The New York Times

Une sélection hebdomadaire offerte par SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2008 Copyright © 2008 The New York Times LENS Can music change the world? Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones once claimed that “music has probably had more effect on pulling down the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union than all the rockets and all the politicians. ” Others might argue that there was a bit more to it than that. But music did have something to do with changing the course of history in the 1960s and early ’70s, in the United States, and at other times in other places. In his historical play “Rock ’n’ Roll,” Tom Stoppard followed the exploits of the Plastic People of the Universe, an anarchic Czech band that flourished during the Prague Spring of 1968, then struggled for two decades against government repression. But for Mr. Stoppard the band, and the freedom and promise of rock music in general, were a cornerstone of the Velvet Revolution that ended Communism. “The play perhaps could be called ‘It’s Not Only Rock ’n’ Roll,’” he told The Times’s Jon Pareles last year, “because it’s not. ” If young people inflamed by Western music did indeed drive the peaceful upheavals of years past, then what about the repressive regimes of 2008? In “Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam,” Mark LeVine dreams of a music-fueled domino effect sweeping the Muslim world. Mr. LeVine, a Jewish professor of Middle Eastern history and a guitarist who once playedwithMickJagger,discoverednascentyouth music scenes seething with rebellion in North Africa and the Middle East. In his book, reviewed in The Times in July by Howard Hampton, he encounters Cairo metalheads, Palestinian M. C. ’s, Iranian Iron Maiden fanatics, Moroccan thrash girls and Dubai Goths. Their music is frequently branded “satanic” and some practitioners are hauled off to prison for “shaking the foundations of Islam. ” Yet, in the power chords of the Middle East, Mr. LeVine sees “a model for communication and cooperation. ” If Arab youth can become rapt followers of an Israeli death-metal band called Orphaned Land, he argues, anything is possible. The Chinese government, for one, fears the power of music to mold the mood of the populace. The state-monopolized radio, Howard French reported in the Times last year, allows nothing but the blandest pop songs, urging listeners to be happy and have fun. Nevertheless, even in a land where the slightest dissent is met with harsh punishment a furtive alternative music movement is emerging. Liu Sijia, the bass player for an underground Shanghai band called Three Yellow Chicken, sings about poverty and civil rights. “The greatest utility of these pop songs is that they aren’t dangerous to the system,” he told Mr. French. “If people could hear underground music, it would make them feel the problems in their lives and want to change things. ” Meanwhile, in Havana’s underground, a brash young punk rocker named Gorki Luis Águila Carrasco is howling with rage at Cuban Communism. His expletive-laced lyrics, shouted over the primal roar of his band, Porno para Ricardo, attack the regime of Raúl and Fidel Castro head on. And as Marc Lacey reported in a Times article this month, he has landed in jail under charges of “social dangerousness. ” He remains defiant. “I am against everything that limits my personal liberty,” Gorki said. It remains to be seen if another Velvet Revolution is on the horizon anywhere in the world. But a new generation of rappers and rockers is definitely rising, risking prison to indict the powerful, incite calls for freedom or just have fun. A New Generation of Rockers Rages Against the Machine 4 6 8 CAMPAIGN 2008 Sarah Palin hired friends, lashed foes. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Invasive species may not be so evil after all. ARTS & STYLES Fashion’s eternal quest for what’s next. By ALEX BERENSON A LOT OF SMART people have tried to call the bottom on Wall Street this year. So far, they have all been wrong. Since the financial crisis first hit in August 2007, markets — and the financial industry — have gone through a series of swoons, each more dizzying than the last. Recently, the crisis reached a new pitch, as Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest United States investment bank, filed for bankruptcy; the insurance giant, American International Group, had to submit to a government bailout; and Washington Mutual, the largest savings and loan, saw its shares briefly fall below $2. Now even Wall Street’s professional optimists have given up predicting exactly when their industry might stabilize. One senior executive at a top investment bank, speaking anonymously, recently observed that there was no ending in sight. Until now, the cataclysm in the banking and securities industry has damaged but not derailedtherestoftheeconomy,andtheFederal Reserve and the Treasury Department signaled that they were not ready to bail out Lehman Brothers with taxpayer money. EconoJENS MEYER/ASSOCIATED PRESS Continued on Page 3BOTTOM? MARKETS ARE FALLING. BUT WHEN WILL THEY HIT CAHIER DU « MONDE » DATÉ SAMEDI 20SEPTEMBRE 2008, NO 19798. NE PEUT ÊTRE VENDU SÉPARÉMENT