SONG DEMO”, that I have yet to listen to all of. The vocals are a little more clear. This band is angry (as are tons of hc bands) and they’re doing their best to voice their social frustrations in a cool way through their own sounds within the hardcore genre.
This band feels extremely new, so there isn’t too much easy to find information about them except for one article that dove into their “7 SONG DEMO” and some of the local bands in the UK they appreciate and find inspiration from.
Their music is currently on Bandcamp, and I hope to be listening to more of their sounds change over the next couple years as they grow and become more in-tune with themselves.
As a metal-music-enjoyer, I find myself often daunted by the abject volume of metal subgenres that exist. This undertaking marks my (futile? misguided?) attempt to make sense of them.
Welcome to the Metal Minute.
What is Folk Metal?
Folk metal is probably one of the easier metal subgenres to parse, as it’s simply a marriage between the archetypal characteristics of metal and the style of European folk music.
There are several subgenres of folk metal (which only deepens the complexity of the metal iceberg), such as Celtic metal, Viking metal, medieval metal and pagan metal.
Cover for “Njord” by Leaves’ Eyes
The differences between these subgenres come from their distinct styles and influences, with Viking metal centering itself around Viking and Norse mythos while medieval metal draws its sound from the traditional folk instruments of the British Isles.
Instruments like the flute, lute and bagpipes abound.
When Did it Start?
According to MasterClass, folk metal developed in the 90s as different metal groups from Western and Central Europe began to experiment with their native folk music traditions.
Many groups were already experimenting with other metal subgenres, such as gothic metal, progressive metal, symphonic metal and melodic death metal. Thus, it was not a far jump for bands to integrate different folk styles into their work.
Cover for “Himmelfahrt” by Subway to Sally
Bands were not limited to the folk traditions of their native countries, either. Many groups, such as Subway to Sally, explored styles from other nations and integrated them into their own work. The band, hailing from Germany, was heavily inspired by Celtic traditions.
Eventually, folk metal influences traveled to Eastern Europe, leading groups to pop up in Russia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Latvia.
Today, folk metal groups can be found across the world.
Ween’s “12 Golden Country Greats” is both a deservedly hated and loved album. It represents some of Ween’s strangest, most homophobic, misogynistic and racist lyrics, while also being incredibly well produced and extremely unique.
Over the last few years of listening to this album, my opinions on the track and album have changed and changed and changed. I still don’t know how I feel about the album as a whole because musically it is really well put together with tons of fantastic guest stars to back up Gene and Dean Ween (Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo).
“12 Golden Country Greats” was released on May 6, 1996 under Elektra Records. Dean and Gene Ween are vocals on every track, but they were limited in their instrument playing during the recording of the album because of the amount of talent brought in to record (interview with album producer). Some of the folks that played on this album were Bobby Ogdin (piano), Charlie McCoy (organ, banjo, bass, harmonica, percussion, trumpet, tuba, vibraphone) and The Jordanaires (backup vocals on “I’m Holding You” and “Powder Blue”).
By reading the title alone you are wondering why this band hasn’t been “canceled” or shunned into oblivion. I still wonder that too, but damn these songs are catchy. It’s like a kind of guilty catchy when you are eating a whole line of Oreos at 2 am in the kitchen.
This track features the lyrics “Like a Japanese cowboy or a brother on skates” in its chorus. I don’t know what Ween was trying to do with stereotypes about Japanese cowboys, but they use it in a metaphor to signify “something ain’t right”. Obviously, this is racist. (I hope I don’t need to say why…)
And of course the next track is misogynistic. Warning, there are curse words in this one (oooh scary). This song reminds of the MF DOOM track that features prominent homophobia (“BATTY BOYZ”), which is its own issue. Again, with this track I have no idea what Ween was trying to do. (Highschool me definitely thought this was funny, but at this point it is just nostalgic).
With lyrics like “She got time for the dog and none for her man” and “You ride my ass like a horse in the saddle/ Now you’re up sh*t’s creek with a turd for a paddle” it’s hard for me to believe this track was written to be taken seriously.
Wow. It’s like a normal country song written by normal people. This song is the opener to the album. Some of the lyrics are the off-putting Ween weird, but nothing that places you in some hateful territory like the previous two tracks. I love the instruments on this. They remind me of what classic western movies should be sounding like.
Another almost normal country tune by Ween. That should have been the title of this track. Fun fact about this song is that about a whole minute of the song was cut by the studio because of a Muhammad Ali quote that was featured at the end (so recalls the record producer). Now the song abruptly ends. Either way, this track is a fine groovy tune.
No More Country Greats
This album is… something. Even after trying to write about it, I still can’t figure out if I like the whole thing, three tracks or nothing because it’s tainted by “Piss up a Rope”, “Mister Richard Smoker” and “Japanese Cowboy”.
You know, you are welcome to form your own opinion on this. Cool. That works. But also, the reason I wrote about this album is because I had a sudden urge like my aforementioned Oreo binging behavior to cram something down my ears and into my head that reminded me of something I’d left behind in high school. (I’m still lookin’ for that something because this album helped me find nothing).
Kind of cool news about Ween: they’ll be on tour in the Raleigh area in April, so if you like their music you can find tickets to their shows online.
When I approached the subject of the Appalachian murder ballad, I first had to answer the question: what is Appalachian music?
Believe it or not, I’m far from the first person to ask this. In fact, dozens (maybe even hundreds) of academics and historians have been trying to piece together an answer for decades.
In Jane Becker’s book “Appalachia and the Construction of an American Folk,” she explores the “folk revival” of the 1930’s to 1940’s and the ways in which “the structures and ideals of a culture dedicated to industrialism, consumption, and rationality” ultimately recast and commodified the authenticity of Appalachian folk culture.
This “iconization” of Appalachia ultimately makes it difficult to parse out the “true history” of Appalachian folk music, as it’s been primarily non-Appalachians (specifically, upper- and middle-class academics) who set about the task of defining and contextualizing Appalachian culture.
John Alexander Williams’s book “Appalachia: A History” suggests that the popularized construct of Appalachian folk music – defined by its parallels to the music of the British Isles – was ultimately borne from the ignorance of “the contemporary and topical sounds of town dwellers, mine workers, and any others ‘spoiled’ by too much contact with non-British culture” whom scholars deemed “unfit for study.”
To rephrase all of this in plainer language: Appalachian folk music is hard to define because of its misrepresentation.
Perhaps this knowledge isn’t essential to understanding the Appalachian murder ballad specifically, but I feel that it’s obligatory to point out.
The Murder Ballad
As opposed to the scope of Appalachian folk music, the murder ballad is easy to define.
Modeled after the traditional ballad, murder ballads illustrate a narrative that hashes out the events of a murder.
Often inspired by real events (“Omie Wise”), these ballads typically involve the murder of a woman by her lover, often (though not always) as a result of unwanted pregnancy.
Murder ballads can be from the perspective of the murderer, the victim, or an unnamed third party. Occasionally, they can portray the murderer as sympathetic.
Murder ballads are not localized to the Appalachian region. Rather, they originate from the British Isles — with the earliest iterations emerging in the 1500s — and made their way to the Americas in the mouths of Scottish and English immigrants.
Many American murder ballads are in fact directly inspired by songs from the Old World.
For example, “The Knoxville Girl,” comes from the 19th-century Irish ballad “The Wexford Girl,” which itself took inspiration from the English ballad “The Bloody Miller” detailing a murder that occurred in 1683.
One of the most commercially successful ballads is “Tom Dooley,” inspired by the case of Tom Dula, who murdered his lover in 1866 after she became pregnant.
Hang down your head Tom Dooley Hang down your head and cry Killed poor Laura Foster You know you’re bound to die
Dula was executed in 1868 in Wilkes County, North Carolina. The song, popularized by the Kingston Trio in 1958, was a “breakthrough hit.”
Another well-known murder ballad is “Omie Wise,” which tells the story of a man who, upon discovering his lover’s pregnancy, lured her to a river and drowned her.
‘Little Omie, little Omie, I’ll tell you my mind. My mind is to drown you and leave you behind.’
‘Have mercy on my baby and spare me my life, I’ll go home as a beggar and never be your wife.’
He kissed her and hugged her and turned her around, Then pushed her in deep waters where he knew that she would drown.
“Omie Wise,” lyrics by Doc Watson
“Pretty Polly” is another widely popular song, depicting a young woman lured to her death by her lover. In some versions, Polly’s murder is the result of her pregnancy.
Oh Polly, Pretty Polly, your guess is about right Polly, Pretty Polly, your guess is about right I dug on your grave the biggest part of last night
Oh she knelt down before him and what did she spy She knelt down before him and what did she spy A knew dug grave with the spade lying by
“Pretty Polly,” lyrics by Ralph Stanley
Rewriting the Murder Ballad
Though many ballads ended with the execution of the murderer, they often presented their narratives with a sympathetic slant, as though the men were somehow victims in of themselves, forced to act out violence in order to preserve their reputations.
Themes of femicide and patriarchal honor abound throughout the murder ballad genre, with songs often posited as “warnings” for young women to lead “respectable” lives.
In the 1940s, women began to rewrite the murder ballad, excising the “Ophelia” archetype and replacing her with a cognizant (and more overtly dangerous) woman.
Some of these songs include Patsy Montana’s “I Didn’t Know the Gun Was Loaded,” which details the exploits of “Miss Effie,” a gunslinging “femme fatale.”
Now one night she had a date, With a wrestling heavyweight. And he tried a brand new hold, She did not appreciate. So she whipped out her pistol, And she shot him in the knee, And quickly, she sang this plea.
“I Didn’t Know the Gun Was Loaded,” Patsy Montana
Wanda Jackson’s 1966 “The Box It Came In” was another major hit, telling the story of a woman’s resolution to exact revenge on her former lover.
He took everything with him that wasn’t nailed down, Bet he’s got a new sweetheart to fill my wedding gown. But somewhere I’ll find him then I’ll have peace of mind, And the box he comes home in will be all satin-lined.
“The Box It Came In,” Wanda Jackson
I would be committing a travesty if I didn’t mention Dolly Parton’s influence. Not only has she covered numerous murder ballads, but she wrote her own in 1967.
“The Bridge” first appears to follow the classic murder ballad formula, featuring an unmarried woman who finds herself pregnant. However, rather than murder her, her lover flees.
Left alone, the woman returns to the bridge — the site of their first rendezvous — and resolves to commit suicide.
While the story of “The Bridge” has a tragic end, Parton places agency in the hands of her female lead and implicity exposes the plight of women in a patriarchal society.
Final Thoughts
Though I’ve spent hours researching this subject, I’ve only just scratched the surface.
The history of the Appalachian murder ballad (and Appalachian music in general) is intensely rich and insanely complex.
While I’ve mentioned the innovations of female artists in the mid-twentieth century, twenty-first century artists continue to recontextualize the prototypal murder ballad and imbue the Appalachian folk genre with new, experimental sounds.
While I would probably consider myself a casual listener at best, I look forward to delving deeper into Appalachian folk music and uncovering more of its compelling history.
Hailing from the far reaches of… Santa Cruz, California is the band, BL’AST!. They are a hardcore punk band that was active during the epoch of Black Flag, and BL’AST! Is picking up steam again.
“Manic Ride” is the remastering and release of an album that was unsatisfactory for the band members originally, but now that it has been re-done, it can be loved by all (Source is BL’AST!’s Bandcamp page). For previous album remasters, BL’AST has worked with notable artists like Dave Grohl and Corrosion of Conformity (source is Southern Lord).
After forming in 1982, BL’AST! made music as a group for about 7 years then quit. They were influential among punk rockers and early hardcore enthusiasts, but their breakup helped them die quietly in the background of punk rock. They’ve since come back from the dead multiple times to make new music with new band members (source Southern Lord).
“Manic Ride” is their most recent project, which was re-released in March 2023. Besides the sick cover art by Justin Forbes (as stated by an Idioteq article), I was drawn to this album because it comes from a revered influential hardcore punk band.
“Manic Ride” – Hold on…
BL’AST!’s work and the entire team’s work on this album is phenomenal. It sounds really beautiful and I can tell a ton of work and love has been put into this project to make it sound as good as it does.
These tracks are pretty lengthy for a punk band (most tracks are over four minutes long) and feature heavy guitar, drums and thick vocals. It’s a step back into the original punk era sounds with plenty of reimagined sounds too.
The most notable tracks to me are:
“Overdrive” – a fast-paced track focused on facing annihilation.
“Out Of Alignment” – a neat song about being an outsider in a world against you (very classic punk theme of course).
“Powerize” – this one is a little more electronic sounding with a neat opening guitar that left me trembling throughout the whole song.
“Look Inside” – this track is the longest on the album and again opens with some deep, bassy drums (like “Out of Alignment”). It’s about being drained and feeling worn down and angry about it.
Overall this album is pretty neat. At the moment it won’t be my go-to hardcore punk release, as there are so many excellent releases from the 1980’s and beyond to enjoy, but I love the feelings exuded throughout the album. I need to sit and listen to this album even more for it to potentially blossom into a new-found favorite.
I’ll be honest. I haven’t been listening to many new bands lately.
In lieu of my duties as a DJ, I’ve mostly been streaming dreamy 80s pop. I find that the musical works of Duran Duran, Naked Eyes and Kajagoogoo are just enough to distract me from the sense of melancholia that emerges during the early winter.
Although I didn’t take the opportunity to compile an assortment of new bands over winter break, I did manage to stumble upon an group slowly gaining more prominence in the dark music scene.
The band released their first single in 2021. Titled “Steel Patch,” the track features upbeat instrumentals with droning, dispassionate vocals. Their sound reminded me of French Police, one of my most beloved post-punk bands.
Cover for “OLD COVENANT” by Tassel
Tassel calls its music “industrial liturgy,” a term which I took as an incovation of the band’s aim to sublimate ritual in music.
Other bands have taken on a similar goal, such as the aptly-named Liturgy. However, while Liturgy’s ritualism is evident in the band’s sprawling, hypnotic rhythms, I struggled to situate this concept within Tassel’s music.
That was, until I listened to some of their more recent material.
Cover for “NEW COVENANT” by Tassel
Tassel’s two most recent releases, “NEW COVENANT” and “OLD COVENANT,” are more darkwave and industrial than post-punk. Cold, metallic and entrancingly distorted, these two albums are more in the realm of Male Tears or Skinny Puppy than French Police. There’s more drama, more sensuality and far more emotion.
Tracks from both albums feature vast expanses of experimentalism, presenting a raw and unabashed sound.
While it seems Tassel originally branded itself as a post-punk group, it’s clear that its stylistic progression has led down the route of EBM and industrial. It’s clear to me from what I’ve consumed so far that the band is adept at cultivating both subgenres of sound.
Cover for “steel patch ep” by Tassel
Of the band’s post-punk works, my favorites are “ruminate,” and “reprise.”
From their latest albums, I particularly liked “only a word” and “unveiled.”
While Tassel is still relatively new to the scene, I certainly look forward to the band’s future projects.
