Mcdonalds
Sole sound source: a Big Mac meal.
Mcdonalds has been at the forefront of the fast food revolution and been responsible for the changing of local diets and taking a heavy subsidy from governments for 'training' teenagers to fry chips. They have also somehow been cultural ambassadors for the west, entering previously hostile countries before governments officially dare. Watch the rising rates of obesity that follow.
To learn more read 'Fast Food Nation' by Erik Schlosser and read about the Mclibel trial.

Manufactured Music
Sole sound source: Hear'say CD.
The rise and rise of the manufactured band has led to a complete distortion in the relationship between music and talent. The talent now is exhibited in marketing meetings and style makeovers, relying on stereotypes, perpetuating beauty myths and co-opting musical genres to the point where signature rave patterns and music with drug references appears for young children either as entertainment or to sell merchandise from children's TV shows.
The systematic cynicism of selecting a band of unoriginal but realistic survivors from a series of average victims might make for fascinating TV, but does not promote the idea of people in control of their own future or imply how the now standard large financial rewards are for the pursuit of originality, skill or substance.

Rupert Murdoch
Sole sound source: The Sun newspaper.
I did originally use a copy of the Sunday Times and all its supplements since it has a long history of printing stories at the convenience of MI5, however it sounded shit. So I used The Sun instead.
Since Rupert Murdoch pays very little tax in this country, his newspapers and TV stations become part state-owned since they are heavily subsidised. If we are to have a state media, I'd rather it wasn't one with a distinctly hypocritical social agenda and an array of sexist, trivial, violent programmes where intelligent debate should be.

Television
Sole sound source: my grandad's old black and white.
In some ways a cliché, but still relevant in its continuous retreat into the world of the facile and dangerous: Bar Wars, Ibiza Uncovered, the presentation of the news (sponsored by Mcdonalds in parts of America). The reliance on the image is a dangerous one, not only in terms of individuals' self-esteem, racism or tolerance, but also since the prevention of wars in far-off places is only realized or enlightened by the imagination. The relationship between information and government is so cosy now, we are left to pick meaning out in between stories of rescued pets and so-called 'ethnic wars' clearly intended to baffle and disempower us.

Hollywood
Sole sound sources: a Bug's Life on DVD and Starship Troopers on video.
Disney has had a long history of racist and fictitious versions of history and it seems only fair they were included in this track. 'A Bugs Life' is an allegory designed to create sympathy for a hardworking society - the ants - and to pass judgement on a greedy minority intent on stealing the ants' resources - the grasshoppers. The fact that this fits perfectly with the current US foreign policy of taking whatever it requires from others, often without asking, makes for a possible subversive reading. Maybe those at Pixar were responsible for genuine political comment. Hmmmm.
Paul Verhoeven's work has always aroused controversy in its subject matter and poorly (or cleverly) executed delivery, but it is with 'Starship Troopers' that he goes the furthest. I could have chosen any number of Hollywood action movies to illustrate the point of how violence is seen as a valid tool of communication but Arnie, Bruce, Mel, Sly et al. have nothing on the heights of death served up in this film.
After reading an essay by John Pilger about Vietnam and how it is still presented as a series of military blunders rather than a totally unjustified and hideous war that killed much greater numbers of Vietnamese civilians, armed or otherwise than US soldiers, I can't help watching this film and thinking about that. If in future years the director comes forward and explains how his work can be seen as a series of devastating critiques of contemporary society and cinema, I shall give him the benefit of the doubt. I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that he won't, and they aren't.

Marlboro and Bacardi
Sole sound sources: 10 Marlboro, matches and a bottle of Bacardi rum.
Very little needs to be said about the business practices of the tobacco industry although it might be worth mentioning that its sights have long been trained on the emerging third world/ Asian markets and in particular women. This week the Japan tobacco company which produces Camel amongst others, is cynically applying for the patent for the potentially soon-to-be-discovered lung cancer vaccine. As gigging musicians in the west we are lured by high wages and VIP treatment by sponsors from both of these industries in what is effectively a double whammy: whilst not only using our musical and mildly famous personas to associate with their products, they also use the events as a tax write-off, thus siphoning-off money needed in hospitals to treat patients suffering from diseases caused by their products. A situation the government is reluctant to change considering the large tax income it makes on the sale of both.
The liquor industry is hardly more responsible although, unlike the tobacco companies, at least it doesn't add ammonia to its drinks to make them more addictive. Bacardi though is known for trading on its association with Cuba whilst simultaneously lobbying the US government to prevent the sales of indigenous Cuban drinks and employing unpleasant anti-Cuban representatives to present its case.

GM food
Sole sound sources: Nestle's 'Cinnamon Grahams', Kraft cheese slices and baby formula.
Nestle has long been boycotted by ethical consumers for its ruthless promotion of baby formula in the third world as a replacement for breast milk, thus exposing children to greater risk of disease through infected water. Its products, however, now contain numerous genetically modified ingredients and are presented without consultation with the public or clear labelling. Kraft is owned by Philip Morris, the tobacco giant.
GM food poses huge risks to the public both in its presence within food and also through its farming methods. It has one sole clear reason for development: commercial gain. The patenting of indigenous varieties such as pilau rice, and recent attempts to patent Thailand's indigenous fragrant rice by American companies and scientists is the most recent by-product of this drive to profit from nature. The development of the terminator gene to restrict reproduction of patented strands of cereal is not only immoral in every sense, but brings the risk of extensive genetic pollution. The companies' cynically-aimed media initiative focuses on the supposed benefits of not using pesticides but it has been seen that these genetically `superior` strains also exclusively require the companies own pesticide. Monsanto is probably the worst of the relevant companies.

Gap
Sole sound source: Blue Gap boxer shorts.
Unashamedly using the tag line 'everyone in uniform' and writing large cheques to members of the music and film industries to advertise their one dimensional clothes should alert us to the fact that this is a company intent on world domination. The fact that their clothes are almost exclusively made in countries with impoverished populations willing to work for low wages makes it even more sinister. The use of labour in countries like Indonesia with appalling human rights records (incidentally, armed and sponsored by the west) is even more cynical when placed against the companies self-consciously `hip` image.

Oil
Sole sound source: 2 cans of oil and 1 can of brake fluid.
The link between oil and destruction is a long and unpleasant one. From the Gulf war, fought over control of the far east's oil supply, to the division of Africa according to its resources and the courting of brutal regimes such as Sudan and Burma for its reserves; from the disastrous environmental spills to its vast polluting off-shoots: petrol etc., oil has a decidedly unpleasant effect wherever it appears. It`s time to switch to renewable resources. Fast.

Coca cola
Sole sound source: one can of Coke, one can of Pepsi.
Since Pepsico also owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, it seemed unfair to leave them off. Coca Cola`s self confessed ambition to increase their market share from one drink served in four to all four epitomises the greed that runs through the new class of super rich. The 180bpm double speed section represents today's accelerated culture that is all pervasive and all destructive.

Henry Kissinger
Sole sound source: the man himself.
There are so many examples of his insidious evil but really you should check out Christopher Hitchen's book "The Trial of Henry Kissinger" to get an insight into his role in the assassination of Allende in Chile and to see a possible route towards retribution. It is to my dismay that Hitchens has become such an ardent and bitter advocate for war. Tom Lehrer apparently said he gave up satire when he heard Henry Kissinger had received the Nobel peace prize.
It is a desperate society that endows such a privilege on someone responsible for one death, let alone millions.

Starbucks
Sole sound source: One Caramel Latte and one Frappucino.
Quick to rise and hopefully quick to fall, Starbucks is a perfect example of part of the new-school of post-Reagan/ Thatcher economic 'miracles'. It enters communities with no history, no pride in locality, no sensitivity and nothing to offer except its fictionalized version of the ultimate Italian coffee house. I guess as a public we have to take some responsibility for its 'success' since we have clearly drunk its grim fluids . Like fast food though, it panders to the lamest part of our human psyche: the fear of difference, the lazy return to routine, repetition, prediction (of taste and experience) and unoriginality. Its fragmentation of local communities and failure to offer physical differences other than in the basic architecture of its branches has added its cryptic name to the list of anodyne companies that now construct our sterile, identical high streets.

Nike
Sole sound source: Japanese edition Nike 98 Air Max and Adidas box.
Whilst at the forefront of the west`s consciousness when thinking of Asian sweatshops, Nike has apparently made an effort to clean up its act. The feeble attempt to woo back the public is undermined by its failure as a company to employ any domestic manufacturing staff. Its use of countries with human rights abuses should be of some worry to those who already think the battle is over. The track is a lament to Nike workers in Indonesia that are paid $37 a month (source: IMF) and as such is 37 seconds long.

Rwanda
It's hard to describe what it feels like to have lived through a genocide that was predicted by UN staff on the ground and ignored by those in power. Harder though for those who died as a result of being a Belgian colony and then murdered with weapons supplied by France, China and ironically Belgium. Philip Gourevitch's book `Tomorrow we wish to inform you that we will be killed along with our families` is an important read. The track is 8.5 seconds long, one second for each 100,000 people killed, a conservative estimate.

The whisper of friction
In contrast to the musical description of negative subjects above, the sounds for this track were recorded on May 1st 2001, the traditional day of protest in England and elsewhere. Another in a series of increasingly important protests against a corporate world we refuse to accept. The track is one minute and five seconds long.