MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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‘Music is not useful to capitalism’
Arts that fight with humanity, and for the broadest amount of humanity, demonstrate we as humans have more in common with each other, writes BEN LUNN
MEMORABLE: The Pageant of Labour was held at The Crystal Palace, London, England, October 15-20 1934 - with words by Matthew Anderson and music by Alan Bush (right), it celebrated the history of the British labour movement
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
AFTER an underwhelming and disorganised period with Oliver Dowden as our “secretary for culture and sport” we have awoken to a new day with ostrich anus-munching Nadine Dorries as our new MP responsible for the arts, sport and culture within Britain.
Beyond the numerous jokes about her opinions of gastronomy and avant-garde cuisine, the overall feeling about the appointment is a mixture of annoyance, exasperation at her tedium and bemoaning that Brexit Britain is collapsing.
Why can’t we be like the cultured folks in Germany and France, and not devolve further into a plebeian nation.
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BEN LUNN draws attention to the way cultural expressions of solidarity with Palestinians in the UK are being censored by Israeli-sponsored lawfare
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The centenary of his birth is a chance to assess the remarkable combination of Marxism, activism and modernism in the works of Luigi Nono
As the debate around voluntary euthanasia returns, we now have some seriously disturbing evidence from those places where it has become recently legalised to convince us that Britain is not ready, argues BEN LUNN
