Monday 31 May 2010

Violent Acts of Disgrace 2010

The title above comes from our "State of Aggression" song, featured as the last track in our Dispossessed 2003 EP. By coincidence, it describes perfectly the events in the Gaza Strip today and what it means to Fight for Humanity, Human Values and most importantly Human Dignity and Life...

At this very point, We will Shut the Fuck Up and let Mr. Pablo Neruda do the talking... All You have to do is think of Gaza and any other tormented country on this planet, wherever Mr Neruda speaks of Spain...

You are going to ask: and where are the lilacs?
 and the poppy-petalled metaphysics?
 and the rain repeatedly spattering
 its words and drilling them full
 of apertures and birds?
 I'll tell you all the news.

 I lived in a suburb,
 a suburb of Madrid, with bells,
 and clocks, and trees.

 From there you could look out
 over Castille's dry face:
 a leather ocean.
 My house was called
 the house of flowers, because in every cranny
 geraniums burst: it was
 a good-looking house
 with its dogs and children.
 Remember, Raul?
 Eh, Rafel?         Federico, do you remember
 from under the ground
 my balconies on which
 the light of June drowned flowers in your mouth?
 Brother, my brother!
 Everything
 loud with big voices, the salt of merchandises,
 pile-ups of palpitating bread,
 the stalls of my suburb of Arguelles with its statue
 like a drained inkwell in a swirl of hake:
 oil flowed into spoons,
 a deep baying
 of feet and hands swelled in the streets,
 metres, litres, the sharp
 measure of life,
 stacked-up fish,
 the texture of roofs with a cold sun in which
 the weather vane falters,
 the fine, frenzied ivory of potatoes,
 wave on wave of tomatoes rolling down the sea.

 And one morning all that was burning,
 one morning the bonfires
 leapt out of the earth
 devouring human beings --
 and from then on fire,
 gunpowder from then on,
 and from then on blood.
 Bandits with planes and Moors,
 bandits with finger-rings and duchesses,
 bandits with black friars spattering blessings
 came through the sky to kill children
 and the blood of children ran through the streets
 without fuss, like children's blood.

 Jackals that the jackals would despise,
 stones that the dry thistle would bite on and spit out,
 vipers that the vipers would abominate!

 Face to face with you I have seen the blood
 of Spain tower like a tide
 to drown you in one wave
 of pride and knives!

 Treacherous
 generals:
 see my dead house,
 look at broken Spain :
 from every house burning metal flows
 instead of flowers,
 from every socket of Spain
 Spain emerges
 and from every dead child a rifle with eyes,
 and from every crime bullets are born
 which will one day find
 the bull's eye of your hearts.

 And you'll ask: why doesn't his poetry
 speak of dreams and leaves
 and the great volcanoes of his native land?

 Come and see the blood in the streets.
 Come and see
 The blood in the streets.
 Come and see the blood
 In the streets!

Friday 21 May 2010

Rafferty Rules - On Downloads and Greek Bands

Spreading the Music is one way of seeing Downloading but what happens to the Musician? And I am not talking about Arena Rock Bands that fill stadiums and Musicians that drink themselves to death inside luxury yachts somewhere in the Caribbean, trying to invent new ways of spending their vast fortunes. And I am not judging them either. After all, deep down inside we all wanna be Rock Stars.... 

This post has nothing to do with us and our music. We just know what it feels like to put your heart into your music, to get your CD in your hands after endless hours of practicing and sacrifices. For a moment there you live the dream, you believe that anything is possible. You think "Hey, we have a great record here, best one ever made, we keep it cheap, we sell it on concerts, everyone's gonna buy, we put the money to the next CD, better production, mastering perhaps, what d'u know, maybe we CAN make it after all..." and those thoughts make you smile.

And then you find your CD online available for download next to the new MegaSuperGroup Digipack Ltd Edition (2 Bonus Tracks - Japan Only) and everyone comes to your concert 'cuz you Rock and "hey, you guys are so cool, I 've downloaded all your music, burnt CDs for my friends too, we are huge fans of yours guys, When are we gonna see you live again?" and all you wanna say is "When do you think?"

Help the bands guys, ask for their contacts or find them and if you like what you hear, just buy it. 
It was never about the Money, not in the underground at least. It has always been about Support and Respect, Keeping the Underground Alive, helping the bands to endure, to make better records...
We the people alone have the power to support the underground bands because no one else will.

Anyways, downloading music is a huge subject and discussing was not meant to be the reason for this post. We just found our music online available for download and we thought that if you are gonna download it, you 'd better get it from us. Listen without Prejudice:

"I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."
[William Butler Yeats 1899]

Thanx for reading.
Jon on behalf of Rafferty Rules.

Rafferty Rules - Dispossessed [EP 2003]

Rafferty Rules - Name Your God [Full Length CD - 2001]