Call for chapters
Hip Hop North of the 49th Parallel: Hip Hop in Canada and Canadian Hip Hop
Edited by Dr. Charity Marsh and Dr. Mark V. Campbell

Can we confidently assert that there is such a thing as a hip hop nation in Canada? If so, what might this ‘nation’ look like given on-going colonial/settler relations, the nature of overlapping African diasporas, the increasing celebrations of multiculturalism, changing immigration policies, the rise of urban reserves, the on-going threat of francophone separatism, and disparate geographic realities from coast to coast to coast? Or would it be more useful to articulate hip hop in Canada and Canadian hip hop within the framework of Benedict Anderson’s ‘imagined communities’ or through the lens of ‘diasporic sensibilities’ as recently suggested by Murray Forman? Is Rinaldo Walcott’s assertion of Canadian hip hop as subversive and insubordinate vis-a-vis the Canadian state a productive place to begin our critical inquiry? Continue reading →

Call for chapters
Guitars and Geeks: An Exploration of the Music and Culture of Geek Rock
Deadline 31 December 2012
Editors: Victoria Willis & Alex DiBlasi

This book seeks to explore the culture, music, and significance of geek rock. As a sub-genre of alternative music, geek rock has not only been neglected in current humanities scholarship, it has also been literally erased from the mainstream with the deletion of the “Geek Rock” Wikipedia page. We contend that not only is geek rock present and significant within music and culture, but that it transcends musical genre and social boundaries. Geek rock, as we define it, is determined more by subject matter than by sound. The purpose of this collection of essays is two-fold: to define and re-map geek rock on the musical landscape and to explore the musical and cultural significance geek rock. Continue reading →