Synopses & Reviews
The DJ stands at a juncture of technology, performance and culture in the increasingly uncertain climate of the popular music industry, functioning both as pioneer of musical taste and gatekeeper of the music industry. Together with promoters, producers, video jockeys (VJs) and other professionals in dance music scenes, DJs have pushed forward music techniques and technological developments in last few decades, from mashups and remixes to digital systems for emulating vinyl performance modes. This book is the outcome of international collaboration among academics in the study of electronic dance music. Mixing established and upcoming researchers from the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Australia and Brazil, the collection offers critical insights into DJ activities in a range of global dance music contexts. In particular, chapters address digitization and performativity, as well as issues surrounding the gender dynamics and political economies of DJ cultures and practices.
About the Author
Bernardo Alexander Attias is Professor and Chair of Communication Studies at California State University Northridge, US.
Dr Anna Gavanas is Research Expert in International Policy at Remeso, Linköping University, Sweden.
Dr Hillegonda Rietveld is Course Director in Music and Sonic Media at London South Bank University, UK, and Editor of the international journal for the International Association for the Study of Popular Music.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Introduction
Hillegonda C. RietveldChapter 2: Subjectivity in the Groove: Phonography, Digitality, and Fidelity
Bernardo Alexander AttiasChapter 3: DJ Technologies, Social Networks, and Gendered Trajectories in European DJ Cultures
Anna Gavanas and Rosa ReitsamerChapter 4: ‘Journey to the Light? Immersion, Spectacle, and Mediation
Hillegonda C. RietveldChapter 5: The DJ as Electronic De-Territorializer
Mirko M. Hall and Naida ZukicChapter 6: ‘Its Not the Mix, Its the Selection: Music Programming in Contemporary DJ Culture
Kai FikentscherChapter 7: Electronic Dance Music and Technological Change: Lessons from Actor-Network Theory -
Jonathan YuChapter 8: DJ Culture and the Commercial Club Scene in Sydney
Ed MontanoChapter 9: DJs and the Aesthetic of Acceleration in Drum ‘n Bass
Chris ChristodoulouChapter 10: The Forging of a White Gay Aesthetic at the Saint, 1980-84
Tim LawrenceChapter 11: DJs as Cultural Mediators: the Mixing Work of So Paulos Peripheral DJs
Ivan Paolo de Paris FontanariChapter 12: War on the Dance Floor: Synthscenens Military Power Games
Johanna PaulssonChapter 13: DJ-Driven Literature: A Linguistic Remix
Simon A. Morrison Contributors
Index