In 2019 I volunteered to research and curate an exhibition about music and musicians for my local community museum in the Cotswolds. The Swinford Museum typically houses displays relating to rural life and so my music-themed exhibition was to co-exist alongside permanent displays of farming equipment and stonemasonry, a patent reminder of the context forContinue reading “Swinford Museum Exhibition 2019: The Music and Musicians of Filkins and Broughton Poggs”
Category Archives: Popular Music and Society
Is it just me or does this building distinctly resemble an LP?
I photographed this quirky concrete building at the Aire Du Jura service station in France earlier this year. The building itself is named the Circles Pavilion and this wonderful example of brutalist architecture houses a number of interesting and informative exhibitions, including one on the production and history of the local comté cheese. Despite my initial assumption that each side of the building was intendedContinue reading “Is it just me or does this building distinctly resemble an LP?”
Giving pop the chop
Would anyone choose to slice their vegetables and prepare their meals on a vinyl record? The designers at Joseph seem pretty convinced that many of us would. I received one of these glossy, black (plastic) vinyl-record style cutting boards as a gift recently and am still struggling to accept the item both as a physicalContinue reading “Giving pop the chop”
Shakin’ up the music promo? Bridging realities in the Harlem Shake
After dissecting a sample of noteworthy music videos as part of my lecture on the music promo, I decided to indulge my student group in some discussion of the then viral YouTube phenomenon The Harlem Shake. This, I thought, would surely challenge my students to think about the mechanisms of the music industry and the powerContinue reading “Shakin’ up the music promo? Bridging realities in the Harlem Shake”
Conference paper – June 2015
‘Hot on the press: an examination of increased coverage of female musicians, in pixels and in print, in the English quality news press from 1981 to 1991’. Consuming/ Culture: Women and girls in print and pixels. Oxford Brookes University. 5-6 June 2015. This paper documents a period of significant change in the appearance and contentContinue reading “Conference paper – June 2015”
Popular music adding value through community choirs
Earlier this year I spoke at a conference on ‘The Value of Popular Music’, and on hearing the news that the recent fundraising concert performed by Langford-based community choir The Cotswold Voices had raised over a thousand pounds towards the cost of a new piano for a local primary school, I was reminded that sometimesContinue reading “Popular music adding value through community choirs”
Singing with The Cotswold Voices in Swindon Town Centre, December 2013
They say that variety is the spice of life and this would certainly count as variety in mine. After setting up our pre-allocated pitch in the doorway to BHS our esteemed choir leader led us through our 1-hour set of well-rehearsed songs and medleys, with the informal nature of the setting certainly helping us to relax into a fineContinue reading “Singing with The Cotswold Voices in Swindon Town Centre, December 2013”
Musical steps in Gijon
I photographed these brightly coloured steps, with their curious references to popular music, whilst attending the IASPM Conference in Gijon, in 2013. I never did get to the bottom of their purpose or origin but they certainly made a wonderful discovery on my wanderings around the old harbour area of the city.
Lechlade Music Festival, May 2013
Admittedly, I only took the family along to this event on the basis of its close proximity to home, although I noted afterwards that it was quite rightly nominated for the 2013 Best Small Festival and Best Family Festival awards, but sadly didn’t win. The kids loved the Pirate Party Brigade, a lively group of scallywags from JerseyContinue reading “Lechlade Music Festival, May 2013”
Dr Jennifer Skellington 