Thurston Moore and the Sonic Youth webmaster, Chris Habib, have just launched an interesting project (found via Pitchfork).
The short of it: ‘[Protest Records] exists for musicians, poets and artists to express LOVE + LIBERTY in the face of greed, sexism, racism, hate-crime and war.’
The long of it: ‘most people understand the sentiment that this graphic expresses, but a few have requested an explanation and i’m happy to provide one. i know that a lot of people will simply see this image as a punk gimmick, but sincerely, it’s not. i think that what thurston and i are doing is one of the most patriotic gestures anyone could make. we are working to huddle together the voices of those who have something to say about the aimless direction in which this country is tumbling. as it becomes increasingly more apparent that this government for and by the people is becoming increasingly more comfortable ignoring said people and sacrificing them on the battlefield for resources and empire, we need to speak up and we need to speak out. contrary to the opinion of a man we never elected, we are not a “focus group.” we are the government. we are this country. our rights are being trampled. our working class and poor are being led to slaughter. our privacy is becoming evermore a diaphanous myth. corporations, the lobby groups who represent them and the courts have more control over the power structure in this country than any electoral college could ever dream. this state of affairs is not a part of the country that sits stitched in Old Glory. i think that my flag imagery supports these statements and buttresses the efforts of this site. i say “fuck the flag” because it’s lost its meaning. it’s devoid of all that it once stood for. desecrate it and start afresh. take it back, renew its meaning and then return it to the glory of old. it’s not disrespectful at all. it’s patriotic. too many people who wave it and rally behind it do so as a consumer convention. it’s an icon that people buy and sell and buy and sell into. the lapel pins, the window-clings, the tshirts, bags, skateboards and fluttering graphics that mar the lower-third of my television… it’s become a crass tool of accessible conspicuous consumption. it saddens me to see these flags. it saddens me completely. the stencil is my way of saying, “if this pisses you off, ask me why i did it and then help me make it right.” i will neither wave, nor salute, nor hide behind an icon that has been hijacked by an administration of pirates and poisons. i will not have them wrap my mind in a fabric of a nationalism that i neither condone nor identify with. thnx & peace, chris habib - protest records‘
Check it out.