It’s election time and I thought I’d get into the spirit by looking at the much derided area of “political music”. These days it seems like writing songs about serious issues is about the lamest thing a musician can do, despite the fact that there’s plenty of issues to sing about – given all the concerns about global warming, peak oil, over-fishing of the seas, and shortages of clean water (generally all bought on by over-population).

In fact, politics and pop/rock music have always made an uncomfortable combination. The rock attitude and earnestness of political causes don’t really mix that well. Perhaps that’s why it was folk music that continued to be the main form of protest music even after rock arrived in the late 50s, though it helped that Woody Guthrie got things started with such a strong set of songs. A lot of the folkie music that followed had less ability to stand the test of time. These days, who could stand Joan Baez’s shrill, over-sung melodies. Pete Seeger? Forget about it. The lyrics just sound clunky and deluded to the modern ear. Where’s the humour? At least Country Joe and the Fish used a bit of sarcasm in their anti-Vietnam song (encouraging parents to: “be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box”). Though our modern world hasn’t shown the same interest in anti-war songs since the wars of the Western world (the Falklands war, both Iraq wars, and Afghanistan) haven’t drafted members of the general public and instead involved professional soldiers, which made it easier for modern youth to ignore the fact they’re even happening.

Looking back on the sixties, it now feels as if many of the political songs were based more on wishful thinking, than a clear vision of what the future should be like. Though music possibly helped form a bond between protesters (who endlessly sung ‘We Will Overcome’ and ‘This Land Is Our Land’) and the success of African American singers no doubt helped move race relations forward, but the music just provided a soundtrack rather than a guide. And the Beatles didn’t change anything with their world-wide television performance singing ‘All You Need Is Love’, just as Lennon failed in his solo attempt to get the world to ‘Give Peace A Chance’. In fact, his most political solo album, Some Time In New York City, was also his worst.

Then punk came along and the anger of protest was directed into blind rage, rather than direct action. Even a focused songwriter like Joe Strummer had trouble making a clear political point (though calling one album Sandinista did turn people’s attention to that area of the world for a minute). The main problem was that if you actually get in-depth about an issue in a song then it’s bound to end up being overly long (Bob Dylan, I’m looking at you) and punk didn’t have time for that. This was the same issue that hamstrung Rage Against The Machine and International Noise Conspiracy in the nineties, and both bands responded by adding reading lists to their liner notes.

Once punk had faded, the main musical approaches to politics became far less confrontational. Early on, U2 might have seemed a little edgy, but soon it was all just ballads and clichés. The best political songs tended to be ones that had a specific rather than vague target – United Artists Against Apatite’s song against musicians playing Sun City in South Africa, Special AKA’s “Free Nelson Mandela” or many of the songs written by Billy Bragg. Public Enemy made it seem as if rap might be up to the challenge, but their influence was soon watered down by the arrival of gangsta rap and consciousness rap slowly faded and was replaced by witty one-liners or tracks buried deep on albums. Outside of these exceptions, the majority of political songs were increasingly trite and saccharine. Do you think anybody really became a better person after listening to Michael Jackson’s ‘[I’m starting with the] Man in the Mirror’? These days it seems like musicians achieve a lot more by being the face of different causes, assuming that they don’t say/do anything too stupid to ruin things. You’d think that global warming might’ve re-sparked political music, but about all that has emerged so far were tracks by Dave Matthews Band (oh dear) and punk band, Bad Religion (though slightly more tolerable is the second verse on ‘Rising Down’ by The Roots).

But what about in New Zealand? We’ve certainly had a few standouts over the years – Chris Knox and Don McGlashan singing against the Springbok tour; Herbs against Nuclear Testing; Chris Knox (again) singing in support of the Labour party; not to mention the plethora of political songs in local hip hop that go all the way from Upper Hutt Posse through to @peace. This year, National have staked their claim on the middle of the road by buying the rights to use a song by The Feelers for their campaign (they must’ve noticed when Republicans in the US were lambasted by the musicians who complained that they didn’t want their songs used by a party they couldn’t stand). Meanwhile, the Greens had a song gifted to them by Jess Chambers, Rebs, and Richie Singleton the Rebel Peasant (also a member of Phoenix Foundation). I’m a Green voter, so I think I’ll sidestep any comment on that track and instead point out that the worse song of this election season is surely the odd, folk number that backs the latest Act campaign ads. Though since we’re on The Corner, we won’t try to trick you into watching political ads and instead we’ll just fall back on our usual go-to music…

After Modest Mouse’s first show at the Powerstation sold out, promoters have announced a second show happening on August 2. Tickets to the new show will be offered first to Frontier Members via a pre-sale from frontiertouring.co.nz with general public on sale from 9am, Thursday 2 June.

Every week, a panel of writers for The Corner will focus on a bunch of recently released local singles and grade them. We call it Great Sounds Great; Bad Sounds Bad. Read through the panelists thoughts below and let us know what you think of the song in the comments section.

[Soundcloud / iTunes]

[Grade: 6.0]

Petra Jane: When Bachelorette played with The Trons at this year’s Camp A Low Hum, she was completely upstaged by their spirited and charming performance. That’s a bit embarrasing when you consider The Trons are made of Meccano and she’s a living, breathing Quirky Female Singer-Songwriter. Basically all her songs sound like a chaste Goldfrapp: plodding drum machine, ‘kooky’ layered synthnoises, ‘whimsical’ lyrics delivered in a breathy-but-sexless way. This is so boring that I actually forgot halfway through that I was even listening to it and went to put the rubbish out. [2]

Fraser Austin: I totally love the PWM bass that dominates this track! Bachelorette’s ethereal vocals always seem to sit atop of her electronics, well, they have in the past for my ears and in the first 30 seconds of this track it’s the same. But by the time the 70s synthlead meanderings come in it all falls together. [7]

Michael McClelland: I always enjoy one idea being taken as far as it possibly can. In this case, it’s the lazy kind of shuffle to its groove, which sits firmly beneath some bouncing pedal bass and ethereal vocals (which I love, by the way). There’s care in every part, most notably in the lyrics. I can’t yet wrap my head around “The only true way to meet you / Is through the hole in my chest” or what it means, but it’s some dark imagery with nice phonetics at work. I still can’t get over how chill this is! Not to be confused with wave, I mean, but more along the lines of it just kicking back near the end when that eery synth drifts upwards. It’ll get many many listens from me. [8]

Maryann Savage: The lyrics are brilliant, and the music is not bad. The chirpy, British pub-techno rhythm doesn’t match the sentiment of the song. The fuzz in the centre of the piece lends a non-technological, Gutteridgey angle to the music that should bathe the whole. The unclichéd lyrics have a Fall-like brilliance; if only this cleverness was translated into music equally lacking in cliché — music that quoted pop history more elegantly. [6]

Luke Warm: This link was fucked sorry. Chances are I would’ve hated it. [0]

Isobel Cairns: Wow! New Bachelorette album! Great! I love her voice. I like the noise. The background synth gets a bit jarring. [8]

Matthew McAuley: Oh man I really wanted to be more into this. I love Bachelorette as an idea and a performer, and she’s released some of my favourite KIWI TUNES ever, so I had high expectations. This didn’t do much for me – the bassline sounds like that one Goldfrapp song that got really popular, and that’s really all I can remember. Her vocals are always really nice, and it sounds like the kind of thing I could listen to while mowing the lawns (I don’t have a lawn, but still), but I just don’t really care about it. [5]

If Tokyo is the city of the future, we should be very afraid … when it comes to pop music, anyhow. The major innovation over the past decade has been to start pop groups with ridiculous numbers of members, which can then be divided into sub-franchises. Currently leading the field are AKB48, whose actual number of members has hit as high as 53…

The Japanese trend towards over-large pop groups started with Bishoujo Club 21/31. The bonus with having such a large group was that while like The Spice Girls could generate five spin-off acts when it broke up, a group with 23 members had over four times the potential (though Beni is the only former Bishoujo Club singer whose career is still active) .

The idea to have a group with 48 members was the logical next step and earned AKB48 a place in Guinness Book of World Records. In actual fact, AKB48 are usually divided in three sub-groups (A, K, & B) which play on each successive day of the week at their own theatre in their home-suburb of Akihabara (from which the group took its name). You wouldn’t think revenues from each show could be high enough to sustain such a large group, but the obsessive fan-worship of pop stars in Japan means that this is not a problem. The Japanese term “otaku” came into use in the 80s to describe the prevalence of young men who were obsessed with seemingly childish hobbies or fascinations.

As a result of their otaku fans, AKB48 charge adult men twice as much for tickets than they do female or child fans (men pay $2000yen/NZ$30, while women pay only 1000yen/NZ$15). Of course, these otaku fans also tend to become obsessed with particular members. To take advantage of this, one of the CDs released by the group came with special tickets that allowed the holder to meet one of the group members in person and receive a signature from them. Otaku fans bought CDs in bulk, so that they could see their favourite group member multiple times. The same tactic was used again, when voting cards were placed within each CD case so that fans could rate their favourite group member. As a result the group’s CD sales always sky-rocket when they are released, though often sales slow a few weeks later as the otaku fans begin disposing of their excess CDs cheaply on the Japanese equivalent of E-bay/Trademe.

The AKB48 phenomenon has now grown to the point where a number of the group members have their own successful solo careers and the same model has spread to other urban centres in Japan, seeding a new generation of groups. And in case you thought this was just one of those crazy things that could only happen in Japan – this month it was announced that AKB48 will soon be expanding their operations into Singapore. A venue in the central city will host two performances by the group each month and this will coincide with the opening of a merchandise store and café.

The group don’t wear school girl outfits as much as they used to, but here’s where the whole thing got started…

Currently operating as a three piece, ‘Endless Empty Eye’ sees the Wellington-via-Melbourne-via-Auckland institution that is Sharpie Crows get slow’n'low, an abrasive mock-pompous strut reminiscent of the Fall’s loungier numbers, and smeared with the sexiest cornet this side of Throbbing Gristle’s Cosey Fanni Tutti courtesy of Steven Huf (from Melbourne’s Ouch My Face). They’ve recorded a fourth album, which moves their music in a “new jazz ballad and primitive techno directions while remaining spiteful and awkward” – ‘industrial’ in a country where it’s less dark satanic mills and more AFFCO freezing works. They’ve a knack for the corrosive and the bleak sharpened with deadpan black humour – in a comparison neither party will be flattered by, they’re a less family-friendly Lawrence Arabia with their shared penchant for social commentary, productive sneering and an awareness/utilisation of local cultural detritus from the seventies shading into Rogernomics (Chris Knox-via-Iggy-Pop vs Chris-Knox-via-the-Beatles?). They’re playing Auckland’s Whammy Bar on July 15th – they’re a transfixing live spectacle, so don’t miss out.

Website/Bandcamp / Myspace / ‘Endless Empty Eye’ live at CALH 2011 / ‘Sheepskin’ music video

From 2007, Real Groove magazine released four Awesome Feeling compilations, showcasing a diverse and exciting range of underground local talent. Real Groove may be gone, but we think there’s just as many exciting local acts worth a listen, so The Corner is putting out a fifth volume of Awesome Feeling with the support of Groove Guide. We’ll be revealing one new artist/track every weekday throughout May, and posting the entire compilation for download at the end of the month.

Every week, a panel of writers for The Corner will focus on a bunch of recently released local singles and grade them. We call it Great Sounds Great; Bad Sounds Bad. Read through the panelists thoughts below and let us know what you think of the song in the comments section.

[Bandcamp]

[Grade: 6.7]

Maryann Savage: Oh good, something serious. I love the seriousness and the genuineness of this. There are elements of a Snapper fuzz drone, an 80s Dunedin anguished wail, but there’s nothing obvious, nothing ridiculously based on a single band. Okay, you could say it’s samey, you could say it’s obvious, but so what? It’s an exciting, energetic, actual-band-actual-playing-together, not copying someone else, samey-ness. Anyway, they do change the tempo at the end, so you were wrong. [9]

Dan Trevarthen: Best track on their EP. The drums and delayed guitar give me that anthemic Yeah Yeah Yeahs kinda feeling, albeit in a more scuzzy garage way. I wish the melody and words were more distinct, because the bedrock of the track feels great. This one could be pushed a little more over the top, if they had it’d top a [7]

Kim Gruschow: Diana Rozz are a mash up of pop references and bawdiness. For me this is the strongest track on the EP. It’s simple and tough and doesn’t feel like a hen’s party or a wacky in-joke. The drums are solid and there is a realness to the guitar squeaks I dig. The vocals are well timed and unwavering, although perhaps not as prominent as they could be. It’s tagged post-lesbian. I don’t what that means. [6]

Fraser Austin: Delayed Guitar leads, yucky drums, vocals that sound buried or obscured for reasons unknown. Sounds like the YYYs with less ideas. [3]

Isobel Cairns: This sounds quite different to their live show, much more surfy. I like the fuzzy vocals but I think they could be stronger. Generally this rocks a lot more than I can handle, but I can appreciate it enough to give it a [6]

Michael McClelland: Not a whole lot of structural variation I suppose, but it’s pretty unconventional as it is. The way the drum beat breaks up during the chorus for every bar is damn cool, and I love the sluggish part which sends the song off. Its reliance on rhythm is really what grabs me – the vocals do their job and the guitar is good by itself, but the drums help carry things to real cool places. If it were longer, it could get interesting with similar ideas or just end up being boring with the same ones. As it is though, brevity is on its side. I like it. [7]

Dan Taipua: I hadn’t listened to Diana Rozz until now, I think I’d unfairly written them off as the type of band that play gigs in their undies at house parties. The undies thing wasn’t totally unfounded, but the writing-off was; this song is great. I’d love if some of the sound could be cleared up a bit: bring the vocals forward (they’re fine!), take the chimmy off the cymbals, pops out of the toms, but these are all an indication of how much I like the song/composition rather than mixing critiques. That U2 guitar intro is heat, it sounds like something you’d play over aerial shots from Spike Island. The band probably hates this idea, but they should shop this out to production companies that make snowboard vids. Get on the DC/Red Bull Rail Kings DVD, play the packed-out festie, make bank; no more undies. [8]

Hussein Moses: It comes off as more of a live take really, which actually makes this seem like even more of an anthem. The way the guitars wail and then kick right back in during the chorus is great and the vocal delivery is perfect. The best thing they’ve done yet. [8]

Matthew McAuley: The intro is cool, as is the chorus bit, but the verses do less than nothing for me. This is my favourite song from their EP, which I guess says more about me than it does about the EP, because it’s hardout the poppiest thing on there (even considering the Gaga/Beyonce jacks). I don’t know, it reminds me of lots of things but it’s pretty good. Oh wait I don’t like the bit at the end at all. [6]

My Morning Jacket’s Circuital and Death Cab For Cutie’s Codes and Keys are both due out next week, and in anticipation of both releases you can stream the albums right now via NPR. [Circuital / Codes and Keys]