What Happens Now?

Time for new PLANs...

Fri, 6 Oct 2017 12:31:06 +0200

Time flies! It has been way too long since I have posted anything on the blog part of my website, but rest assured that I have been very busy in the meantime. Just browse through my CV and you will quickly identify a lot of activities with 2016 and 2017 on them.
Long story short, as of August 2017, I am now Associate Professor in Problem-Based Learning and Engineering Education at Aalborg University Esbjerg, Department of Planning (aka PLAN). The position is so far fixed-term for three years, but I am very happy and excited about the tasks ahead. Although my research will now be focused more on the problem-based learning processes of the Engineering students I teach (in the course Problem-Based Learning in Science, Technology and Society), I still consider myself a “musicking” person (to borrow a term from the late Christopher Small): I will always be engaging with music at some level, whether as a performer, listener, reviewer or thinker, and I will do my best to let this website reflect that. When I will be able to continue work on my other blog project, Just for the Record (see the tab above), I do not know for sure. Best not to promise anything, but just know that I have not abandoned the project, although it has been a while since my last post there as well.

With respect to the long-abandoned “Art-Wise” tab, I hope I can manage to upload some new(er) or not previously shown artworks in a not too distant future. We’ll see.

The image for this blog post has nothing to do with any of what I just wrote, apart from being the latest not-too-informal photo of me. It was taken for inclusion in the program for the conference Extreme Music: Hearing and Nothingness, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, December 1-2, 2016, where I did a talk about complexity in the music of Devin Townsend. I hope I can find the time to polish the content of that talk and transform it into something you can read.

Until next time, take care of yourself and the world,

Best, Søren

Exhibition!

Wed, 6 May 2015 12:58:50 +0200

Due to a very busy half year, I completely forgot to announce this on my website: Along with my good research network colleagues at University of Southern Denmark, in particular Vitus Vestergaard and Johnny Harboe, I have had the opportunity to contribute to an exhibition at Mediemuseet, Brandt’s Klædefabrik in Odense, on the visual side of heavy metal culture:
http://museum.odense.dk/museer/mediemuseet/udstillinger/marks-of-metal
(Website in Danish)
The exhibition focuses on logos and visual branding as such, but I had a say in planning the part on album covers, their function and genesis. (In the end, only a few of the examples of covers I suggested were actually used, but the general concept evolved in a discussion between me and Vitus Vestergaard.)
It is a small exhibition, but I think the curators managed to squeeze an impressive amount of information and insight into little space. Black metal pilgrims may want to take a look at the original sketch for Emperor’s logo, as well as several original paintings and litographs by Kristian Wåhlin (including litograph of the cover image for Emperor’s In the Nightside Eclipse. The exhibition runs until the end of May.

Alice in Chains and Philosophy

Sat, 7 Jun 2014 11:14:29 +0200

No, it is not a new anthology, but William Irwin, editor of Blackwell’s Philosophy and Pop Culture series, kindly invited me to do a blog post for the series’ newly updated website: http://andphilosophy.com/2014/06/05/alice-in-chains-and-philosophy/
I had pretty much free hands with respect to choice of topic (of course the text went through an informal review and proofreading by Bill), but chose to go with Bill’s suggestion to do something on Alice in Chains, probably inspired by a half-joking Facebook post I wrote last year about the possibility of a book on Alice in Chains and Philosophy, which in turn was prompted by the strong existentialist subtext of the video for “Stone”.
This blog post was fun to write, so maybe I will do more of this kind of entries in the future.

Just for the Record: Albums as an Art Form

Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:53:17 +0200

I just realized that I completely forgot to post this to my own website: I have, after a long, long delay (nearly 3 years to be exact) started my blog on music albums and how we experience them as entireties of music, lyrics and visuals. There are currently three interviews online with album cover artists Lasse Hoile, Travis Smith and Ioannis, plus a post with a general statement about my research in this area. Go to http://albumsasanartform.blogspot.com to read more.

The image above is taken from Katatonia’s Night Is the New Day (Tour Edition) (c) 2011 by Travis Smith. Used courtesy of the artist.

Black Sabbath and Philosophy

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:42:08 +0200

Black Sabbath and Philosophy, edited by William Irwin and part of Wiley-Blackwell’s Philosophy and Pop Culture series, came out in late 2012, and contains a chapter by Søren R. Frimodt-Møller, entitled “Black Sabbath and the Problem of Defining Metal”.
The chapter was both fun and challenging to write, given that I had to (well, I made myself) listen to all Black Sabbath’s albums (yes, every official studio release, including the ones with Dio, Glenn Hughes and Tony Martin) and boil down my quite detailed review of how influential all of these albums were to a popular article that should also teach the readers some basic philosophy of concepts, definitions and conditions. I am quite proud of how the chapter turned out, and also proud that Irwin thanks me in the acknowledgment section (I read and commented on a few of the other chapters in the book).
Given my personal involvement in the publication, I am somewhat biased, but still, I honestly think that this is a very good anthology. It manages to deal with both the lyrical, cultural and musical impact of Black Sabbath put into a philosophical perspective - and put philosophy into a perspective by using examples from the world of Black Sabbath.
I can warmly recommend the volume to people who would like to dive in to philosophical discussions of music and lyrics, and want to read something that doesn’t use 19th Century librettos and Lieder as its main examples. (No offence to the larger part of the music philosophy community.)
The book is also wildly relevant right now, given that three thirds of the original Black Sabbath line-up are releasing the studio album 13 this June. The first single, “God Is Dead?” (with a picture of Nietzsche on the cover) virtually plays like a theme song for Irwin’s anthology.