This is the Sound of Uncool: Spandau Ballet & the Biopolitics of Cool

So what sorts of practices would or could potentially critique or subvert neoliberalism? I agree with Jason Read’s claim that “a political response to neoliberalism must meet it on its terrain, that of the production of subjectivity, freedom, and possibility”…

A Few Quick Thoughts on “Accidentally Racist”

I just want to briefly weigh in on the “Accidentally Racist” discussion. For those who don’t already know, this is a song by Brad Paisely featuring LL Cool J. The gyst of the song is that Paisely’s white narrator is…

Rihanna's Melancholic Damage

Rihanna’s Melancholic Damage

Here is my looong, unedited, still-in-process post on Rihanna, “Look, I Overcame!” Gaga Feminism, goth damage, and multi-racial white supremacy. Unlike most people who talk about Rihanna, Breezy, feminism, & race, I will actually discuss her MUSIC–chords, compositional and performance…

Ancient Greek & Neoliberal Harmony Pt. 1: Sophrosyne as Proportion

Ancient Greek & Neoliberal Harmony Pt. 1: Sophrosyne as Proportion

It seems like the ancient Greeks are actually kinda neoliberal in some ways. In Disagreement, Ranciere calls consensus democracy “the perfect realization” of Plato’s Republic, and, as Shannon Winnubst notes in her great new article in Foucault Studies(which everyone should…

Scream: On Kelis, Human Capital, & Music

Scream: On Kelis, Human Capital, & Music

Recently, there have been a few EDM-pop songs about screaming: Usher’s “Scream,” will.i.am & Britney’s “Scream & Shout,” and Kelis’s “Scream” (which is older than these former two, but only by a year or two). I’ve written about “Scream &…

Some questions for future research on Jankelevitch, Levinas, & femininity/gender

     I’m tidying up a paper on Jankelevitch, Abbate, musical ineffability, and implicit understanding. In the course of reading Jankelevitch, I came up with a ton of questions about his relationship to Levinas…questions which are waaaay beyond the scope…

Music For Drones: Introduction

[xposted at christian.ryan’s stardotstudio] Drones are trendy. These days, seems like everybody has some use for and/or opinion about them. They’re the subject of a lot of art and literature, too. What if, instead of making art  about drones, we…

The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly On The Plain: On Sound & The Virgin/Whore Dichotomy

Here’s an excerpt from a rough draft of a paper I’m working up for the American Philosophies Forum at Emory in April. The theme of the meeting is “The Ineffable,” so I’m writing on Vladimir Jankelevitch‘s and Carolyn Abbate‘s work…

I'm Teaching Philosophy of Music This Summer

I’m Teaching Philosophy of Music This Summer

Syllabus coming soon. My summer 2013 course in Philosophy of Music is open to both undergrads and grad students from UNCC & elsewhere. Registration opens in a month!Students from outside UNCC: if you can locate yourself in Charlotte for 5 weeks…

A Few Unfinished Thoughts On Usher’s “Numb”

I was originally going to include this as part of an article I’m working for the premier issue of a really awesome Australian journal called Creature. And by really awesome, I mean it’s going to include stuff by Nina Power…