'This is a really good book, which I enjoyed immensely, and I am confident that it will becomea classic publication in its field. Indeed it contains so much material that it is probably impossible to asorb it all in one reading. It is a book that I look forward to reading again...'
- Andrew Leyshon, Progress in Human Geography
Soundtracks traces the relationships between music, space and identity-from inner city 'scenes' to the music of nations-to give a wide-ranging perspective on popular music. It examines the influence of cultures, economics, politics and technology on the changing structure and geographies of music at local and global levels. Taking music from its role as an expression of local culture in indigenous societies to its gradual evolution towards a global music industry, this work pays particular attention to the complex spread of world music from reggae to zouk and beyond. Containing an impressive and comprehensive range of global case studies Soundtracks takes an innovative approach to the complex and changing relationships between music and space to provide a genuine global assessment of the power and pleasure of popular music in its many forms.
This book explores the many ways in which popular music is spatial – linked to particular geographical sites, bound up in our everyday perceptions of place, and a part of movements of people, products and cultures across space. It seeks to develop an innovative perspective on the relationship between music and mobility, the way in which music is linked to cultural, ethnic and geographical elements of identity, and how all this, in turn, is bound up with new, increasingly global, technological, cultural and economic shifts.
The cover image for this book suggests one starting point for exploring these themes: a South American panpipe band in Times Square, New York, in 2001, providing a seemingly authentic Andean musical experience in a different hemisphere. The band, playing panpipe ballads over pre-recorded keyboards, was accompanied by a colleague selling home-made CDs of the group. In one sense, it is an unsurprising image: South American panpipe busking groups became common in cities around the world in the 1980s, especially after the international success of Inti Illimani and the rise of New Age music. Indigenous knowledge of musical traditions provided quick resources for migrants keen to earn an income, as with, in other contexts, Cantonese violinists, Caribbean steel drummers and flamenco guitarists.Yet the image reflects much more than just an incidental part of a city streetscape.
About the Author John Connell is at the University of Sydney. Chris Gibson is at the University of New South Wales.
