ABC Musical Solidarity are a collective of musicians and anarchists dedicated to raising money for those resisting oppression around the world, through music. We operate under the banner of the Anarchist Black Cross.
The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military requires Putin to direct violence to both sides of the battle lines. As his bombers and artillery shell Ukrainian cities, and his tanks roll over Ukrainian fields and wallow in the springtime mud, the Russian state maintains the discipline of war at home. The OMON and FSB target anti-war protestors. The media has been shut down under threat of prison for speaking the truth about the war. When conscripts refuse to participate in this imperialist war, they face threats and punishments from their officers.
In Kyiv and other cities, the Ukrainian anarchist movement – which includes many exiled Russian and Belarusian comrades – has taken up arms. They are fighting to defend their communities, their comrades, and a vision of a liberated future of Ukraine, separate from the aspirations of the Right or the state. Meanwhile, across Russia, our comrades take to the street whether by day in mass marches, or by night to spread the truth about the war through creative means, or to take more direct actions. One draft office has already been burned near Moscow. In the words of that heroic arsonist, “Let [the oligarchs] know that their own people hate them and we will extinguish them. Soon the earth will start to burn under their feet. Hell awaits at home”.
By supporting the fight against the invasion at both the front and behind the lines, we hope to nurture the seeds of the movement that can turn this war between nations into a revolution against the ruling class- a new spring of autonomy and solidarity sweeping across the steppe.
The first ABC Musical Solidarity album release is The Deserter, released as a fundraiser for the Anarchist Black Cross in Moscow. It will help pay for the legal defence and general protection of those within the Russian Federation who are resisting the war and fighting back against the clampdown by the Russian state. Featuring a black poppy and the crossed-out “Z” of the anti-war movement on its cover, the album features songs about political prisoners, inflation, soldiers’ mothers, barricades, and of course, desertion.
The second album release is Mother Anarchy, a benefit album to raise money for anarchist and anti-authoritarians defending their communities against invasion in Ukraine, specifically the Committee of Defence affiliated to the Black Headquarters. All proceeds of this compilation go to the Dresden Anarchist Black Cross, which is coordinating aid to these comrades.
Beginning with the song “Mother Anarchy” written by Nestor Makhno, by album takes the listener on a journey through South African hip hop, lo-fi, German punk, ska, and Makhnovist rewrites of Cossack ballads. The artista includes acts such as Soundz of the South, Darryl Cherney, the Window Smashing Job Creators, Maske, Soho, and a folk collective formed especially for this project going by the pseudonym Tachanka.
The albums are available at:
https://abcmusicalsolidarity.bandcamp.com/