I will be participating in a panel with Emily Baker, Ian Biddle and Freya Jarman at the EMP Pop Conference in Seattle. Our panel is on Sunday 17 April and my paper is entitled 'A Blank Space Where You Write Your Name: Taylor Swift’s Early Late Voice'. Abstract below. Taylor Swift’s songs invite listeners to… Continue reading Upcoming presentation: ‘A Blank Space Where You Write Your Name’
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Thoughts on Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard has died. In a year already rife with notable deaths in the music industry, I felt this one deeply, for reasons both objective and subjective. Objectively, Haggard was a colossal figure in country music, as a singer, songwriter, hitmaker and soundmaker (by which I mean there is particular country sound that is distinctive… Continue reading Thoughts on Merle Haggard
New essay on Robert Wyatt published
My essay ‘“Words Take the Place of Meaning”: Sound, Sense and Politics in the Music of Robert Wyatt’ has been published in The Singer-Songwriter in Europe: Paradigms, Politics and Place, edited by Isabelle Marc and Stuart Green (Routledge). ABSTRACT: When we speak of singer-songwriters we tend to consider voice as both literary tool and musical… Continue reading New essay on Robert Wyatt published
New article on Van Morrison published
My article 'My Tongue Gets t-t-t-: Words, Sense, and Vocal Presence in Van Morrison’s It’s Too Late to Stop Now' has been published in a special issue of the journal Twentieth-Century Music on 'Voice'. ABSTRACT: Van Morrison’s live version of his song ‘Cyprus Avenue’ on the 1974 album It’s Too Late to Stop Now provides… Continue reading New article on Van Morrison published
Upcoming presentation: Be-bop-sh-boom-a-langa-langa-doo-wop: Pop’s Love of Nonsense
I will be presenting my current research at the University of York on Wednesday 27 January as part of the Music Department's research seminar series. My talk is entitled 'Be-bop-sh-boom-a-langa-langa-doo-wop: Pop’s Love of Nonsense' and it relates to my current research project 'The Sound of Nonsense'. Abstract below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gc4QTqslN4 In this paper I explore popular… Continue reading Upcoming presentation: Be-bop-sh-boom-a-langa-langa-doo-wop: Pop’s Love of Nonsense
New article on Patti Smith published
My essay 'Words from the New World: Adventure and Memory in Patti Smith’s Late Voice’ has been published in the book Patti Smith: Outside, edited by Claude Chastagner (Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée, 2015). ABSTRACT: Patti Smith’s late work is invariably connected by critics and fans to the work of her ‘classic’ era (the 1970s… Continue reading New article on Patti Smith published
Upcoming presentation: ‘All You See Is Glory’: The Burden of Stardom and the Tragedy of Nina Simone
I will be presenting a paper at the IASPM Australia New Zealand Branch Conference at the Australian National University, Canberra, on 5 December. My paper is entitled '"All You See Is Glory": The Burden of Stardom and the Tragedy of Nina Simone' and the abstract is below. Although most often remembered as an icon of… Continue reading Upcoming presentation: ‘All You See Is Glory’: The Burden of Stardom and the Tragedy of Nina Simone
‘Pop pollution’ as ‘pornography’? I can’t even
Last week, the philosopher Roger Scruton used a 10-minute talk on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Point of View’ programme to rail, once more, against popular culture. His talk, entitled ‘The Tyranny of Pop’, attacked what he sees as the denigration of culture, social interaction and education by the ‘banal melodies’, ‘mechanical rhythms’ and general ubiquity of… Continue reading ‘Pop pollution’ as ‘pornography’? I can’t even
New book: The Late Voice
This week sees the publication of my third book, The Late Voice: Time, Age and Experience in Popular Music. The book is being published by Bloomsbury Academic initially in a hardback edition. A cheaper paperback edition will be published at a later date. From the book's blurb: "Popular music artists, as performers in the public… Continue reading New book: The Late Voice
Upcoming presentation: ‘Excavating “Coimbra”: Genealogy, Nostalgia, and the Material Life of a Portuguese popular song’
I will be presenting a paper at the 18th biennial IASPM conference in Campinas, Brazil, on 30 June. My paper is entitled 'Excavating "Coimbra": Genealogy, Nostalgia, and the Material Life of a Portuguese popular song' and the abstract is below. This paper uses the story of a particular song, the Portuguese fado ‘Coimbra’, as a… Continue reading Upcoming presentation: ‘Excavating “Coimbra”: Genealogy, Nostalgia, and the Material Life of a Portuguese popular song’
Late Voice 