New book documents the role of music as a form resistance throughout history

A new book is exploring how music has been used as an act of resistance throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

Written by Joe Mushall - a historian of postwar and contemporary fascism - Rebel Sounds looks at music scenes across the globe that have helped to forge solidarity, hope and strength in the face of oppression, dictatorship, war, racism and state violence.

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Published on September 26 by Footnote Press, Rebel Sounds' eighth chapter tells the story of Ukraine’s underground music scene and how producers, promoters and dancers have been working to preserve their culture since the war broke out in 2022 — such as throwing parties in bomb shelters.

Mushall also details the creation of ‘РАЗОМ ЗА УКРАЇНУ / Together for Ukraine’, a 65-track charity album from Kyiv label Standard Deviation and Chornobyl label Mystictrax, which included tracks by Dasha Rush, Laurent Garnier, M.E.S.H., Ben Sims and more.

Other chapters delve into how Afrobeats emerged under an authoritarian regime in Nigeria; the creation of freedom songs in the Republic of Ireland; how bossa nova sprang out of a military dictatorship in Brazil; the rise of two-tone amid street violence in Britain; and ethnic cleansing in the Balkans.

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Reviews so far have been overwhelmingly positive, with British singer/songwriter Billy Bragg saying: ‘Empathy is the currency of all music and Joe Mulhall does a great job of explaining how that quality has been used to generate solidarity for the struggle and sympathy for those who suffer injustice’.

Buy your copy of Rebel Sounds here.

Meena Sears is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Instagram