Paperback / softback
October 18, 2016
9780819576538
English
440
9.00 Inches (US)
6.00 Inches (US)
1.3 Pounds (US)
$27.95 USD, £20.50 GBP
v2.1 Reference
Electronic book text
October 18, 2016
9780819576545
English
440
9.00 Inches (US)
6.00 Inches (US)
$22.99 USD, £16.95 GBP
v2.1 Reference

Punk Ethnography

Artists & Scholars Listen to Sublime Frequencies

A critical companion to the radical DIY record label that challenges the conventions of ethnography, representation, and the category of "world music"

This ground-breaking case study examines record production as ethnographic work. Since its founding in 2003, Seattle-based record label Sublime Frequencies has produced world music recordings that have been received as radical, sometimes problematic critiques of the practices of sound ethnography. Founded by punk rocker brothers Alan and Richard Bishop, along with filmmaker Hisham Mayet, the label's releases encompass collagist sound travelogues; individual artist compilations; national, regional and genre surveys; and DVDs—all designed in a distinctive graphic style recalling the DIY aesthetic of punk and indie rock. Sublime Frequencies' producers position themselves as heirs to canonical ethnographic labels such as Folkways, Nonesuch, and Musique du Monde, but their aesthetic and philosophical roots in punk, indie rock, and experimental music effectively distinguish their work from more conventional ethnographic norms. Situated at the intersection of ethnomusicology, sound studies, cultural anthropology, and popular music studies, the essays in this volume explore the issues surrounding the label—including appropriation and intellectual property—while providing critical commentary and charting the impact of the label through listener interviews.

About the Authors

MICHAEL E. VEAL is a musician and professor of ethnomusicology at Yale University. He is the author of several books, including Fela: The Life and Times of an African Musical Icon and Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae. E. TAMMY KIM is a writer and member of The New Yorker's editorial staff. She previously worked as a staff writer at Al Jazeera America and as a social justice lawyer.

Reviews

"Edited by Michael Veal and E. Tammy Kim, the book [Punk Ethnography] is a thoroughly engaging survey and analysis of the label's legacy and its future. It is also a very timely read, given the current climate of isolationism, racism, and anti-intellectualism here in the U.S. and many other parts of the world."—Chris Becker, Chris Becker

"Edited by Michael Veal and E. Tammy Kim, the book [Punk Ethnography] is a thoroughly engaging survey and analysis of the label's legacy and its future. It is also a very timely read, given the current climate of isolationism, racism, and anti-intellectualism here in the U.S. and many other parts of the world."—Chris Becker, Chris Becker

"The Sublime Frequencies indie label curates albums of music from the Middle East, Asia and Africa—often culled from flea market cassettes and taped radio broadcasts—that transcend the stuffiness of academic ethnomusicology and the calculations of corporate world music. Its aesthetic is steeped in the pointed irony and rule-breaking spirit of punk rock."—David Luhrssen, Shepherd Express

Endorsements

"This original and timely collection raises key questions about the purpose and practice of ethnomusicology in the 21st century, especially in relation to products of research and politics of representation."—Eliot Bates, University of Birmingham

"As much an ethnography of Sublime Frequencies as it is a study of them as ethnographers, Punk Ethnography is a gloriously multiform study, a rich investigation of their defiant, unaffiliated, grass roots take on the ethnomusicological enterprise, fearlessly interspersing essays with interviews, posing difficult questions and drawing out the nuances of SF's gleefully rogue persona.""—John Corbett, author of Microgroove: Forays into Other Music

"This original and timely collection raises key questions about the purpose and practice of ethnomusicology in the 21st century, especially in relation to products of research and politics of representation."—Eliot Bates, University of Birmingham
Wesleyan University Press
Music / Culture

9780819576538 : punk-ethnography-veal-kim
Paperback / softback
440 Pages
$27.95 USD
9780819576545 : punk-ethnography-veal-kim
Electronic book text
440 Pages
$22.99 USD

Other Titles by Michael E. Veal

Living Space

Michael E. Veal
Apr 2024 - Wesleyan University Press
$95.00 USD - Hardback
$28.00 USD - Paperback / softback

Dub

Michael Veal
Apr 2007 - Wesleyan University Press
$28.95 USD - Paperback / softback

Other Titles from Music / Culture

Fraught Balance

Shayna M. Silverstein
May 2024 - Wesleyan University Press
$95.00 USD - Hardback
$26.95 USD - Paperback / softback

Sounds of Other Shores

Andrew J. Eisenberg
Apr 2024 - Wesleyan University Press
$95.00 USD - Hardback
$25.95 USD - Paperback / softback

The Land Is Sung

Thomas M. Pooley
Oct 2023 - Wesleyan University Press
$95.00 USD - Hardback
$26.95 USD - Paperback / softback
$22.95 USD - Electronic book text

Other Titles in MUSIC / Ethnomusicology

Mele on the Mauna

Joseph Keola Donaghy
Sep 2024 - Indiana University Press
$60.00 USD - Hardback
$25.00 USD - Paperback / softback

Composing Aid

Oliver Y. Shao
Aug 2023 - Indiana University Press
$75.00 USD - Hardback
$30.00 USD - Paperback / softback

At the Crossroads of Music and Social Justice

edited by Brenda M. Romero, Susan M. Asai, David A. McDonald, Andrew G. Snyder, Katelyn E. Best, with contributions by Kyra D. Gaunt, Steven Loza, Charlotte W. Heth, Paul Austerlitz, Katie J. Graber, Darci Sprengel, Ho Chak Law, Alexand...
Feb 2023 - Indiana University Press
$90.00 USD - Hardback
$36.00 USD - Paperback / softback