Hello people
Im trying to find music that aligns with my views and opinions, so that I can listen to it guilt-free and simply enjoy it. I have some prerequisites/requirements and some preferences. I want to ask you if you can share any artist/band (or songs if you dont know any artists) that matches all the prerequisites and if possible any of the preferences.
The prerequisites about the artists(/songs):
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They have leftist (and anti-capitalist) opinions
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They have feminist (and anti-patriarchist) opinions
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They are friendly towards all the queer community (including non-binary and trans people)
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They have atheistic/agnostic opinions
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They have anti-racist opinions (I forgot to add this, I took it as granted, provided all the previous requirements were passed😅. I’m editing my post to add it.)
The preferences about the artists(/songs):
a) They dont promote self-destructive behaviours (like substance/alcohol abuse). I dont have any issue with them singing about such behaviours, but I want to see them trying to help people get out of this situation. (This one could be a prerequisite too, but then there would almost no artist that would pass my requirements…)
b) They express their opinions in the songs by singing about social issues and such
c) Their genre is rap/metal/rock (generally I tend to prefer songs that have some anger/that are powerful)
d) They sing mainly in either English or Greek (the languages I know well so that I can understand them😅). I also know some German, so that could be a good option too. And I’d like to learn Spanish some time. (If you know artists/songs that sing in other languages, you’re welcome to share them)
Please, I would like anything you share to pass my prerequisites and to mention any of my preferences that it matches (in case it doesn’t pass any of the prerequistes at least mention it). I have them all in order to make it easier for you.
So for example, the band “Rationalistas” (a greek rap band) passes the prerequistes and seems to match b), c) and d) preferences (I listen to them almost exclusively this week, lol).
Another artist that seem pass my requirements seems to be Macklemore (as seen on “Hinds hall”) and matches c) and d) of my preferences (and in some songs I think he matches a) and b) too).
Demi Lovato in her HOLY FVCK album seems to pass my requirements (though not sure about the 1.) and probably matches all of my preferences.
Jesse Welles seems to pass my requirements as well and matches at least b) and d) of my preferences.
Lemmy seems to opinions similar to what my requirements are, so I kinda hope I might get good recommendations here.
(For even greater coverage, I’ve cross-posted this on the ~equally active music community on hexbear https://mander.xyz/post/14452658. Sharing the link in case you want to find extra material, I might combine all the recommendations eventually in a list or a playlist.)
Here I’m gonna list ~anything you and I suggest:
List of artists/bands (and album/song picks)
Against Me! (Their politics have become a bit more “softer” over time, but were left-anarchists at first. Feminist and the singer is a trans woman. Picks:“Reinventing Axl Rose” and “As the Eternal Cowboy”)
AJJ (Andrew Jackson Jihad) (Folk punk.)
Bad Religion (Punk/Rock.)
Bands that publish under libre/free licences, they are often leftist, feminist and they are political by design.
Billy Bragg (Folk/Rock/Protest. Left wing. Picks: “Red flag”)
Bloc Party (Indie Rock)
Bomb the Music Industry! (Lefty ska-punk.)
Circus Marcus (Piano/Emotional music.)
Crass (Anarcho Punk. The logo was designed to look “fascist” to draw in youth that, at the time, were drawn to fascism through the iconography. The hope was to expose these fascist at risk youth to Crass’ version of radical politics involving anti-racism, anti-sexism, anarchist socialism. Picks: “Best before 1984”)
Dad Bods (Rock. Their youtube page because it’s hard to find them: https://www.youtube.com/@dadbods1328 Picks: “System”)
Danger Dan - (German Rap. Unfortunately Antideutsche. Picks: “Sand in die Augen”)
David Rovics (Folk/Ballads. Picks: “Who Would Jesus Bomb”)
Dead Prez (Rap.)
Defiance (Folk punk.)
DJ Spooky (Electronic/Hip-Hop.)
eta (Punk Rock/Grunge. Their discogs page because it’s hard to find them: https://www.discogs.com/artist/7205-ETA)
G.L.O.S.S. (Anti-capitalist, anti-fascist punk rock made by trans women.)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Post Rock.)
grandson (Rap/Rock Picks: “Blood in the water”)
grim104 (German Rap. Picks: “2. Mai”)
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKByGkH3_rqBVE7gvYaL3rQQDWOKbUcuL (Very angry anti-fascist Youtube playlist. Mostly metal and rap. The artist themselves may not all be leftist but I picked songs that work. Immortal Technique don’t pass the feminism and queer friendliness requirements. The songs in the playlist should be unoffensive on that front though. Used when the only way to get through the day is with pure rage at the injustice of the world.)
IDLES (Punk Rock. Picks: “Samaritans:”)
Irie Revoltes (German Punk/Reggae/Hip-Hop)
Johnny Hobo & the Freight Trains, Wingnut Dishwashers Union (Projects from Pat the Bunny. Folk punk. A lot of his music deals with substance abuse but not in a glamorizing way. They mark his stages of recovery in a way that is very interesting.)
K.I.Z. (German Hip-Hop. Warning: Wikipedia says “Characteristic for the group are sexist, provocative lyrics containing black humour, irony, sarcasm and cynicism.” I don’t know enough German to tell how “ok” are their lyrics. Yet they were recommended to me, so I put them in the list. Picks: “Görlitzer Park”)
Krav Boca (French/Greek Rap.)
Laibach (Industrial.)
Lupe Fiasco (Leftist Rapper. Picks: “Mural” and “American Terrorist”)
Michael Franti and Spearhead (Hip-Hop/Reggae.)
Modest Mouse (Their real strengths come out in their more reflective songs. Picks: “Lonesome Crowded West”)
NT (Picks: https://ntband.bandcamp.com/album/present-recover-past)
Ohio (Folk punk.)
Osiris Saline (Classical/Gothic/Symphonic/Progressive Punk)
Pablo Hasel (Catalan Rapper)
Plagiat (French Rock. Songs in some kind of bizarre French. Their bandcamp page because it’s hard to find them: https://plagiatbros.bandcamp.com/)
Propagandhi (Conventional punk. Picks: “Less Talk, More Rock”)
Punk bands. folk punk.Try checking out smaller punk bands on Bandcamp.
Rage Against the Machine (Rap/Metal/Rock)
Refused (Swedish Hardcore band with leftist themed music. Their singer Dennis Lyxzén is an outspoken socialist and vegan. They broke up for about 15 years after TSoPtC, but reunited and have been releasing new albums and playing shows since 2015. Picks: “The Shape of Punk to Come”
Rise Against (Melodic Hardcore/Punk Rock. Picks: “Make it stop(September children)”
Sebkha-Chott (French Metal/Jazz/Fusion. Old band from Plagiat members.)
Stray From The Path (Hardcore Punk. Picks: “Goodnight Alt Right”, “Guillotine” and “Euthanasia”.)
Streetlight Manifesto (Lefty ska-punk.)
System of a Down (Nu Metal. You probably know them already.)
The Clash (OG Leftist Punk.)
The Residents (Art Rock.)
The Warning (Rock. Band comprised of 3 Mexican women.)
Ton Steine Scherben (Oldschool German Rock)
Utah Philips (Folk music.)
Vandalismus (German Rap. Picks: “Maskulina”)
Zugezogen Maskulin (German Rap. Picks: “Alle gegen Alle”)
List of unreviewed Artists/Bands that I don't know if they pass my prerequisites, using suggestions from this comment thread https://mander.xyz/post/14380057/11458375
Ashenspire
boundries
Brkovi (Balkan Punk.)
Chat Pile
Clarion Knell (Marxist band)
crust
Destrage (Italian metalcore band)
Dubioza Kolektiv(Balkan Punk.)
dying (pro-palestine before it was cool)
Feminazgul (RABM (Red/Anarchist Black Metal) band)
foreign hands
Incendiary
Iskra (RABM (Red/Anarchist Black Metal)
king gizzard and the lizard wizard
kittie
Knocked Loose (Metalcore band)
Kultur Shock (Balkan Punk.)
Maximum the Hormone
Misery Index
nothingface
Panopticon
Protest the Hero
Realm and Ritual (RABM/Dungeon Synth tape label)
S.A.R.S (Balkan Punk.)
Sankara (Marxist band)
seeyouspacecowboy
sepultura
soulfly
stick to your guns (melodic heavy hardcore)
unearth (anti-fascist, eco-anarchist, closer to traditional metal then metalcore)
Wolves in the Throne Room (not political but spoke out against fascists)
Yellow Eyes (not political but spoke out against fascists)
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A bit from Europe:
- Irie Revoltes
- Ton Steine Scherben (very oldschool)
IDLES.
was going to suggest this also. Samaritans is an especially good song.
Well, I’m in a band that fits your criteria:
https://youtu.be/pC8hzpNplT0?si=-Fv6bYC4xdSD8s2u
We hit a b c and d with our song “system”
Oo, thank you for making the music scene a better place!
The first band that came to mind for me:
eta (jic reading book by cover) :
The logo was designed to look “fascist” to draw in youth that, at the time, were drawn to fascism through the iconography. The hope was to expose these fascist at risk youth to Crass’ version of radical politics involving anti-racism, anti-sexism, anarchist socialism.
Thank you, I will add them to my list too!! The description makes them sound good!
I let you search them online : Osiris Saline, Pablo Hasel, Plagiat (songs in some kind of bizarre french), Sebkha-Chott (old band from Plagiat members), Circus Marcus (piano/emotional music). You can find them on Bandcamp or Dogmazic.net My own solo project called NT, although good luck to find it.
Mostly you should look for band that publish under libre/free licences, as they are often leftist, feminist and they are political by design.
From more ‘conventional bands’ : Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Laibach, The Residents, DJ Spooky.
Oii, that’s a lot of homework, thank youuu! I’ll try to make a list so that I dont forget them😄
Because I didn’t notice it with the first read, wow, you also have your music, congrats!!
Hello again, as I am trying to compile a list from all the suggestions (and my suggestions too) I found it impossible to find your project. If you could provide me a link to bandcamp or something it would be very helpful (if you don’t want, it’s ok, no problem).
Billy Bragg? He’s folk/rock/protest I guess. Left wing. Does a nice version of the red flag.
Check out rise against. Make it stop(September children) fits the lgbtq quite good, some(most) of them are straight edge (no drugs, no drinking), and definitely quite anti capitalist from different song. Also I love the band, so check it out :D
I’m back. They are goooooooooooooood! Lets gooo
I think I now am obliged to attend a live show of theirs😄
Do it. I think I have been to their shows once each tour in Germany for the last 15 years(if they actually had a tour, and not just a few festival gigs) ind regrett nothing :D
Haha well, when they come to Greece (or to a neighboring country with cheap transportation towards there) I might go😄
Ayy I had checked them once, I should probably dig deeper. They seemed nice :)
These may not have 100% of the criteria, but they’ll be close:
- grandson
- Utah Philips
- Michael Franti and Spearhead
- Bad Religion
- Rage Against the Machine
Ohh, I know Grandson, tnx for reminding me of him. Used to be kinda obsessed with “Blood in thw water”. Will try check everything you sent
I’m adding a bunch to my up-next listens from these comments, so thank you for making the post.
Haha, I wanted to do something like that for a long time. Btw, you can also find some extra stuff on the cross-posted post I made on Hexbear (they provide a lot of material with nice descriptions too)
Errrrrr…
You may wanna read a little more into Dead Prez. If you want anti-racism, they ain’t it.
Could you please provide some info? I can’t find something that shows they are racists😅 (more like the opposite of that).
Read the lyrics of ‘Hip Hop’, arguably their most popular song. I could pick some lines out, but the whole song really puts it all together.
Side note though: Stray From the Path is amazing. Check out The Downbeat podcast. It’s their drummer, and he always has good, left leaning artists and guests on it. Great for a lot of industry insight from someone who is on the right (moral, not political) side of things.
Apart from the repetition of a specific word (which might be an effort to reclaim it), I don’t think I saw anything racist. I’m a bit confused. They were more against the industry and seemed a bit feminists.😅
Abou the other band, Stray from the path seems to have a lot of potenial, I might start listening to them.
I mean, just cuz it’s against white people, doesn’t make it ‘not racism’, but that’s something I’d prefer to not get into.
If I can recommend, everything that Stray has done including and after Only Death Is Real is top-tier political hardcore.
If you can stomach the absolute bleakness of some of their songs: K.I.Z. Especially their last album, “Görlitzer Park”, is full of anger, dread and descriptions of the moloch that is and was Berlin. Their albums are generally either “nonsense rap, with shock value humor” or “social critique wrapped in absolute banger beats”
They seem interesting, I will try to check them out soon!
