My new new column is up at PopMatters: "Kanye West: The Iconoclast Gives In." Go there now! So, yeah, the essay is about exactly what you think it's about: how newness has led Kanye astray. (That's what you were expecting, right?) Unfortunately it's not exactly an artistic newness, which is why it's taken him into… Continue reading PopMatters Updates
I had the opportunity to interview Kevin Erickson from Future of Music Coalition about the impending vote to end net neutrality and its impact on musicians and the broader music ecosystem. Many thanks to Kevin and PopMatters for turning this around so quickly. Read the interview here.An excerpt:
Net neutrality protects the true democratic potential of the internet: that anyone, regardless of wealth or social status, may produce new thought, knowledge, forms of expression, goods, and services, and contribute to the creation of new communities. While it's true that the internet is by no means perfect, eliminating net neutrality would remove a critical… Continue reading Statement on Net Neutrality
I'm thrilled to be giving a free author talk about Nothing Has Been Done Before at the Bexley Public Library this coming Thursday, December 7, from 7pm to 8pm. Bexley is just east of downtown Columbus. The library has hosted some terrific authors.Click here and say you'll be there. I'll have copies of the book… Continue reading Upcoming Author Talk in Columbus
I created a website full of resources for my new book, Nothing Has Been Done Before: Seeking the New in 21st Century American Literature. Go here and bookmark:http://nothinghasbeendonebefore.comThe site includes audio and visual, a complete discography, outtakes, and more. Those resources won't update much--though I'm still building the annotations for the discography--but I'll update it… Continue reading Nothing Has Been Done Before Has a Website
My latest column at PopMatters concerns the great band Protomartyr, from its first album to its latest, Relatives in Descent. Here's an excerpt:Relatives in Descent is, musically, a more contemplative and less full-throttle Protomartyr album than the three which precede it. I almost wrote "intellectual", which in some circles -- (some) punk, pop country, the… Continue reading Protomartyr at PopMatters
Click here to say you'll be stopping by for the party. The book is out the same day: Thursday, Nov. 2. Pre-order at Bloomsbury or Amazon if you can't make the party. (Also, please consider buying from your local bookstore.) Here's the excellent cover:
A day late and a dollar short, as usual, but here we go:My review of the rock 'n' pop writing anthology SHAKE IT UP is live at Los Angeles Review of Books, one of my favorite sites for criticism. A lot of leftovers from this one which I hope to get posted here in an… Continue reading The Latest: Shake It Up and Twin Peaks
I had the great fortune to interview Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs last month for PopMatters. I don't conduct interviews very often, but as a Whigs fan since 1994, I jumped at the chance. It came a difficult time for Dulli and everyone in the Whigs/Twilight Singers extended family--it's explained in the article--so I… Continue reading The Latest: An Interview with Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs
My July column, "Algiers and the Political Structures of Noise," is up at PopMatters: read it here. I've been a fan of the band Algiers since their debut self-titled album. Nobody else sounds like they do: a bucketful of warm soul and cold techno-punk...or is it cold soul and warm techno-punk? Their fusion is utterly… Continue reading The Latest: Algiers at PopMatters
Robert Loss 