AGITPROP by Kalahari Surfers

AGITPROP: propaganda; especially : political propaganda promulgated chiefly in literature, drama, music, or art. Russian, ultimately from agitatsiya agitation + propaganda. The term originated in Soviet Russia (the future USSR), as a shortened form of отдел агитации и пропаганды (otdel agitatsii i propagandy), i.e., Department for Agitation and Propaganda, which was part of the Central and regional committees of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The department was later renamed Ideological Department. First Known Use: 1935

This album has been an attempt to integrate my earlier more political songwriting work with the instrumental dub inspired electronica of the late 1990s. It has taken a little over a year to write and record these songs and most of the lyrics were written whilst commuting to and from the city on the train whilst working at Milestone Studios. My concerts in the USSR and East Berlin in the late 1980s formed a sort of hauntological aura through which I saw, with some alarm, the rhetoric of the Zuma victory and the Trojan Horse role of the communist party in 2009. Inspiration and feelings coming straight from the consequent mess of political leadership and the moral collapse of the once proud ruling party.
We used to joke in the 1980s about Comrade Dollar (a well moneyed “communist” with expensive tastes) only to see this emerging well beyond anyone’s imagination. I feel great unease for the future when I read in the ruling party’s online magazine phrases like: “counterrevolutionary tendency”, “declassed, detached elements of the proletariat”
“The ideological third force”, “anti-majoritarian agenda”, “the liberal offensive” , “Cadre deployment and redeployment.” These are terms which belong to another era—an era which I have alluded to with my title and throughout the essay and which I think we would do well to move away from. Of course, we can feel blessed that we didn't tread the Maoist path of Zimbabwe but that's another story.
Many of the songs are personal vignettes from my book of dreams or life shaking experiences that have bumped up against the political. But, in my opinion, everything is political.

A fascination with the Chernobyl incident and consequent visual inspiration through the photography of Elena Filatova lead to the writing of track two, Human Wrongs, which coincided with the 25th Anniversary of the disaster ( 26 April 2011.) Her motor cycle trips through the ghost town and surrounding area can be seen on her blog kiddofspeed, especially the section titled Land of the Wolves.[1]
Warrick Sony (2017)


[1] Elena Filitova’s blog: http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chernobyl-land-of-the-wolves/

A fascination with the Chernobyl incident and consequent visual inspiration through the photography of Elena Filitova lead to the writing of track two, Human Wrongs, which coincided with the 25th Anniversary of the disaster ( 26 April 2011.) Her motor cycle trips through the ghost town and surrounding area can be seen on her blog kiddofspeed, especially the section titled Land of the Wolves.[1]

Warrick Sony (2017)


[1] Elena Filatova’s blog: http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chernobyl-land-of-the-wolves/
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"you may notice some technical inadequacies in some of my performances, a hesitant beat here, a dodgy note there ,these are, of course, entirely deliberate and reproduced as evidence of my almost painful sincerity." Robert Wyatt" Robert Wyatt

Warrick Sony
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"The leaders will now enjoy the champagne, and of course they do so on your behalf through their lips." former Deputy President Kgalema Mothlanthle at the party's 100 year celebration
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Interview with Lloyd Gedye - Mail&Gaurdian:
http://mg.co.za/article/2012-05-25-warwick-sony-surfing-the-zeitgeist

Warrick Sony is a South African composer, producer, musician and sound designer.
He is the founder and sole permanent member of the Kalahari Surfers. They started making politically radical satirical music in the early 1980s South Africa and have continued to this day.

kalaharisurfers.co.za
warricksonicart.com
en.wikipedia.org