Last year was my first time at the Experience Music Project Pop Conference. This year’s occupied more time yet felt shorter — I’m not sure if that’s due to the fact that my paper last year was delivered early on the first full day, whereas this year found me speaking on the second, or to some residual disorientation from the fact that getting out to Seattle took around nineteen hours longer than I’d planned.
That said, one thing that stood out distinctly this year was the flow of many of the panels I saw. The discussion sparked during some — “Ballads for Americans” in particular — were outstanding on their own, and once again I find myself seeking out an abundance of music I hadn’t heard before. (Above all else: Labi Siffree, subject of a heartfelt paper from Charles Aaron.) Given that much of what I read relates in some way to music or politics, getting to spend a few days hearing knowledgeable people discussing both is something of a joy.
Some highlights? Daphne Carr‘s exploration of pain and the experience of listening to noise — which, structurally, ended up feeling like a counterpart to her Joe’s Pub reading earlier in the month. Jody Rosen on the music and influence of Eva Tanguay; Daphne Brooks‘s examination of Amy Winehouse through the lens (in part) of Sandra Bernhart’s Without You I’m Nothing. The aforementioned Charles Aaron piece. Robert Christgau on the relevance of John Mayer and the critical response to TV on the Radio’s Return to Cookie Mountain. Greg Tate‘s talk and Q & A, encompassing the origins of the Black Rock Coalition and improvisational large ensembles. Alexandra Vazquez‘s “Towards an Ethics of Knowing Nothing”, which evoked images of urban transit and decades-old radio broadcasts before arriving at its conclusion.
Other recaps well worth a read:
Daphne Carr | Robert Christgau | Douglas Wolk | Seattle Weekly | The Stranger