- As the attack on Gaza continues, more artists have taken to social media to express anger and support. Earlier this week, Annie Lennox posted a photo of an injured Palestinian boy on her official Facebook page, accompanied by the caption “A young Palestinian boy wounded by shelling at a hospital in the Southern Gaza strip.. On the 14th day of conflict the death toll has reached 550. THE CARNAGE MUST STOP !!!”
- System of a Down’s Serj Tankian also took to Facebook to post a straight-to-the-point letter explaining the situation in Gaza from his point of view. He writes, “It’s time to end this misery, known as the Israeli Occupation of Gaza and the West Bank […]”, as well as posting new track “Occupied Tears”:
- Meanwhile, Sinead O’Connor has canceled her upcoming September performance in Israel, even though by her own admission the gig would have paid 10 times her normal fee. She spoke to Irish music and politics magazine Hot Press about the cancelation, saying “Let’s just say that, on a human level, nobody with any sanity, including myself, would have anything but sympathy for the Palestinian plight.” Her other (very frank) comments are available in the full report here. O’Connor’s new album I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss is due next month.
- While headlining the Longitude Festival in Dublin, Massive Attack took their views to the stage, using the background to display statements such as “Gaza has been occupied or under restrictions since 1948” during a performance of “Safe From Harm”, and highlighting the number of Palestinian victims during a performance of beautiful 1991 single “Unfinished Sympathy”.
- Madonna is no stranger to controversy, but in this case it seems she’s taken both sides. Two weeks ago she posted a picture of the three Israeli teens on her Instagram feed, and earlier this week she posted a photo of flowers in vases with the surprising caption “These flowers are like the innocent children of GAZA! Who has a right to destroy them? No One!!!! CEASE FIRE! #peaceinthemiddleeast”. This of course was followed by another photograph and the caption “I do not support Hamas! I support human dignity and respect! I support sharing! I support Peace! #ceasefire”.
- In this week’s new music videos, Basement Jaxx try to save dancing – and by God, humanity itself! – by inventing a Twerk-Bot in their new video for “Never Say Never”:
- And the third single from Pharrell‘s bestselling album Girl now has an accompanying video, and it quite expectedly features beautiful women dancing and Miley Cyrus. Check out “Come Get It Bae” here:
WE SAID THIS: Don’t miss this week’s Eargasm: Music To Power Your Road Trips.