“Fuck The Government, I Love You"
Mathias Kom (The Burning Hell) is, to say the least, a divergent thinker. To some just plain crazy, to others an acerbic commentator on the world and, maybe, to others, an anarchist or provocateur. I don't know exactly how to describe him except to say I am glad he is around. On and off again, he hits the road as a duo with clarinetist Ariel Sharratt and, in fact, they released an album in 2015 called "Don't Believe the Hyperreal" that was toned in a 1960's duets sort of way and featured the underground hit, Fuck The Government, I Love You. Their second duo release out April 2020 is entitled "Never Work" a collection of songs done up folk style about things like the gig economy, class war, rebellious self-service checkout machines and more. Songs for workers about workers.
But the song today, to share is about my personal arch nemesis Alexa... I hate it (Alexa not the song) but I digress. Rise Up Alexa (despite my distaste for the subject matter) is catchy and sardonic and funny.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
Mathias Kom is a Canadian songwriter and academic. He releases most of his efforts as The Burning Hell. On occasion, Mathias goes on the road and records as a duo with clarinetist Ariel Sharratt. The Duo's debut album "Don't Believe the Hyperreal" came out in November 2015. This nodded to the classic musical duets of the 1960s and showcased a more intimate side of their songwriting and performance, including the underground hit “Fuck The Government, I Love You". A sophomore duo album, out April 2020 through BB*ISLAND, is ”Never Work". It twists the sweetness and charm of duets into new shapes, moving away from romance to self-reflexively and sometimes caustically examine their own labour as musicians and the crumbling system of work and capital that continues to shape us all even as it abandons us.
Accenting the acoustic elements of old-school folk revivals with electronic interference, Never Work takes cues from labour activists and Situationist pranksters to explore the gig economy, side-hustles, tech feudalism, class war, unionized digital assistants, rebellious self-service checkout machines, and fully automated luxury communism. Some are songs about workers, some are songs for workers, but most are both at once. Simultaneously earnest and wry, the songs on Never Work are a protest playlist for our collective journey towards oblivion or the beach.
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