Month: April 2008

Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Conference 2008 in Osaka

sonicscape CALL FOR PAPERS, CONFERENCE

Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Conference 2008 in Osaka: Call For Papers

Date: 26 (Sat)-27 (Sun) July 2008
Venue: Osaka City University, Takahara Hall
(3-3-138, Sugimoto-cho, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka-shi, JAPAN)
http://www.osaka-cu.ac.jp/english/info/access.html

Organized by:
Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Group (https://interasiapop.org/)
and
Urban Culture Research Centre (UCRC), Osaka City University
(http://www.lit.osaka-cu.ac.jp/UCRC/index-e.html)

Conference theme: Globalizing Music Industry in Asia

Rationale:
We are pleased to announce the first Inter-Asia Popular Music Conference in Osaka in collaboration with Osaka City University, Urban Culture Research Center (UCRC) in July 2008.

Over the last two decades, the study of popular music has been dramatically developed in the interdisciplinary fields from musicology, sociology, literature, history, education, anthropology, to media & communications and cultural studies since the establishment of the International Association for Study of Popular Music (IASPM) in 1981. A similar trend has also been observed in the Asian continent where more and more scholars are involved in the critical studies of popular music.

Today, however, we face two major problems to be considered generally among scholars of non-Western(Asian) popular music cultures: Firstly, while it has been well established academically as an distinctive field of study in Western campuses, research efforts on popular music in the Asian contexts remains largely scattered, limited without. There are currently no institutions devoted to popular music studies within Asian universities, and the more sustained interactions of scholars in this field in the region have also been hampered by language barriers. Secondly, in spite of its more globally diffused patterns of distribution, appropriation and consumption, scholarly accounts on Asian popular music has been predominantly centered within contemporary national boundaries Such existing paradigms would have to be revised in light of the recognition of the socio-cultural fluidity arising from developments in communication technologies as well as more intensified rates of human migration.

As part of our preliminary efforts to address theses issues these problems, we launched an online based, transnational research portal, Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Group in 2007, and have also started discussions among about 40 scholars not only in Asia but also in Europe and the United States.

In the first international conference has a main theme entitled ‘Globalizing Music Industry in Asia’, by which we would like to focus on the recent situation and historical trajectory of popular music genres in Asia like rock, pop music to hip hop and dance music which have been heavily influenced by globalization of music industry, in particular, the restructuring of global capital, the radical change of distribution network including media and internet and the transformation of fan’s practices.

Possible session themes:
Music, internet and piracy (Copyright)
Beatles in Asia
Hip hop in Asia
Transnational flow and consumption of popular music
Border-crossing Pop stars and their mediation of Asian modernities
Recycling of old Asian pop in film/drama
Asians in global experimental music scenes
Transformation of creative labour in music industry
Inter-Asian collaboration/adaptation of popular music
Music consumption by/of trans-Asian migrants
iPod and mobile music
Music for Practical uses (film, drama, game soundtrack)
Asian diasporic music outside Asia

*Any other suggestions will be welcomed.

Schedule:
30 May The first deadline of application
26-27 July Conference

Call for papers
The organizers of Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Conference 2008 in Osaka would like to invite paper presenters to send their abstracts (not more than 250 words) before 31 May, 2008 to; IAPMS2008@yahoo.co.jp

If you have any inquiries, please be free ask Yoshitaka Mori:
IAPMS2008@yahoo.co.jp

Registration Fees:
Faculty member and staff: 3000 JPY (=US$ 30)
Student:2000 JPY (=US$20)

Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Conference 2008 in Osaka Organizing
Committee:
Shin NAKAGAWA,
Professor and Director of Urban Culture Research Center Osaka Ciity
University, Japan

Hyunjoon SHIN, Professor, Sungkonghoe University, Korea

Yoshitaka MORI, Associate Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts

Anthony FUNG, Associate Professor, Chinese University, Hong Kong

Kyoko KOIZUMI, Associate Professor, Aichi University of Education, Japan

Tunghung Ho, Associate Professor, Fu-jen University, Taiwan

Satoshi MASUDA, Associate Professor, Osaka City University, Japan

Kai Khun LIEW, Postdoctoral Fellow, National University of Singapore,
Singapore

Jung-Yup LEE, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA/Korea

sonicscape 200 WORDS

by homey81

mike_park_0804191

On the last Saturday, 19 April, I happened to be in Berkeley (exactly Albany) during stopping over my trip between Hawaii and the Netherlands. On that day, there was a concert in 924 Gilman Street (it is both the address and the name of the club). I heard the news of concert tour by Mike Park, who was one of the pioneers of “The Third Wave of ska (or skapunk)” in Bay Area, forming and disbanding of numerous bands including Skankin’ Pickle, the Chinkees and Bruce Lee Band. However, since a couple of years ago, he has become a solo singer-songwriter who sings with only the accompaniment of his acoustic guitar alone. But the show on that day was different.

The show was organized for the memorial/tribute of the late Lynette Knackstedt, a (female) guitar player in Skankin’ Pickle who died on 7 December last year.  The concert was for donating for her and her family and organized by Mike himself. [Accoding to Mike Park, other bands were the Boars(60’s garage punk featuring Lars from Pickle on Organ and vocals), The Bar Feeders(SF MISSION punks, good friends of Lynette), and Lucifer’s Strip Club Band(Lynette’s last band, playing burlesque type jazz, lounge, swing music)].

Although I (and Jaeyoung) missed Mike’s solo performance because of stupid reason, we could enjoy the performance of Skanaking Pickle’s songs like “I am in Love with a Girl named Spike,” and “I missed the Bus.” It has been long since Mike Park played with full band set and he himself seems to be inspired, swithching singing songs and blowing saxophone. I did not know that ska is so energizing and the sound was quite different from that I heard through CDs ot mp3s.

Although I could not record the show, you can enjoy Skankin’ Pickle’s live performance clip. Alas, already 15 years ago… : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Z8jCWB5pM.

Joon