Blackened Audiotopia: Privatised Listening and Urban Experience

Stevens, Frankie (2020) Blackened Audiotopia: Privatised Listening and Urban Experience. Metal Music Studies Journal, 6 (2). pp. 161-174. ISSN 2052-4005

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Abstract / Summary

In the age of headphone culture, where privatized listening while wandering around the city is the norm, the use of headphones raises questions about the experience of the listener and their perception of their urban environment. Of particular interest, is the disjunct relationship between black metal music and urban space. Black metal lyrics often portray images of nature and paganism, a concept completely removed from a modern urban landscape. This paper draws from Michael Bull’s work on iPod culture as well as ethnographic research to explore the black metal fan’s experience of private listening in a public cityscape. The main focus of this study is the relationship between the ambiguously intertwined visual urban reality and sonic imaginary. The research suggests that the black metal listener can have one of four experiences of time and space resulting in what is referred to as either a split or blend of the aural imagined experience and the visual reality of the city.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	ISSN 2052-3998 (Print); ISSN 2052-4005 (Online)
ISSN:	2052-4005
Subjects:	Music > Popular Music
Courses by Department:	Academy of Music & Theatre Arts > Music
Depositing User:	Frankie Stevens
Date Deposited:	03 Dec 2019 11:32
Last Modified:	11 Nov 2022 16:24
URI:	https://falmouth-test.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/3705

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