Uploaded August 2019 | Updated September 2026, 10 hours ago
crosstowntraffic2018.wordpress.com
This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield research.hud.ac.uk/pmsrg/#
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cmci
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
artofrecordproduction.com
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
metalstudies.org
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
When slow is good: slowcore, space and power
J Mark Percival - Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
Email: mpercival@qmu.ac.uk
/// ABSTRACT
In the splintering of sub-genres that accompanied indie music’s transition from the 1980s to the 1990s, a number of bands emerged that played sparsely arranged, down-tempo music in clear contrast to the layered overdriven guitars and conventional rock tempos of much alternative rock of the time. These artists, which included Codeine (1989-1994, 2012) and Red House Painters (1988-2001) were grouped together as a new gene, slowcore. Whilst not the first bands to use slow tempos to explore the harmonic power of particular rock sounds and melody, the so-called slowcore bands (none of who were ever fond of the term) existed at least in part as a reaction to the aggression and speed of the grunge movement. One of the most important of these bands was Low (1993-pesent), whose approach to tempo is most evident in their 1996 cover of Joy Division’s 1979 debut single, Transmission.
Joy Division’s backbeat propels the original single version along at around 154 BPM, to an official length of 3:36. Low’s version, in a very similar arrangement runs at 113 BPM and clocks in at 6:14. If listeners are familiar with the original, this is almost painfully slow. This paper therefore explores the ways in which slow music, and in particular indie/alternative pop and rock challenged alt-rock orthodoxy and aesthetics in the 1990s and beyond.
crosstowntraffic2018.wordpress.com
This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield research.hud.ac.uk/pmsrg/#
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cmci
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
artofrecordproduction.com
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
metalstudies.org
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
When slow is good: slowcore, space and power
J Mark Percival - Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
Email: mpercival@qmu.ac.uk
/// ABSTRACT
In the splintering of sub-genres that accompanied indie music’s transition from the 1980s to the 1990s, a number of bands emerged that played sparsely arranged, down-tempo music in clear contrast to the layered overdriven guitars and conventional rock tempos of much alternative rock of the time. These artists, which included Codeine (1989-1994, 2012) and Red House Painters (1988-2001) were grouped together as a new gene, slowcore. Whilst not the first bands to use slow tempos to explore the harmonic power of particular rock sounds and melody, the so-called slowcore bands (none of who were ever fond of the term) existed at least in part as a reaction to the aggression and speed of the grunge movement. One of the most important of these bands was Low (1993-pesent), whose approach to tempo is most evident in their 1996 cover of Joy Division’s 1979 debut single, Transmission.
Joy Division’s backbeat propels the original single version along at around 154 BPM, to an official length of 3:36. Low’s version, in a very similar arrangement runs at 113 BPM and clocks in at 6:14. If listeners are familiar with the original, this is almost painfully slow. This paper therefore explores the ways in which slow music, and in particular indie/alternative pop and rock challenged alt-rock orthodoxy and aesthetics in the 1990s and beyond.
