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The New Guitarscape in Critical Theory, Cultural Practiceand Musical Performance. By Kevin Dawe. Farnham:Ashgate, 2010. 227 pp. ISBN 978-0-754-66775-9

Jamie Fyffe

Popular Music / Volume 32 / Issue 03 / October 2013, pp 525 - 527DOI: 10.1017/S0261143013000378, Published online: 13 September 2013

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0261143013000378

How to cite this article:Jamie Fyffe (2013). Popular Music, 32, pp 525-527 doi:10.1017/S0261143013000378

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progressive hypothesis whose recurrent assertion – that the Beatles’ manipulation ofadvances in music technology helped to facilitate the creation of a simultaneous glo-bal community and the transition into a post-literate electric age – remains, for themoment, incomplete.

Ian InglisUniversity of Northumbria, UKian.inglis@northumbria.ac.uk

The New Guitarscape in Critical Theory, Cultural Practice and MusicalPerformance. By Kevin Dawe. Farnham: Ashgate, 2010. 227 pp. ISBN978-0-754-66775-9doi:10.1017/S0261143013000378

There are few who would deny the guitar its central role in popular music. Yet,according to Dawe, beyond a handful of academic works, studies of the contempor-ary guitar are limited in scope, failing to explore both recent developments and theinstrument’s global dimensions (pp. 29–30). His response – The New Guitarscape –outlines twin objectives: ‘to document aspects of the guitar phenomenon as it nowstands . . . and extend the academic terms of reference by which the instrumentmight be studied’ (p. xvii).

Dawe uses the first four chapters of his book to lay foundations for these objec-tives. He documents the ‘phenomenon as it now stands’ by profiling 10 contempor-ary guitarists. Their performances reflect: (1) new technologies (e.g. loop pedals);(2) world music (including microtones produced through fretless instruments orslide guitar); (3) women and the guitar; (4) extended techniques (e.g. tapping withtwo hands); and (5) customised instruments (e.g. double-/triple-neck guitars,additional strings).

His starting point in extending ‘academic terms of reference’ is the work of SteveWaksman (1999). Representing ‘a new epoch in guitar research’ due to its expansionon ‘issues of identity and ethnicity’ (p. 30), Dawe is particularly interested in whethersuch ideas (which are North American in context) can be applied cross-culturally.Dawe proceeds to identify a body of literature (Kartomi 1990; Théberge 1997; Gell1998; Howes 2005) with ‘significant areas of convergence . . . patterns and overlaps’(p. 45) which he feels suggest ‘a broader approach to the study of the guitar’ (p. 46).

Dawe also coins a term – guitarscape – intended to indicate the size and com-plexity of the guitar phenomenon and to depict the instrument as a cultural occur-rence worthy of academic study (p. 41). The term is loaded with meaning byassociation with ‘scape theory’ (Appadurai 1990), The New Soundscape (Schafer1969) and ‘sensescapes’ (Howes 2005).

These initial chapters leave the reader with two strong impressions. In choosinghis 10 contemporary guitarists, Dawe neatly sidesteps the inevitable criticism of whoto include (or leave out), by focusing on music which grabs his attention (p. 33). Thisfacilitates a rewarding introduction to music which is both interesting and widelyavailable (on the Internet). On the other hand, although Dawe makes a Herculeaneffort to knit together a theoretical framework (bound together under meaningful ter-minology), space dictates that the reader must explore the literature alone to reachmeaningful depths of understanding.

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The next three chapters each explore set topics: ‘Materiality and the VirtualGuitar’, ‘The Sensual Nature of the Guitar’ and ‘Gender and Sexuality’. The breadthand anti-snobbery of Dawe’s guitarscape is refreshing in its recognition of Guitar Heroas ‘part of the same experience that is the guitar’ (p. 91, emphasis in original). Thisvirtual guitar not only takes on a real form (as a game controller) but functions ‘asa sound-producing and iconic image of music, culture and society’ (p. 96).

Largely avoiding the macho sexuality commonly associated with the guitar, thenext chapter focuses on how the instrument engages the senses. Beginning with thesmell and subtle string resonance associated with opening a guitar case, it proceedsto develop a case that the senses are cultural as well as perceptual systems (Howes,2005), arguing that musicians think through the guitar the same way we thinkthrough culture (Davidson and Torff 1992; pp. 120–122).

The chapter on ‘Gender and Sexuality’ includes lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-vestite musicians (in addition to ‘Women and the Guitar’). This inclusivity is wel-come, yet having identified key terms of reference for the chapter – identity,subjectivity and power – Dawe falls into a review of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexualand transvestite) literature. This reflects a general tendency across all three chaptersto frame interesting questions but not tackle these core issues as directly as the readermight wish.

Dawe adds more meat to the bone in his final two chapters (‘The Power andAgency of the Guitar’ and ‘Guitars, Travel and Translation’). The first discussesthe role of the guitar in delivering political messages (thereby contributing to awider social agenda). Dawes argues that an association with high-profile singer-songwriters gives the guitar ‘an empowering legacy with historical, social, culturaland economic dimensions’ (p. 153).

The final chapter describes ‘the increasing intensity of the guitar’s mobility –not just its physical mobility but its mobility across a wide range of media andideas’ (p. 189). In assessing ways in which the guitar forms the basis of cross-culturalmusical encounters, Dawe focuses on power relationships. For example, in searchingfor new sounds North Americans often reach out to economically and politicallyweaker countries, whose musicians have little power to challenge the results ofrecordings and collaborations.

Dawe champions guitarist Bob Brozman (whose photograph is on the frontcover) and ‘the greater dialogue now in evidence between guitarists and locals aslocals take centre stage’ (p. 197). Interestingly, Brozman describes how the guitar‘serves as an imperfect translator, accidentally creating interesting forms of music’(p. 196). These final chapters see Dawe in a more focused mood, as engaging asever yet now tackling complex questions head on.

Dawe views his work as ‘an ideas book, literature review, survey and researchcompanion in the hope that more ethnographic research might be forthcoming’(p. 31). His observation, that ‘the guitar is pre-eminent among musical instruments’as regards its ‘fundamental role in human cultures’ is difficult to refute (p. 200).Having drawn together many essential ingredients, the ultimate success of Dawe’sguitarscape relies upon its legacy, particularly his call for contributions of newresearch to the field.

Jamie FyffeUniversity of Glasgow, Scotland, UKjamiefyffe@yahoo.com

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References

Appadurai, A. (ed.) 1990. The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective (Cambridge,Cambridge University Press)

Davidson, L., and Torff, B. 1992. ‘Situated cognition in music’, The World of Music, 34/3, pp. 120–39Gell, A. 1998. Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory (Oxford and New York, Oxford UniversityPress)

Howes, D. (ed.) 2005. Empire of the Senses: The Sensual Culture Reader (Oxford and New York, Berg)Kartomi, M. 1990. On Concepts and Classifications of Musical Instruments (Chicago, University of ChicagoPress)

Schafer, R.M. 1969. The New Soundscape: A Handbook for the Modern Music Teacher (Ontario, BMI Canada)Théberge, P. 1997. Any Sound You Can Imagine: Making Music/Consuming Technology (Middletown, CT,Wesleyan University Press)

Waksman, S. 1999. Instruments of Desire: The Electric Guitar and the Shaping of Musical Experience(Cambridge, Harvard University Press)

Unfree Masters: Recording Artists and the Politics of Work. By Matt Stahl.London: Duke, 2013. 296 pp. ISBN 978-0-8223-5343-0doi:10.1017/S026114301300038X

Unfree Masters: Recording Artists and the Politics of Work is one of the latest additionsto a growing body of literature that focuses on the role of the creative worker in thepopular music industries. Stahl’s text is premised on the assumption that theexperience of workers involved in the creation and performance of popularmusic is observably different from other types of workers and therefore worthy ofscrutiny. According to the author, the key element of this differentness is the notionof freedom:

In contrast to the apparent freedom of Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, or Bob Dylan to decide how andwhere and when to record or perform, work for most people, most of the time, is notparticularly free, enjoyable, or fulfilling. (p. 1)

Although Stahl’s bleak assessment of what work is like for ‘most people, mostof the time’, it is not an account that will be recognisable to all readers; the significantidea introduced here is the illusory nature of the ‘apparent freedom’ enjoyed by theseglobal superstars when compared with other workers. Here the author reveals theessence and consistent thrust of the argument throughout the book: the notion thatrecording performers are Unfree Masters. That is to say, in some senses they enjoyconsiderable freedom in their working life, yet in other respects even the most suc-cessful performers are indentured to greater corporate powers.

The shorter opening section of the book, Representation, examines the US realitytalent TV show, American Idol and the 2004 fly on the wall ‘rockumentary’ Dig!, inorder to ‘. . . explore and analyze the narratives of work, failure, and success offeredin two very different representations of musical activity’ (p. 33). Stahl contends thatAmerican Idol trades on the extremes between the validation and, crucially, the free-dom that success supposedly affords the artist and juxtaposes this with the abjecthumiliation of failure. Similar critiques of these types of TV talent shows are becom-ing increasing common and are not particularly ground breaking. However, thisvolume is strengthened by the author’s willingness to explore areas that are neitherat the top nor the bottom of the music industries food chain. Indeed, this appetite forprobing less commonly researched areas is the core strength of the text.

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