PROCESS-ORIENTED AESTHETICS in 1990S ALTERNATIVE ROCK and HIP-HOP
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SIGNIFYING DIY: PROCESS-ORIENTED AESTHETICS IN 1990s ALTERNATIVE ROCK AND HIP-HOP Brian Jones A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Music. Chapel Hill 2014 Approved by: Mark Katz David García Jocelyn Neal Philip Vandermeer Albin Zak © 2014 Brian Jones ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT BRIAN JONES: Signifying DIY: Process-Oriented Aesthetics in 1990s Alternative Rock and Hip-Hop (Under the direction of Mark Katz) This dissertation posits and demonstrates a framework for analyzing how sound recordings convey meaning in rock—considering how listeners experience recordings, not only as fixed products, but also as sonic evidence of implied actions. I call this framework process-oriented aesthetics, and I define it as a sensibility in which musical meaning is conveyed in a record’s sonic foregrounding of its own production process. In this sensibility, recordings sonically evoke what I call a production myth—a real or imagined backstory, nurtured through the surrounding discourse, that adds meaning to the musical sounds. Production myths encourage listeners to aestheticize practices of musical creation and help facilitate intellectual and creative engagement in listening. The effects of process-oriented aesthetics rely upon the interplay between the nuances of recorded sound and the assumed (or imagined) circumstances of their production. I investigate these aesthetic sensibilities in the music and discourse of 1990s alternative rock and hip-hop. Alternative rock in the 1990s harbored an enduring tension between the small- scale, non-commercial values of its indie roots and the music’s eventual mass-mediated popularity. I use process-oriented aesthetics as a way to address the slippery connections between musical style and 1990s alternative authenticity. I single out three musical trends in alternative music after grunge: lo-fi, hip-hop sampling, and artists’ use of vintage instruments and media. Even as artists and fans of these genres embraced the alternative-culture ideals of iii marginal eclecticism, they did so in a self-consciously mediated space. They all, in some way, responded to the generalized angst surrounding alternative rock’s massness by aestheticizing the mediated processes of musical production. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As with any large-scale research project, this dissertation could never have come to fruition without the ideas, input, and support of many individuals. My advisor, Mark Katz, has been a vibrant and dynamic supporter of the project from the beginning, always willing to hear my often-scattered ideas and providing sharp perspective to help bring them into focus. Numerous scholars, journalists, and industry professionals have graciously offered their perspectives and feedback to the project, whether through informal discussion at conferences, in reading draft materials, or in telephone conversations. Special thanks in this regard to Eric Weisbard, Theo Cateforis, Albin Zak, Ann Powers, Steve Waksman, Danyel Smith, Gina Arnold, Julie Farman, Marc Cusa, and Dennis Manzanedo. Library and archival staff were essential in providing access to hard-to-find periodicals and materials, and I owe a debt of gratitude to those at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum Library and Archive, the Music Division at the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and the UNC Music Library. Research and completion funding were provided by the Royster Society of Fellows, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Visiting Scholar Program at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, and the Kenan Graduate Student Activities Fund. The ever-stimulating intellectual atmosphere at UNC has likewise been essential to this project. My graduate colleagues have always been willing to discuss and help refine ideas; particular thanks goes to Joshua Busman, Christa Bentley, Chris Reali, David VanderHamm, Kristen Turner, Ryan Ebright, and Erin Maher. Thanks also to UNC faculty members Philip Vandermeer, Jocelyn Neal, David García, John Brackett, Andrea Bohlman, Tim Carter, and Mark Evan Bonds for providing feedback on draft materials and research proposals that helped v shaped the project’s trajectory. On a more personal note, I thank my parents for always supporting me in my search for knowledge in arcane things. And most of all, sincere thanks to my spouse, Stephanie, for enduring five years of dissertation chatter, belated housework, and countless late nights of research and writing. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION: PROCESS-ORIENTED AESTHETICS AND ALTERNATIVE CULTURE IN THE 1990s .................................................................... 1 An Approach to Alternative ................................................................................... 4 Conceptualizing the Boundaries of a Genre .......................................................... 10 Branching Out: Alternative Rap? ............................................................... 17 Historical Perspectives on DIY and Alternative .................................................... 21 Theory and Methods: Rock Signification and Problems of DIY Authenticity ................................................................................................... 25 Means and Ends of Process-Oriented Signification ............................................... 34 Methodological Focus, Sources, and Research Goals ........................................... 37 Chapter Outline ...................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 2. “SO REAL”: LO-FI AND AN AESTHETICS OF MEDIATION ............. 42 The Conflicted Aesthetics of Lo-Fi ....................................................................... 44 Music Formats: The CD Takeover ........................................................... 48 Contestations Within Lo-Fi ........................................................................ 52 Theory of Lo-Fi .......................................................................................... 57 Beck: Spending an Afternoon in Karl’s Apartment ............................................... 62 Discourses of Creative Engagement .......................................................... 62 Sounding Performance and Production: Three Albums in 1994 ............... 65 “Loser” ....................................................................................................... 70 vii PJ Harvey, Steve Albini, and Gendered Notions of Audio Fidelity ...................... 72 Gendering Audio Fidelity .......................................................................... 74 Production Myths in the Critical Discourse ............................................... 78 Comparing the Records .............................................................................. 82 Media-Centric Discourse in the Alternative Rock Press ....................................... 85 Experiencing a Mediated Underground ..................................................... 86 John Leland and Critical Evaluation of Media .......................................... 89 Visually Foregrounding Mediation ............................................................ 92 CHAPTER 3. “WE MARAUD FOR EARS”: HIP-HOP SAMPLING IN 1990s ALTERNATIVE CULTURE ............................................................................. 99 Conceptions of Sampling During the Rise of Alternative ..................................... 104 Sampling as Postmodern? .......................................................................... 104 Sonic Theft? ............................................................................................... 109 Sample-Based Creativity in Early-1990s Alternative Discourse ........................... 110 A Tribe Called Quest and a Mythologizing of Hip-Hop Mediation .......... 113 Alternative Rap as an Alternative to Sampling: The Roots ................................... 117 Placing the Roots ....................................................................................... 122 Performing the Aesthetics of Sampling ..................................................... 127 DJ Shadow and Trip-Hop ...................................................................................... 134 A New Genre from Across the Atlantic ..................................................... 135 Placing DJ Shadow .................................................................................... 142 Visual and Aural Representations ............................................................. 146 CHAPTER 4. OLD STUFF, NEW MUSIC: THE MATERIALITY OF RETRO AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM ...................................................... 153 viii Definitions and Trends: Retro, Nostalgia, and Vintage ......................................... 157 Retro in 1990s Popular Culture and Discourse ...................................................... 162 Retro Music in Early 1990s Film ............................................................... 165 Lounge Revival .......................................................................................... 168 Musical Approaches to Resurrecting the Old ........................................................ 173 Stereolab ...................................................................................................