From the first Pop Music Studies Conference in Seattle: ‘Yes, there were talks about the shape of poetry and the plundering of genres, about representation and signification and diaspora. But though it had its clunkers, the conference proved a real bust for those Casaubons who bought tickets to Seattle hoping to hear the kind of criticism they like—dated, labyrinthine, and wishbone dry. Instead they got Last Plane to Jakarta zine-ist and Mountain Goat John Darnielle dramatically reading Poison fan mail, New York Times wunderkind K. Sanneh’s VH1-smooth take-out on MCs who won’t admit they’re MCs, the dotcom delirium of Listen.com’s Tim Quirk’s wry memoir “Topless at the Arco Arena,” Joshua Clover defending sameness in a multi-tiered reverie-analysis over Bob Seger’s sibilant “Night Moves,” and Glenn Dixon’s exposé of Christ-rock God-lust, “Making It With the Man Upstairs.” ‘ The Village Voice