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Listening for Locality: A Sense of Place in the Music of Sigur Rós, Dan Deacon, Sō Percussion, and Nick Zammuto

Since the start of the 21st century—and mostly in the past five years—Sigur Rós, Dan Deacon, Sō Percussion, and Nick Zammuto
actively investigated their homes and found them to be inspiring, if sometimes difficult to confront or articulate. They wrote music
resulting from their individual investigations. Certain albums, like Sō Percussion's Where (we) Live (2012) and Dan Deacon's America
(2012), candidly explored place, while Nick Zammuto's Anchor (2014) obliquely referenced his family's homestead. In the case of Sigur Rós,
Iceland undoubtedly has been an influence, although the band finds place-based descriptions of its music to be problematic. By identifying
the musicians' senses of place—their psychological and emotional attachments to specific places—I contextualize the role that place plays
in their lives and explore strategies of listening for locality within their music. Using these four groups as case studies, this
dissertation explores the relationship of music and place. It also draws parallels between the groups' music and a recent ascendancy of
place and public concern for the environment. I argue that the musicians in this study are producing work that coincides with an
invigorated attention to location—examples of which include digitization of place, the migration of younger generations away from suburban
living, and anxieties regarding anthropogenic climate change. Sigur Rós, Dan Deacon, Sō Percussion, and Nick Zammuto are thus part of both
a cohort of place-conscious citizens and a bevy of contemporary musicians and composers who are exploring place. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / March 18, 2016. / Dan Deacon, Music, Nick Zammuto, Place, Sigur Ros, So Percussion / Includes bibliographical references. / Denise Von Glahn, Professor Directing Dissertation; Chris Coutts, University Representative;
Frank Gunderson, Committee Member; Margaret Jackson, Committee Member.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_360340
ContributorsDelCiampo, Matthew (authoraut), Von Glahn, Denise (professor directing dissertation), Coutts, Christopher (university representative), Gunderson, Frank D. (committee member), Jackson, Margaret R. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Music (degree granting college)
PublisherFlorida State University, Florida State University
Source SetsFlorida State University
LanguageEnglish, English
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, text
Format1 online resource (286 pages), computer, application/pdf
RightsThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them.

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