BDx13
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Canadians... FACTOR drama
Living with Lions albums causes controversy
http://www.punknews.org/article/42709
A LA Weekly blogger with a limited understanding of Canadian cultural grants has drawn attention to some controversial artwork in the new album from
Living with Lions. The album, Holy Shit, was released earlier this week and was indirectly supported through funding from the Canadian government
through a program called FACTOR. The controversy stems from the inclusion of an image of Jesus Christ as "a turd in a toga."
The Canadian heritage minister James Moore also added his own criticisms saying that "the content of this CD is offensive and the fact that it is
clearly designed to offend a group of Canadians based on their faith is simply wrong."
Without editorializing, it's worth noting that FACTOR grants do not involve government approval of lyrical or artistic expression. They are based on
demos shown to a jury of "producers, broadcasters, managers, label owners/representatives, artists/songwriters, media, and retailers." This always
predates proper studio recording and certainly predates album artwork. Moreover, the goal of the program is to encourage homegrown Canadian talent,
not act as a filter for non-offensive art. Canada, like the United States, guarantees freedom of speech though a number of exceptions make the right
significantly weaker particularly with regards to issues of colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, and sexual orientation.
None of this is super-secret information just for Canadians as it is well documented on the organization's official website. Moreover, FACTOR is
administered by a private non-profit organization and not by the government who only provide high level funding and loans to support Canadian artists.
You can check out the original blog at LA Weekly: http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2011/05/canadian_go...
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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Six66Mike
Posting Freak
Posts: 3090
Registered: 11-20-2003
Location: Queensland Australia
Member Is Offline
Mood: Dead Hearts
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Make drama for nothing. FACTOR is basically a bank, they provide loans to the bands to get their music out there and the bands have to pay most, if
not all of it back as sales pick up and they start making money.
I imagine Stephen Harper will kill it any time since he was stripping funding for the arts before he had a majority, so now that he does FACTOR could
be on a very short life span.
A lot of people ask me what kind of music I like. I love "soul music". My "soul music" isn’t a style, genre or niche. It’s music that is genuine. It’s
a painful lyric, a dirty bassline, it’s a harrowing vocal, it’s feedback, it’s an anthem, it’s a love song, it’s anarchy. I’ve got my personal
favourites but in the end it doesn’t matter who or where it comes from... so long as it’s good and it's real.
- Paul Morris, music director at 97.7 HTZ-FM
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