“Charanga Cakewalk”: Tejano Music Takes Center Stage

This paper explores the sounds of the Tejano community, and probe to what extent the musical production of a given ethnic group is constitutive of a global American sound, or if on the contrary, it serves to foster the interests and the leverage of the said group, unraveling in the process the very notion of a unified American culture. The study is based on the work of Michael Ramos, founder and leader of the influential band Charanga Cakewalk, a Tejano musician with typically strong roots both in the Mexican and in the US communities. The music of Charanga Cakewalk, which draws equally from the Latino and Anglo idioms, while mixing old school genres with contemporary experimentations, helps to assess the impact of staging subversive sounds that dislocate the dominant ones

Contemporary “Ethnic” Popular Music: A Challenge to American Modernity?

Recently, a colleague in the Department of Chinese studies approached me regarding a Ph. D. dissertation on contemporary Chinese rock he had to read. The dissertation defined American rock music as the results of various processes of métissage and hybridization. This surprised him for he had always considered American popular music as a homogenized whole, the reflection of a global, hegemonic Anglo-Saxon culture, and the product of a consolidated, far-reaching industry. His reaction confirms ..

Nathalie Dessens, Creole City. A Chronicle of Early American New OrleansNathalie Dessens, From Saint-Domingue to New Orleans. Migration and Influences

Book after book, Nathalie Dessens continues her exploration and analysis of the connections between the American South, more specifically Louisiana and New Orleans, and the Caribbean sphere. Her first opus, Myths of the Plantation Society: Slavery in the American South and the West Indies, released in 2004, had already broached the subject via the prism of slavery. The following two, From Saint-Domingue to New Orleans. Migration and Influences and Creole City. A Chronicle of Early American Ne..

Contemporary “Ethnic” Popular Music: A Challenge to American Modernity?

Recently, a colleague in the Department of Chinese studies approached me regarding a Ph. D. dissertation on contemporary Chinese rock he had to read. The dissertation defined American rock music as the results of various processes of métissage and hybridization. This surprised him for he had always considered American popular music as a homogenized whole, the reflection of a global, hegemonic Anglo-Saxon culture, and the product of a consolidated, far-reaching industry. His reaction confirms ..

Andres Serrano

Evénement artistique majeur, la Collection Lambert en Avignon présente la première rétrospective européenne consacrée à l’œuvre du photographe africain-américain d’origine cubaine et hondurienne, Andres Serrano. Majeur sur le plan historique et médiatique car certaines pièces de Serrano sont à l’origine de controverses célèbres qui ont défrayé la chronique aux Etats-Unis et ailleurs et ont valu au National Endowment for the Arts de violentes critiques pour manque de discernement dans l’attri..

Makis Solomos, De la musique au son. L’émergence du son dans la musique des XXe-XXIe siècles

L’ouvrage de Makis Solomos, professeur de musicologie à Paris 8 et le spécialiste de Xenakis en France, pourrait impressionner, voire alarmer le lecteur. Par son volume (plus de 540 pages denses), l’ambition de son propos (une analyse inédite de l’évolution des musiques européennes et étatsuniennes, pour l’essentiel, depuis l’aube du XXe siècle jusqu’à nos jours), son approche à la fois musicologique, philosophique et sociologique, son éclectisme et son érudition. D’autres pourraient en outre..

Will Hermes, New York 73/77. Des Ramones à Philip Glass, cinq ans au cœur d’une ville en feu

« New York City a tendance à effacer son histoire en se réinventant sans cesse : c’est sa façon de faire. Mais la musique demeure » (371). Voilà à quoi ce livre prétend : nous raconter l’histoire de New York, à travers la musique qui s’y est faite pendant cinq années de son histoire. Cinq courtes années, mais d’une richesse et d’une créativité artistiques exceptionnelles. De 1973 à 1977, New York connaît ce qui est peut-être la période la plus noire de son existence. Perpétuellement au bord d..

Assembly and structure of Lys³³-linked polyubiquitin reveals distinct conformations

Ubiquitylation regulates a multitude of biological processes and this versatility stems from the ability of ubiquitin (Ub) to form topologically different polymers of eight different linkage types. Whereas some linkages have been studied in detail, other linkage types including Lys(33)-linked polyUb are poorly understood. In the present study, we identify an enzymatic system for the large-scale assembly of Lys(33) chains by combining the HECT (homologous to the E6–AP C-terminus) E3 ligase AREL1 (apoptosis-resistant E3 Ub protein ligase 1) with linkage selective deubiquitinases (DUBs). Moreover, this first characterization of the chain selectivity of AREL1 indicates its preference for assembling Lys(33)- and Lys(11)-linked Ub chains. Intriguingly, the crystal structure of Lys(33)-linked diUb reveals that it adopts a compact conformation very similar to that observed for Lys(11)-linked diUb. In contrast, crystallographic analysis of Lys(33)-linked triUb reveals a more extended conformation. These two distinct conformational states of Lys(33)-linked polyUb may be selectively recognized by Ub-binding domains (UBD) and enzymes of the Ub system. Importantly, our work provides a method to assemble Lys(33)-linked polyUb that will allow further characterization of this atypical chain type

Daveth Milton, We Want the World: Jim Morrison, The Living Theatre, and the FBI, Birmingham, Bennion Kearny, 2012, 144 pages

 “Bring out your dead…” Like all the iconic rock stars of the late sixties, Jim Morrison continues to attract much scholarly attention. Among the recent publications on the subject, Daveth Milton’s short, but dense book stands out for its unusual, and learned focus. The book itself is rather unassuming, divided as it is into 13 brief chapters, complemented by a chronology cum discography, and a list of recommended reading and references. None of these are exhaustive (though the major works ar..