33 Revolutions Per Minute
Marxman
Phonogram records
Reviewed by Zanny Begg
Emerging out of the Bristol rap scene, Marxman are cool in style and uncompromising in politics. Their debut album is called 33 Revolutions Per Minute, and by that they don't mean spins of the wheel.
Marxman rap against the New World Order and the "barbarism of world capitalism". On the sleeve of their CD cover they describe Marx, Lenin, the last year of Malcolm X, Bobby Sands and Rosa Luxemburg as their influences and declare, "We hold no truck with those who scrabble to prop up a system as it crashes from one crisis to another ...".
Marxman identify very strongly with the politics of young people. In the "Theme from Marxman", they state that they use the "redness" of their rap to "make you wise so you can reject a system". Ignorance is a barrier to social change, but knowledge puts the fight in the "hands of the youth".
As for the nature of this fight, Marxman get straight to the point. They reject reformism: "Tinkering is simply the system masturbating — generating a safety valve to avoid the real deal".
The lyrics are extremely political, but their message is not dogmatic. In "Drifting" they talk about the need to move beyond rhetoric and realise their love of humanity. They relate class politics to environmental issues, the rights of women, AIDS and drug abuse.
The single from the album "All about Eve" deals with domestic violence. The smooth sound on this song contrasts cleverly with the seriousness of its message. "All about Eve" went to the top 30 in the UK and helped dispel the myth that all rappers are misogynist and sexist. Unfortunately, the song must have cut too close to the bone because it was dropped from the radio playlist. According to Oisin from
Marxman, this is unheard of for a top 30 song.
One of the best songs on the album is "Ship Ahoy". Musically this is the most interesting, combining tin whistle, bodhran, banjo and low whistle with hip hop and rap. The tin whistle dances above the rap beat and gives the song a full and lively sound. This is enhanced by the distinctive backing vocals of Sinéad O'Connor.
"Ship Ahoy" is about the exploitation of capitalism. It links the early colonial exploitation of black people with the current oppression of the bulk of humanity. Free trade is the freedom song of a "caged bird", according to Marxman, and they reject the freedom to be a slave: "no beads to barter for this young black boy".
Marxman has four members: rappers Hollis and Phrase, Bristol dj K1 and Oisin, a dj from Dublin. The Irish influence is important in the band, both musically and politically. The combination of Irish instruments with guest appearance from James McNally and Davey Spillane lends depth to the rap. Marxman's defence of the nationalist struggle in Ireland takes their politics beyond broad generalisations about the state of the world.
The most focused song on the album is "Sad Affair". Quoting the great Irish nationalist and socialist James Connolly, Marxman declare, "We shall rise again".
With Marxman, content matches style. Their music communicates the politics of rebellion with flair. The seriousness of their message is hard to miss. They want to "spark it up like Iskra because that was the paper that made a red October". Rumour has it that they are touring Australia later this year. We could use them.