Tag Archives: Anarchism

Episode 104: A People’s History of Godspeed You! Black Emperor (part 1)

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For the last quarter-century, Godspeed You! Black Emperor have been putting out epic, orchestral, anarchistic rock music. Their albums and legendary live performances have fuelled radical social movements in their hometown of Montreal, and all around the world. To celebrate the release of the band’s latest album G_d’s Pee at State’s End!, The Rebel Beat is doing a 2-part people’s history of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. This first episode features a conversation between host Aaron Lakoff, anarchist graphic designer Kevin Lo, and Sharmeen Khan of No One Is Illegal Toronto and Upping The Anti. We examine how the band’s music has been interwoven with some of the greatest moments of social upheaval of our time, from the protests against the war in Iraq, to the massive Quebec student strike of 2012, to the current pandemic.

Part 2 will feature an in-depth discussion with Efrim Manuel Menuck from the band. Coming soon.

Also, happy MayDay! It’s a great day to listen to Godspeed’s tune Bosses Hang.

Like this podcast? Then support us! www.patreon.com/rebelbeatradio

Playlist

Peasantry, or ‘Light, inside of light!’

Storm

A Silver Mount Zion – God bless our dead marines

We drift like worried fire

Mladic

Government came

OUR SIDE HAS TO WIN (for D.H.)

Rebel Beat theme music by Cee from Test Their Logik

Episode 102: Test Their Logik on 10 years since the G20 in Toronto

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Exactly 10 years ago this June, Toronto was a battleground. The G20 had just invaded the city, with the leaders of the world’s largest economies meeting behind fortified fences to discuss pillaging the world. Outside were thousands of us, there to crash the meeting.

The massive demos, and some rioting that followed, gave way to the largest mass arrest in Canadian history. Two of those people arrested were our guests on the program today, Testament and Illogik of the long-standing anarchist hip-hop duo Test Their Logik. They join us to reflect on the history of their group, the 10 year anniversary of the G20, and their new album “See”.

Like this podcast? Then support us on Patreon!

Grab the new Test Their Logik album on their bandcamp page here! Also check out these other dope projects that Test Their Logik are involved in: Realitea Cannabucha, and the True Cost of Coal book with the Beehive Collective.

Continue reading →

Episode 100: A Mayday Love Letter and Collective Playlist

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This is it! We’ve finally reached the milestone of 100 episodes of The Rebel Beat. And to make it all the more sweet, this is our Mayday special!

Franklin Lopez, long-time anarchist agitator, video ninja, and founder of Submedia is back to co-host as we discuss the history of The Rebel Beat, the significance of Mayday, the Wet’suwet’en uprising against pipelines, and staying rebellious in these pandemic times.

PLUS, we have a ton of Mayday greetings and shoutouts from artists and rebels all over the world! So this episode is part collective playlist, and part collective love letter from us to you on this socially-distant Mayday.

Like this podcast? Then support us!

www.patreon.com/rebelbeatradio

Tracklist

Brivele – Bread and roses

Geoff Berner – Dalloy polizei

The Mayday Orchestra – Center of the storm

Lia Rose – We are the ones

Ramy Essam – Hela hela

Chumbawamba – Voices that’s all

Dolly Parton – 9-5

A Tribe Called Red – Land Back

Rebel Diaz – Which side are you on? (Remix)

Immortal Technique – 3rd world

Leslie Fish – Bella ciao

The Proclaimers – The Joyful Kilmarnock Blues

Ana Tijoux – Antifa dance

Lee Reed – The rents

Kareem Samara – Light for S.H.

Norman Nawrocki – We are pickers and packers

Dennis Brown – Revolution

Pat Kelly – The workman’s song

Victor Rice – Bebida

Union Thugs – Héros et martyrs

The Rebel Beat 087: Sounding off with the anarchist music journalists

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This month’s episode of The Rebel Beat podcast features an interview with two people who are huge inspirations for the work we do on this show – Ron Sakolsky and Sheila Knopper. They’re anarchists. They’re grassroots music journalists. They’re radio pirates. And among them, they’ve got a well of music knowledge deeper than the Pacific ocean.

Ron and Sheila live on Denman Island, also known by it’s Indigenous Comox name of “Sladaich”, in so-called British Columbia. On Denman, they helped start a long-running pirate radio project, Tree Frog radio. But even before then, they have a long legacy in community radio, music journalism, and the anarcho-surrealism movement.

In this interview, we’ll hear about some of their work over the decades to bridge music and radical politics. We’ll hear stories about smuggling poetry out of South African prisons, dub poetry in Toronto, and a mission with Pete Seeger.

** If you dig the Rebel Beat, support us!
www.patreon.com/rebelbeatradio

On our Turn It Up segment, we big up Moses Sumney, who recently pulled out of his gig at the Montreal Jazz Festival to protest against a racist play. Read all about it here

Check out Rebel Diaz and Ana Tijoux’s new video here

Check out some of Ron Sakolsky and Sheila Knopper’s writing here:
www.akpress.org/soundingoff.html
islandsofresistance.ca/

**Playlist**

Crashprez – Fascists don’t cry
Rebel Diaz feat. Ana Tijoux – Y va caer
Rage Against the Machine – Guerilla radio
Benjamin Zephaniah – Belly of de beast
Mzwakhe Mbuli – Behind the bars
Pete Seeger – Abiyoyo
Fela Kuti – Opposite people
Moses Sumney – Worth it

 

The Rebel Beat 084: May Day Special!

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May 1st is May Day. It is your day. It is our day. It is a day to take back time from the bosses, landlords, and rulers of this Earth, and a day to celebrate resistance.

Let this be your soundtrack.

The Rebel Beat is back with our annual May Day special podcast episode, and like last year, we recorded this one live at CKUT community radio in Montreal during a rousing session of World Skip The Beat.

You’ll hear a special May Day shout-out from Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine & Prophets of Rage, an interview with CLAC – The anti-capitalist convergence of Montreal, Mostafa Henaway of the Immigrant Workers Centre, May Day greetings from some Rebel Beat listeners, and of course, 2 hours of resistance music from around the world.

** If you enjoy the Rebel Beat, support us!
www.patreon.com/rebelbeatradio

Our May Day special on Patreon is back by popular demand! Sign up on Patreon to support The Rebel Beat for only $2 per month, and we’ll mail you one of our beautiful Rebel Beat enamel pins! They are truly the perfect high-fashion for a riot against the ruling classes.

* Playlist *

Abdullah Ibrahim – Mannenberg is where it’s happening
Miriam Makeba & The Skylarks – Ekoneni
Mbongeni Ngema – Lizobuya
Seun Keuti & Egypt 80 – Corporate public control department
Didier Awadi -Ma révolution
Denis Brown – Revolution
Screechy Dan – Raise your glass (fi di working class)
King Zumbi feat. Delhi Sultanate – Riot police
Romain Virgo – Minimum wage
Oku Onuora – How long
Lillian Allen – I fight back
Ana Tijoux – Antipatriarca
Las Cafeteras – La bamba rebelde
Atis Indepandan – Papa-m monte oun bato
M.I.A. – Borders
Narcy – False flags
Il Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano – Bella Ciao
New Yiddish Chorale – Barrikadn (barricades)
Yiddish Glory – Mayn pulemyot (my machine gun)
Unknown Artist (Kurdistan) – Internationale

 

 

Rebel Beat Special: Here Comes Trouble with Submedia

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On this special edition of The Rebel Beat, we catch up with our old collaborator Frank at Submedia.TV to tell us about their exciting new monthly project Trouble!

Trouble is a monthly anarchist video documentary series, and the first one is launching March 26th! You can get it on the newly revamped Submedia page.

Plus Frank picked out a killer track from Savage Fam, “Like smoke”. Enjoy!

 

Click here to download this podcast

The Rebel Beat Se2 Ep7: Norman Nawrocki – Bakunin’s Bum to Rat King

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Hey listeners, welcome back to another edition of The Rebel Beat, a Firebrand Records podcast! We are your monthly one-stop anti-shopping for everything about politics, revolution, and music – class war on the dancefloor.

Our special guest on this month’s show is the long-time anarchist agitator violinist Norman Nawrocki. You might know Norman as one of the founding membelegendoftheratking_72rs of Rhythm Activism or Bakunin’s Bum in Montreal, or you might know him from his prolific poetry and prose. He just released his most recent illustrated novel “The Legend of the Rat King” on AK Press, and we met up with him in his Montreal apartment to talk about that, and more.

If you dig The Rebel Beat, support it! Please consider giving us $1, $3 or more per episode to keep these revolutionary beats flowing. Check out our Patreon supporter page for more:
www.patreon.com/rebelbeatradio

Also on this show, we do a bit of a non-exhaustive “best of 2016” list, talk about the #J20 demos against Trump’s inauguration, and finally on our Turn it Up segment, we look at the Indigenous music label Revolutions Per Minute (RPM-FM):
www.rpm.fm

Enjoy!

*Playlist*
A Tribe Called Red feat. Saul Williams – The Virus
Nomadic Massive – Fade to grey
Run The Jewels – A report to the shareholders: kill your masters
Oi Polloi – The face
Prophets of Rage – The party’s over
One Speed Bike – Yuppie restaurant-goers beware because this song is for the dishwasher
Norman Nawrocki – Ne pas plier
Norman Nawrocki – Why am I an anarchist?
DaZoque! – Serb bird
Rhythm Activism – Jesus was gay
Cistem Failure – Boot on your face
Boogey The Beat – Bear song
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – These two

[Photo credit: The Link]

 

Click here to download this podcast

The Rebel Beat Se.2 Ep.5: Oi Polloi!

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American elections got you down? Then it sounds like you need a good dose of revolutionary music! Never fear, because we’re back with the latest edition of The Rebel Beat, a Firebrand Records podcast!

Our special guest on the show this week is the raging Scotish anarcho-punk
band Oi Polloi! They’ve been churning out 100% anti-fascist street-crust since 1981, and they show no signs of slowing down. Aaron caught up with them while they were in Montreal for Revolution Fest, and we’ll hear an in-depth conversation on everything from Brexit and Scotish independence, to protecting Gaelic and other Indigenous languages, to BASHING THE FASH! Continue reading →

The Rebel Beat Podcast 060 – Happy Smashy MayDay with Submedia!

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May 1st in Montreal, during the 2012 student strike

 

Click here to download this podcast

HAPPY MAYDAY, PROLES!! Welcome back to our weekly podcast of The Rebel Beat! This week, it’s our special to honour May 1st! Celebrated all around the world by masses of workers, downtrodden, unemployed, rebels, and all of us hungry for a better world, May Day is a day to celebrate all of our struggles and resistance against capitalism, patriarchy, racism, and any other force that keeps us down.

Frank from Submedia.TV was back in studio with us for our last collaboration at CKUT! As usual, he brought in some amazing tunes to big-up workers AND non-workers struggles, and also an awesome interview on the current #NuitDebout movement in France. Continue reading →

The Rebel Beat Podcast 058 – Di Nigunim’s legacy of anarcho-klezmer-punk

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Click here to download this podcast

 

Hello! And welcome back to another weekly podcast of The Rebel Beat!

We start off with a big announcement this week. As of May 11th, The Rebel Beat will actually no longer be a weekly show. Yeah… I know! Sad, right? But here’s why:

I (Aaron) have been doing a weekly radio show at the mighty CKUT radio every Wednesday night now for over 10 years! The podcasts that you hear here are LIVE radio. I’ve loved getting my anarchist butt into the CKUT studio once a week for the last 10 years to bring this show to our devoted local listenership on the FM, as well as all of you who visit our website or subscribe to the podcast.

But like so many good things, nothing lasts forever. Cliché, but kinda true. I’m retiring from the show in its weekly format,  BUT, we will be continuing it as a less-regular podcast. It will still be awesome. It will still be revolutionary. We’ll still strive to bring you interviews with mind-blowing radical artists. And yes, from time to time, we’ll even bring The Stimulator back into studio for some trouble-making.

So, if you haven’t already done so, MAKE SURE YOU SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST!

You can get it on iTunes here, via Stitcher here, or on any of your other favourite podcast platforms here. Continue reading →