Would that be the Ewan Pearson who records as Maas for Soma? I remember
picking up a record of his that had on it a Zoyd and Prairie mix: a
reference to characters in a Thomas Pynchon novel. Pynchon's a pretty weird
and difficult postmodern author, and the reference made me think Ewan
Pearson must be a well-read kind of a guy. If the Discographies book's by
him, would suggest he's quite the renaissance man.
Cheers
Rol
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Dissonance Electronic" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: (313) Books (was rough guide to techno)
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 03:25:21 WST
While books are in issue i'd like to recommend a book i picked up from the
music library at uni. It's a brand new book but from a major publisher so it
shouldnt be to hard to track down. Its called
"Discographies : dance music, culture and the politics of sound" By Jeremy
Gilbert and Ewan Pearson.(Published: London ; New York : Routledge, 1999.)
And I cant do it justice in a short description but its a critical /
theoretical / cultural approach to many of the issues involved in dance
music (which in their definition includes house, techno, soul,disco hip hop
etc). Their analysis draws on contemporary critical theory using the work of
Barthes, Kristeva, Derrida, Foucault et al. (while it utilizes these
thinkers the book is always careful to explain the ideas that they are
drawing on - you dont have to go and read the thinkers to understand the
book) Its not a history but a very sophisticated analysis of the the role of
music and dance music in particular in western culture. Of particular
interest was a section where they looked at some of the reasons why western
culture is so resistant to dance music. Its quite academic but very
rewarding - i dont find it arrogant or pretensious either but i have some
experience with this sort of writing. I'd recommend it to any one who is
interested in 'dance music' in the broadest sense of the word. Its also very
applicable to experimental electronic music. Any one who wants some more
info feel free to email me.
Peace
Josh
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