Rave America: New School Dancescapes (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Rave America begins with a whirlwind tour of North American club culture in the 70s and 80s, then plunges into the diverse sounds, sights, and histories of some of the most vital rave territories: the deafening walls of sound of DJ Frankie Bones's earliest New York Storm raves; the acid-fuelled dreams of San Francisco's hippiefied Full Moon beach parties; Florida's DJ Icey and his factions of teenage breakdancers on Ecstasy; the dark Satanic techno rituals of the Midwest's Drop Bass Network; the twelve-hour post-aids "muscle raves" of the cross-country gay circuit parties. Rave America examines both the dreams and nightmares of a pre-millennium continent after dark.

From the Author

Mireille Silcott is the co-author of On E: A Book About Ecstasy, forthcoming from Omnibus Press. She is the former music editor of the Montreal Mirror and has covered the dance music scene for MuchMusic, the CBC, and Global television networks.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 188 pages
• Publisher: Ecw Press (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550223836
• ISBN-13: 978-1550223835
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #230,089 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TELLS IT LIKE IT IS, December 27, 1999

By A Customer

This book is an amazing chronicle! The author seems to have travelled to all of these diffferent rave cities and capured what seems like the true spirit of every one. The stories she unearths are just amazing--and she is pitiless in unearthing them. And I'm talking heavy stuff. This is the best book I have ever read about American club culture. It is beautifully and simply written, the analysis is succinct, and I think it would appeal to both the raver and the cultural scholar alike. A true find!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every Raver should read this book, April 24, 2000

By A Customer

If you are a party kid wondering how the scene finally reached your part of the US you should read this book. It reveals the history of the rave and how the different styles of electronic music were created. City by City the story of DJs, promoters, and the common partier are told with an unbiased tone giving you the freedom to create your own views about the scene.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars OK, June 20, 2000

By	MTaylor "MTaylor" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

I have just finished reading "Rave America, New School DanceScapes" and I must say that Mireille Silcott has done a great job regurgitating the same rave history lesson that is given in most "rave" books. Her ability to capture the essence of Rave is pretty good and her style of writing is also good. Yet, I felt as though I was rereading books by Simon Reynolds or Dan Sicko. Check out "Rave Culture, An Insiders Overview" for something new and different!