I’ve been relatively absent in this space lately, partially because of the year we’ve all just had (and are continuing to have)–and partially because during this year, one of the main things keeping me tethered to any sense of purpose or fulfillment has been the lucky fact that I get to write a book. As … Continue reading BOOK
Lately, all of my energy has been going into finishing my book. But last year around this time, I was also working on an idea called “Big Feelings”, which is an attempt to think about a particular strain, orientation, or tendency that I hear in indie rock after the 2000s period. I was working on … Continue reading BIG FEELINGS (AGAIN)
I do enjoy the ritual of looking back over the year’s best listening. Of the year-end list categories (of which I basically know two: the representative, comprehensive selection vs the reflection of personal listening habits)– this is definitely the latter. As a music scholar, I sometimes have really weird or unbalanced listening habits. For what … Continue reading MY YEAR-END 10 (+)
In Cruel Optimism, Lauren Berlant develops their titular concept as a relationship or attachment to something that is non-trivially detrimental to the subject experiencing that attachment, at the same time that participating in it provides a tether to a sense of identity, belonging, or managing that nothing else available can. For months, the back of … Continue reading CONSPIRACIES AND IDENTITIES
One of the main ways I try to think about the political implications of improvisations is through Rancière. I won’t go into all of it here, but part of what this involves is linking up Rancière’s political thought with affect theory. I do this not only because Rancière’s politics make sense with the kind of … Continue reading RANCIÈRE AND AFFECT
About a month ago, I had another essay published on BLARB. Since then, the world has changed again, and the moment I was writing about feels distant. Still, I’m really happy with how it came out, and thanks again to those of you who have read and shared. In other news, tomorrow I’ll be presenting … Continue reading ESSAY AND CONFERENCE
The bass drum alone is worth the price of admission. That tubby, flabby bonk, produced through a tightly tuned and what I’m assuming is a quite thin drumhead, sounds simultaneously ludicrous and the purest expression of the spirit that animates The Bad Plus. Combined with the metal snare drum, also stunningly resonant, the sound of … Continue reading TUESDAY TUNES: SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY?
I’m giving a lecture on The Ophelias next week for an entire hour. I am really excited about this, not only because I will be able to try out some new ideas for the first time in public, but also because I’ll get to talk about many of my favorite things: feminist rock, music history, … Continue reading BIG FEELINGS, QUEER PHENOMENOLOGY, AND THE OPHELIAS
Circles is breathtaking. Mac Miller’s posthumous release is a concise and devastating statement that both encapsulates his musical vision and attests to developments cut short. As everyone who has commented on this album agrees, it is all but impossible not to read into Circles, to hear Miller sing “There’s a whole lot more for … Continue reading TUESDAY TUNES: CIRCLES
I wrote about postmodernism, neoliberalism, and jazz in a recent review for BLARB. You can read it here. I really enjoyed working on that review, and have decided to keep up doing them on this blog. I’ll post short reviews here periodically, starting next Tuesday.1 This spring, I’ll be presenting early research on feminist indie … Continue reading BRIEF UPDATE AND TUESDAY TUNES
