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Extremist  Carl Klang.  

CD, 17 tracks; playing time 72 minutes.

Boadicea Music, BCM Box 6368, London WC1N 3XX.  £12.00stg or US$22.00.

 

I REGARDED this CD with a little trepidation, fearing that it might be something similar to the awful pro-paramilitary loyalist music tapes that circulate in many parts of Ulster.  Most of these, with the notable exception of  The Platoon, are truly dire!  I had never heard of Carl Klang, let alone his music.  Still, duty calls, so I put this CD in my ghetto blaster, gritted my teeth and prepared for the worst. 

  So, what's the verdict then?  Simply that this CD is very good indeed.  It's well-mixed and professionally presented although there are a lot of irritating misprints in the cover booklet  That's only a niggle, though.  Klang is an American country-folk singer with a talent for catchy tunes and lyrics that you just can't get out of your head.  Woody Guthrie has been reborn but it is unlikely that his successor will get too much airplay.  Unlike Guthrie, Klang challenges too many received orthodoxies for comfort.  With a mixture of humour and pathos, he articulates his view that his country is in the hands of 'illuminated ones'  who seek to rob ordinary decent Americans -  now reduced to the status of 'indentured, servitudal slaves' - of their God-given rights.

   My favourite tracks are Wheresoever Eagles Gather, a tribute to Randy Weaver whose wife and son were slain by US federal agents; Seventeen Little Children, a moving indictment of  the Feds' assault on a Waco church  building in April 1993 and Hang 'em High, a hilarious parody of the old standard Ghost Riders in the Sky which suggests 'old-fashioned justice' for the bureaucrats, congressmen and senators who are selling their people out. 

  Some of the songs give a strong impression that Carl Klang is some kind of Identity Christian (what we call 'BI' in Ulster), however, those who do not share his faith will still find much of value.  Ulster-nationalists of any faith can certainly identify with the final track - It's Not Over Until We Win!  This CD is a compilation of tracks from six previous music tapes which this reviewer at least will be seeking out (whenever he can afford it).  If you've twelve quid burning a hole in your pocket you could do a lot worse than buy Extremist.

 

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