IASPM-Canada Presents: New Year, New Research

REGISTER HERE!

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This online seminar features talks and discussions by some of our IASPM-Canada members, highlighting their recent publications and research. This includes our 2020 IASPM-Canada article/chapter prize winner, Vanessa Tremblay, and our 2020 IASPM-Canada book prize winner, Kyle Devine. Come hear about their work, the organisation, and join in on the discussion through the Q&A following each set of speakers. Everyone welcome!

Speakers:

• Vanessa Tremblay (Université du Québec à Montréal) makes visible the vital contributions of jazz history’s “badass mothers,” women whose commitment to care-giving opened paths to influencing and sustaining vital jazz traditions, contributions that have been largely unseen in jazz scholarship.

• Kyle Devine (University of Oslo) and Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier (University of Victoria) discuss their upcoming edited collection, Audible Infrastructures , revealing the systems and structures on which music and sound depend. Their work encourages innovative interdisciplinary approaches at the intersections of anthropology, sound studies, and musicology.

• Charity Marsh (University of Regina) and Mark Campbell (University of Toronto) discuss their new edited collection, We Still Here: Hip Hop North of the 49th Parallel, which documents the diversity of experiences in creating hip hop in Canada. The book highlights, in particular, issues of gender, identity and power in relationship to the Black diaspora and Indigenous communities.

Contact: iaspmcanada@gmail.com

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Ce séminaire en ligne rassemble des présentations et des discussions de membres d’IASPM-Canada, mettant en évidence leurs publications et recherches récentes. Parmi ceux-ci, notons la présence de notre gagnante du prix article/chapitre IASPM-Canada 2020, Vanessa Tremblay, et notre lauréat du prix livre IASPM-Canada 2020, Kyle Devine. Venez discuter avec elles et eux de leur travail, de l’organisation, et participer aux périodes de questions qui suivront chaque série de conférenciers. Bienvenue à toutes et tous !

Conférencières, conférenciers :

• Vanessa Tremblay (Université du Québec à Montréal) rend visible l’importante contribution des « mères badass » de l’histoire du jazz, des femmes dont l’engagement envers les soins a ouvert la voie à l’influence et au maintien de traditions jazz vitales, contributions qui ont été largement invisibles dans le domaine du jazz.

• Kyle Devine (Université d’Oslo) et Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier (Université de Victoria) discutent de leur prochaine publication, Audible Infrastructures, révélant les systèmes et les infrastructures dont dépendent la musique et le son. Leurs travaux encouragent des approches interdisciplinaires innovantes aux intersections de l’anthropologie, des études sonores et de la musicologie.

• Charity Marsh (Université de Regina) et Mark Campbell (Université de Toronto) discutent de leur nouvelle publication, We Still Here : Hip Hop North of the 49th Parallel, qui documente la diversité des expériences de création de hip-hop au Canada. Plus particulièrement, le livre met en évidence les questions de genre, d’identité et de pouvoir en relation avec la diaspora noire et les communautés autochtones.

Contact : iaspmcanada@gmail.com

Call for Nominations: 2021 IASPM-Canada Book Prize / Appel à nomination: 2021 Prix du livre IASPM-Canada

Deadline/Date limite: 1 April 2021

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Appel à nomination pour le Prix du livre IASPM-Canada (2021)
La branche canadienne de l'Association internationale des études en musique populaire (IASPM-Canada) lance son appel à nominations pour le Prix de la meilleure monographie publiée par un membre faisant une contribution importante à l’étude de la musique populaire. Pour être éligible, celle-ci doit avoir été écrite par une auteure canadienne, un auteur canadien, publiée par une maison d’édition canadienne ou doit traiter d’une thématique pertinente au contexte canadien. Les recueils d'articles ne sont pas éligibles. Les ouvrages en nomination pour le Prix de la meilleur monographie IASPM-Canada doivent avoir été publiés en 2019 ou 2020.

Tous les membres en règles de l'IASPM-Canada, incluant les membres du comité, peuvent mettre en nomination un ouvrage. Les membres de l'association peuvent mettre en nomination leur propre ouvrage. L’association encourage également les maisons d’édition à suggérer des titres pour considération, mais seuls les membres en règle peuvent proposer des mises en nomination au comité.

La date limite pour les mises en nomination est le 1 avril 2020. Les mises en nomination doivent inclure le nom de l'auteure, de l’auteur, le titre de l’ouvrage, de même que les informations relatives à la maison d’édition. Les mises en nomination doivent être envoyées par courriel au coordonnateur des prix de l’association, Steven Baur (steven.baur@dal.ca). Le comité dévoilera le titre de l’ouvrage gagnant lors de l'assemblée annuelle d'IASPM-Canada en 2021 (du 7 au 18 juin).

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Call for Nominations, IASPM-Canada Book Prize (2021)

The International Association for the Study of Popular Music-Canada Branch (IASPM-Canada) requests nominations for the IASPM-Canada Book Prize, which recognizes a member whose published monograph makes a substantial contribution to the field of popular music studies, has been written by a Canadian author, or published by a Canadian-based press, or that deals substantially with Canadian subject matter. Nominated books must have been published in 2019 or 2020.

Any member in good standing of IASPM-Canada may nominate a book; members may nominate their own books, prize committee members may nominate books, and we encourage publishers to suggest books for consideration, but only IASPM-Canada members in good standing may submit nominations to the committee.

The deadline for nominations is April 1, 2021. Nominations should include the author’s name, book title, and publisher’s information. Nominations should be sent electronically to Steven Baur (steven.baur@dal.ca). The award committee will announce the winner at the 2021 IASPM-Canada meeting to be held virtually from June 7-18.

IASPM Monthly Online Research Seminar: Matt Brennan

Please join us for the first talk in the IASPM Monthly Online Research Seminar series, featuring Dr. Matt Brennan. This event is presented by the International Association for the Study of Popular music, in conjunction with the IASPM-Canada branch.

Matt Brennan (University of Glasgow) will be discussing his new book, Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (2020), exploring the role of the drum kit in the development of popular music, alongside broader socio-cultural histories in the United States. Don’t miss this entertaining and informative talk!

Register for free on Eventbrite. Book your spot here.

Event contact: iaspmcanada@gmailcom

Register here.

IASPM Canada Article/Chapter Prize: 2020

Congratulations to Vanessa Blais-Tremblay on her award-winning article!

Vanessa Blais-Tremblay. (2019) “Where You Are Accepted, You Blossom: Toward Care Ethics in Jazz Historiography,” Jazz and Culture, vol.2: 59 - 83.

Committee members/Comité des prix: Alyssa Woods, Chris McDonald, and Steven Baur (Chair)

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Committee comments: The 2020 IASPM-Canada Article/Chapter Prize goes to Vanessa Blais-Tremblay for her article “Where You Are Accepted, You Blossom: Toward Care Ethics in Jazz Historiography,” published in the journal Jazz and Culture.

Blais-Tremblay exposes exclusionary discourses in jazz history and criticism that have understood motherhood and care-giving as incompatible with excellence in jazz performance and creation. She carefully theorizes an aesthetic grounded in care-ethics that makes visible the vital contributions of jazz history’s “badass mothers,” women whose commitment to care-giving opened paths to influencing and sustaining vital jazz traditions, contributions that have been largely unseen in jazz scholarship.

Employing feminist scholarship and critical race theory, Blais-Tremblay interprets oral histories to deconstruct the binary of “invisibility or exceptionalism” that has heretofore excluded or contained women in jazz historiography.

Her use of the concept of motherwork as a way for understanding personal and musical mentorship in African-American and African-Canadian communities is both original and illuminating, as is her application of the idea of blood-mother and other-mothers in those communities. The prize committee appreciated in particular Blais-Tremblay’s perceptive handling of an “awkward” archival interview with Daisy Peterson Sweeney, using this “failed” interaction with a journalist to tease out important and revealing tensions around race, class and gender. Her sensitive and insightful treatments of the life histories studied here challenge contemporary norms in feminist discourse and underscore how this work contributes productively to feminist scholarship and jazz history, with ramifications that resound well beyond both.

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Commentaires: Le prix d’article/chapitre de l’IASPM-Canada 2020 est remis à Vanessa Blais-Tremblay pour son article « When You Are Accepted, You Blossom : Toward Care Ethics in Jazz Historiography », paru dans la revue Jazz and Culture.

Dans son article, Blais-Tremblay expose les discours d’exclusion au sein de l’historiographie du jazz qui présentent la maternité et le travail du care comme incompatibles avec l’excellence en performance et création jazz. Elle met de l’avant une théorie esthétique fondée sur l’éthique du care, qui rend visible les contributions essentielles des mères « badass » dans l’histoire du jazz ainsi que la manière dont le travail de care a pu soutenir et influencer d’importantes traditions du jazz. Ces contributions demeurent inédites dans l’étude du jazz.

Blais-Tremblay fait usage de théories féministes et de la critical race theory afin d’interpréter des récits oraux et de déconstruire la polarité « invisibilité/exceptionnalisme » qui a jusqu’ici exclu ou confiné les femmes dans l’historiographie jazz.

Son usage du concept de « motherwork » afin de comprendre le mentorat personnel et musical au sein des communautés Noires est original et édifiant, similaire à son application de l’idée de « blood-mother » et « other-mothers » dans ces mêmes communautés. Le comité de prix a particulièrement apprécié la manière dont Blais-Tremblay a géré une entrevue archivistique inconfortable avec Daisy Peterson Sweeney, utilisant une interaction problématique avec une journaliste pour révéler d’importantes tensions entourant les notions de race, de classe et de genre. Son traitement sensible et éclairé des histoires qu’elle a étudiées conteste les normes contemporaines du discours féministe et contribue de manière significative aux études féministes et à l’histoire du jazz, avec des répercussions allant au-delà de ces deux disciplines.

IASPM Canada Book Prize: 2020

Congratulations to Kyle Devine on his award-winning book, Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music

Kyle Devine, Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music. MIT Press, 2019.

Book prize committee members/Comité des prix: Annie Randall, Craig Jennex, and Steven Baur (Chair)

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Committee comments: The 2020 IASPM-Canada book prize goes to Kyle Devine for Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music, a well-researched, timely, and beautifully written monograph published by the MIT Press. Devine encourages us to rethink widespread notions of the music industry and parse the numerous industries related to music production.

This book is organized around three main body chapters: “Shellac (1900-1950),” “Plastic (1950-2000),” and “Data (2000-Now),” each of which is insightful, engaging and provocative. In his particularly illuminating chapter on data and contemporary modes of music production, dissemination, and consumption, Devine makes clear that digitization does not equal dematerialization or democratization. The reality, he reminds us in this chapter and throughout the book, is profoundly more complicated than we might assume.

In each chapter, Devine shows how political ecology underlies and animates our experiences with music. Music, Devine reminds us, can be a beautiful and collectivizing experience—it can spark our imagination and our desire for a better, more just world. But music is also regularly the opposite of this: it can be brutal and it can brutalize—the myriad industries that make musical listening possible for us often rely on practices that are harmful to marginalized communities, their local environments, and the environment in a broader, more capacious sense. Attending to the political ecology of music brings these tensions to the foreground. “If unrelenting processes of industrialization, consumption, and waste have strained our planet and its people to the point of crisis,” Devine writes, “then music is part of the problem” (38).

Devine’s call for a “musicology without music” is more nuanced and complicated than that phrase might suggest. He implores us to expand our attention to the broader domains, industries, and forms of labour that make possible our experiences of musical listening. Devine’s writing is simultaneously serious and playful. Through his recounting of research travels to vinyl factories in Asia and record pressing plants in the United States, the reader becomes an engaged participant following a skilled detective on a case. The inclusion of well-chosen photographs and maps provide compelling visual and textual evidence in support of Devine’s arguments and regularly remind us of the importance of the overarching questions that he tackles in this powerful, impeccably-researched book.

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Commentaires: Le prix littéraire 2020 de l’IASPM-Canada est remis à Kyle Devine pour Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music, une monographie recherchée, actuelle et d’une écriture remarquable qui a été publiée par MIT Press. Devine nous invite à repenser plusieurs notions répandues sur l’ industrie de la musique et de distinguer le grand nombre d’industries qui ont plusieurs liens avec la musique.

Cet ouvrage est organisé en trois chapitres principaux : « Shellac (1900-1950) », « Plastic (1950-2000) » et « Data (2000-Now) », qui sont éclairés, intéressants et provocateurs. Dans son chapitre sur les données et les modes contemporains de production, de diffusion et de consommation musicale, Devine explique clairement que la numérisation ne correspond pas à la dématérialisation ou la démocratisation. En fait, comme il l’explique dans ce chapitre et à travers son livre, la réalité est beaucoup plus compliquée que ce que l’on pourrait penser.

Dans chaque chapitre, Devine démontre comment l’écologie politique sous-tend et anime nos expériences avec la musique. La musique, Devine explique, peut-être une expérience magnifique et collectivisée, elle peut stimuler notre imagination et notre désir d'un monde meilleur et juste. Toutefois, la musique peut aussi être à l’opposé de tout cela : elle peut être brutale et peut brutaliser. Le grand nombre d’industries qui nous permet d’écouter de la musique reposent souvent sur des pratiques qui sont néfastes pour des communautés marginalisées, leur environnement local, et l’environnement dans un sens plus large. Porter attention à l’écologie politique de la musique nous permet de mettre ces tensions de l’avant. « Si le processus acharné d’industrialisation, de consommation et de production de déchets a mis notre planète et ses habitants en situation de crise », explique Devine, « alors la musique fait aussi partie du problème » (38).

Sa demande d’une « musicologie sans musique » est plus nuancée et compliquée que ce que cette phrase pourrait laisser entendre. Il implore que l’on porte plus d’attention aux domaines, industries et formes de travail qui rendent possible notre expérience d’écoute musicale. Devine écrit d’une manière autant sérieuse qu’amusante. Dans sa manière de relater ses voyages de recherche à des usines de vinyles en Asie et à des usines de pressage de disques aux États-Unis, il permet au lecteur de devenir un participant engagé suivant un détective expérimenté au travail. L’inclusion de photos et de cartes géographiques offre un excellent support visuel et textuel qui renforce l’argument de Devine et nous rappelle régulièrement l’importance de la question centrale à laquelle il s’attaque dans ce livre puissant et bien recherché.

IASPM Canada 2020 Conference POSTPONED

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Dear IASPM Canada members,

CONFERENCE POSTPONED

As we enter into a phase of great uncertainty due to COVID-19, and following discussions with the IASPM Executive and Conference planning team, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the IASPM Canada 2020 conference in Cape Breton.

The IASPM Canada “Big Sounds from Small Places” 2020 conference was meant to be held 12 – 14 June 2020, but we will instead be meeting in Cape Breton in 2021 (dates to be confirmed), with the same theme. We will be re-circulating the CFP in early 2021, but those whose papers were already accepted will be offered a space in the programme without re-submission, should they wish. More information to follow!

The pre-conference workshop that was to be held 11 June 2020 is also cancelled and will be rescheduled for next year.

AGM – NOW VIRTUAL!

We will still be holding the 2020 AGM by moving it to a virtual platform. The AGM will occur on 12 June 2021 at 13:00 EST. A link to the meeting will be circulated closer to this date.

BOOK/PAPER/CHAPTER PRIZES

The Peter Narvaez 2020 book prize will still be awarded, as well as the article/chapter prize. Please submit nominations to Steven Baur (steven.baur@dal.ca) by 15 April 2020. The graduate student paper prizes will be postponed to 2021 whereby we will offer two English-language and two French-language prizes.

APOLOGIES

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this postponement may cause. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require further proof of conference cancellation in order to refund flights/accommodation.

Thank you for your understanding, and we hope to welcome you to Cape Breton in 2021!

Best regards,

Melissa Avdeeff (on behalf of the programming and executive committees)

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Chers membres de l’IASPM Canada,

CONFÉRENCE REPORTÉ

Considérant la période d’incertitudes à laquelle nous faisons face due au COVID-19 et après avoir discuté avec l’exécutif de l’IASPM ainsi que l’équipe d’organisation pour la conférence, nous avons pris la décision difficile de reporter la conférence de 2020 à Cape Breton.

La conférence de l’IASPM Canada 2020 « Des grands sons venant de petits lieux » qui devait avoir lieu du 12-14 juin 2020 est reporté à Cape Breton en 2021 (dates à venir). Le thème de la conférence demeure le même. Nous ferons circuler l’appel à communication en début 2021. S’ils le souhaitent, les individus qui devaient présenter à la conférence feront toujours partis du programme en 2021 sans avoir à renvoyer une soumission. Des informations supplémentaires suivront.

L’atelier pré-conférence qui devait avoir lieu le 11 juin 2020 est aussi annulée et est reporté à l’année prochaine.

AGA-MAINTENANT VIRTUEL!

L’AGA de 2020 aura lieu via une plateforme virtuelle. L’AGA se tiendra le 12 juin 2020 à 13 :00 EST. Nous ferons parvenir un lien pour participer à l’AGA avant le 12 juin.

PRIX DE LIVRE/CHAPITRE/ARTICLE

Le prix du livre Peter Narvaez 2020 ainsi que le prix pour un article/chapitre seront accordés. N’oubliez pas de soumettre vos candidatures d’ici le 15 avril 2020 à Steven Baur (steven.baur@dal.ca).  Le prix pour l’article par un étudiant gradué et reporté en 2021. Deux prix pour articles en langue française et deux prix pour articles en langue anglaise seront alors remis.

EXCUSES

Nous nous excusons sincèrement des inconvénients que peuvent engager l’ajournement de la conférence. N’hésitez surtout pas à nous contacter si vous avez besoin de preuve concernant l’annulation de la conférence afin de rembourser vos vols/hébergements.

Nous vous remercions de votre compréhension et nous espérons vous voir à Cape Breton en 2021 !

Au plaisir,

Melissa Avdeeff (au nom des comités de programme et de l’exécutif) 

IASPM Canada Book Prize: 2019

Congratulations to Matt Brennan on his award-winning book!

Matt Brennan (left) with Prize Committee Chair Steven Baur (right) at the IASPM Canada 2019 Conference.

Book prize committee members / Comité: Norma Coates, Serge Lacasse, Steven Baur.

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Matt Brennan, When Genres Collide: Down Beat, Rolling Stone, and the Struggle between Jazz and Rock. Bloomsbury, 2017.

Committee comments: In this beautifully written and impeccably researched monograph, Brennan re-examines the paradoxical relationship between jazz and rock, genres with much in common in terms of musical language, cultural meanings, and social impact, but largely treated as wholly separate entities in both the journalistic and scholarly literature. Brennan effectively surveys, analyzes, and interprets the critical literature surrounding each genre, and engages with a wide range of popular music scholarship to challenge the conventional wisdom and deconstruct the mythologies regarding jazz and rock and the ruptures and boundaries separating them. Importantly, Brennan foregrounds the contributions of Ruth Cage, a pioneering journalist, heretofore largely overlooked, whom Brennan provocatively yet persuasively nominates as the first rock critic. By highlighting the continuities and recurring themes in the discourses surrounding 1930s swing, 1950s rock and roll, and 1960s rock, Brennan provides a more nuanced account of these major developments in 20th-century popular music than has previously existed, and he demonstrates the value of genre-centric approaches to popular music history. As Brennan illustrates the contentious and extensively argued debates concerning the relative merits of jazz and rock tell us less about either genre than they do about how musical values and categories are socially constructed. With its insightful analysis of a vast body of journalistic writing and its deep grounding in contemporary popular music studies, Brennan’s book provides an excellent model for further historical work in the field.

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Commentaires: Dans sa monographie magnifiquement écrite et recherchée, Brennan examine à nouveau les relations paradoxales entre le jazz et le rock, deux genres qui ont beaucoup de similarités en termes de langage musical, signification culturelle et impact social, mais qui sont traités comme deux entités entièrement différentes à la fois dans la littérature journalistique et savante. Brennan étudie, analyse et interprète de manière efficace la littérature relative à chacun de ces deux genres et s’intéresse à une multitude d’études en musique populaire pour défier les pratiques conventionnelles et défaire les mythologies liées au jazz et au rock ainsi qu’aux limites et ruptures qui les séparent. De manière plus importante, Brennan met de l’avant les contributions de Ruth Cage, une journaliste innovatrice, jusqu’à présent négligée, que Brennan nomme, de manière provocatrice, mais convaincante, comme étant la première critique du rock. En soulignant les thèmes récurrents du discours entourant le swing des années 1930, le rock and roll des années 1950 et le rock des années 1960, Brennan offre un compte rendu plus nuancé des développements majeurs dans la musique populaire du 20e siècle que ce qui a été fait avant, tout en démontrant la valeur des approches centrées sur un genre dans l’étude de l’histoire de la musique populaire. Brennan illustre comment les débats litigieux et fortement argumentés sur les mérites du jazz et du rock and roll en disent moins sur les genres eux-mêmes que sur les constructions sociales que sont en fait la valeur et les catégories musicales. Doté d’une analyse révélatrice, d’un grand nombre d’écrits journalistiques ainsi qu’une base solide en étude de musique populaire, l’ouvrage de Brennan est un excellent modèle pour les recherches historiques à venir dans le domaine.

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Peter Narvaez Student Paper Prizes: 2019

Congratulations to our 2019 student paper prizes winners!

Prize Committee members: Laura Risk, Christina Baade, Steven Baur

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French follows.

Winner, English: Elise Imray Papineau

Paper title: “Punk, Politics, and Piety: Bridging the Gap between Conservative Islam and Punk Practice in Java, Indonesia”

Committee comments: Using rich ethnographic fieldwork beautifully situated within a well-established social, historical, and cultural context, Papineau weaves a highly original and convincing argument that calls into question standard ethnocentric understandings of punk. She traces how punk music in Java has transitioned from a vehicle for political protest to a platform for pious practices, thereby reconsidering punk as tool capable of bridging gaps rather than merely exacerbating them. Furthermore, she demonstrates how elements of the sacred and profane became enmeshed with neoliberalist principles and consumer culture to highlight the creative agency among Java’s punks. In so doing she challenges us to rethink canonic concepts in cultural studies.

Winner, French: Louise Barrière

Paper title: “De la Walpurgisnacht aux festivals punk-féministes : musique, militantisme et transferts culturels”

Committee comments: With an impressive combination of historical research and ethnography, Barriere puts forward a nuanced argument establishing compelling connections between feminist collective mobilizations in the 1970s and present-day punk-feminist festivals. With evocative and engaging prose, Barriere combines feminist studies, queer studies, and scholarship on punk, as well as more recent work in the emerging field of Night Studies, to demonstrate that the boundaries between 2nd- and 3rd-wave feminism are less rigid than has commonly been understood. In so doing, she illuminates the musical, rhetorical, and collectivist strategies by which female and queer activists have worked to “take back the night.”  Congratulations Louise.

Honourable Mention: Claire McLeish

Paper Title: “All Samples Cleared: Hip-hop Sampling Aesthetics and the Legacy of Grand Upright v. Warner”

Committee Comments: McLeish provides a detailed corpus study of over 300 songs from between 1988 and 1993 to illuminate the ramifications of the landmark Grand Upright versus Warner copyright case on sampling practices in hop-hop. She clearly lays out the evidence to challenge the common view that the Grand Upright decision had a catastrophic impact on hip-hop, and she ably foregrounds the resilience, creativity, and versatility with which hip-hop artists responded to the symbolic violence of copyright lawsuits.

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Gagnant.e, Anglais: Elise Imray Papineau

Titre: « Punk Politics, and Piety: Bridging the Gap between Conservative Islam and Punk Practice in Java, Indonesia »

Commentaires: À l’aide d’un travail de terrain riche situé dans un magnifique contexte social, historique et culturel, Papineau dresse un argument très original et convaincant qui remet en question les conceptions ethnocentriques typiques du punk. Elle décrit comment la musique punk à Java est passée d’un véhicule de protestations politiques à une plateforme pour les pratiques pieuses, permettant ainsi de reconsidérer le punk cette fois comme un outil qui permet de diminuer les écarts au lieu de les aggraver. Par ailleurs, elle démontre comment certains éléments sacrés et profanes se sont entremêlés avec des principes de néolibéralisme et de culture de consommation afin de souligner les relations créatives entre les punks de Java. Ce faisant, elle provoque l’élaboration de nouvelles pensées relatives aux concepts canoniques des études culturelles.

Gagnant.e, Français: Louise Barrière

Titre: « De la Walpurgisnacht aux festivals punk-féministes : musique, militantisme et transferts culturels »

Commentaires: Usant d’une impressionnante combinaison de recherche historique et ethnographique Barrière met de l’avant un argument nuancé qui permet d’établir des connexions convaincantes entre les mobilisations féministes collectives des années 1970 et les festivals féministes-punk d’aujourd’hui. À l’aide d’une prose évocatrice et engageante Barrière arrive à combiner études féministes, études queers et recherches sur le punk en plus de travail plus récent dans le domaine émergent des Night Studies, pour démontrer que les frontières entre les 2e et 3e vagues de féminisme ne sont pas aussi rigides qu’il a été pensé autrefois. De cette manière, elle souligne les stratégies musicales, rhétoriques et collectivistes utilisées par les militantes femmes et queer qui tentent de se « réapproprier la nuit ». Félicitations Louise.

Mention Honorable: Clair McLeish

Titre: « All Samples Cleared: Hip-hop Sampling Aesthetics and the Legacy of Grand Upright v. Warner »

Commentaires: McLeish offre une analyse détaillée de plus de 300 chansons allant de 1988 à 1993 afin de souligner les répercussions liées au procès Grand Upright versus Warner sur les droits d’auteurs dans la pratique hip-hop du sampling. Elle présente de façon claire des preuves qui contestent la conception populaire que la décision du Grand Upright ait eu un impact catastrophique sur le hip-hop, et illustre de façon habile la résilience, la créativité et la versatilité des artistes de hip-hop pour répondre à la violence symbolique des procès sur les droits d’auteurs.

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IASPM/CSTM 2019 Joint Conference: Reports

The 2019 joint IASPM Canada conference, Legacies and Prospects: The Pasts and Futures of Popular Music, took place in Montréal from May 24th - 26th. Isobel Leblanc and Maxim Bonin provide one-day reports.

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First day at IASPM/CSTM joint conference

Isobel Leblanc, McGill University

What does it mean to discuss music in its relation to the past and the future? An ethno/musicologist perspective will always tie music to its historical context, but sometimes at the expense of considering current and future issues. Yet despite the suggested polarity of the conference title, paper topics were situated distinctly in the present.

One of the ways this outlook manifested itself was in the present-day social issues connected to musicological research. In particular, histories of racial prejudice and oppression offered a critical lens for approaches to cultural interactions in the context of contemporary field work. Jeff Packman, in his keynote talk, observed the internalization of prejudicial attitudes toward Bahian music in Brazil. Directly relating these attitudes to local political affairs demonstrated the relevance and implications ethnomusicology has for society. It was complete immersion in the culture, moderated by a degree of detachment that allowed the researcher to maintain a critical distance. The next step would be explicitly situating racism in the historical context of colonial encounters. More explicitly, a paper by Matthew DelCiampo called out racial attitudes closer to home, revealing how the statement “no more rappers” at a ranch listening party implies that Black music does not belong in rural areas (which are appropriated as white spaces).

In many cases, the music itself seeks to correct injustices by critiquing racial oppression and prejudice in its thematic content and musical characteristics. Daniel Akira Stadnicki illustrated how Baha’is around the world are shaping their identities to musical representations of ongoing religious persecution, simultaneously advocating against prejudice of any kind. Maddy Warlow presented her research on how Kendrick Lamar is disrupting African American stereotypes through coding and signification in his lyrics. Gale Franklin reconsiders the conception of the “Good Muslim” in Taqwacore, which protests Islamophobia through punk culture. Where social justice oriented views leaned towards idealism, the question periods gave space for critical conversations which challenged any potential oversight. In a talk addressing Drake’s treatment of strength, disruption, and pride in his lyrics, the idea of Drake as a voice for the community was challenged by a Torontonian listener, who shared anecdotes suggesting the opposite, thereby adding nuance to the discourse.

The presentations came alive through these discussions, and sometimes through creative strategies. Following Aurélie Thériault Brillon’s lively performance of a piece of classical and tradition Quebecoise violin side by side, a vibrant conversation emerged about authenticity, the language surrounding that discourse in the press and in academic circles alike, and the relevance of such conversations in relation to hybridization of genres. The spirit associated with live music was infused between panels, when local musicians played during the breaks. Within the context of a CSTM/IASPM conference, the participants could reflect on the ideas raised and appreciate the live music in a new light. In this way, the topics and issues addressed were not only related to legacies and prospects, but are united with the present.

Isobel LeBlanc is a student at McGill’s Schulich School of Music completing degrees in music and education. Outside of class, Isobel volunteers through community building activities, acts as musical director of Soulstice A Cappella, and teaches music in a variety of settings. She hopes to incorporate social and historical perspectives of music in such spaces to better understand and address social issues. 

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Ma journée au colloque en 6 leçons, un récit anecdotique

Maxim Bonin, UQAM

De Taylor Swift au Riot Grrrl, les études sur la musique populaire offrent un prisme d’analyse pour explorer les phénomènes sociaux qui animent nos sociétés contemporaines. En 6 leçons, je vous présente ici un résumé anecdotique de ma journée du 25 mai au congrès 2019 de l’Association internationale des études sur la musique populaire.

Leçon 1: Taylor Swift n’est pas dans une bonne position

Taylor Swift a parcouru le globe avec sa dernière tournée internationale The Reputation Stadium Tour. Justement, qu’en est-il de la réputation de Swift? C’est ce qu’a exploré Gina Arnold (University of San Francisco) en affirmant qu’une mauvaise réputation n’est pas moralement acceptable pour une femme. Son récent conflit largement médiatisé avec sa rivale Katy Perry, pousserait Swift vers une quête constante de l’appréciation de ses fans et d’un public plus large pour redorer son image. Mauvaise réputation: mauvaise position? Selon Mary Fogarty (York University) la position corporelle de Swift en dirait long sur la carrière de la chanteuse. Voilà une prémisse originale d’un projet de recherche en développement qui remet au centre de l’analyse la présence et le rôle du corps en musique populaire.

Leçon 2: Le Battle rap n’est plus un boys club

Détrompez-vous le battle rap n’est plus un boys club et c’est bien tant mieux! Selon Sean Robertson-Palmer (York University), ces événements de combats de mots et de rythmes sont des espaces d’expression féministe au sein desquelles les artistes et les fans participent à une co-création de cette forme culturelle grâce entre autres aux échanges rendus possibles par les plateformes numériques. Une thèse en devenir qui remet en perspective les enjeux relatifs à l’intégration et à la participation de la femme au sein d’une scène musicale dominée par les hommes.

Leçon 3: Le hipster est mort, vive le hipster

Vous êtes retourné.e.s récemment à Williamsburg (Brooklyn)? Vous avez remarqué les tours à condos qui se dressent fièrement autour de l’anciennement très hip Bedford Avenue? En s’appuyant sur une articulation de la théorie de l’affect, Alican Koc (McGill University) explore la transition de la subculture hipster au cours des dernières années vers un mode de vie urbain qui se rapproche des yuppies. La mélancolie et l’épique seraient des états d’âme transitoires qui permettraient de cheminer dans cette transition et la musique de Mac Demarco et The XX en serait la trame sonore.

Leçon 4: La politique et la musique ne font pas bon ménage en Chine

Dans son analyse historique de la présence des subcultures et de la culture mainstream de depuis les 40 dernières années en Chine, Yiren Zhao (Örebro University) fait état d’un pays qui s’ouvre partiellement sur la culture populaire occidentale. Elle fait le portrait d’une musique populaire chinoise dénudée de propos anticonformistes sous un contrôle gouvernemental et ouvre sur la présence et la résilience des subcultures rock et hip-hop dans le paysage musical chinois.

Leçon 5: Les festivals punk-féministe sont des espaces réflexion

Inspirés par les mouvements féministes tels que Reclame the night, les festivals punk féministes et queer permettent des échanges entre artistes et participants et questionnent les enjeux relatifs aux violences sexuelles dans les festivals ainsi que dans les villes la nuit. Louise Barrière (Université de Lorraine) propose d’aborder ces espaces d’échanges comme des lieux de mobilisation collective et d’innovation, des objets politiques non identifiés.

Leçon 6: Le mouvement Riot Grrrl: pas si solidaire?

Dans une perspective critique, Karen Mize Berglander ose remettre en question la solidarité au sein du mouvement féministe Riot Grrrl. Une approche du mouvement par le prisme de l’intersectionnalité peut aider la compréhension des enjeux de discrimination au sein même d’un mouvement militant.

Maxim Bonin est étudiant au doctorat en communication à l'Université du Québec à Montréal où il enseigne comme chargé de cours à l'École de design. Sa thèse, en cours de développement, explore les transitions numérique et territoriale de la scène indie rock de New York des années 2000. En plus d'être récipiendaire de bourses d'excellence, il reçoit en 2016 le Terrance Cox Award de l'Association de culture populaire du Canada. Il est également fondateur de la coopérative de design urbain Le Comité. 

Call for Nominations/ Appel à nomination: IASPM-Canada Book Prize/ Prix du livre IASPM-Canada

Deadline/Date limite: 1 March 2019

English version follows below.

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Appel à nomination pour le Prix du livre IASPM-Canada

Le chapitre canadien de l'Association internationale des études en musique populaire (IASPM-Canada) lance son appel à nominations pour la meilleure monographie portant en tout ou majoritairement sur la musique populaire, ou qui traite de façon importante d’un sujet canadien. Les recueils d'articles ne sont pas éligibles. L’ouvrage doit également avoir été écrit par un auteur canadien ou une auteure canadienne, ou doit avoir été publié par un éditeur  canadien. Les ouvrages en nomination pour le Prix du livre IASPM-Canada doivent avoir été publiés en 2017 ou 2018.

Tous les membres en règles de l'IASPM-Canada, incluant les membres du comité, peuvent mettre en nomination un ouvrage. Les membres de l'association peuvent mettre en nomination leur propre ouvrage. L’association encourage également les éditeurs à suggérer des titres pour considération, mais seuls les membres en règle peuvent proposer des mises en nomination au comité.

La date limite pour les mises en nomination est le 1 mars 2019. Les mises en nomination doivent inclure le nom de l'auteur ou de l’auteure, le titre de l’ouvrage, de même que les informations relatives à l'éditeur. Les mises en nomination doivent être envoyées par courriel au coordonnateur des comités des prix, Steven Baur (steven.baur@dal.ca). Le comité dévoilera le titre de l’ouvrage gagnant lors de l'assemblée annuelle d'IASPM-Canada en 2019 (à Montréal le 24-26 mai).

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Call for Nominations, IASPM-Canada Book Prize

The International Association for the Study of Popular Music-Canada Branch (IASPM-Canada) requests nominations for the IASPM-Canada Book Prize, which recognizes a member (or members) whose published monograph makes a substantial contribution to the field of popular music studies, has been written by a Canadian author, or published by a Canadian-based press, or that deals substantially with Canadian subject matter. Nominated books must have been published in 2017 or 2018.

Any member in good standing of IASPM-Canada may nominate a book; committee members may nominate books, association members may nominate their own books, and we encourage publishers to suggest books for consideration, but only IASPM-Canada members in good standing may submit nominations to the committee.

The deadline for nominations is March 1, 2019. Nominations should include the author’s name, book title, and publisher’s information. Nominations should be sent electronically to Steven Baur (steven.baur@dal.ca). The award committee will announce the winner at the 2019 IASPM-Canada meeting in Montreal (May 24-26).

Call for Nominations: IASPM-Canada Book Prize

Deadline for Nominations: 1 March 2019

The International Association for the Study of Popular Music-Canada Branch (IASPM-Canada) requests nominations for the IASPM-Canada Book Prize, which recognizes a member whose published monograph makes a substantial contribution to the field of popular music studies, has been written by a Canadian author, or published by a Canadian-based press, or that deals substantially with Canadian subject matter. Nominated books must have been published in 2018.

Any member in good standing of IASPM-Canada may nominate a book; committee members may nominate books, association members may nominate their own books, and we encourage publishers to suggest books for consideration, but only IASPM-Canada members in good standing may submit nominations to the committee.

The deadline for nominations is March 1, 2019. Nominations should include the author’s name, book title, and publisher’s information. Nominations should be sent electronically to Steven Baur (steven.baur@dal.ca). The award committee will announce the winner at the 2019 IASPM-Canada meeting in Montreal (May 24-26).

CFP: IASPM Canada 2019 Conference, Montreal

We are happy to announce that the call for papers for the IASPM Canada 2019 Conference in Montreal is now open! Please consider submitting an abstract to what will surely be an exciting and engaging conference in one of the music capitals of Canada.

PDF version here.

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[English follows below]

Héritages et avenir : Le passé et le futur de la musique populaire

Conférence annuelle de l’IASPM-Canada

Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)

24 au 26 mai 2019

Date limite pour les soumissions : 1er décembre 2018

L’année 2019 offre à tous ceux qui s’intéressent à l’étude de la musique populaire une conjoncture permettant de considérer le futur et le passé. Nous sommes à l’aube de la troisième décennie du 21e siècle et nous pouvons nous attendre à des changements continus au niveau de la technologie, l’art, la politique, le marché ainsi que la médiation de la musique et la culture populaire. Cette année marque plusieurs étapes historiques:

• 20 ans que le partage de fichiers peer-to-peer (P2P) est venu perturber des modèles d’affaires bien établis qui distribuaient et vendaient des produits musicaux;

• 40 ans depuis la première sortie commerciale d’un enregistrement de hip hop (Sugarhill Gang, «Rapper’s Delight»), un nouveau style révolutionnaire qui définit constamment la musique populaire de nos jours;

• 50 ans depuis les festivals de Woodstock et Altamont, qui sont vus par plusieurs comme des évènements marquants de l’histoire de la musique populaire de l’après-guerre.

C’est donc un bon moment de réflexion et d’anticipation. Dans le cadre de notre conférence de 2019, qui se déroulera en conjonction avec la société canadienne pour les traditions musicales (SCTM), le comité de programme de l’IASPM accepte les articles, les panels ainsi que des tables rondes portant sur le passé, présent et futur possible de la musique populaire. Les soumissions peuvent porter sur, mais ne sont pas limités à:

Musique populaire et «Devenir»

La musique est un art temporel qui est toujours émergeant et en devenir. Quels sont les sons, les relations, les technologies, les changements générationnels ainsi que les stratégies artistiques émergentes qui peuvent nous donner une idée de ce que pourrait être la musique dans un futur proche? Comment est-ce que « devenir » peut décrire le processus artistique et nous permettre de mettre au point des théories sur ce que seront les nouvelles chansons, sons, scènes, enregistrements, genres, etc.? Quel rôle jouent le nouveau et l’inattendu dans les histoires et les processus se déroulant dans la musique populaire?

Histoire, récits, révisions

Nous acceptons les soumissions qui se penchent sur les moment décisifs dans l’histoire de la musique populaire en mettant en question et analysant les récits de la musique populaire qui demandent d’être revisités ou déconstruits, et/ou de reconsidérer des moments historiques à l’aide de nouveaux points de vue théoriques.

Études de la musique populaire, agence collective et mouvements sociaux

L’année 2019 marquera les 40 ans de la sortie de The Sociology of Rock, de Firth, 25 ans de Queering the Pitch de Brett, Wood et Thomas, 25 ans depuis la sortie de Black Noise par Rose et un peu plus de 20 ans depuis la publication de Sexing the Groove par Whiteley, pour nommer quelques ouvrages importants qui ont théorisés la musique populaire en tant que pratique sociale. Nous acceptons les soumissions qui portent sur la contribution de l’étude de la musique populaire sur les études des mouvements et identités sociaux tels que la race, l’ethnicité, la classe, le genre, la sexualité les habiletés. Nous acceptons aussi les soumissions qui portent sur le présent et le futur, incluant le rôle de la musique populaire sur les mouvements de résistance et résurgence autochtone, Black Lives Matter ou #metoo,

Musique populaire et pédagogie

Pendant les 40 années depuis l’émergence de la musique populaire comme champ d’études supérieures, comment celle-ci a-t-elle été enseignée? Quelles pédagogies en sont ressorties? À quel point les professeurs et universités ont-ils réussi à inclure la musique populaire dans leurs programmes universitaires? Quel est le futur possible de l’enseignement de la musique populaire? Quelle place peut avoir la musique populaire dans la décolonisation des programmes universitaires?

Musique populaire, âge et vieillissement

L’association qu’a la musique populaire avec la jeunesse a fait en sorte que celle-ci ait un sens fort d’actualité et d’urgence. Cependant, des recherches récentes, telles que Music, Style and Aging: Growing Old Disgracefully de Bennett (2013) remettent en question l’idée que la réception, la signification et l’impact économique de la musique populaire sont seulement centrés sur les jeunes. Y a-t-il un changement dans la relation entre les groupes d’âge et les genres, médias et communautés de la musique populaire au 21e siècle? Existe-t-il des continuités dans l’histoire de la musique populaire en ce qui a trait la musique et les différents groupes d’âge? Comment les genres vieillissent-ils?

Technologie et future de la musique populaire

Quels sont les effets des technologies émergentes- telles que l’intelligence artificielle, l’holographie ainsi que la réalité virtuelle- sur la musique populaire? Comment les nouvelles technologies de divertissement et loisirs- comme les réseaux sociaux, les vidéos en continu, les appareils mobiles ou les jeux vidéo- affectent-elles la présence de musique populaire dans la vie des gens? Ces technologies produisent-elles de nouvelles synergies, ou ont elles entraîné une baisse de proéminence que la musique populaire avait dans la culture populaire?

Processus de soumission:

Nous acceptons les soumissions portant sur les thèmes ci-dessus, ainsi que sur d’autres thèmes. Nous acceptons aussi les soumissions spéciales qui portent sur les intérêts et inquiétudes des étudiants, le développement professionnel ainsi que l’enseignement de la musique populaire. Veuillez s’il vous plaît envoyer vos soumissions par courriel sous forme de document Word MS (titré : nom de famille prénom.docx) à iaspmCanada2019@gmail.com. Les soumissions de présentateurs individuels devraient aussi inclure un résumé d’un maximum de 250 mots ainsi que des informations sur l’auteur (nom, affiliation, adresse courriel et une biographie d’environ 50 mots). Les soumissions de panel devront indiquer si elles ont besoin de 90 minutes (pour 3 articles) ou 120 (pour 4 articles).

Veuillez aussi indiquer si vous avez des besoins spécifiques (tels qu’audiovisuels) pour votre présentation. Nous acceptons aussi des formes de présentations alternatives telles que les séminaires et des projections cinématographiques.

Vous recevrez un accusé de réception de votre soumission par courriel.

Comité de programme 2019

• Président: Chris McDonald (Cape Breton University)

• Comité: Norma Coates (Western University), Brittany Greening (University of Alberta), Serge Lacasse (Université Laval), Annie Randall (Bucknell University), Alyssa Woods (University of Guelph)

• Arrangements locaux: Martin Lussier (UQAM), Line Grenier (Université de Montréal)

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Legacies and Prospects: The Pasts and Futures of Popular Music

IASPM-Canada Annual Conference

Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)

May 24-26, 2019

Submission Deadline: December 1, 2018

For those interested in the study of popular music, the year 2019 provides a juncture to consider both the future and the past. We are on the threshold of the third decade of the twenty-first century, and can expect new and ongoing shifts in the technology, artistry, business, politics, and mediation of music and popular culture. Historically, this year marks several milestones:

• 20 years since peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing disrupted long-established business models for the distribution and sale of music commodities

• 40 years since the first commercially-released hip hop recording (Sugarhill Gang, “Rapper’s Delight”), a revolutionary new style that continues to define popular music’s present

• 50 years since the Woodstock and Altamont festivals, seen by many as watershed events in the post-war history of popular music.

Thus, the time is ripe for anticipation and reflection. For our 2019 conference, held in conjunction with the Canadian Society for Traditional Music (CSTM), the IASPM program committee invites proposals for papers, roundtables and panels on the topics of popular music’s pasts, presents, and possible futures. Areas of inquiry may include, but are not limited to:

Popular Music & “Becoming”

As a medium, music is time-based and is always “emergent,” always “becoming.” What are the emerging sounds, relationships, technologies, generational shifts, and artistic strategies that are emergent, and give us a sense of what popular music might become in the near future? How could “becoming” describe the creative process, and help us theorize the emerging of new songs, sounds, scenes, recordings, genres, etc.? What role does the new and unexpected play in the histories and processes that unfold in popular music?

Histories, Narratives, Revisions

We invite papers that take stock of any turning points in popular music’s history, analyze and challenge any narratives about popular music which require reassessment or deconstruction, and/ or reconsider historical moments from new theoretical standpoints.

Popular Music Studies, Collective Agency & Social Movements

2019 marks 40 years since Frith’s The Sociology of Rock, 25 years since Brett, Wood, and Thomas’s Queering the Pitch, 25 years since Rose’s Black Noise, and just over 20 years since Whiteley’s Sexing the Groove, to name just a few landmark works that theorized popular music as social practice. We invite papers that take stock of popular music studies’ contribution to the study of social identities and movements, including race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and ability. We also invite papers that look to the present and future, including popular music’s role in movements of Indigenous resistance and resurgence, Black Lives Matter, or #metoo.

Popular Music & Pedagogy

In the four decades since popular music emerged as an area of study in higher education, how has it been taught? What pedagogies have emerged? How successful have teachers and institutions been in integrating popular music into curricula? Where can or should the teaching of popular music go in the future? What place might popular music studies have in decolonizing curricula in higher education?

Popular Music, Age & Aging

Popular music’s association with youth once gave it a strong sense of currency and immediacy. But recent studies, like Bennett’s Music, Style and Aging: Growing Old Disgracefully (2013), call into question the idea that popular music’s reception, meaning, and economic impact centres on youth alone. Are relationships between age groups and popular music genres, media, and communities changing in the new millennium? Do continuities exist across popular music’s history regarding music and different age groups? How do genres themselves age?

Technology & Popular Music’s Future

What kinds of effects are emerging technologies – such as artificial intelligence, holography, or virtual reality – having on popular music? How are new entertainment and leisure technologies – like social media, video streaming, mobile devices, or video games – affecting popular music’s presence in people’s lives? Are these producing new synergies, or are these new leisure and entertainment technologies causing popular music to lose some of the prominence that it once enjoyed in popular culture?

Submission Process:

We welcome proposals on these and, of course, any other themes. We also welcome special presentation proposals that address student interests and concerns, professional development, and teaching popular music. Please submit proposals by email, as MS Word documents [labeled with last name_first name.docx] to iaspmCanada2019@gmail.com. Individual presenters should provide an abstract of no more than 250 words, and include author information (name, affiliation, email address, and 50-word bio). Panel proposals should include a 150-word overview of the panel in addition to the individual paper proposals, of 250 words each. Panel proposals should specify if they will require a 90-minute slot (for three papers) or a 120-minute slot (for four papers).

Please indicate in your proposal any special audio-visual or other needs for your presentation. We also welcome alternative presentation formats such as workshops and film screenings. You will receive an email confirming receipt of your submission.

2019 Program Committee:

• Chair: Chris McDonald (Cape Breton University)

• Committee: Norma Coates (Western University), Brittany Greening (University of Alberta), Serge Lacasse (Université Laval), Annie Randall (Bucknell University), Alyssa Woods (University of Guelph)

• Local Arrangements: Martin Lussier (UQAM), Line Grenier (Université de Montréal)

IASPM Canada 2018 Book Prize Winner

Congratulations to Sophie Stevance and Serge Lacasse on winning the IASPM Canada 2018 Book Prize with their book, Research Creation in Music and the Arts. 

The following are comments from the prize committee. 

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Stevance and Serge Lacasse’s new book Research Creation in Music and the Arts struck the adjudicators as a very unusual submission and a very valuable one. It is unusual because it is not a case study or a genre study, it does not make popular music practices or texts its main concern. The book focuses instead on institutionalized aspects of the academic study of popular music. It is a book about disciplinary and pedagogical concerns that are pivotal and indeed urgent in some particular contexts—like music departments and other departments where research and creation coexist—but that are also of fundamental importance across a much wider range of contexts. And this is where we find its extraordinary value.

The book tackles a very current development in arts-based disciplines, thinking very carefully through the categories of research and creative work, and what they mean in their respective academic contexts. This current development is this: various sets of accumulating forces inside and outside of the north American academy are pressing students, faculty, administrators, and funding bodies to engage in, sell, and support “research-creation” projects. As anyone who has had anything to do with such projects and programs knows, they are a mare’s nest of problems. I and my colleagues deal with these problems continually.

Perhaps even more consequentially, federal and provincial funding bodies offer support for “research-creation” projects, and for the same kind of “black-box” problems, their adjudication and criteria are obscure, irrational, and unpredictable. This may seem like “inside baseball”—arcana that could only possibly be of interest to a tiny handful of people who are already aware of and invested in these issues. And perhaps in the hands of other scholars, that’s exactly what this book would be. But this is definitely NOT the case here. In fact, I’ve already had cause to talk this book up to people not in music or the arts because of its extraordinary practical usefulness.

The book offers a comparative analysis of “research” and “creation” as two distinct epistemologies; it offers a fascinating contextual account of the integration of non-PhD bearing artists into universities in the 1970s, and a careful explanation of the many perverse outcomes of largely well-intentioned move; and it lays out a framework for enabling the productive interrelation of research and creation epistemologies and addressing the various perversities encountered by people working in affected areas.

This first chapter is a standout because, in identifying and explaining the basic differences between “research” and “creation,” the book offers a model of research that would benefit any incoming graduate student or any creative person interested in turning their attention to doing research. As someone who has struggled to find texts that help students understand what exactly they’re signing up for when they begin their program, I am very excited to assign this chapter. Not because I teach artists, but because the book’s characterization of creation’s solipsism will be an extraordinary help in making students aware of their of the status of their undisciplined knowledge and opinion.

Stevance and Lacasse write that

the ideas contained within the artistic practice, as well as the results of that practice, need to be extracted, interpreted, and compared to other interpretations in order to become knowledge. Knowledge can only be born of comparison, a challenging of ideas. It cannot simply emanate from one subjectivity and address other subjectivities.

To me, this aspect of the book will be useful in teaching because it helps define research and knowledge-generation not only by talking about what it is, but what it isn’t.

Suffice it to say that the rest of the book is equally rigorous, provocative, and useful. One more quotation should help sum it up:

Creative projects…are neither research nor research-creation because the objective remains focused on producing artistic work. … A research-creation project does not study the creation alone: on the contrary, research and creation are interdependent, and the goal is to observe and study their interactions when both processes are in operation. The difference between these two approaches lies in the impact that research-creation has on artistic creation; in this situation, the creative process is dependent on and influenced by research, and research needs this artistic practice in order to produce results (86).

At times the book’s approach is strident and shows exasperation, at other times it is deeply optimistic and generous. The book has the potential to significantly influence research-creation projects, and how they are taught, and also may affect how granting agencies understand research-creation projects (and how they define both objectives and outcomes). We adjudicators have seen projects confusingly/murkily calling themselves “research-creation” in our own disciplinary backyards, and the book does a lot to clear up what such projects really entail. We expect to refer to this text again in the future, both for the benefit of our own work, and as we serve on SSHRC committees where such projects surface.

Thank you Sophie and Serge!

Brittany Greening: IASPM Narvaez Prize Winner 2018

Brittany Greening and Matt Stahl

Congratulations to Brittany Greening on winning the IASPM Narvaez Prize for best graduate student paper at IASPM Canada 2018 in Regina, Saskatchewan! 

The following are comments from the prize committee. 

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Brittany Greening’s paper on Goldie and the Gingerbreads aims to retrieve this path-breaking all-female group from what she convincingly demonstrates is an undeserved obscurity. Confronted by existing categories—particularly a ruling binary of “girl group” versus “rock’n’roll band” and the value-laden and gendered definitions associated with each side of that binary—Goldie and the Gingerbreads appear kind of stranded, historically, because they don’t fit easily into either category. Greening’s work tackles this binary in a way that helps us appreciate the diversity of gendered and genre-d voices of the early 1960s.

Greening’s examination of the failure of popular music scholarship to accord much significance to Goldie and the Gingerbreads illuminates how gendered assumptions and prejudices still devalue and obscure certain practices because they are the practices of women. Thus much of the paper brings evidence to bear showing that Goldie and the Gingerbreads were at least as much a rock’n’roll band as they were a girl group. One of Greening’s primary arguments is that, indeed, they were a rock’n’roll band who were pressured on all sides to act like a girl group. Producers, for example, put gendered limits on their ability to determine their own sound and to choose the tunes they would prioritize. But at the same time, Greening shows, the leader of the group exercised relatively rigorous control over their image, crafting it to suit dominant gender stereotypes of the early 60s; a pregnant member was, it appears, fired, and the leader reveals anxiety about any of the band’s members appearing too butch. These matters can be read as evidence both of their autonomy and their struggles with heteronymous forces.

The committee found that this paper was an admirably solid piece of work, about a clearly defined object, that sets out to actually map and intervene in the field. That is, this paper not only adds to our knowledge of the diversity of gendered experiences in early 1960s popular music, it helps us to understand blind spots in our field, and it reveals some of what has been hidden to us through our own limitations.

New Series: Auto-Musicologies

French Follows...

We all have that album, concert, song, music video, and so forth, which has stuck with us. Perhaps this moment/text shaped your career, your music tastes, your relationships, or your musicianship. This new series, published on the IASPM Canada website, is a space to share those moments. Share your strong reactions while critically engaging with the musical outputs that have strongly impacted you. Situate texts in space, place, and time, in relationship to your own experiences.

In revealing the personal, we strengthen our camaraderie through humour, knowledge exchange, and debate. There is no such thing as a “guilty pleasure,” as we are all champions for the popular!

The format a post takes is intentionally open; interpret these prompts are you see fit. A maximum of 1200 words is preferred. The inclusion of media is encouraged.

Please contact Melissa Avdeeff at iaspmcanada@gmail.com for submissions, idea discussions, media inclusion questions, or any other queries.

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Nous avons tous un album, une chanson, une vidéo de musique, etc. qui nous a marqué. Peut-être même que ce moment/texte a façonné votre carrière, vos goûts musicaux, vos relations ou encore votre musicalité. Cette nouvelle série qui sera publiée sur le site web de l’IASPM Canada vous permettra de partager ces moments. Nous vous invitons à partager ces fortes réactions tout en vous engageant de manière critique avec ces influences musicales qui vont ont grandement marqués. Situez vos textes dans un espace, un lieu et un temps en relation avec vos propres expériences.

Lorsque l’on dévoile des expériences personnelles, nos liens mutuels deviennent plus forts avec l’aide d’humour, de connaissances, d’échanges et de débats.  Il n’existe pas de « plaisir coupable », puisque nous sommes tous champions du populaire!

Le format de vos publications est ouvert, de manière intentionnelle : interprétez vos impressions de la manière qui vous semble la plus logique. Un maximum de 1200 mots est tout de fois préférable et l’inclusion d’un média est encouragé.

Veuille contacter Melissa Avdeeff à l’adresse suivante pour soumettre vos publications, idées de discussions, questions sur l’ajout d’un média ainsi que toute autre demande: iaspmcanada@gmail.com.

An Interview with Susan Fast, IASPM Canada President

IASPM Canada is starting a new interview series in order to find out more about our members and to share news about new, ongoing, or completed projects. If you have some news that you would like to share, please email Melissa Avdeeff. 

We thought it would be fitting that our first interview be with our current IASPM Canada President, Susan Fast. 

Susan Fast is Professor in the Department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada and Director of the Graduate Program in Gender Studies & Feminist Research. She is a musicologist whose primary area of research is popular music since World War II.  Her areas of expertise include representations of gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, constructions of self and other, performance and performativity, and geopolitical violence/conflict in contemporary popular music. She is author of In the Houses of the Holy:  Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music (Oxford, 2001), Michael Jackson:  Dangerous (Bloomsbury, 33 1/3 series, 2014), co-editor (with Kip Pegley) of Music, Violence and Politics (Welselyan, 2012) and co-editor (with Craig Jennex) of the forthcoming Hearing the Political: Queer & Feminist Interventions in Popular Music Performance (Routledge, 2018)

As the current president of IASPM Canada, what originally drew you to joining the organization?

My first IASPM CA meeting was at Western--going way back to the 90's--but I really became involved when Charity Marsh was elected to the Executive and encouraged more of us to run for office (Charity was, by the way, the first woman to sit on the IASPM CA exec!).  Charity brought a considerable amount of energy and enthusiasm to the organization, especially during her term as President; the two annual meetings she hosted in Regina were among the best I've attended (and that's taking nothing away from the outstanding meetings hosted elsewhere, many of which have been fantastic). Hoping for a repeat in 2018!!

Considering Canada’s history of attempting to establish both institutional and cultural boundaries between Canada and US, including its music, do you think IASPM Canada has an obligation to uphold these distinctions?

This is a difficult question, but I lean towards yes.  There are a number of scholars who work in the US but regularly attend IASPM CA meetings; they're an important part of the organization.  And many of us also go to the IASPM US meetings.  But I really think it's important to maintain two separate branches of IASPM.  Aside from the crucially important function of the annual meeting of IASPM CA bringing together Canadian scholars of popular music, I believe we should work to highlight the research of these Canadian scholars, to focus on Canadian popular musics, and to try to offer a forum in which grad students and young Canadian scholars can be mentored. They (or we) shouldn't have to go to the U.S. for this.  

What does the future of IASPM Canada look like to you? What do you see as your role in shaping that future?

Right now I'm working with the Executive to establish (or re-establish) a working infrastructure for IASPM CA.  We've reconstructed the website and have instituted a way of maintaining it and keeping it up to date; we're working on rewriting the bylaws; we've been working with CSTM on sharing their journal MusiCultures between the two organizations.  I'd like to do a bit more of this infrastructure work:  naming the book prize, for example, making sure that we have at least one professionalization session for grad students at every annual meeting.  This may sound hum ho, but having a sound infrastructure is pretty important!  Beyond that, I'm keen to expand our membership, both through reaching out to scholars of pop music that don't currently participate in IASPM CA, and to journalists and others in the Canadian music scene who might want to become involved in the organization.  I'm interested in figuring out how we might raise money to support things like bursaries, scholarships and further prizes for our members, especially students.  I want IASPM CA to be the go-to place for Canadian scholars working on popular music.

You have a history of researching artists who transgress expectations of gender, race, and other socially constructed identity expressions, such as Michael Jackson and Led Zeppelin. What draws you to these figures?

My scholarship has always been profoundly linked to my own experiences with popular music; I've essentially been trying to figure out my deep musical investments through writing about them for about 30 years.  Of course this extends to trying to figure out other people's investments in certain kinds of popular music too.  Artists who transgress normative socio-cultural boundaries--and manage to become commercially successful while doing so--are incredibly powerful figures and I want to understand something about how they do it, and why, and why we end up caring and what difference it makes in people's lives and possibly the larger culture(s).  Their transgressions are inevitably made in large part through incredibly compelling music, which is why I've focused so much on musical sound in my work.

With the resurgence of identity politics we are seeing, especially in the US, how do you see this impacting the producers and consumers of popular music?

I think we have to stop saying that identity politics don't matter.  I understand the arguments that focusing on identity politics might keep conversations too small, but we only have to look at what's going on everywhere--not only the US--to understand that so much of what's being referred to as "tribalism" (hugely problematic term, but it's being thrown around on the news every day) is, exactly, identity politics.  I'm not sure how it's affecting popular music:  despite artists, scholars and journalists wanting to talk about the breakdown of generic boundaries in music (and there are certainly great examples of that), they seem to be more or less intact and they continue to be defined by race and gender.

What project(s) are you working on at the moment? 

Craig Jennex and I are editing a collection of essays for Routledge called Hearing the Political:  Queer and Feminist Interventions in Popular Music Performance.  Nineteen scholars are contributing to the project; we're hoping it will be published in 2018.

Thanks Susan! Looking forward to seeing the development of IASPM Canada over the course of your term as President.

IASPM Canada Website Update

Welcome to the new official website for IASPM Canada!

The site features English and French content for members to learn about the organization, key members, past conferences, and handle all membership and mailing list sign-ups. 

If you come across any issues, please contact the webmaster at krisohlendorf@gmail.com

IASPM Canada 2017 Annual Conference