This week the digital humanities journal In Media Res will be posting a series of short pieces I organized on pop music. All the contributors are old  friends who worked with me in college on the zine Nadine. Today some of us are academics, others journalists, editors and novelists. Here’s the publication schedule – I’ll come back and add links as each piece goes live.

Monday 2/7/11

“Tickling the Ivory Towers” by yours truly. It’s about academia, rock criticism, and Madonna.

Tuesday 2/8/11

“Words, Words, Words” by Gavin Edwards. Gavin is a Contributing Editor at Rolling Stone, the author of numerous books on pop music, and one of my oldest friends – we met in high school when I loaned him my copy of the Bob Dylan boxed set Biograph. His contribution is an extension of his ongoing project  to chronicle every minute of the 1988 MTV New Year’s Eve Top 100 Videos countdown, which I primarily remember for the innumerable commercials for the Kevin Kline flop The January Man.

Wednesday 2/9/11

“Hide Your Kids! Hide Your Wife! Hide Your Husband!” by James Hannaham. James is the author of the acclaimed novel God Says No (McSweeney’s) and one of the founders of the performance group Elevator Repair Service. He’s written for The Village Voice and Salon, and teaches at the Pratt Institute. His piece is on the “Bed Intruder Song” viral video.

Thursday 2/10/11

“… Or Other Visual Media” by Marc Weidenbaum. Marc is the editor of the ambient/electronica music website disquiet and a contributor to Nature. He was an editor at Tower Records’ late, lamented Pulse! magazine, as well as the groundbreaking American version of the omnibus manga magazine Shonen Jump. His piece is on videogame music.

Friday 2/11/11

“Free and Freer: Wikileaks and ViCKi LEEKX” by Ivan Kreilkamp. Ivan is Associate Professor of English at Indiana University. He’s the author of Voice and the Victorian Storyteller. He’s also on the cover of the Lemonheads’ Creator holding a box of Cheerios. His piece is on M.I.A.’s mixtape tribute to Wikileaks.

I’m going to try to keep the conversation going all week on Twitter through the hashtag #IMR, culminating in a live tweet chat Sunday night during the Grammies. Join us!