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And Now the Dead Hariris Will Sing "Islamofascist Punks Fatwa Off"
The Texas Observer traces the rise of taqwacore, a San Antonio-born movement of Muslim punk rock:
During the trip, the Muslim punks encountered the same issues they have struggled with separately. The Islamic Society of North America invited them to perform at its conference in Toledo, Ohio. For the first 10 minutes, the concert was a success--young Muslims packed the conference, cheering the taqwacore bands from their respective male and female sections. But when a female group, Secret Trial Five, took the stage, conference leaders called the police and had the taqwacore bands kicked out--Muslim women are forbidden to sing in public. The taqwacore groups also had to deal with discrimination. On the road, other drivers flipped them off. One driver held a "Fuck Allah" sign up to his window.
This time, however, rather than bottling up their anger, the Muslim punks responded with humor, mostly dark. The Kominas performed songs with provocative lyrics such as "suicide bomb the Gap" and "Rumi was a homo" (a stab at an anti-gay imam in Brooklyn). The musicians started a joke band named Box Cutter Surprise, after the knives used to hijack planes on September 11th. Marwan Kamel, from a band on tour called Al-Thawra, Arabic for "revolution," said members created the group to shock audiences.
"The sole purpose was to light a fire under people's asses," Kamel said. "We were totally exploiting Americans' fear of terrorism, but maybe that's what everyone needs right now."
Via Andrew Sullivan. Bonus link: Secret Trial Five's account of the aborted concert:
I scream out "ISNA ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?!" and start up with Middle Eastern Zombies. People get scared and start streaming out when they hear my scratchy punk vocals. There is an off-stage argument between the head dude of the something or other and Mike Knight. Omar from Diacritical goes on with Kominas backing him up, sings "Ignorance" and has people in the audience screaming "STOP THE HATE". I see two hijabis give the devil horn hand gestures. Handful of people left are rocking the fuck out. It's brilliant. Kominas come on for their set, say they are going to sing Aisha, which is a song about a hijabi girl being harassed, crowd waits in anticipation, then the police storm the stage. They demand that we stop playing to the protest of the rest of us and the audience. Mike Knight grabs the mic and screams "PIGS ARE HARAM" and storms off.
|12.17.07 @ 9:52AM|#
I have an almost unlimited appetite for dark humor, but "suicide
bomb the Gap" and "Box Cutter Surprise" and an avowed intention to
"exploit Americans' fear of terrorism" are perhaps not well advised
for groups that claim to be promoting peace.
Still, good on them for getting up the nose of the Islamist
conservo-fundamentalists who apparently control The Islamic Society
of North America.
Elemenope|12.17.07 @ 9:53AM|#
"PIGS ARE HARAM"
Leave it to the Muslims to come up with the best police put-down.
Ever. Epic win.
|12.17.07 @ 9:55AM|#
It's about time the Muslims stood up to the bullshit their parents tell them. Just like any other group.
|12.17.07 @ 10:05AM|#
Islamopunks in Toledo, Ohio?
What a long strange trip it is becoming.
Burkas and beer
Up against the wall, redneck mullahs
|12.17.07 @ 10:09AM|#
Why is it that, for better or worse, Punk Rock seems to be surfing the waves of cultural change?
dhex|12.17.07 @ 10:15AM|#
i want secret trial five and secret chiefs 3 to make a supergroup together called eight is enough.
|12.17.07 @ 10:17AM|#
"We were totally exploiting Americans' fear of
terrorism...."
I see a bright future in the American government for these kids.
One of them could grow up to be head of the TSA.
Ali|12.17.07 @ 10:21AM|#
Haha... Lovely!
And never
forget "Aicha" by Danish (and Muslim!) band Outlandish.
And yet
another another beautiful "Aicha" song by the Rai artist Sheb
Khaled (in French).
Thanks Jesse for the great post!
|12.17.07 @ 10:27AM|#
cheering the taqwacore bands from their respective male and
female sections
I used to go to punk shows back in the day and I remember that it
was pretty much the same way. All the girls stood in the back.
|12.17.07 @ 10:30AM|#
"PIGS ARE HARAM"
Leave it to the Muslims to come up with the best police put-down. Ever. Epic win.
Seconded.
Toledo isn't so much redneck as it is...well, completely and
totally depressing. It's more like a small Detroit, except that
glass is the dead industry instead of automobiles/everything.
But Jamie Farr (a Lebanese) is from there!
|12.17.07 @ 10:37AM|#
Islamopunks in Toledo, Ohio?
Not as surprising as you may think...Toledo is a stone's throw from
Detroit and both (along with Cleveland and Minneapolis-St.Paul) are
becoming magnet cities for Muslims.
Which, in the case of Toledo, is unfortunate because it means that
these new immigrants have to read that barely-legible rag The
Blade. Oh, and pray five times a day to Jamie Farr. I guess
we're going to find out who's crazier: imams or Carty Finkbeiner. I
got dibs on Finkbeiner.
|12.17.07 @ 10:38AM|#
One of the coolest sounding death metal bands of the '90s was
avowedly Christian. It was pretty good stuff. "Believer" was the
name, I think.
It was strange only if you knew ahead of time that it was a
Christian death metal band. Otherwise they blended in
perfectly.
|12.17.07 @ 10:41AM|#
What nationalities of Muslims are coming to Cleveland in great
numbers? I haven't heard all that much about it and I'm just down
the road in Akron.
I know Akron has a quite a few Hmong (but they're not Muslim,
so...).
Columbus, OTOH, has a shedload of Somalis.
|12.17.07 @ 10:44AM|#
Still, good on them for getting up the nose of
the...conservo-fundamentalists who apparently control...North
America.
There, that's better.
|12.17.07 @ 10:52AM|#
The world is moving so much faster nowadays. It wasn't until 50 years after WWII that there was a band called "Zyklon-B." We've got Box Cutter Surprise only 5 years after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
Jesse Walker|12.17.07 @ 10:58AM|#
Isn't this just as stupid as a Christian punk rock
band
I had my first encounter with some self-proclaimed Christian punks
in the late '80s. I liked them: a bunch of independent-thinking
teenagers trying to figure out who they were. Besides, it was good
to see the community moving beyond Christian metal.
|12.17.07 @ 11:13AM|#
Columbus, OTOH, has a shedload of Somalis.
As a Columbus resident, I can testify to this. Especially in the
northern part of the city near Karl Road. Good-night...although
those Somalis make some pretty tasty food; a Somali friend of mine
runs a restaurant...mmm, boy.
Timon - W117th to W132nd was called "Little Arabia", although I
guess in all fairness not all Arabs are Muslim (though most
are).
highnumber|12.17.07 @ 11:14AM|#
R C Dean,
The fact that you are put of by their songs means they are doing
something right.
"Rumi was a homo"
Awesome.
|12.17.07 @ 11:23AM|#
young Muslims packed the conference, cheering the taqwacore
bands from their respective male and female sections
Memo to self: Do not bother attending any Muslim concerts.
|12.17.07 @ 11:24AM|#
Edward Said is wincing in his grave.
Here we have some artists being brave, rebelling against an
oppressive presence in their lives, "getting up the nose of the
Islamist conservo-fundamentalists."
But the market that will adopt them, indie yups seeking a little
quasi race exotica to take the edge off their whiteness, will only
have them if they can repurpose that rebellion into a
display of pseudo-rebellion against their preferred
fantasy figures, America's "conservo-fundamentalists." And they
know this.
So they adopt the rhetoric of the dominant white culture, feed them
facially implausible claims of redneck harassment, and give them
the "We were totally exploiting Americans' fear of terrorism"
boilerplate which alone can make Whitey love them, make them useful
to him.
It's sad that they have to abase themselves like that.
|12.17.07 @ 11:25AM|#
Timon - W117th to W132nd was called "Little Arabia",
although I guess in all fairness not all Arabs are Muslim (though
most are).
IIRC something like 85-90% of Arabs in the United States are
Christian.
Bernd|12.17.07 @ 11:28AM|#
Timon19: How shouldn't it? Christianity is (quite literally) a
cult about suffering and death, after all.
According to them, it's the cross that liberates, not the day on
the beach.
|12.17.07 @ 11:32AM|#
One of the coolest sounding death metal bands of the '90s
was avowedly Christian
They may as well be Christian.
Satanist, Muslim or Christian, no one at a death metal show is
getting laid.
|12.17.07 @ 11:34AM|#
Concern trolling + delusional ideas about the opinions of young Muslims = I wouldn't put my name on that crap either.
dhex|12.17.07 @ 11:36AM|#
It's sad that they have to abase themselves like
that.
one man's debasement is another man's potpourri.
obligatory muslimgauze reference here.
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 11:39AM|#
Pop-o-Pies for the new century...
Anti-terrorism and stuff man, yeah.
12341234
=/;^)
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 11:44AM|#
Vote Hezbollah is also a great record by
Muslimgauze...
http://mp3nations.blogspot.com/2007/12/muslimgauze-vote-hezbollah.html
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 11:48AM|#
And continuing in the "everything's on the web"
tradition...
http://www.pop-o-pie.com/ for all your pop-o-pie news.
Weird.
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 11:51AM|#
The original lyrics to Pop-o-pie's A political song...
Sure to please the libertarian heart.
A Political Song
1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4.
We don't want your apathy.
No fuckin' government gets down on me.
Can spare any change?
Can spare any change?
Anti Reagan and stuff man, yeah.
dhex|12.17.07 @ 11:53AM|#
when talking about muslimgauze - as i am wont to do at parties
when no one has broached the subject, causing people to flee in all
directions - you have to break it into three distinct
periods.
1) early ethno-ambient/ethno-techno type stuff
2) more song-based traditional arrangements experimental
3) harsh tape delay/distortion pedal dub, heavily repetitive; i.e.
most of his post death releases
for the first, united states of islam is probably the most
interesting. the second? gun aramic is pretty good, and blue mosque
is worth a pickup, as is veiled sisters.
but the last period - which has the best and the worst of his work,
i think - is where the gems are. observe with sadiq bey (my
favorite), lo fi india abuse, vs. the rootsman (also excellent),
your mines in kabul and the deceiver double disc.
i went on a muslimgauze bender in the late 90s that resulted in my
owning a whole bunch of rare stuff i have to sell at some point,
including a clear vinyl pressing of nadir of purdah and a mint copy
of the box of silk and dogs (9 cds)
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 11:55AM|#
dhex,
Ah, the Muslimgauze bender.
Given the number of releases (hovering around 200, iirc) that can
be a looooong weekend.
My fave is Re-mixs Themselves.
Mad Max|12.17.07 @ 12:17PM|#
"harsh tape delay/distortion pedal dub, heavily repetitive; i.e.
most of his post death releases"\
Cut the guy some slack, dude. Most artist's don't release *any* new
material after their death - they just use a bunch of stuff they
wrote before kicking the bucket.
Jesse Walker|12.17.07 @ 12:21PM|#
I used to have some neighbors who would have noisy parties with their door open. When I wanted them to close it, I would play Lo-Fi India Abuse at top volumne.
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 12:23PM|#
dhrx,
a whole bunch of rare stuff
But most Muslimgauze releases were limited to 500 to 1000 copies.
They are almost all limited release and rare.
Only the truly hardcore fans ever have enough overlap in the discs
they own to even share points of reference.
The best part about muslimgauze, of course, is the pointed nature
of the lyrics.
;)
Mad Max|12.17.07 @ 12:27PM|#
"Christianity is (quite literally) a cult about suffering and
death, after all.
"According to them, it's the cross that liberates, not the day on
the beach."
Liberated by a day at the beach? I don't see how that would work,
unless you're talking about Normandy Beach and liberating Europe
from the National Socialists.
If you can escape from suffering and death on the beach, what
accounts for the popularity of the saying, "life's a beach and then
you die?"
Mad Max|12.17.07 @ 12:28PM|#
and I seem to recall a movie called "On the Beach" which dealt with suffering and death.
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 12:37PM|#
Here's one I hadn't heard: Salaam Alekum, Bastard
http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.13123240
dhex|12.17.07 @ 12:43PM|#
I used to have some neighbors who would have noisy parties
with their door open. When I wanted them to close it, I would play
Lo-Fi India Abuse at top volume.
that is a good choice. also super annoying is the second disc of
deceiver and pretty much all of fatah guerrilla.
hey is there a case to be made for bryn jones being the proto
islamist fifth columnist?
re: insular fans: yeah i'm basically going to sign up for the new
islamaphonia email list and post my for sale stuff there. ebay
doesn't seem to do too well in this regard.
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 1:07PM|#
dhex,
hey is there a case to be made for bryn jones being the proto
islamist fifth columnist?
I was under the impression he was not, himself, a muslim...is that
correct?
|12.17.07 @ 1:11PM|#
Mad Max gave me a great idea:
Title your album "A Day at the Beach," and use a photo of soldiers
getting off a Higgins Boat onto Omaha Beach for your cover art.
|12.17.07 @ 1:17PM|#
This is pretty cheering. Unless you're at all concerned that
women should be treated a tad better than cockroaches.
Of note is that some of these people are sufis, pretty much the
only sane version of Islam.
Ali|12.17.07 @ 1:33PM|#
Of note is that some of these people are sufis, pretty much
the only sane version of Islam.
Technically speaking they are the most spiritual version of Islam,
which makes them quite "irrational". The most rational of the Sufis
is Ibn Arabi,
who is quite popular and one of my favorite thinkers. Islam without
spirituality is just another organized religion, with all the
hallmarks of organized religion: abuses, war, terrorism,
literalism, etc.
If you liked Crusoe and/or Émile, you'll like Hayy Ibn
Yaqdhan.
|12.17.07 @ 1:49PM|#
'Technically speaking they are the most spiritual version of
Islam, which makes them quite "irrational".'
On the other hand, you can be reasonable without always be
'rational' or engaging in 'rationalism.' Hypnosis is not rational
for example. Buddhists Lamas are not rational necessarily (when
doing meditational practices) yet they argue quite reasonably that
you need not believe what they say - you can simply do your own
practices and test them for yourself. Sufis seem similarly
reasonable, despite being mystics.
This contrasts with fundamentalist Muslims who are neither rational
nor reasonable.
Deployed Loser|12.17.07 @ 1:53PM|#
"Muslim women are forbidden to sing in public."
Horseshit. I watch the Venus channel almost every day and there are
plenty of women singing in public. Shit, even Saudi stations carry
women singing.
And, yes, Lebanese women, especially their singers, are hot. Too
bad the music mostly sucks.
Ali|12.17.07 @ 1:58PM|#
Nat Brand- Sure. Agreed. The fundamentalists are literalist rationalists, which results in them sounding "reasonable" to the impressionable, frustrated Muslim youth. These literalist rationalists have existed over Islamic history, but usually left no major impact until the emergence of Wahabism and its influence over the Saudi royal family (for purely political reasons). Wahabis, in their theology, are the Puritans of the Middle East. Unfortunately they were not contained as were the Puritans.
Anonymous|12.17.07 @ 2:55PM|#
Of course they're not, damram. Being able to treat women as badly as the Muslims do is pretty much the ultimate nerd misogynist fantasy. I'm sure these little shits will go far.
dhex|12.17.07 @ 3:06PM|#
I was under the impression he was not, himself, a
muslim...is that correct?
this is indeed true.
which makes it all the more insidious!!!!
(or something like that)
Paul|12.17.07 @ 4:13PM|#
Arabic for "revolution," said members created the group to
shock audiences.
A punk group did what? Wow, these aren't your dad's
punk-rockers!
Paul|12.17.07 @ 4:18PM|#
Why is it that, for better or worse, Punk Rock seems to be
surfing the waves of cultural change?
Yeah, it's kind of predictable that way. I say we talk about
something totally new and edgy. Does anyone think Bob Dylan sold
out when he went electric?
Paul|12.17.07 @ 4:22PM|#
Ok, I'll promise I'll stop after this, but what I'd like to see that would raise my eyebrows is a Tehran-born punk rock movement while the bus drivers show a "fuck allah" sign out the window. That'll get ya up in the morning.
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 4:49PM|#
Paul,
Tehran-born punk rock movement
I think it was on Frontline World that I saw an interview with a
Tehran based band that might fit the bill...
Here's an article
http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-310/_nr-47/i.html
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 4:51PM|#
Mike Laursen,
Forget Muslim punk. I'm waiting for Muslim country
music.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0404/p20s01-almp.html
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 4:54PM|#
On youtube,
Muslim country music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5rV-epHyLM
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 5:00PM|#
Kareem Salama interviewed live by Neil Cavuto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKL_8MkPBlk
more music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyXX7iM2E6c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldLj6fdVrtQ
Neu Mejican|12.17.07 @ 5:08PM|#
The Muslim Cowboys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PX8f-N34H8
Country-Punk?
Ali|12.17.07 @ 8:38PM|#
Forget Muslim punk. I'm waiting for Muslim country
music.
Haha... there is in fact Muslim country music.... but in Arabic,
Swahili, Punjabi, Malay, Persian, etc. Country in the local
Oriental sense of course!
This has been a fun thread :-)
highnumber|12.17.07 @ 11:04PM|#
Would Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Party be like Pakistani country music? Maybe like Norteño?
Mike Laursen|12.17.07 @ 11:33PM|#
Neu Mejican comes up with the goods! He doesn't sound very country to me, but his accent makes up for it.
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