Robert Loss

Robert Loss is an assistant professor in the Writing, Literature, and Philosophy department at Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD) in Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of Nothing Has Been Done Before: Seeking the New in 21st Century American Popular Music (Bloomsbury Academic, 2017). His music criticism and journalism have been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Public Books, and Ghettoblaster. Visit him at www.nothinghasbeendonebefore.com.
‘A Town Called Malice’: What’s Happened to Working-Class Music?

‘A Town Called Malice’: What’s Happened to Working-Class Music?

Is it possible that the very idea of the working class doesn't exist in popular music today -- as if it's been erased?
Ryan Adams by Taylor Swift: Authoring ‘1989’

Ryan Adams by Taylor Swift: Authoring ‘1989’

Even if you've never heard Swift's original performances, you're hearing them when you listen to Ryan Adams perform 1989.
“Sound Is Our Weapon”: Protest Music and Black Lives Matter

“Sound Is Our Weapon”: Protest Music and Black Lives Matter

"Hell You Talmbout" and "Cry No More" are a new kind of protest song that reintroduces traditional minimalism and congregational singing into this contemporary moment.
No Apologies: A Critique of the Rockist v. Poptimist Paradigm

No Apologies: A Critique of the Rockist v. Poptimist Paradigm

Both rockists and poptimists treat music as not much more than a social commodity, a consumerized product within the spectacle of American capitalism.
The Thunderbolt of Change: ‘Angels in America’ and the Marriage Equality Victory

The Thunderbolt of Change: ‘Angels in America’ and the Marriage Equality Victory

Complicated, fabulous and deeply progressive, Angels in America may be more pressing and relevant in the time of SCOTUS' decision on marriage equality than it was during the height of the AIDS crises.
A Nightly Ritual: Bob Dylan’s Never-Changing Set List

A Nightly Ritual: Bob Dylan’s Never-Changing Set List

Bob Dylan's current show is a book musical without the book, crafted by the American Shakespeare.
Spectacle of Empty Gestures: Rihanna’s “American Oxygen”

Spectacle of Empty Gestures: Rihanna’s “American Oxygen”

The problem isn't that Rihanna's "American Oxygen" fails as political art, it's that we might consider it a success instead of a mere gesture.
Bill O’Reilly’s Rock & Roll Machine

Bill O’Reilly’s Rock & Roll Machine

Nostalgia has its uses, its benefits. But is it useful and beneficial when it obscures the reality of the past and present, usually in the service of power, prestige, and making a buck?
‘The Voices’ Gets to the Very Essence of the American Nightmare

‘The Voices’ Gets to the Very Essence of the American Nightmare

Disturbing, funny, alluring and repulsive in a uniquely American way that no one likes to admit, The Voices should trouble you.
A Wheel Inside a Wheel: Gillian Welch’s ‘Time (The Revelator)’

A Wheel Inside a Wheel: Gillian Welch’s ‘Time (The Revelator)’

Time (The Revelator) conjures a hazy post-millennial American dream of disappointment and ambition that's disturbed by what it sees and hears.
I Was Young When I Left Home: How Kurt Cobain’s Voice Resonates

I Was Young When I Left Home: How Kurt Cobain’s Voice Resonates

There are times when you hear Kurt Cobain sing that you believe no other voice has ever told the truth about suffering. But it's more complicated than that, isn't it?
Who Does Lydia Loveless Think She Is?

Who Does Lydia Loveless Think She Is?

With the release of her two new records, Lydia Loveless watches you watching her. Maybe you should listen, instead.