Listen Again

"Those looking for an entertaining (if unrelated) collection of vignettes that illustrates pop’s scattered history will be fascinated. . . . [A] useful introduction to the range of approaches from which pop is presently being approached, and an indication of the unpredictability of its past (and future) development.” - Ian Inglis, Popular Music

“[An] illuminating collection of essays. . . . [T]he breadth and scope of this collection is worthy of recommendation  the essays are thought provoking academically while transmitting a real passion for music that both serious fan and student alike will connect with.” - Kieran Curran, Popular Music

“The contributors display subject expertise, and the writing is generally accessible and full of felicitous turns of phrase. . . . Evocative juxtapositions include philosopher Hannah Arendt with the Marx brothers and singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry with Camille Paglia. . . . Recommended for academic and music collections. . . .” - Library Journal

“[T]he papers featured in this volume are typically eclectic, eccentric and unorthodox while remaining highly readable and sometimes quite brilliant. . . . As original as it is refreshing and engaging, Listen Again and, by implication, the work of the EMP Pop Conference, represents an important contribution to the serious consideration of pop music—essential reading in an era in which our experience and understanding of music is fragmenting, mixing and morphing at a bewildering pace. “ - Alex Seago, American Studies

“After finishing this collection, one is left with an unshakeable sense of pop’s most admirable feature: its ability to joyously mash together disparate cultures.” - Tim Roberts, M/C Reviews

“Any topic is fair game and no Listen Again essay is any less amazing than any other. . . . Listen Again recasts yesterday’s boredoms, indignities, and wasted afternoons as today’s counter-cultural treasures.” - Raymond Cummings, Signal to Noise

“For those who regard music as a key to unlocking larger cultural truths . . . the title is sound advice.” - Edward Morris, Foreword Reviews

“Instead of focusing on broad movements or now canonized albums or artists, the articles look to singular events and pockets of, according to some of the authors, authentic expression and musical discovery. Here one can find incredibly detailed perspectives about the history and influence of a single song or musical event.” - Mathew J Bartkowiak, Popular Music and Society

“This collection of essays on subjects ranging from ORCH5, a Stravinsky phrase turned synthesizer blip that helped forge the sound of early hip-hop, to James McKune, a record collector who single-handedly invented the Delta-blues genre, deftly analyzes marginal and telling moments in pop history. Listen Again is a brilliant reimagining of last century’s most accessible art form.” - Nick Moore, LA Weekly

"Listen Again has the guiding vision and rigorous analysis that so much current journalistic and scholarly writing on popular music lacks. . . . The eclecticism on display here isn’t distracting; the book benefits by drawing on many perspectives. Instead of reading as a throwback to music criticism’s glory days, Listen Again maps a future for the field." - Geeta Dayal, Bookforum

"Time and again, I found myself putting down the book to download a song or to search YouTube for a dimly recalled performer evocatively discussed here. But this isn't a book of pop trivia, a scholarly version of TV nostalgia shows. Anyone who wants to revisit the pop past will find enjoyment in Listen Again, but learning and scholarship too." - David Hesmondhalgh, Times Higher Education

“The EMP papers are a text radio, spilling out evidence of so many strange brilliant forays into the starry night of our common culture. Here’s where my American history—and yours—goes to find itself.” - Jonathan Lethem, author of You Don’t Love Me Yet