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Pure Bollocks Issue 22_028
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* M U S I C *
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ALBUM REVIEW BY <GENIE> OF NETWORK TRASH
'HIPOCROSY IS THE THE GREATEST LUXURY'
by
The Disposable Heroes of Hipophrosy.
(4th & Broadway BRLPX584)
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( NOTE: This was originally meant to appear in PB #21, but I didn't finish it
in time! )
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You know, I was unlucky enough to see Cliff Richard plug his umpteenth
Christmas single one day, and in the interview, he said he didn't like rap
because "anyone can talk" !!!!! Well, er yes, -anyone- can talk, but not just -
-anyone- that can talk is a poet! The best rap -is- poetry and will definately
be remembered longer than any of the lyrics of your songs, Cliff! And no rap
acts I've heard of are daft enough to be paid-up Tories, mind you, neither are
that much poets.
Anyway, this album by The Disposable Heroes of Hipophrosy (Michael Franti
and Rono Tse) contains examples of this class of rap, and covers a pretty wide
range of subjects. It's also a pretty good value album, almost half an hour on
each side! So let's look at each track, one by one:
SATANIC REVERSES
In 1992, the European economic community will attempt to reform.
In 1997, the city of Hong Kong will become a part of the People's Republic
of China.
In 1999, and this is no coincidence, the nation of Panama will control
it's own canal.
While in the United States, civil rights have collapsed at the hands of
fundamentalists And national insecurity's at an all time high.
This one's about the right-wing and religious clawback of various civil
liberties in the land that is ironically supposed to be the bastion of freedom,
and contrasting it with the change taking place in the rest of the world. The
lyric connects the attempted persecution of the arts (eg that 'Piss Christ'
picture.), the phoney cleanup of the Valdez oil slick, and the crackdown on
illegal immigrants- the message being that if the first of the three is
continued then there will be little to oppose the other two. The backing is
deliberately chaotic- loads of avant guarde jazz samples floating around as
well as funny electronic squeaks. There's also a sample of Gregorian chants.
Remember when Enigma got in the top ten with similar chants set to a dance
beat? Well, when it was played over in the US, fundamentalists slammed it as
'blasphemous'!
FAMOUS AND DANDY (LIKE AMOS 'N' ANDY)
Uneducated, undisciplined,
Undisciplined, but mostly unaware,
We join the 'Flavor of the Month' club,
We swallow the Flavor of the Month.
Holding our crotch was the flavor of the month,
Bitch this Bitch that was the flavor of the month,
Being a thug was the flavor of the month,
No to drugs was the flavor of the month,
Kangol was the flavor of the month,
Rope gold was the flavor of the month,
Adidas shoes was the flavor of the month,
Bashing Jews was the flavor of the month,
Gentrification was the flavor of the month,
Isolation was the flavor of the month
My pockets so empty I can feel my testicles,
'Cause I spent my money on some plastic African necklaces.
And I still don't know what the colours mean:
RED, BLACK and GREEN.
I just happened to catch them playing this one live on BBC2's 'Late
Show', and the version there had the same words but sounded completely
different to the album version. Don't worry if you don't know who Amos 'n' Andy
are- there's a small clip of the show in question at the start of the track, so
you'll get the idea- it's basically a crappy sitcom with two black guys that
bears absolutely no relation whatsoever to real life! And while Amos 'n' Andy
act out scenes in cosy sitcom-land, blacks in real life are being pressurised
into the usual media stereotypes. The backings good on this one and there's
some great guitar near the end of this track!
TELEVISION, THE DRUG OF THE NATION
Back again, 'New and improved', we return to our irregularly programmed
schedule, hidden cleverly between heavily breasted beer and car
commercials. CNNESPNABCTNT but mostly B.S.
Where oxymoronic language such as 'virtually spotless', 'fresh frozen',
'light yet filling', and 'military intelligence' have become standard.
Quite a lot of you might have heard this track in some form or another, as this
is quite an old track and dates back to the time when Hipophrosy were still The
Beatnigs- in fact The Beatnigs performed a version of this piece live on that
old C4 music programme The Tube in it's final series. So if you think that
Bruce Springsteen was terribly original when he did a song with the line "150
channels, and there's still nothing on", then think again! I also notice U2
pinched a couple of samples of the start of this track for their ZOO TV tour.
This one's pretty unusual in not being done in any rhymes whatsoever, but done
in an almost narrative form. Modern poetry on a rap record?!
LANGUAGE OF VIOLENCE
The first day of prison was always the hardest,
The first day of prison the hallways the darkest,
Like a guantlet, the voices haunted:
Faggot, Sissy, Punk, Queen, Queer.
Words he used before had a new meaning in here
As a group of men in front of him laughing came near.
For this first time in his life, the young bully felt fear.
He never been on this side of the name-calling,
Five against one, they had his back up against the wall and
He'd never questioned his own sexuality
But this group of men didn't hesitate their reality.
Anyone who thinks rap is all 'gangsters' and glorying in violence might get a
bit of a shock here! This is detailing a violent story in a pretty brutal
terms, but also showing the power of words in such situations: 'Words can
reduce a person to an object/something more easy to hate'. The backing has a
strange women wailing noise played backwards for some reason.
It might as well be noted here that when Hipophrosy appeared on "The Word"
to do "California Uber Alles", Michael Franti originally wanted to do a short
poem on homophobia, but it had to be cut since "The Word" had overran on an
item about breast enlargement through hypnosis! Franti camly announced this in
front of the audience and millions of viewers, then, to great applause took off
his T-shirt to reveal the words "FUCK HOMOPHOBIA" freshly inked across his
chest! Now, how many other raps groups can you name that do this sort of thing?
WINTER OF THE LONG HOT SUMMER
On January 2nd the Bush administration
Announced a recession had striken the nation. The highest quarterly
earnings in ten years were posted by Chevron.
Meanwhile a budget was placed in our hands
As the deadline in the sand came to an end.
So much for the peace dividend-
A billion a day was what we spent,
And our grandchildren will pay for it to the end.
When schools are unfunded, and kids don't get their diplomas,
They get used for gunboat diplomacy-
Disproportionately black or brown we see:
Bullet catchers for the Slave Masters.
If you haven't guessed already, this is the Gulf War Franti's talking about,
and he keeps a low voice during this epic (nearly 8 minutes) and densely
detailed rap lyric. The backing's excellent on this one- some great percussion,
and a simple sequence of samples.
HIPOCRISY IS THE GREATEST LUXURY
The bass, the treble, don't make a rebel.
Having your life together does.
America has the image of a young one
Fast livin', not giving an expletive,
No respect for his or the lives or of those around him.
Suicidal, homicidal, or at least extremely unbridled
How convenient for those who would like to destroy him.
In comparsion to the other tracks, this one is strangely upbeat! And as hinted
from the bit above, Michael Franti appears to be slightly patriotic! (As
Leonard Cohen said: "I love the country, but can't stand the scene". OK, I know
that sounds like a typcial student talking there, but I thought "Democracy Is
Coming To The USA" had one of the funniest lyrics in years!) The backing is
also the most standard of all the tracks (eg a lot of "YO! YO! YO! YO! ...."
stuff, though that might be deliberate, given the nature of the song), though
there is a nice sample of some funny organ music halfway through the song!
EVERYDAY LIFE HAS BECOME A HEALTH RISK
Meanwhile back in the backyard, father lights up a barbecue fire
And he sizzles hormone injected meat on top of a toxic source of heat.
He becomes light-headed as the toxins easily meet with the Lite beer in
his head, And he glaces to his portable television set
From his eyes, he wipes the double-vision sweat- visions of white
supremicists posing as right conservationists
Holding an Aryan agrarain Woodstock lead the stray sheep into the flock,
Hookin' 'em in with the music of flower power
Change their energy to fire power.
Again this draws a couple of apparently disparate subjects into one rap lyric.
I have to be honest here, I know very little about what all the racist
organisations are doing in America, so I couldn't relate to some of the lyrics,
though they are pretty well written, but the rest of them I could recognise as
being spot-on! The backing is the usual high standard.
INS GREENCARD A-19 191 500
This is a minute and a half long sample montage, with a phone call to a
"Greencard" advice line overlayed onto it. A Greencard is needed by every US
citizen to prove that they are living in the US, and are not illegal
immigrants! The voice in the advice line sets the whole tone by sounding
friendly at the start, and sounding more aggressive as it gets nearer to
telling how to report illegal immigrants! Also is the constant repeition of the
phrase "For English, press 1 now"- you get the picture....
SOCIO-GENETIC EXPERIMENT
You see, I'm African Native American Irish and German, I was adopted by
parents who loved me. They were the same colour as the kids who called me
"nigger" on the way home from school.
I cried until I found out what I meant. Then I got some equipement- my
fists, man. I was a hitman with no friends.
But who the hell am I cursing those whose skin is half my DNA? Why am I,
and why shouldn't I be ashamed of this fact?
So much for big ego-trippers! The words pretty much speak for themselves, and
the backing is done in a great reggae-dub style, which apparently how quite a
lot of the next album will sound.
MUSIC AND POLITICS
If ever I would stop thinking about music and politics, I would tell you
that sometimes it's easier to desire and pursue the attention of 100
strangers than it is to accept the love and loyalty of those closest to
me.
Phew! Talk about humble pie! The rest of the lyric is full of this sort of
stuff and is accompanyied by just a simple rhythm guitar, played by Charlie
Hunter.
FINANCIAL LEPROSY
Theives generating revenue, lottery poverty tax,
Landlords and Druglords and "Praise The Loords", they prey upon us.
How did they ever manufacture consent, a meal in every trashcan, myth of
the "Happy Hobo", COINTELPRO (Counter INTELligence PROgram), The Cosby
Show.
Why did they cut the Pell Grant, so they can build cells-
Ten years in prison but no tenure at university.
Is this ethnic diversity, or is it public policy?
Again, I don't quite understand all of the lyrics, but I can appreciate some of
the great play on words in some of the parts. The backing is again dischordant
in places, with a great backward bassline. It also contains samples of a female
speaker making important points, either at a conference or on a TV show. (It
appears to be some sort of debate anyway.)
CALIFORNIA UBER ALLES
Now it's 1992, Knock knock at your front door, hey guess who?
It's the suede denim secret police, they've come to your house for your
long haired niece.
Gonna take her off to a camp, 'cuase she's been accused of growing hemp.
Don't you worry, it's only a shower, and now for your clothes, here's a
pretty flower.
As said before, they peformed a cut down version of this one on "The Word".
Some of you might recognise the song title as being originally done by The Dead
Kennedys. Well, you're right, this is an updated rap version of the song, which
presents quite a different image at the New Age/"sunshine state", and in
particular governer Pete Wilson, from the one shown on TV! It might be a bit
out of date now since the last US elections, but it's still an important
chronicle of the times, and considering it was recorded well in advance of the
Rodney King case and the riots in LA, it gives a lot of the political
background to these events.
WATER PISTOL MAN
Must everything in life have political ramifications,
Even taking kids on vacation or having a simple operation.
But my friend Billy told me that sometimes it sometimes takes a grown man
a long time to learn what it takes a child a night to learn- my son proved
his words:
"Water pistol man, full of ammuntion, squirtin' at fires on a world-wide
mission. But did you ever think to stop and squirt the flowers in your own
backyard."
It's back to the humble pie bit again for the last track. There's a couple of
really nice samples in the this one, and a great long guitar solo, that goes on
right until the tape machine gets switched off! However, the biggest difference
is that Michael Franti chooses to SING the words- no mean feat really,
considering that they make a pretty dense block of lyrics to say, never mind
sing. And apart from a couple of slightly awkward bits, he manages to carry
this off pretty well.
VERDICT: This is one of the best rap LPs of 1992! There's a lot of political
records around, but this one stands out because it has great music to back it
up, and there's not even any ego-tripping, unlike a certain Hammer bloke. So-
buy it! That's all we can say!
<Genie!>
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