This really irks me, because their latest album, Heligoland, is political. And not in a bad way. "Atlas Air," for example, is about torture. "The Flat of the Blade" is about the recent stabbings in South London. Audience members apparently couldn't see what politics had to do with the music, but if you're listening to the music, you know the answer.
And, seriously, check the album out. It's amazing.
You might not believe this, Eliza, at my age, I am a Massive Attack fan. Of course I have all MY music from the 60's 70's and 80's which create my nostalgia trip, however, with having a family that range from Sam 23, Alice 20, Emily 18 and Abigail 10, I hear a broad variety of new music around the house. I have no choice. From Sam I have got into Massive Attack and Portishead. What has surprised me is that both groups , from Bristol, made Bristol the worlds centre of music for a short while.
ReplyDeleteI come from Southampton, on the south coast, not far from Bristol incidentally, and that has never happened there. I wish!!!!!
Thanks for this,
Tony.
Music and politics. Of course they go together. Political songs and music are as old as music itself. Another way of expressing thoughts ,
feelings and ideas.
I am impressed and surprised that you like Massive Attack. I've read that Massive Attack is so particularly linked to Bristol that they call their music Bristol Sound, which I think is a very cool way to think of yourself.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a favorite song by them? I used to be in love with "Angel" but the version of "Psyche" that came out a year ago is probably my favorite right now.
Funnily enough, Angel, was the first track I heard of Massive Attack. Sam had it on in the house.
ReplyDeleteI decided to buy myself, Massive Attack Collected 2006, just to catch up quickly on their past stuff. It came with an extra CD which played the music as a sound track to videos they made to go with the music. There were a lot of social comments in the words and films. I was taken by the whole thing. I think you can get access to all their songs and video clips on You Tube.
I decided to read up on them and found out about their origins in Bristol. This link lead to discovering Portishead. I've got some of their music also.
I find the electronica genre quite moody and very powerful stuff.It's very like classical music in many ways. Some other songs I like by Massive Attack are Safe From Harm and Karmacoma.
All the best,
Tony