"Metal matters - Heavy Metal als Kultur und Welt"

Die interdisziplinäre Tagung am 3. bis 5. Juni 2010 an der HBK Braunschweig, organisiert von Rolf F. Nohr und Herbert Schwaab

Anfang Juni 2010 hat die Tagung "Metal matters - Heavy Metal als Kultur und Welt" in Braunschweig versucht, eine Leerstelle der Kultur- und Medienwissenschaft mit auszufüllen und die Komplexität des Phänomens Metal herauszustellen. Dieser Blog bündelt die Perspektiven der Konferenz und versucht den dort interdisziplinär zusammengeführten Strom aus Ideen, Projekten und Perspektiven vorläufig fortzuführen.

Donnerstag, 23. Juni 2011

CfP: Music and counter-culture(s): Rock, the Sixties, the US and beyond

Call for papers
Volume ! The French journal of popular music studies / Volume! La Revue des musiques populaires , the one and only French peer-reviewed journal exclusively dedicated to the
interdisciplinary study of popular music, seeks contributions for a special issue on music and counterculture. Any scholarly essay on popular music and counterculture, focusing on link to the "central" period of the sixties and seventies, is welcome. Here are however a few
first elements that have generated debate in our editorial discussions.
During the sixties in the U.S. and more globally in the West, a new generation proposed – apparently – a culture radically opposed to the traditional American Way of Life, which expressed itself via a set of cultural references, ideas, lifestyles and, emblematically, of musics –
a heterogeneous movement baptized "the" counterculture. It marked the generations that lived it and the ones that followed, transforing the political and cultural landscapes as well as the global musical spectrum. Its legacy has constantly been reactivated since by "new" musical subcultures, be it polemically (punk, metal) or not, that claimed for themselves its spirit (Goa trance, Kosmische Musik, alternative hip-hop) and/or its material features (freak folk,
neo-hippies, stoner), and appropriated former musical elements, as well as techniques, gestures, identities (style, hexis) or rituals (protests songs, alternative festivals, forms of activism etc.) to use them in new ways with new medias.
A certain progressive hagiography insists on its multicultural, multiracial, feminist, militant and egalitarian aspects. However, many signs suggest that things weren't that homogenous. If we usually identify the movement with rock'n'roll (and its subgenres: blues-rock, pop, psychedelic music, prog rock, hard rock) and folk – which were mainly listened to by white youth – to define exactly which musics were part of the phenomenon is a complex task: how did, for example, previous subcultures, or free jazz and Jamaican music and other "minority" musicians and fans relate to the counterculture? The proud funk and soul music of a champion of individual success and American capitalism like James Brown paradoxically helped cement the protest of the Afro-American youth. The counterculture developed in the heart of the West, but it also triggered a somewhat caricatured passion for the exotic other – what is it that can be said, musically (raga rock, neo-orientalism), politically and culturally of the echo of the "Third World" within this movement? To take a final example of the phenomenon's ambiguity, it was the era of the Summer of Love, of sexual freedom and so forth, but it also glorified its manly heterosexual singers and guitar heroes, while the female and homosexual figures were rare on stage.
For this special issue of Volume!, the editors seek submissions coming from the whole spectrum of social sciences, that will reflect upon the heterogeneity of this/these music(s), its ambiguity, scattered identity, its worldwide circulation, its origins, influence and legacy. How can we
define, aesthetically, culturally, politically, historically and chronologically the music of the counterculture? what is it that cements it? "formal" characteristics (musical elements, style), ideology (militancy, lifestyles) or its nemeses (the system, the American values and cultural hierarchies, war, the State, capitalism)?
Other, more general, possible categories:
- the musical genres ("San Francisco sound", jazz-rock, prog rock, psychedelic music, hard rock, free jazz, soul, funk…);
- the role of technology (instrumentation, recording technologies, sound systems…);
- the period's subcultures, their stars, grandiose moments, signification, themes and mythologies;
- their legacies: permanence and ruptures (punk, techno, free parties, freak folk…) and the contrary ("merchant hijacking" by the dominant culture…);
- the countercultural circulations between music, arts, politics, social movements;
- questions of gender, class, race, sexuality and identity;
- influence of the "Third World" on the counterculture (orientalism, africanism…), the geopolitics of counterculture and its new centers of gravity;
- the actual perceptions and representations of the counterculture: celebration and condemnation in the media, intellectual & art worlds;
- the "counter"-countercultures, the "reactionary" subcultures, back then and since (conservative revivals, extreme right-wing skinheads, rock against communism…):
- the margins of counterculture.
We strongly recommend authors sending us an early 500 word maximum proposal when possible.
Final submissions should be sent by October 15th, 2011, by email,
- in English or French,
- with an abstract, a set of key words and a short biography of the author,
- 30 000 to 50 000 characters (spaces included),
- Harvard system of referencing,
- .doc – Word 2004 format or .rtf; (detailed instructions here)
– respecting these requirements speeds up the editorial process.)
– Download the CFP here:
Contact addresses:
editions[at]seteun[dot]net, fredericbob[at]aol[dot] &
jedediah-sklower[at]hotmail[dot]com
They will first be evaluated by Volume's editorial board before being blindly peer-reviewed by specialists.

Donnerstag, 16. Juni 2011

Coming soon: Der Tagungsband!

Prepare! Der Tagungsband ist im Druck und in ca. 6-8 Wochen im Handel. Jetzt vorbestellen und der/die Erste sein, der die ganze Wahrheit über Metal lesen kann...

528 Seiten voller Theorie & Liebe, jede Menge schwarzweiß-Bilder, Sammelbibliografie /-diskografie /-filmografie - und natürlich vor allem alles was man schon immer über Metal wissen wollte, aber nie zu fragen gewagt hat:
Ist Metal residual?
Was für Metal läuft eigentlich in Ungarn?
Warum ist eine Kutte SchriftBildlich?
Wieso kenne ich eigentlich die Band Kräutri nicht?
Ist Metal jetzt eigentlich modern, postmodern oder transmodern?
Kann ich weiter Black Metal hören, auch wenn ich die amerikanischen Transzendentalisten nicht kenne?
Und vor allem: ist Motörhead jetzt eigentlich Metal oder doch nicht?

Home of Metal: Heavy Metal and Place

Der spatial turn erreicht den Metal! Auf nach Birmingham ... und dann in die Broad Street, den "Walk of Stars" suchen... dritter Stern von rechts: Ozzy. The Place of Metal.

Home of Metal is a celebration of the music that was born in the Black Country and Birmingham, a project created and produced by Capsule. Bringing people together to share their passion and exploring themes of Heavy Metal through exhibitions, film screenings, live events, a conference and family friendly activities. Four decades since Heavy Metal was unleashed onto an unsuspecting world, Home of Metal honours a truly global musical phenomenon.
For the full season and detailed event information see: www.homeofmetal.com
The Heavy Metal movement is littered with accounts of its origins, not only concerning the origins of the sound, but also the geographical and political locations from which the music evolved. As Metal has become a global phenomenon, over its 40 year history, the relationship between its sound to the various sites where those sounds, styles and fashions emerge is in constant evolution. However metal is simultaneously acutely aware of its origins In Birmingham and the Black Country.
The Home of Metal Conference on heavy metal and place aims to explore and evaluate the important role that location, heritage and place have in the origins of metal. It will serve to engage in debate concerning values, histories and myths in the foundation of this movement in Birmingham, the Black Country and beyond. It is a movement that is in continuous dialogue with its past and its origins most notably through bands such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Led Zepplin and Napalm Death to name but a few.
Metal studies, being a new movement has not yet explored this area of place. This conference will not only serve to recognise the pivotal role that Birmingham and its surroundings has played in Heavy Metal and place, but will also be the first of its kind in being able to contribute to argument and debate in Metal studies, music studies, cultural theory, media theory and journalism. In addition to this, an interesting avenue of exploration is the dual origin of Heavy metal and Cultural Studies in the same decade in Birmingham.
Dr. Niall Scott, Senior Lecturer in Ethics University of Central Lancashire