In 1991, the first lawsuit regarding sample-based hip hop, Grand Upright Music Ltd. v. Warner Brothers Records, was decided in court, and this decision forever changed how artists and their record labels approached sample-based hip hop. Although several lawsuits had been filed before 1991, all of those were settled out of court. There was no…[Read more]

Hip-hop producers rely on several specific formulas to create sample-based hip-hop. Developed with a combination of analysis and ethnography, this typology of sampling is a systematic terminological and conceptual approach to this repertoire. There are three main types of samples: structural samples, surface samples, and lyric samples. Each of…[Read more]

A detailed review of vol. 2 of Berlioz’s complete correspondence, with many corrections of errors in the edition. The article also prints, for the first time, eight letters of Berlioz, with translation and commentary.

An essay on Ruth Crawford Seeger’s string quartet, using the technique of integral serialism: http://www.theavidlistener.com/2014/12/the-innovations-of-ruth-crawford-seeger.html

An essay on The Decemberists’ The Tain: http://www.theavidlistener.com/2015/11/american-folk-rock-cattle-raid-the-decemberistss-the-tain.html

An essay on Anthony Burgess’s Napoleon Symphony: http://www.theavidlistener.com/2015/11/art-mimics-art-anthony-burgesss-napoleon-symphony-a-novel-in-four-movements.html

An essay on Delia Derbyshire and women in electronic music: http://www.theavidlistener.com/2014/12/women-cant-do-that-delia-derbyshire-and-electronic-music.html?cid=6a00d83534ac5b69e201bb07c160e9970d#comment-6a00d83534ac5b69e201bb07c160e9970d

An essay on autobiography in pop songs by women: http://www.theavidlistener.com/2014/12/singing-about-yourself-autobiography-in-pop-music.html

An essay on music in Margaret Atwood’s Maddaddam Trilogy: http://www.theavidlistener.com/2015/10/survival-through-song.html

An essay on gender and music in the Star Wars films: http://www.theavidlistener.com/2015/01/hearing-gender-in-george-lucass-galaxy.html

Essay on music inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. http://www.theavidlistener.com/2015/10/heavy-metal-elves.html

All of the edited songs extracted from The Art Songs of Louise Talma, CMS Sourcebooks in American Music series, Routledge, 2017.