Andor showcases the power of music to oppose tyranny – an homage to the French Resistance: Warning: this article contains spoilers for Andor season two, up to episode nine. This week, many fans are diving into the final episodes of Andor season two on Disney+. Meanwhile, others are still reeling from last week’s powerful episodes. …
Reading Whistler’s Nocturne in Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge as a piece of music: Nocturne in Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1872-5). Tate/Canva, CC BY-SA In 1877 the American artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) achieved notoriety when he exhibited his recent views of the river Thames …
How Victorian melodrama turned the sweet music of gothic into something dark and sinister: In 1764, Horace Walpole published the first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto, set in a labyrinthine castle surrounded by woods. The novel features the supernatural, with a dark secret from the past at its core. Today, 260 years later, gothic …
DIY musicians: how digital ‘bedroom pop’ has transformed the music industry: The ever-advancing technologies of our digital age have transformed many industries, including – and perhaps especially – music. One of the most significant shifts has been the rise of DIY artists. These independent musicians take on roles traditionally held by record labels and managers, …
Five MTV Video Music Awards performances that have influenced queer culture: The MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) are always an important date in the queer cultural calendar. And the 2024 event, which took place on September 11, was no exception. Chappell Roan’s performance of Good Luck, Babe! is already one for the ages; looking at …
Senegal has a rich history of traditional music – how it lives on in modern music: Senegal has a rich history of traditional music – and this lives on as it influences the west African country’s modern music today. As a cultural researcher, I set out to explore the social and cultural significance of both …
Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind – Tate show explores the artist’s radical legacy: Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind at the Tate Modern delves into the legacy of the Japanese artist and activist. It covers seven decades of Ono’s art, from the 1950s to the present day, and unfolds in a loosely chronological fashion. …
Sexism permeates every layer of the music industry – new report echoes what research has been saying for years: Gorgev/Shutterstock The landmark Misogyny in Music report from British MPs on the women and equalities committee, published on January 30, shines an unsettling light upon the gender discrimination, sexual harassment and abuse which is rampant across …
Who are the new greats of Irish music? Five musicians to watch out for: The world lost three great Irish musicians in 2023: Shane MacGowan, Sinéad O’Connor and Christy Dignam. While their music reflected their individual struggles and resilience, it also grappled with the evolving essence of Irish identity. Their work stands as a reminder …
HMV is back on Oxford Street bringing the old-school music experience to a new generation: “What musicians want,” said composer Sir Edward Elgar as he inaugurated the first HMV shop in London in 1921, “is more listeners, and the dissemination of good music by the gramophone will give us a new public which will … …
How Christmas music in adverts and shops harnesses nostalgia to encourage you to spend more: Feestocks/Unsplash In my research, I have spent a good deal of time speaking with people from across the world about their relationship with sound and music – how it features in their everyday lives and how it influences their attitudes …
Kenya at 60: the patriotic choral music used to present one version of history – podcast: Kenya is marking 60 years since its independence from British colonial rule on December 12, 1963. Each year, the country celebrates the occasion with a national holiday, Jamhuri Day. And for much of the past 60 years, patriotic choral …
How movies use music to manipulate your memory: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/headphones-on-brain-smart-good-music-2088326980 Around one in five American adults manage to squeeze in watching a movie on a daily basis. It’s a great way to escape the daily grind and unwind with loved ones. But, what can you actually remember about last night’s film? You may be able to …
New Beatles and Rolling Stones music owes much of its success to the psychology of nostalgia: The Beatles wave to fans after arriving at New York's Kennedy Airport in 1964. US Library of Congress Throughout the 1960s, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles were engaged in a friendly rivalry. Despite being amicable in person, they …
How music heals us, even when it’s sad – by a neuroscientist leading a new study of musical therapy: Sangoiri/Shutterstock When I hear Shania Twain’s You’re Still The One, it takes me back to when I was 15, playing on my Dad’s PC. I was tidying up the mess after he had tried to [take …
In Iran and beyond, arrests of singers and dancers show how music can be a powerful tool of resistance: Iranian women are prohibited from singing and dancing in public. Yet many are posting videos on social media dancing and singing along to singer Mehdi Yarrahi’s song Roosarito (Your Veil). The wave of videos comes after …
Sylvia Mdunyelwa, one of South Africa’s great jazz vocalists, kept music traditions alive: If Miriam Makeba is hailed as the South African vocalist of her generation who brilliantly embraced (and actually shaped) global music sounds, and Sathima Bea Benjamin as the experimenter who entranced the modern jazz scene in Europe and the US, then Ncediwe …
Totally Wired by Paul Gorman is a deft potted history of the music press – but it doesn’t tell the whole story: Musicians have long had their careers captured for posterity by the music press. Yet, the spotlight has rarely been turned around to the journalists who write these stories. Totally Wired is a vivid …