New Media Ecologies of World Music

Tomorrow, bright and early, I’ll be joining a panel of several esteemed colleagues to talk about “new media ecologies of world music” at the annual meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology, which is taking place at the Wilshire Grand hotel in downtown Los Angeles. If you’re in the area and up for getting up so […]

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The Journal of Popular Music Studies, and Me, and You

I’m happy to announce that I recently joined the team of associate editors at JPMS, or the Journal for Popular Music Studies, which is the quarterly publishing venue of IASPM-US, or the United States branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music. Now that I’ve got that mouthful out, let me tell […]

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Dystropical Livity

Lamin Fofana, who recently released an excellent EP, has collaborated with Erik Marika-Rich on a video for one of the tracks, “Happy 2010 // Dark Days Are Coming.” It’s a dramatic and harrowing interpretation of Lamin’s suggestive abstractions. Bloops and bleeps offering blank spaces to be filled — Lamin Fofana, “Happy 2010 // Dark Days […]

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A Tale of Two T-Shirts

As sported/spotted in Global Reggae class last week — Jury’s still out on who that guy with the dreadlocks is. My student assumed it was Bob Marley. Now he knows better.

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A Whole Nu World?

Last week a daily newspaper from Abu Dhabi, The National, published a piece I wrote about “nu world” music under the title “Sounds of the wide, wired world” (29 Oct 2010). As usual, while I think my editor — here, the mighty Dave Stelfox — did an utterly admirable job of making my prolix prose […]

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See What Deh?

How is it that it took until this past weekend for me to stumble upon* this utterly bizarre, Bill Laswell-produced, hip-hop-infused 1987 version of “Boops” by Sly and Robbie? Be sure to watch at least up to the eskimo kiss and cello duet — *thx to DJ C for a fun-filled afternoon of random riddim […]

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