Hangover the Limit: More on neoliberalism as a system of musical organization
I’ve been writing a lot about how the logic of biopolitical neoliberalism manifests in musical practices. For example, here is post about the contrast between classically liberal tonal harmony and contemporary EDM-influenced pop structures. I want to pick up where…
Music Geek-Out #14: Peter Murphy’s “Cuts You Up”
The next two songs in the playlist are my brief, brief nod to pre-90s goth. First is Peter Murphy’s “Cuts You Up,” off is 1990 album Deep. Murphy used to be the singer of iconic 80s goth band Bauhaus, which…
Music Geek-Out # 13: Guided By Voices “I Am a Scientist”
Guided By Voices is a Dayton band, and they were in heavy, heavy rotation on WOXY. I chose this song for two reasons: (1) it’s one of my favorite GBV songs, and (2) in German, “science” or “Wissenshaft” has a…
Is It Ethical To Eat Chick-Fil-A?
Chick-Fil-A has always worn its spiritual and social commitments on its sleeve (or wing). As a recent press-release explains, From the day Truett Cathy started the company, he began applying biblically-based principles to managing his business. For example, we believe…
Music Geek-Out #12: (London) Suede’s “Beautiful Ones”
Wow, I’ve dropped the ball on this series. Sorry! Lots of summer writing, a book proposal to get out, articles to get out, all that jazz. Anyway, this is part of a playlist I did for philoSOPHIA 2012, hosted at…
From New Wave to No Wave #2: New Wave, Same Old Whiteness
This is a continuation from an earlier post. There I discuss Sara Ahmed’s work on the politics of disorientation. In this post, I look at the ways that New Wave’s musical disorientation re-centers conventional accounts of whiteness, specifically, white (men’s)…
Rhythm Nation, Vangelis, and Blade Runner
One day at the gym I was listening to Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 album (an album that I first bought on cassette tape, at a record store in Tri-County Mall, back in the late 80s). The very first track…
My Life Would Suck Without You/Where Have You Been All My Life: Tension-and-Release Structures In Tonal Rock and Non-Tonal EDM-Pop
In this post, I contrast the formal elements in the song and video for Kelly Clarkson’s “My Life Would Suck Without You” with the formal elements in the song and video for Rihanna’s “Where Have You Been All My Life.”…
Recent Comments