To put this another way . . . Derek Scott

The Pop Conference deadline is less than three weeks away: October 22. Please, join me in spreading the word today. PopCon thrives on its ties to both lifelong presenters and dynamic new presenters. Got something good to speak to our Mayhem? Send in a proposal! www.popconference.org

Popular Music Books in Process returns September 10! If you have not been added to the mailing list, please send me a note. iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...

psst: new Pop Conference call. Repost please. www.popconference.org

I should probably avoid much comment on that New Yorker piece; have to prep for my Rock, Soul, Hip-Hop, and Country course, where this week we are reading the first chapter of the textbook, Major Labels, by one K. Sanneh.

Streaming and awesome

I hope this registers. Reviews matter, even if less clicked on. They’re the active interpretive work of reception. Preserve them!

Agreed, with more to say on Facebook!

Quick reminder that if you want to be part of our music book series, there is about a week to send in a proposal. Go for it! iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Calls-and-An...

For anyone writing a book about music, you might find this invitation to present of interest! I participated in the @iaspm-us.bsky.social "Popular Music Books in Process Series" a couple of years ago, and it was a wonderful experience. 🎶

The Journal of Popular Music Studies, which I co-edit with Dr. Alisha Lola Jones, has openings for three positions -- an associate book reviews editor, an associate editor of the "field notes" section, and a web editor. Details at the link, spread the word: iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/JPMScallsfor...

Our popular music books series has a new call out for this coming school year, details here: iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Calls-and-An... Consider taking part and please let others know, too!

By the way, if you are curious about what the hell I and others are going on about as we mourn, Joshua's music book series appearance, our most watched ever, lives in the link attached here. Rock and roll in a nutshell. youtu.be/d6qc8EqN_XI

We have lost Joshua Clover -- my friend from the first phone call to Indiana, when "Jane Dark" was writing for me at the Voice, to a Zoom call last September, sipping red wine in a Free Gaza shirt. He was a lot.

A perfect database for Bananafish (and many other lost pubs, from zines to academe).

Some days I struggle to see myself as an academic. Others – like today when I got really excited about a new magazine repository – reaffirm that I am indeed a massive nerd. Check this out: rilm.org/rapmm. Launching May 27!

Final Big Ears list: Alan Sparhawk, Beth Gibbons, Philip Glass Ensemble, Cassandra Jenkins, Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, Jessica Pratt, Swamp Dogg, Michael Hurley, Squanderers, 101 Audio Odyssey, Ambrose Akinmusire, Eiko Ishibashi . . .

Next week the Pop Conference returns to USC -- in conjunction with IASPM-US as well. Even if you are not able to attend, run your eyes through the schedule: popcon2025.sched.com/list/simple. You'll learn about something new, guaranteed! And if you are in the LA area, I hope you'll swing by.

The best line in A Complete Unknown might be "excuse me, Odetta." Wordiest songwriter in human history and the biopic brings us back home to Nathaniel Mackey: "telling inarticulacy."

My 2024 faves: albums and songs. Shuffle away! open.spotify.com/playlist/6kx...

@robinjames.bsky.social got me thinking about this: It's comparing apples and oranges, but the Album of the Year critical list aggregate has Brat with more than twice as many votes as the runner up, a tie between Romance and Cowboy Carter. How unusual is this?

Did CBGB's regularly keep a big image of Eva Tanguay by the stage, as this photo would seem to indicate, or was that the Talking Heads' doing?

Agreed!

I woke early for a Thanksgiving plate of Transa, the massive new Red Hot collection, gleaning lyrics and production details from Genius, Bandcamp, Wiki, Insta. I have cherished spaces like this, of cover songs and collaboration, since the first Red Hot, from Kiki & Herb into the Big Ears Festival.

Thinking on my walk about commercial songs as not so much creating new needs as proving we have needs we can't or won't speak. Thinking about how I first heard Charli XCX inside an Icona Pop hit and didn't know it; wondering if some once heard Huey Smith inside a Frankie Ford hit and didn't know.

Here, I hope, is 90% of a 2024 Top 40 albums list. (Roan, from '23, hit this year.) If your tastes are anything like mine, what else would you suggest? Charli XCX, Brat (and related) MJ Lenderman, Manning Fireworks Doechii, Alligator Bites Never Heal Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter

I somehow hadn't fully registered Dolly P's 1991 "Family" until the new Family album. It's Wainwright-Roches-Thompson caliber: "When it's family, you forgive them For they know not what they do When it's family, you accept them 'Cause you have no choice but to" And goes from there.

If you summarize pop, include all these clusters, including oldies and the shameful lack of indies.

First time in years I listened first on vinyl. Sure as the sun.

Final reminder, proposals are due tomorrow for the Pop Conference meets IASPM-US conference, a chance to talk about style at the edge (as you define that). The joint call is here: iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/CFP We need to gather in person now more than ever.

Bonus book beat!

FYI, the next Popular Music Books in Process event with be on 11/19 at 5:30p (ET). Brian Kane and Daphne Brooks are going to talk about Kane's new book, Hearing Double: Jazz, Ontology, Auditory Culture. Join us!

I think I had better repost this, after the recent influx. Howdy.

Hi to the music writers Benjamin Taussig connected me to earlier today. But I almost only post on Facebook. Remember: Popular Music Books in Process series details live here iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi... and the joint IASPM-US & PopCon call is here: iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/CFP

American Diva by Deborah Paredez ranges from Tina Turner & Rita Moreno to Venus & Serena Williams. She'll discuss it tomorrow (Tue Sep 10) in the Popular Music Books series' new season at 5:30 pm ET, with @annkpowers.bsky.social and Francesca Royster. Info: iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...

Here is the 2024-25 schedule for our music book series, email me to get added to the list (no need if you already are!). iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...

Reminder! Proposals are due August 1 to talk in the 2024-2025 Popular Music Books in Process series about a book you have coming out or one you are working on. iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...

Hey folks, we have a new call out for the Popular Music Books in Process series, care to present your work? Details here, please circulate: iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...

March included Mannequin Pussy, Adrianne Lenker, Beyonce, Tierra Whack, Waxahatchee, Yard Act, Four Tet, Faye Webster, ScHoolboy Q, Kim Gordon, Cakes da Killa, Moor Mother, Empress Of, Ariana Grande, Hannah Frances, MIKE, Kacey Musgraves, 1010benja, Julia Holter, and Sierra Ferrell. Shuffle!

Here is a recording of my Fulbright lecture, Music for Export: Abba, Max Martin, Spotify, and the Swemix of American Pop. Enjoy! media.medfarm.uu.se/play/video/1...

Netflix 3 Body is far better made than Chinese TV’s trudge, but more generic, centering a US-UK idea of drama, losing how the novel and first retake conceived multitude, singularity, alienation. That said, if the guard reading Dhalgren indicates Benioff and Weiss's next elephant ride, go for it!

On Facebook, my main social site, where the word counts are not restricted, I posted a top 40 albums, top 40 songs list. I can share the Spotify link here, I think. open.spotify.com/playlist/0RW...

It is weird to me that poet Steph Burt, whose chapter on indie in the first Pop Con collection still dazzles, whose roundup on 33 1/3 books for Slate was exhaustive, and who tackled Mitski for Robin & me at Journal of Popular Music Studies, is getting talked about like somebody who hates our field.

I wrote about science fiction and music across about 11 books; took a while for American Literary History to publish the thing, but now it's out -- I'll paste an unblocked link in the comments, hope it makes sense. academic.oup.com/alh/article/...

I wrote about protopunk, sort of, for this series of posts on the topic from folks with names like Sante and Lethem, so thank you HiLoBrow for asking. Any Frances Faye anecdotes appreciated. www.hilobrow.com/2023/10/29/s...

It's pub day for Hound Dog. My 33 book thought about Axl re Kurt re the decline of rock and rock criticism. This Singles one is about Thornton v. Presley (plus "Doggie in the Window" and "I Wanna Be Your Dog") re how the battle fought to extend rock via punk became a wider debate around inclusion.

The video of this @thesaramarcus.bsky.social Popular Music Books session is up now on YouTube. If you missed it, don't miss it! (Phrased for maximum evocation of a mysterious sense of loss, apropos to the subject.) youtu.be/AI3o4vaSRf8?...

Our fabulous book series returns tomorrow, Sept 12, 5pm ET, with Sara Marcus! Full schedule at this link. iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Musi...

Hey all, one final reminder to get me your Oxford Handbook of Pop Music chapter proposals ASAP -- I asked for them by Aug 15. Let me know if you need a brief extension. Email me for the full call.

Please propose a session for our Popular Music Books in Process series! Info here: https://iaspm-us.wildapricot.org/Popular-Music-Books-in-Process-Series