How do we save the world and ourselves? Not through a single individual following the well-worn path of religious messiah, but through collective efforts towards the issues tha most impact our lives.

False Dawns and Real Utopias

Deindustrialization has enriched capital while pitting the working class in one country against another. 
 

Notes
Made in Ableton Live 11.

Much thanks to Zaak Kerstetter and all the folks at Catalyze Music Academy, Andrew Fraser, Alan Fraser, Chip Osborne, and Chris Rodgers for their comments on earlier versions of this song.

Artwork by Anja Jovicic
Mixed by Dominion
Produced by Autonomous Cultural Productions

Samples
The Wire, Season 2

This song is cultural critique, and therefore the samples are used under the Fair Use Copyright law.

Requeim for an American Dream

Deindustrialization hit urban black neighborhoods first, turning them from what William Julius Wilson calls “institutional” into “jobless ghettos”. And what happens when groups are denied access to the core economic engines of a society? They create their own.

They Create Their Own

Indian Downtempo & Electro-Funk Grooves

Charkha - Mehi

“Crime is an index of oppression” (Clegg and Usmani, “The Economic Origins of Mass Incarceration” Catalyst) [https://catalyst-journal.com/2019/12/...]

In 1968, Richard Nixon famously declared that the United States had a “problem of order.” Using the war on drugs as cover, he quickly set about taking down his enemies via mass incarceration, setting us on the path to our current condition as the most punitive country in the world in terms of punishment. 

___________________________________________________________
Notes
Made in Ableton Live 11.

Much thanks to Zaak Kerstetter and all the folks at Catalyze Music Academy (https://www.youtube.com/c/CatalyzeMus...), Andrew Fraser, Alan Fraser, Chip Osborne, and Chris Rodgers for their comments on earlier versions of this song.

Artwork by Anja Jovicic
Mixed by Marc Felish, Dominion Mastering [https://www.dominionmastering.com/]
Produced by Autonomous Cultural Productions


Samples
Yellowstone, episode 1 “John Dutton vs tourists” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOrkI...]
Nixon’s 1968 Presidential Advert “The First Civil Right” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swyFq...]


This song is cultural critique, and therefore the samples are used under the Fair Use Copyright law. 

Tags: Nixon, mass incarceration, punitive justice, problem of order, jail, prison, Yellowstone, John Dutton, Kevin Costner, the frontier, private property, crime, crime and social control, Nine Inch Nails, NIN, Trent Reznor, A Machine of Loving Grace

The Problem Of Order

Capitalists love the desperation of consumers.  Surrender to despair helps drive us into debt. The advert says: 'Buy this commodity to be happy!' Interest payments are the vigorish for freedom to charge stuff we don't need (and often on the food and shelter we require to survive).  No money down can also be a curse!

*********************************************** 
Made in Ableton Live 11. 

written by A Machine of Loving Grace and Skull & Crossfaders 

Much thanks to Zaak Kerstetter and all the folks at Catalyze Music Academy (https://www.youtube.com/c/CatalyzeMus...), Andrew Fraser, Alan Fraser, and Chip Osborne for their comments on earlier versions of this song. 

Artwork by JW Caldwell (jwcaldwellart.com; @thisisridiculous13) 
Mixed by Marc Felish, Dominion Mastering [https://www.dominionmastering.com/] 
Produced by Autonomous Cultural Productions 

Samples Salt of the Earth (1954) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE1oK...] 

This song is cultural critique, and therefore the samples are used under the Fair Use Copyright law. 

Tags: debt, installment plan, layaway, debt slavery, Salt of the Earth, commodity fetishism, commodification, consumption, consumer society, no money down, student debt, rock, guitar, bass, drum and bass, IDM, experimental, skullandcrossfaders, A Machine of Loving Grace

The Installment Plan

In January 2019, a then 16-year old Greta Thunberg proved herself the most mature person at the World Economic Forum. While most ‘leaders’ at this convention went about their business as if nothing was wrong, Greta persistently called attention to climate change - the most pressing issue facing the species - by warning us that “Our House is on Fire.”


Notes
Made in Ableton Live 11.

Much thanks to Zaak Kerstetter and all the folks at Catalyze Music Academy (https://www.youtube.com/c/CatalyzeMusicAcademy), Andrew Fraser, Alan Fraser, Chip Osborne, and Chris Rodgers for their comments on earlier versions of this song.

Artwork by Elizabeth Bryss [@elizabeth.bryss]
Mixed by Marc Felish, Dominion Mastering [https://www.dominionmastering.com/]
Produced by Autonomous Cultural Productions


Samples
Greta Thunberg, Our House is on Fire, Forum Insight [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U72xkMz6Pxk]

This song is cultural critique, and therefore the samples are used under the Fair Use Copyright law.

Our House is on Fire

“It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” 

Say that to yourself again….
… and think about the implications. 

For our entire history, we have evolved to adapt to the conditions we face. But - at the very peak of our powers to control our own destiny - we are to suddenly stop for the sake of an economic system? One thing I know for sure: those who cannot imagine a different future are bound to die in our current reality. 


***********************************
Made in Ableton Live 11.

Artwork by Zain Bukhari
Mixed by Marc Felish, Dominion Mastering [https://www.dominionmastering.com/]
Produced by Autonomous Cultural Productions

Samples
Velvet Prisons: Russell Jacoby on American Academia [https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1861066265]
Cultures of Energy podcast, show number 172 - Climate Leviathan [https://radiopublic.com/cultures-of-e...]

Tags: 
A Machine of Loving Grace, socialist music, socialist musician, anti capitalist music, anti capitalist musician, IDM, EDM, electronic music, electronic rock, rock, drum and bass, experimental music, nu jazz, break beat jazz, NIN, nine inch nails, Trent Reznor, Outernational

utopia, dystopia, end of utopia, end of ideology, ideology, postmodernism, Frederic Jameson, Russel Jacoby, Joel Wainwright, Geoff Mann, end of capitalism, Cultures of Energy podcast, Velvet Prisons, 


This song is cultural critique, and therefore the samples are used under the Fair Use Copyright law. 

#endofcapitalism #socialistmusic #endofutopia

The End Of Utopia

How Shall I Begin? One’s story can never be summed up in simple quips, but let’s start with the simple notion that collective projects amount to more than individual ones. Thus, I welcome to the stage Andrew Fraser on guitar. Together, we take on a border that migrated over Mexicans, like Esperanza Quintero, via the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.


Notes
Made in Ableton Live 11.

Much thanks to Zaak Kerstetter and all the folks at Catalyze Music Academy (https://www.youtube.com/c/CatalyzeMusicAcademy  and Andrew Fraser for their comments on earlier versions of this song.

Lead Guitar by Andrew Fraser
Artwork by El Sanadaji [ElSanandaji.com; @FullTonalRag]
Mixed by Marc Felish, Dominion Mastering [https://www.dominionmastering.com/]
Produced by Autonomous Cultural Productions


Samples
Salt of the Earth, film, 1954 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE1oKQCwwo4&t=426s]

This song is cultural critique, and therefore the samples are used under the Fair Use Copyright law.

How Shall I Begin? [ft. Andrew Fraser]

Economic elites have a long history of using immigration to divide workers who would otherwise cooperate with each other to challenge the powerful. If one group of workers organized themselves to demand for better conditions, then capitalists would bring in another group of migrants as strikebreakers. The result: a pernicious race to the bottom for us all.   



Notes
Made in Ableton Live 11.

Artwork by El Sanadaji [ElSanandaji.com; @FullTonalRag]
Mixed by Marc Felish, Dominion Mastering [https://www.dominionmastering.com/]
Produced by Autonomous Cultural Productions


Samples
Harvest of Loneliness, documentary 2010 [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1658805/]

Salt of the Earth, film, 1954 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE1oKQCwwo4&t=426s]

This song is cultural critique, and therefore the samples are used under the Fair Use Copyright law. 

#USimperialism #socialistmusic #antiimperialistmusic

Salt Of The Earth

Made in Ableton Live 11.

Spoken word by Skull and Crossfaders
Conceptual Design by Skull and Crossfaders and A Machine of Loving Grace
Artwork by El Sanadaji [ElSanandaji.com; @FullTonalRag]
Mixed and mastered by Furkan Gulus [https://www.fiverr.com/kagenmusic]

Samples:
- "Gov. Sisolak's Innovation Zone plan" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxbPOnb9n3k&t=1840s&ab_channel=LasVegasReview-Journal]

This song is cultural critique, and therefore the samples are used under the Fair Use Copyright law.

This Is Breaking News (ft. Skull and Crossfaders)

Do You Believe In Fate?

“Adolph Reed, Jr on Race and Class in America” The Good Fight with Yascha Mounk

“The Whole Country is the Reichstag” Adolph Reed, Jr. nonsite.org August 23, 2021

The Whole Country Is The Reichstag (ft. Andrew Fraser)

The False Prophet (ft. Mason Rich)

Made in Ableton Live 11.

Conceptual Design by Skull and Crossfaders and A Machine of Loving Grace
Artwork by Zain Bukhari
Mixed and mastered by Furkan Gulus [www.fiverr.com/kagenmusic]

Samples:
The Matrix (1999) - Meeting Morpheus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDadfh0ZdBM&t=117s)

This song is cultural critique, and therefore the samples are used under the Fair Use Copyright law.

Am I Dreaming?

The Book Of Job (ft. Andrew Fraser)

Utopia (ft. Mars Ray)

You Don t Have To Be Alone

Against Pop Psychology (ft. Andrew Fraser)

Unplanned Rapid Disassembly (Ft Skull And Crossfaders)

One of my great regrets was that I never wrote a song to my mother while she was alive. So this one is for you, mom. 

Written by A Machine of Loving Grace
Art by Anja Kurbalin
Mastered by Epicenter

Song for My Mom

Song For My Mom

The Tide Changes

Listen to The Beginning and the End at: https://ffm.to/n3d4bn2.OEM

Artwork by Zain Bukhari
Mastered by Tim Boyce

The Beginning and the End

Listen to He Is Coming at: https://ffm.to/y42jown.OEM

He Is Coming (ft. Skull and Crossfaders)

Listen to Tabla Time at: https://ffm.to/wmkx3k4.OEM

Artwork by Zain Bukhari
Mastered by Tim Boyce

Tabla Time (ft. Andrew Fraser)

Listen to Alienation and Religion at: https://ffm.to/yzwdrwx.OEM

Artwork by Zain Bukhari
Mastered by Tim Boyce

Alienation and Religion

Solidarity (ft. Mars Ray)

Up & Down Club Sessions Vol. 1

Up & Down (Alphabet Soup)

Up And Around (Will Bernard Trio)

Funky Niblets (Charlie Hunter Trio)

Mr. Puffy (The Dry Lock)

Soft Target (Josh Jones Jazz Ensemble)

Class Matters podcast "Power and Participation in Negotiations and Politics with Jane McAlevey" episode 12. The Debs-Jones-Douglass Institute

Democracy versus Capitalism (ft. Skull and Crossfaders)

Listen to Here Lies Jefflon Zuckerjobs at: https://ffm.to/mjbdpye.OEM

Here Lies Jefflon Zuckerjobs (ft Skull and Crossfaders)

with Skull and Crossfaders
mixed and mastered by François Michaud at Wild Horse Studio

Which Side Are You On (2024)?

Farmer by morning, musician by afternoon, philosopher by night

A Machine of Loving Grace

Pinned to spotlight

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