For readers inside and outside of the geography field, Johansson (geography, U. of Pittsburgh at Johnstown) and Bell (geography, U. of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Western Kentucky U.) compile 16
case studies of popular music in the context of geography, by scholars of geography, sociology, and communication from the US and Australia. They consider the use of music, lyrics, and forms of
media by Billy Bragg and John Lennon to create spaces of social activism; places that have specific meanings in a sacred or quasi-religious way, such as Elvis's Graceland; the memorialization
and meaning of places as they are represented in music and lyrics in California and the Caribbean; the relationship between specific artists or music forms and the places from which they
originate, including Cuba, LA and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Canada and the Rheostatics; the geographic unevenness in the production and consumption of music, with case studies of
Newfoundland, independent music scenes, and the US; and geographic perspectives on specific genres, such as Christian pop music, techno, and hip hop. Annotation 穢2010 Book News, Inc., Portland,
OR (booknews.com)
