War is bad. Perhaps the only good thing about war is how it inspires people to rise up and make their voices heard, however much some of our nations’ politicans choose to ignore them. Musicians often step into the breach, being in an enviable position to reach people on a wider scale. Strictly Kev covers off plenty of tracks in ‘War Is Stupid’, a perfectly titled mix encompassing the thoughts of artists compelled enough to put their feelings (in this case, about the Iraq conflict) into their music. Part 1 is streamable now from Ninja Tune on the 28/03/2008 show, part 2 downloadable below. Words from Kev after the jump.

2003 wasn’t a great year in terms of feeling proud to be British as the UK joined the US in ‘The War On Terror’, despite the biggest public protest the country had ever seen. On the five year anniversary it’s disheartening to think that the largest coverage of the war in the papers was for Prince Harry’s return from ’service’, but public opinion was more angst than apathy five years ago. What does this have to do with Solid Steel though? Music never changed anything in the world of politics did it? and most attempts to marry the two come across as heavy handed and preachy, right? That’s up for debate but it’ sure is a great release and here’s a selection of songs and soundbites that express the frustration I felt during the first months of that year.

A month before the war in Iraq kicked off I put together an hour of war-themed tracks for the show, entitled ‘War Is Not The Answer’. Some are commentary on previous wars, some poke fun, some are there purely because they have a war-related title but all relate to the central theme. Jockey Slut liked it so much that they put it in their Office Listening list the next month. Solid Steel has not been as politically conscious as it once was when Coldcut helmed it on a regular basis and these shows go some way to redressing that balance.

Two months later, still frustrated by the events unfolding, I produced another mix - ‘War Is Stupid’ - this time featuring recent tracks, mash ups and commentary gathered from the web. Many artists reacted to the events by putting together music (DJ Shadow, Zack De La Rocha, Saul Williams, Chris Morris) or mixes (DJ Spooky, Z-Trip, IDC) and the quality was outstanding. Also there was a surprising amount of music from the time of the invasion of Kuwait, headed by Bush Senior, that sounded like aural déjá vu.

Some of the pairings of music and spoken word create little moods that are amongst my favourite collages. Sigue Sigue Sputnick segueing into Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ which, in turn, rides into Consolidated’s ‘We Gotta Have Peace’ which soon samples his “War Is not the answer” line. A voice asks, “Just how would you describe war as a musical?” over War’s ‘Four Cornered Room’, to which they reply “Zum, zuum, zooom” and Frankie Goes To Hollywood’’s Holly Johnson fades in singing, “Oh no, there’s got to be a better way” from their cover of Edwin Starr’s ‘War’. The brutal assault of Time Zone’s ‘World Destruction’ gets switched down to the wrong speed and is immediately overlaid with Zach De La Rocha and DJ Shadow’s ‘March of Death’ to which Bambaataa continues to add backing “Uhh!”s. There are a load more but I digress… all the music and speech is here for a reason, either to shout it’s message or create a suitable mood, not to compete with the latest trend or act as promo.

These mixes were both put together on decks and then overdubbed and edited in the computer from the time that the show resided at BBC London Live. I also performed a version of the second set at Autechre’s All Tomorrow’s Parties gig in Camber Sands, arriving late and flustered, virtually going straight on stage and throwing records left right and centre. There was plenty of anti-war propaganda art going on as well and I’ve included a ‘best of’ selection of images I found at the time to illustrate this post.

Strictly Kev

Download: Strictly Kev - War Is Stupid (1hr, 83MB)

Tracklisting

  1. Time Zone - World Destruction (Industrial Remix) (Celluloid)
  2. Zack De La Rocha/DJ Shadow - March Of Death (MP3)
  3. Trouble Funk - Drop The Bomb (Sugarhill)
  4. Organised Konfusion - Prisoners Of War (Hollywood Basic)
  5. Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy - Satanic Reverses (4th & B’way)
  6. The The - Sweet Bird Of Truth (Some Bizarre)
  7. Kurtis Blow - America (Dub/Original) (Mercury)
  8. Coldcut feat. Sweet Toothed Sonny - Acid Drops (Bomb The Mix) (Record Mirror)
  9. Unknown - The Duke Of Hazzards (Unknown)
  10. Bill Hicks - The War (MP3)
  11. The The - Heartland (Some Bizarre)
  12. IDC - Safe From Us (MP3)
  13. Saul Williams - Made You Look (Freestyle) (MP3)
  14. Organised Konfusion - Drop Bombs (Hollywood Basic)
  15. Tackhead - Mind At The End Of The Tether (On-U Sound)
  16. S’Express - Coma 2 (AM/OK) (Rhythm King)
  17. The KLF - America No More (KLF Communications)
  18. Jello Biafra - Die For Oil Sucker (MP3)
  19. Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy - Winter Of The Long Hot Summer (4th & B’way)
  20. Roberta Flack - Compared To What? (Atlantic)
  21. Timmy Thomas - Why Can’t We Live Together? (Polydor)
  22. Whingy Manone - Stop The War (MP3)

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