alexmjjohnson's review
3.0
A little heavy on the pop and light on the dialectics. Basically ended up as one long critique of Adorno's already widely criticized views on popular music. It does a good job of breaking down what makes Adorno's elitist criticisms wrong, but it felt altogether unnecessary and was a bit dull.
There were a couple moments (and by that I mean maybe 5 pages worth in this 400+ page book) where Gayraud went into the specifics of what makes a pop song, album, or artist dialectical and I would have loved a lot more of that. But it was nice to see both Sparks' 'No. 1 Song in Heaven' discussed and the criminally underrated cover of 'Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft' by The Carpenters briefly mentioned.
There were a couple moments (and by that I mean maybe 5 pages worth in this 400+ page book) where Gayraud went into the specifics of what makes a pop song, album, or artist dialectical and I would have loved a lot more of that. But it was nice to see both Sparks' 'No. 1 Song in Heaven' discussed and the criminally underrated cover of 'Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft' by The Carpenters briefly mentioned.
madoko's review
4.0
I expected a modern look at music (from the 2000s and upwards) and a handling of it that was less concerned with aesthetic development than I actually got.
what I instead got was almost a genealogy of pop music, which doesnt make it a worse work, but slightly defying of expectations.
This does not take away from the brilliant observations and handling of Adorno that is on display here, here, especially the attempts to redefine thoughts from adorno and Benjamin shines through.
So does the exploration of deterritorialization of socalled "world" music, that displays really well how pop musics ability to liquify tradition and regional aesthetics actually plays into its ultimate strength.
Recommended to everyone with interest in musicology and aesthetics
what I instead got was almost a genealogy of pop music, which doesnt make it a worse work, but slightly defying of expectations.
This does not take away from the brilliant observations and handling of Adorno that is on display here, here, especially the attempts to redefine thoughts from adorno and Benjamin shines through.
So does the exploration of deterritorialization of socalled "world" music, that displays really well how pop musics ability to liquify tradition and regional aesthetics actually plays into its ultimate strength.
Recommended to everyone with interest in musicology and aesthetics
versfobia's review
5.0
Un tratado brillante de estética moderna y contemporánea, a partir del estudio de la música pop(ular). Desde la forma en que la autora delimita con rigor la forma musical pop, hasta las "tres escuchas" de sus características y potencialidades, este libro es simplemente maravilloso. La tesis de que lo pop es definido por una reflexividad en la que la música se horada constantemente a sí misma abriéndose a su negatividad es sostenida, llevada hasta sus últimas consecuencias y problematizada continuamente, en un abordaje epistemológico muy cuidadoso. El libro se nutre de todas las dimensiones (histórica, sociológica, política, puramente estética) que abre Agnès a lo largo del libro, que es evidentemente una labor de amor y años de trabajo.
Absolutamente recomendado para toda persona que quiera detenerse a pensar, desde la filosofía, qué significa para la cultura contemporánea la música pop. Ni el largo del libro ni las citas a Adorno (autor con el que se discute en un plano ontológico y político sin cesar, pero de una forma matizada y abierta a las contradicciones propias del trabajo teórico) deberían preocupar a lxs lectorxs potenciales: la escritura es clara y sencilla de seguir, pero no renuncia por eso a un enfoque estético verdaderamente profundo.
Es, finalmente, un testimonio de que la reflexión teórica no necesariamente desencanta el objeto: leyendo este libro me volví a enamorar de música que ya conocía.
Absolutamente recomendado para toda persona que quiera detenerse a pensar, desde la filosofía, qué significa para la cultura contemporánea la música pop. Ni el largo del libro ni las citas a Adorno (autor con el que se discute en un plano ontológico y político sin cesar, pero de una forma matizada y abierta a las contradicciones propias del trabajo teórico) deberían preocupar a lxs lectorxs potenciales: la escritura es clara y sencilla de seguir, pero no renuncia por eso a un enfoque estético verdaderamente profundo.
Es, finalmente, un testimonio de que la reflexión teórica no necesariamente desencanta el objeto: leyendo este libro me volví a enamorar de música que ya conocía.
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