{"product_id":"9781501307058","title":"Popular Music and the Politics of Novelty","description":"Popular music, today, has supposedly collapsed into a 'retromania'  which, according to leading critic Simon Reynolds, has brought a 'slow  and steady fading of the artistic imperative to be original.' Meanwhile,  in the estimation of philosopher Alain Badiou, a significant political  event will always require 'the dictatorial power of a creation ex  nihilo'. Everywhere, it seems, at least amongst commentators of a  certain age and type, pessimism prevails with regards to the predominant  aesthetic preferences of the twenty first century: popular music,  supposedly, is in a rut.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYet when, if ever, did the political  engagement kindled by popular music amount to more than it does today? The sixties? The punk explosion of the late 1970s? Despite an  on-going fixation upon these periods in much rock journalism and  academic writing, this book demonstrates that the utilisation of popular  music to promote political causes, on the one hand, and the expression  of dissent through the medium of 'popular song', on the other hand,  remain widely in practice today.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is not to argue, however,  for complacency with regards to the need for expressions of political  dissent through popular culture. Rather, the book looks carefully at  actual usages of popular music in political processes, as well as  expressions of political feeling through song, and argues that there is  much to encourage us to think that the demand for radical change remains  in circulation. The question is, though, how necessary is it for  politically-motivated popular music to offer aesthetic novelty?","brand":"Bloomsbury USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145499263216,"sku":"9781501307058","price":30.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781501307058_p0.jpg?v=1763708479","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781501307058","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}