For the seventh episode of In The Spotlight Bill Cummings is joined by music journalist and author Liam Inscoe-Jones, he is a music and fiction writer who has written for The FADER, Crack, Clash, Rolling Stone, The Quietus and Line of Best Fit, and has appeared on BBC Radio 6. His debut short story ‘You Have Been Notified’ was published in 2021. They discuss indepth his new book Songs in the Key of MP3 and how artists of the last decade and technology have shaped popular music. They also discuss the value of music, music discovery, playlists, bandcamp, TikTok plus the artists he focusses on in his book Devonté Hynes (of Blood Orange), FKA Twigs, Oneohtrix Point Never, Earl Sweatshirt and SOPHIE.
Each began their careers as obscure outsiders but, over time, they helped to re-shape pop culture in their image. Through these five extraordinary figures and an eclectic supporting cast of dozens more, Inscoe-Jones paints a picture of the sonic landscape of the last ten years, exploring the influence of their music on pop culture, the internet and ourselves.
An unorthodox mix of criticism, biography and music history – and featuring interviews with the likes of Caroline Polachek, Daniel Lopatin and Nicolás Jaar – Songs in the Key of MP3 is a book of endless curiosity and wonder; a salutary attempt to define pop culture in a fast and ephemeral age.
White Rabbit recently published Songs in the Key of MP3: The New Icons of the Internet Ageby Liam Inscoe-Jones.
Order here: Songs In The Key of MP3 | White Rabbit
Produced by Andy VonPip
