http://hdl.handle.net/1893/9079 Electronic copies of Communications, Media and Culture book reviews. Sat, 03 Oct 2026 18:37:38 GMT 2026-10-03T18:37:38Z http://hdl.handle.net/1893/34835 Title: Song Means: Analysing and Interpreting Recorded Popular Song Author(s): Avdeeff, Melissa Abstract: First paragraph: Allan Moore opens Song Means: Analysing and Interpreting Recorded Popular Song by asking “what meanings can experiencing a song have and how does it create those meanings?” (1). Answering these questions is at the heart of Moore’s text, through a discourse on how we can analyze and subjectively create meaningful relationships with popular music songs. Moore treats analysis and meaning as dichotomous discussions. Throughout Song Means, the role of the listener is acknowledged in the construction of meaning, which is guided by subjective experiences. The role of analysis is approached from a more formalist methodology, in an effort to survey the relationship between instruments, chord progressions, timbres, genre expectations and lyrics. Overall, Song Means provides what will, no doubt, become a seminal text within popular music studies. Moore has taken on the huge task of synthesizing, not only twenty years of his own academic writings, but also that of key figures within the field, including Richard Middleton (1990; 2000) Simon Frith (1983; 1998), and Philip Tagg (2000). While popular music studies can seem quite diffuse from a layman’s perspective, Song Means is an attempt to bridge that gap and bring a much needed cohesive factor to the field. Wed, 31 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1893/34835 2014-12-31T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1893/33629 Title: Virginia Crisp and Gabriel Menotti, Practices of Projection: Histories and Technologies Author(s): Vélez-Serna, María A Abstract: First paragraph: This is the second edited collection published in English by the Besides the Screen network (there are other Portuguese-language publications). This prolific and international alliance has made space for a highly original approach to screen cultures, which brings academics, artists, curators, filmmakers and film exhibitors into dialogue and foregrounds materiality and practice. The conferences and events organized by the network, in Brazil and the UK (and, more recently, online), have been characterized by a unique mix of experimental art, exhibitions, workshops and multilingual conversations in an open and generative atmosphere. This collection reflects the network’s eclecticism, as the chapters range from the descriptive to the speculative, and from family memory to topology via inflatable venues and magic lanterns. Thu, 01 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1893/33629 2021-04-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1893/33348 Title: Book Review: Andrew McStay, Digital Advertising Author(s): MacRury, Iain Abstract: First paragraph: This is a book in a hurry; perhaps necessarily so. The range of activity the author is seeking to make sense of is developing apace. Exotic to some readers (Second Life for instance) the titular Digital Advertising refers to burgeoning arrays of new communications phenomena which together constitute much of the familiar and ubiquitous architecture of everyday living and working: Google, Facebook and so on. The digital sublime confronts the supermarket shopper. McStay sets the stage well. Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1893/33348 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1893/33334 Title: Book Review: New Dimensions of Doctor Who: Adventures in Space, Time and Television. London: IB Tauris. Hills, M.(ed)(2013) Author(s): MacRury, Iain Abstract: First paragraph: In the editorial introduction to New Dimensions of Doctor Who: Adventures in Space, Time and Television, Matt Hills considers a ‘glut’ of recent books exploring Doctor Who. Such abundant productivity has been, as he suggests, market- and anniversary-led. November 23 2013 saw the 50th anniversary episode aired and Doctor Who is enjoying unprecedented global popularity. Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1893/33334 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z