It must have been interesting times in Newtown (and in Fitzroy and Fremantle too, I guess) when Joe Hockey released his debut budget. The cigar-chomping, former banker of a treasurer from the economically-liberal side of politics handed down an austere budget, fancy that. And lo, there doth was apoplesy.
2014 has been a tumultuous year for Aussie politics, so we have put together the perfect playlist for everyone who has bitched about the budget. Here are 7 songs the socialist alliance can use to dry their tears.
No more apoplectic than at wherever it is the Socialist Alliance meets. Toilet seats would have been left up, coffees would have been knocked down, and fedoras would have remained untipped. The powerpoint presentation on Leon Trotsky would have to be paused as the news was read out, the nails-scratching-down-on-a-blackboard that it was. Weird, I know, but the people who attend Socialist Alliance meetings are just like us. When they have a broken heart, they too use music to soothe their crying souls. The only way to fix a 2014 problem is to listen to a 2014 song. So here are the best songs they could’ve used from this year to spirit their pain away.
The War on Drugs – In Reverse
These fellas had to be included – how could they not be? They’re the indie darlings of 2014, and what’s more, the singer tries to sing like Bob Dylan. That’s like, doubling their Hipster Index instantly. ‘In Reverse’ snugly fits the desolate mood.
St. Vincent – Psychopath
Not only does this song have a sorrowful bleakness to it (the chorus is definitely one for a dead party), it also is titled appropriately. It doesn’t matter that this song is about forlorn love, you can just retool the lyrics in your head to make it about whatever you want. St. Vincent’s art rock (weird in a weird way, not weird in a cool way like Faith No More or Flaming Lips) would no doubt keep the hipster-socialists’ hearts warm, as would her ‘kooky’ fashion sense.
Asgeir – Heimförin
St. Vincent is good, there’s no doubt in that, but she doesn’t quite hit the sweet spot of sadness – her egotistical push to be as out-there as she can detracting from the human connection to her music. Asgeir Trausti, the Icelandic wunderkind, can a shine a light on the raw emotion skipped by St Vincent, his lone guitar act and beret-wearing backup band a welcome sight for such inner-city folk. Of course, being inner-city folk, the English-language rendition of the song won’t do. The Icelandic original is the only sufficient version – unless, of course, Sufjan Stevens was to do a remix of it.
Chet Faker – Talk is Cheap
Unruly facial hair? Check. Downtempo, minimalist music? Check. Likes taking photos of himself with his eyes closed? Check. Here we have the hipster triple-threat, and we haven’t even got onto the fact he’s from Melbourne. Mr Faker’s sorrowful soul is just what’s needed for a broken heart. Thechorus also works as a hymn for the despondent (”Talk is cheap my darling..”). He scrapes into this playlist despite his very unhipster-ish appearance at the ARIAs.
Sun Kil Moon – Pray for Newtown
Oh God is there a song title more appropriate?
Closure in Moscow – Mauerbauertraurigkeit
This one is for the kvlt hipsters, the ones that actually believe in the ideals of avant-garde and social revolution. You see, if you keep skipping around artists, stepping off the ones falling into the cavernous waters known as capitalist appropriation, to jump onto the newest, artistically-pure auteuristic cabs off the ranks, one can encourage social revolution by ensuring the cultural scene doesn’t stagnate.
Listening to Arcade Fire and The National is pointless, they’ve already been subsumed into the capitalist superstructure and are thus worthless in terms of socialist revolution. So Brett, the archetypal kvlt hipster, would hijack the Socialist Alliance’s vinyl playlist and slap this bad boy of a track on, not only for the reasons outlined above, but also because it’s a very mellow song.
Briggs – Bad Apples
When the initial sadness of grief has passed, and one moves towards acceptance, there comes a time for some forthright anger. Shepparton rapper Briggs brings that in spades, with his fist- pounding, coarse and upfront anthem flooding the veins of the great typhoon that is social injustice. If anything, the Australian ‘Marseillaise’ of 2014, and a song to finish on a high with.
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