against the Bible, I hear the same Friendly Fascism echo. He claims that "the Bible is a Consolidated Consolidated and Heavy D. book that has fucked up the world I.R.S. Records more than any other single book, [a] Peaceful Journey Heavy D. & the Boyz book that was written by a bunch of MCA Records give peace, and PC, a chance male chauvinists." I have problems with fundamentalism and the Cru- sades, but I also feel that the Bible By Mark 0. Judge is a book with parts of fine philos- RE YOU MOTHERFUCKERS ophy and beauty, and Harold Bloom ready," a bemused and has argued in The Book ofj that the shiftless voice drones on Book of Genesis was penned by a the first cut of Consolidat- woman. Christianity brought us the A Inquisition, but it also inspired ed's Friendly Fascism, "for the-lib- eral, vegetarian, pro-choice, lesbian Mother Theresa. and gay support motherfuckers from But maybe I'm splitting hairs. (Then San Francisco? Vail ready? Well, again, maybe that's exactly what the make some motherfuckin' noise for band wants—to get the wheels be- Consolidated...." tween your ears moving.) In our age This opening soundbite is lifted of diminishing expectations, Friend- from one of Consolidated's live gigs ly Fascism is a rigorous blast of com- and is the funniest thing I've heard mon purpose that makes it meaning- ful and even fun to be a leftist. If Consolidated leads the revolution, RAP it'll be one you can dance to. Here's hoping white middle-class male from any PC flag-wavers since Jello Christians are invited to the party. Biafra compared Robert McFarlane On the more libidinous side, here to Maxwell Smart. The Bay Area rap comes Heavy D., "the rap register trio is relentlessly PC and proud of that flows with cash." He's smooth it, and that's what makes the heavy as a lollipop and big as William 'The lassitude in the voice that com- Refrigerator" Perry, and I'd hate to mences Friendly Fascism so ironic: be a waiter when he and George either Consolidated was 49th on a Foreman are in town the same night. bill of 50 that afternoon or the poor "You're a Chicken McNugget and I'm bastard that introduced them just a Big Mac," the Jamaican-born Heav- didn't care. And not caring is what ster informed us on 1989's tuneful Consolidated hates. Big Tyme, but he's about as menac- Or rather, one of the things Con- ing as a teddy bear, and inside he's solidated hates. The opening MC is all suave moves and peacenik phil- right: they are liberal, vegetarian, osophy. Peaceful Journey is the gen- pro-choice, lesbian and gay support tler side of rap that the talk show motherfuckers, and their loathing of hosts ignore, the friendly handshake the New Right and its grinning re- as opposed to the gun-toting menace pression—Poppy stumbling around of NWA and the Ghetto Boys. for the cameras on the back nine—is Most rappers tend to shoot their palpable. It's also very funny; unlike load by the fourth or fifth song of an many of their peers in the genre. album, but Heavy D.—with the help Consolidated knows how to not only of six top-notch producers—has sneer at the conglomerate state but come up with one of the tightest rap to laugh at themselves. ('This isn't releases of the year. Sure, the Heav- worth five bucks," one disillusioned ster has hubris—no homeboy can fan sulks in "Crusading Rap Guys.") make it without some degree of Popping off: Angry young men "street knowledge"—but it's intelli- with musical instruments is nothing gent pride suffused with a refreshing new, of course, but Consolidated respect for women. ("It's hell to be deftly wed progressive indictments black," he says on "Sister Sister." "but of America's cultural detritus with it's hell to be a black lady") big industrial rap beats, noise and Heavy's wise to have healthy ad- soundbites culled from the media. miration for the fairer sex, because The message emerges fresh and they provide some of the more tran- funky: the good oF U.SA. is stoned, scendent moments on PeacefuUour- strung out, violent, sexist, racist, ad- ney. Tammy Lucas' backing vocal on dicted, crude, selfish, ignorant and "Is it Good to You?" is beautifully going straight down the crapper. It's lilting, and the sultry cries of "sweet attitude rap for radicals. The beats make things pretty uncomfortable but the end result could make even sweet sweet sweet sweet" on 'The are big, the leftist sloganeering plen- for beer-swiggin', Desert Stormin' the Democratic Socialists of America Lover's Got What You Need" could tiful and the verdict damning—even couch taters—and even for the self- feel like sellouts. There's no political A new album by make the most rigorous celebate if the gavel slams against the three proclaimed avant-garde. (The group latitude, no room for the odd indul- Consolidated, turn to jello. But perhaps the finest white rappers themselves. —Adam Sherburne, Philip Steir, gence (they'd reject me for liking the moment on Peaceful Journey, indica- That's right, they're white. White Mark Pistel—also make it tough on new remix of "My Name is Not Susan" "nauseating tive of the Heavster's lofty ideals and and working in the pop music indus- critics by not including their names by the heretofore banned-for-life middle-class white heartfelt humanism, is the rising try, a haven for the fleeting and su- on CD or press release.) On the alter- Whitney Houston). But even Consol- backup vocal on the title cut. The perficial. According to hard-core native radio lampoon "College Radio," idated themselves, a triumvirate of guys in a political message is simple—"stop the killing" lefties and rap purists, that's at least they abruptly switch genres from rap PC righteousness, occasionally come band," followed by —but the effect is genuinely inspir- one strike, and the irony isn't lost to folksy R.EM.-inspired jangle and up with a dangerously narrow-mind- ing. Like most rap CD's, one or two on the group. They call themselves needle love-dovey campus "liberals," ed howler. Heavy D.'s hubris tracks should have been cut ("Do "nauseating middle-class white guys while 'Typical Male" attacks "the Chill of jackboots: Granted, when and heartfelt Me," "Don't Curse"), but most of in a political band" and declare on pseudo feminist [who] still oppress- George Will's "Morning in America" PeaceMJourney is an ebullient, up- "Unity of Oppression" that "the his- es by including his own self-serving speech slithers to the fore on "Friendly humanism. lifting workout that keeps your feet tory of oppression...we can't erase it patriarchal agenda" into the wom- Fascism," my blood goes cold with moving. H in a pop song." en's movement Most of the time the echo of jackboots. But when a MarkG. Judge is thinking of changing Maybe not, but these three can Consolidated's pies find their target, member of the group starts railing his name to "The Judge-ster." IN THESE TIMES OCT. 2-8, 1991 ?1 LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED between "responsible" and "irresponsible" civilian uses. One of the reported reasons Since international relations in the po Arms control military machines. for the U.S. reversal was to protect the chem- Cold War world continue to be in flux, it ii, - Continued from page 3 The wrong chemistry: While all of the ical secrets involved in the stealth technol- too soon to know if the bi-polar world of the struction. Beyond the Middle East, France plans so far discussed are designed to curb ogy of the B-2 bomber, demonstrating again Cold War is giving way to a uni-polar U.S. proposed applying this method globally and the spread of certain weapons or deal with a White House aversion to any arms-control order. On balance, the arms-control record Britain renewed its call for the United Na- arms control in a particular region, only the agreement that does not allow the U.S. an of the last five months is cause for optimism, tions to register all conventional arms trans- U.N.-sponsored negotiations in Geneva are escape clause. but the serious problem remains that those fers—an idea endorsed by a new U.N. study. aiming for a total ban on an entire category As the White House negotiations over the who could and should do the most are doing A communique issued by the five warned of mass-destruction weapons—in this case, chemical weapons ban show, the US. arms- the least. As long as there is no pressure on that "indiscriminate transfers of military chemical weapons. But the already glacial control strategy is limited to controlling cer- the U.S. to make some of the sacrifices it weapons and technology contribute to reg- pace of the Geneva talks stopped completely tain types of weapons or developments in wishes others to shoulder,.all the world's ional instability." during the Gulf War while everyone waited certain regions. This policy serves the ad- good intentions and imaginative initiatives But the chasm between rhetoric and ac- to see if two of the countries with the largest ministration's not-so-hidden agenda of mak- will lead to the same dead end. Q tion was highlighted by a recent report from stockpiles of such arms—the U.S.