In recent years noise has gained theoretical momentum as a concept used to consider the complexity of difference in both culture and art. Despite a great degree of variance between its authors, there is nevertheless a common insistence within noise theory that noise must be thought negatively. Particularly in accounts of Japanese noise music, noise is construed as oppositional to musicality and meaning traditionally understood. This thesis aims to reassess this claim with the argument that the true alterity of Japanese noise music cannot be reduced or essentialised to the categories of negativity and radicalism. It will be argued that the language of this music is predicated on a fundamental absence that makes any essential categorisation impossible. Drawing on twentieth-century continental philosophy, particularly the work of Maurice Blanchot, this thesis will develop an entangled relationship between two different, although fundamentally dependent, languages of noise. Chapter one will lay the theoretical groundwork for these languages by distinguishing between active noise and passive noise. If active noise names the language of negativity and radicalism through which we understand the materiality, sonority and performances of Japanese noise music, then passive noise names the way in which this language is problematised by Blanchot's challenge to atomistic and holistic thinking. Chapter two will demonstrate how an intentionless alterity, which constitutes passivity, accounts for a different idea of transgression than the kind frequently attributed to the erotic and sacrificial activities of Japanese noise music. Chapter three will continue this discussion by exploring Japanese noise music's relationship with death and impossibility. The conclusion will examine Blanchot's idea of community as a possible way of understanding the community centred around Japanese noise music. By way of summary, it will be argued that no unifying principle collectivises either the community or language of this music, because both are fundamentally predicated on an irreconcilable impossibility.

This dissertation focuses primarily on controversial punk band ‘Porno Para Ricardo’, using them as a case study to illuminate some of the complex networks that comprise contemporary Cuban cultural identity. The introduction and conclusion frame each chapter’s close-analysis of songs from the band’s oeuvre with an ethnographic contextualisation of aspects of ‘the everyday’ in contemporary Havana, and gives a brief history of the ways in which the band has been forced by state hegemony to a position ‘outside the Revolution’. Despite this treatment, and despite the band’s often vehement criticisms of Cuban nationalism and socialist dogma, they still share much of the same ‘obsession’ with defining a sense of national identity that pervades Cuban art and culture. This work also proposes viewing Porno Para Ricardo as an ‘Aleph’ of Cuban identity, after the short story of Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges. In Borges’ work, the Aleph is a small point in which all of space is condensed and can be seen simultaneously. I tentatively (and aware of the real-world limitations) suggest using a band so ostensibly ‘outside’ of the space of Cuban cultural identity as a point through which to examine the whole. Each chapter then provides a glimpse through this proposed Aleph to examine moments of dialogue between the band and aspects of contemporary Cuban identity construction: uses of remembrance, attachment to place, affiliation to subculture, cover versions, laughter and noise.

Music video visually communicates with music, in a storytelling manner with direct or subliminal messages to audiences. It encompasses many discourses over different contexts, and often used in contradictory ways to embody gendered aesthetic values of authenticity. This thesis sets out to investigate Taiwanese Mandopop female stars and their representations in the music videos seen in the Mandopop industry. At the heart of the body of work presented in this thesis is an exploration and examination of three case studies, focusing on female singers Winnie Hsin, Cyndi Wang, and Jolin Tsai, situating them within the Taiwanese Mandopop context, and in relation to their music videos: Understanding (1994), Love You (2003), and The Great Artist (2012). The representatives and adaptabilities for analytical interest are in relation to the three major themes, namely sadness, cuteness, and sexiness, meaning that their work can be seen to construct their specific star representation of femininity, feminism and creativity. Writing on the theoretical dialogue between film studies, music video studies, cultural studies, feminism, psychoanalytic theory and postmodernism, the textual analysis, combining the concept of music video detail analysis and the reconstruction of representations of each performer, will show how their images are created, and lead to a discussion of the embedded semiotic meanings, links among audience reception, creative control, and artistic freedom. Finally, these texts, a link to how the representations relate to cultural tradition and social transformation, will offer a dialogue and critique of Taiwanese society, through representations of the female stars they created.

This thesis gathers work on a number of popular music-related areas but with connecting themes and threads. The relationship of the Beat Generation writers of the 1950s to the popular music culture that followed is explored and the connections that were forged between that gathering of anti-establishment novelist and poets and the counterculture that would take shape in the 1960s are investigated. Chapters reflecting on Beat activity and its association with the rise of rock'n'roll, the emergence of the Beatles and its continuing impression on performers from . the post-Sixties period are included. The impact on the rock underground, in part a legacy of the Beat influence, are further addressed in sections on the Summer of Love of 1967 and the Wood stock Festival. But there is also an over-riding theme that makes links between the power of language and the expressions of popular music's artists and groups. Whether we are reflecting on the influence of literature on music-makers, the power of the lyric, or the very words that are utilised to describe or critique popular music, the role of language is often central. This thesis explores that inter-section from a range of angles.

This thesis studies the development of the British recording studio from the early- 1930s to the present day (2015). This is an area of academic study that has received relatively little attention within popular music studies. Recording studios feature in artist biographies and in studies of music production, and attention has often been focused on iconic studios that are associated with successful artists from the rock canon, rather than exploring the wider sector. Human and economic geographers have focused on specific aspects of the studio sector, such as working practices, the impact of software and the impact of digital technology. This thesis seeks to bridge the gap between the work of popular music scholars and geographical researchers by utilizing a holistic approach, which examines the evolution of the sector using the production of culture perspective, specifically the six-facet model. The development of the recording studio in the UK has been shaped by the interplay between technological innovations, developments in audio production, changes in popular culture, and the structure and financial success of the recording industry. These factors have had a significant effect upon the development of the sector and the cultural products produced within it, consequently any nuanced understanding of the sector has to take all of these factors into account simultaneously. This study draws on a body of oral interviews conducted by the author with engineers, producers, studio owners, technology manufacturers and musicians. It also integrates published materials from a variety of disciplines. The growth and decline of the sector is explored chronologically; from its industrial beginnings as part of the manufacturing process, the emergence of an independent sector, the standardization of recording studios, the introduction of digital technology, and the evolution of the networked digital studio. Technological innovation in the recording sector is examined throughout the thesis and the development of the professional audio industry is also explored. The thesis examines how the studio sector evolved in tandem with the growth of the market for popular music, and explores the impact of digitization on the sector. A combination of affordable digital recording technology and a crisis in the market for recorded music has significantly reshaped the studio sector in the 21st century. The traditional recording studio is now no longer the main site of production, as small Internet connected DAW-based studios are the new studio paradigm. Consequently, the thesis examines how digital technologies and shifting market dynamics have influenced and shaped the current studio sector. Historicizing the evolution and subsequent contraction of the professional recording sector informs understanding of the recording sector in general, and offers an insight into the interplay between technology, practice and the market.

This thesis examines popular music in the city of Leicester. It looks at local popular music practice through the activities, values and structures of support associated with local music scenes and music industry. It explores the ways in which popular music contributes to city life through the activities of particular groups involved in the production and distribution of music in Leicester. It also considers how local governance structures influence and shape music practice through cultural policy and municipal government and regulation. Using the concepts 'music scene' and 'music community' I consider how participation in popular music in the city is organised around particular sites, activities, coalitions and alliances. The production and localisation of identities, values and economies through popular music practice are considered via case study and through examination of the relationship between public sector supported initiatives and different social and music communities. In particular, I focus on the ways in which popular music is thought to represent different social groups and how this representation is an important element of local cultural policy. The social function of popular music in marking and contributing to social and cultural identity (Frith 1987) is examined in the context of urban communities and identities, and in terms of its propensity to facilitate public celebration and display of diverse ethnicities in a multicultural city. I consider the history of provision for popular music and recent policy initiatives in Leicester in comparison to other examples of urban cultural policy, which are offered as a framework for considering different strategies for urban regeneration and animation through the popular music sector. In doing so, I question the relationship between cultural value and cultural policy and discuss issues associated with local music scenes and identities and the influences on local music policy and practice.

In this thesis I address two related questions: how does groove work in breakbeats, and how might it enable musical participation across time and space? In order to do this, I analyse breakbeats as they are heard in their original funk context and then in various subsequent genres for which they provide a percussive backbone via the process of recontextualization made possible by digital sampling. From this seemingly narrow focus, more broadly useful ideas about groove emerge and I discuss these in relation to current groovological thought. Of particular significance within my findings is the often‐overlooked role which timbre plays in groove. I propose that the groove in breakbeats operates as a result of timbral, as much as temporal, factors, and that breakbeats can therefore be seen to embody the complementary concepts of Wilson’s heterogeneous sound ideal and Small’s musicking. By exploring groove, breakbeats and sampling from a range of perspectives I show that the potent conceptual combination of musicking and the heterogeneous sound ideal accounts for the perennial appeal of breakbeats as a fundamental building block in contemporary popular music. In order to explore these ideas, following initial chapters that establish a theoretical framework, each successive chapter then deals with a particular manifestation of the breaks. Overall, this structure builds a kaleidoscopic conceptual picture that is appropriate to the multi--‐faceted nature of groove and the enduring versatility of breakbeats.

The rise to prominence of digitised networks and platforms of wireless communication brings with it an increased focus on immaterial labour and production and the transformative effect that it has on economic, political and social relations, both within and across online and offline spheres. The creative industries of the UK are a particularly important sector in this respect, particularly the music industry, whose trajectory from pre-digital to digital modes of consumption and production has been swift and all-encompassing. This study sought to go beyond the traditional mainstream debates over the possibilities and the pitfalls of digitisation (i.e. online piracy and the vilification of those who engage in such practices), and understand both the economic and social bases of change as they were perceived by independent promoters, musicians and audiences within Cardiff’s indie music milieu. This research adopted a multi-method qualitative interpretivist approach comprising semi-structured interviews with musicians and promoters, ethnographic interviews with audiences and participant observation at live music events. It uncovered not only the evolving attitudes to ‘piracy’ within independent operations, but also the manner in which sharing of music and the associated promotion and communication which operates within the Cardiff milieu transforms not only the circulation and sharing of the music itself, but facilitates new forms of social relations across online and offline spaces. The de-commodification of music in its physical form, and its subsequent re-commodification across online and offline modes has resulted in dramatic shifts for the way music is promoted. This also raises important issues of ‘prosumption’ and the extent to which this is present, the changing economic and social value of music, authenticity and music in the digital age and the evolving position of physical forms of recorded music. Singular economic issues, such as piracy, cannot be addressed in isolation from the multitude of other implications arising from digitisation. A much wider understanding of these issues and their impact on musical enterprises, mainstream and independent, is required in order to address the full extent of changes afoot for both business and social interaction.

This thesis explores the relationship between popular politics and popular music through the context of the international campaign against apartheid South Africa. In particular the thesis focuses on the ways in which the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, arguably the best organised and best established anti-apartheid solidarity organisation, interacted with popular music. This was a relationship that had been well established by the AAM’s attempts to enforce a wide ranging cultural boycott against South Africa. Growing challenges to the status and the logic of the boycott throughout the period, demonstrate well the shifting nature of popular politics. This link between popular music and protest against apartheid would also be embraced by musicians outside of the traditional constituencies of groups such as the AAM. In particular the growing market for reggae and what would later be termed world music demonstrated a wider interest for the subject beyond traditional activist circles. In both these genres the themes of pan-Africanism and anti-apartheid solidarity played an important role in the imagery and packaging of many artists. Yet the distance between these musicians and fans and established campaigning groups could also be a source of conflict. This was an issue that is highlighted best by the controversy surrounding Paul Simon’s 1987 Graceland album. This desire to use popular music as a campaigning tool in and of itself would later also be embraced by campaigns such as the AAM. In particular this manifested itself in a number of increasingly high profile awareness raising concerts including a 1990 concert at Wembley Stadium. Yet the complex negotiations and politics of the event also revealed something of the limitations of the relationship between popular music and popular politics and the extent to which more nuanced messages could be lost in a larger spectacle.

During the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, 'lo-fi,' a term suggesting poor sound quality, the opposite of 'hi-fi,' became a characteristic perceived in certain popular-music recordings and eventually emerged as a category within independent or 'indie' popular music. It is typically taken to express the technical and technological deficiencies associated with amateur or 'DIY' musical production, namely at home using cheap recording equipment. However, this thesis rejects the assumption that lo-fi equates to a mode of production and charts it as a construction and a certain aesthetics within popular music discourse, defined as 'a positive appreciation of what are perceived and/or considered normatively interpreted as imperfections in a recording.' I chart the development and manifestation of lo-fi aesthetics, and the ways it focuses on various 'lo-fi effects' such as noise, distortion ('phonographic imperfections') and performance imperfections, in several decades of newspapers, magazines and websites covering popular music in the English-speaking world. I argue that lo-fi aesthetics is not merely the unmediated, realist authenticity that it is often claimed to be, but one that is also fascinated with the distance from perceived commercial norms of technique and technology (or 'technocracy') that lo-fi effects signify. Lo-fi aesthetics derives from aesthetics of primitivism and realism that extend back long before phonographic imperfections were positively received. I also differentiate between lo-fi aesthetics and aesthetics of noise music, distortion in rock, glitch, punk and cassette culture. An appreciation for recording imperfections and the development of 'lo-fi' as a construction and a category is charted since the 1950s and particularly in the 1980s, 1990s and in the twenty-first century, taking in the reception of artists such as the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, Hasil Adkins, the Shaggs, Jandek, Daniel Johnston, Beat Happening, Pavement, Sebadoh, Guided By Voices, Beck, Will Oldham, Ariel Pink and Willis Earl Beal.