Empire of Dirt. Wendy Fonarow

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       Empire of Dirt

      WENDY FONAROW

       Empire of Dirt

      THE AESTHETICS AND RITUALS OF BRITISH INDIE MUSIC

      WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY PRESS

       Middletown, Connecticut

      Published by Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT 06459

       www.wesleyan.edu/wespress

      © 2006 by Wendy Fonarow

      All rights reserved

      Printed in the United States of America

      5 4 3 2 1

       Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Fonarow, Wendy.

      Empire of dirt : the aesthetics and rituals of British indie music / Wendy Fonarow.

      p. cm. — (Music/culture series)

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN-13: 978–0-8195–6810–6 (cloth : alk. paper)

      ISBN-10: 0–8195–6810–4 (cloth : alk. paper)

      ISBN-13: 978–0-8195–6811–3 (pbk. : alk. paper)

      ISBN-10: 0–8195–6811–2 (pbk. : alk. paper)

      1. Alternative rock music—Great Britain—History and criticism. 2. Alternative rock music—Social aspects—Great Britain. I. Title.

      ML3534.6.G7F66 2005

781.660941—dc22

2006002876

      Cover design by Matthew Cooper.

       For all of my ghosts

       Contents

       Acknowledgments / viii

       Introduction / 1

      Beginnings / 1 Theoretical Frame: From Observation to Communication / 3 Active Bodies / 4 The Audience and Subjectivity / 6 Music as Activity / 8 Subjectivity in Action / 10 Turn On the Bright Lights6 / 11 Methodology / 14 From Plus One to A&R / 16 Your Itinerary / 19 Conclusion / 22

       1. What Is “Indie”? / 25

      Indie … What’s at Stake? / 27 Indie as a Mode of Distribution: An Industrial Definition / 30 Indie as a Genre / 39 Indie as an Ethos / 51 Indie as Pathetic / 53 Indie as a Mode of Aesthetic Judgement / 57 The Mainstream Is a Centralized Hierarchy / 62 Dance Is Not the Way the Future Is Meant to Feel / 69 Indie: What Is It? / 77

       2. The Zones of Participation / 79

      The Event / 81 Zone One / 82 The Pit / 86 The Front / 92 Zone One Spectatorship: The Initiates / 95 The Psychosomatics of Zone One / 98 Zone Two / 105 The Mode of Comportment of Zone Two / 106 Comportment Features That Vary over Space / 107 Gigs as Social Life / 109 The Process of Change from Zone One to Zone Two / 110 The Heterogeneous Audience / 114 A Move toward the Exit / 116 Conclusion / 120

       3. Zone Three and the Music Industry / 122

      The Activities of Zone Three / 123 The Liggers / 125 The Guest List / 128 Routine 1: Example of Professional Strategy / 132 Routine 2: Example of Personable Strategy / 133 Routine 3: Code Switch from Professional to Personable / 135 Passes / 138 Privileged Spectatorship / 151 Conclusion / 152

       4. The Participant Structure and the Metaphysics of Spectatorship / 154

      Proximity, Affiliation, and Consensus Building / 155 Verticality and Asymmetry / 160 Contesting Spectorial Positions: Closeness and Distance / 161 Age / 163 The Metaphysics of Participation / 166 African Expression in a Protestant World / 175 The Nature of the Moral Threat / 179 A Ritual of Transformation / 182 Conclusion / 184

       5. Performance, Authenticity, and Emotion / 187