1st Edition
Discographies Dance, Music, Culture and the Politics of Sound
Experiencing disco, hip hop, house, techno, drum 'n' bass and garage, Discographies plots a course through the transatlantic dance scene of the last last twenty-five years. It discusses the problems posed by contemporary dance culture of both academic and cultural study and finds these origins in the history of opposition to music as a source of sensory pleasure.
Discussing such issues as technology, club space. drugs, the musical body, gender, sexuality and pleasure, Discographies explores the ecstatic experiences at the heart of contemporary dance culture. It suggests why politicians and agencies as diverse as the independent music press and public broadcasting should be so hostile to this cultural phenomenon.
Biography
Jeremy Gilbert is currently teaching in the Media and Cultural Studies at the University of East London. He is contributor to Living Through Pop and The Moderniser's Dilemma. Ewan Pearson has been a visiting lecturer in Cultural Studies at the University of East London. He is now a full-time musician and has recorded for several Uk dance labels including Glasgow's Soma recordings.
'This is a lucid, informative, engagingly written and stimulating work. It admirably covers a variety of different theoretical issues and takes off from dance to raise all sorts of questions about the treatment of music in cultural studies'. - Simon Frith, University of Stirling
'Discographies is contemporary, committed and compelling. The strengths of the book lie in its ability to combine academic expertise with an obvious immersion in dance music culture.' - Will Straw, McGill University
