Empire of Dirt: The Aesthetics and Rituals of British Indie Music (Music Culture) [Hardcover]

Wendy Fonarow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2006 | Series: Music Culture

Britain is widely considered the cradle of independent music culture. Bands like Radiohead and Belle and Sebastian, which epitomize indie music's sounds and attitudes, have spawned worldwide fanbases. This in-depth study of the British independent music scene explores how the behavior of fans, artists, and music industry professionals produce a community with a specific aesthetic based on moral values. Author Wendy Fonarow, a scholar with years of experience in the various sectors of the indie music scene, examines the indie music "gig" as a ritual in which all participants are actively involved. This ritual allows participants to play with cultural norms regarding appropriate behavior, especially in the domains of sex and creativity. Her investigation uncovers the motivations of audience members when they first enter the community and how their positions change over time so that the gig functions for most members as a rite of passage. Empire of Dirt sheds new light on music, gender roles, emotion, subjectivity, embodiment, and authenticity.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans may find it sad, but the fact is that Indie rock is fair game to academic cultural anthropologists like Fonarow, a former record company employee and now a lecturer at UCLA. Her study began at an L.A. show in 1991 by the Glasgow band Teenage Fanclub, when she wondered why members of the local rock scene, even though they weren't performing, felt perfectly comfortable crossing the stage. The result is this "ethnography of audience members' behavior" at shows by British bands, specifically, "a study of multiple subjectivities and the spectacle of music performance in the independent music community." Specifically, Fonarow seeks to codify the unwritten rules that normally govern audience responses-"I treat musical performance as a ritual." After uneasily defining the term "indie" from multiple angles, Fonarow identifies three main audience "zones of participation" at a concert, and (with b&w photos and illustrations) carefully delineates what normally happens within them. She then zeroes in on "Zone Three and the Music Industry," picking apart the ways commerce and status are established at the back of the hall. By the time one reaches chapter six, "Sex and the Ritual Practitioners" (i.e., how band and crew get laid), one cannot help but start thinking back on past shows as elaborate ceremonies. Fonarow's book may not have the excitement of a My Bloody Valentine show, but it convincingly describes many of its cultural components.
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Review

"What's best about Empire of Dirt is that Fonarow's equally a thinker's thinker and a fan's fan. ... And Fonarow's analysis of a typical indie concert is one of the most brilliant things anyone has written about the live music experience."--Seattle Weekly

"(T)he book turns out to be great fun, with excellent and recognizable analyses of the three different audience zones, the semiotics of where you put your backstage pass, the different rhetorical strategies used by people trying to get past the guestlist doorman, and the gender-stereotype-inverting role of groupies, or 'ritual practitioners.'"--The Guardian

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Wesleyan (July 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819568104
• ISBN-13: 978-0819568106
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,499,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jane Goodall of the Indie Rock Show, December 13, 2006

By 

Boris G. Kharas "Dave Kharas" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Empire of Dirt: The Aesthetics and Rituals of British Indie Music (Music Culture) (Paperback)

Wendy is the Jane Goodall of the indie rock show. I really enjoyed this anthropological treatment of independent music culture. She definitively describes the impossibly malleable subject of what is Indie. She identifies the zones of audience participation: from the sweaty body on body of the front, to the contemplative middle, to the indifferent bar area, and out to the home parlor of the retired fan.

A guilty pleasure for anyone who knows the scene.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EMPIRE OF DIRT helps define both the genre and experience, September 23, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Empire of Dirt: The Aesthetics and Rituals of British Indie Music (Music Culture) (Paperback)

College-level students of British music won't want to miss EMPIRE OF DIRT: THE AESTHETICS AND RITUALS OF BRITISH INDIE MUSIC. Its analysis blends ethnographic and socio-historic literature on local music communities and genres, comes from a doctor who has worked in the music industry for several major record labels, and offers results from her thirteen-year study of indie rock. From gigs and performances to behavior, norms, and music perceptions from both audience and performer perspective, EMPIRE OF DIRT helps define both the genre and experience of British indie music.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Professor Wendy, August 15, 2006

By 

Kate Baicy (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Empire of Dirt: The Aesthetics and Rituals of British Indie Music (Music Culture) (Paperback)

A brilliant read. It puts the development of modern individuals, from adolescence to adulthood, into a new meaningful perspective, as well as indie music within the greater context of human activity. I especially enjoyed the examples and anecdotes. The chapter on groupies depicts modern gender roles and attitudes that are too often overlooked in mainstream stereotypes. Her examination of musicians is hilarious as well as therapeutic and identifiable for anyone dissatisfied with the status quo. Her writing articulates the subconsciously absorbed culture and rituals with eloquence, humor, and insight. Her observations and discernment enhance the understanding and experience of music and culture. Thank you, Professor Wendy.