Abstract
World music compilations on vinyl have recently become popular in the wake of an overall comeback for the LP format. In these compilations, old records from, for example, Ethiopia, Turkey, Ghana or Cambodia are reissued with sleeve notes describing how these “forgotten” and “obscure” recordings have been found. The editors are portrayed as a new breed of explorers, crate-digging to find musical treasures expressly for the music lover who craves to find something new before anyone else. It is how ‘the Other’ is depicted in these compilation liner notes that is of particular interest here, revealing as it does a certain recurring narrative about the way music from different cultures is presented. The research material therefore consists of world music that has been published on vinyl by 11 different record companies. I demonstrate how (neo)colonialist attitudes and orientalism are still widely prevalent in the music industry today, just hidden within a narrative of ‘great exploration’. These narratives legitimise the appropriation of these types of music, by presenting the potential record buyer as a reviver of waning or forgotten musical cultures. The chapter analyses the built-in power relations in these narratives from postcolonial perspectives.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Nike Sarapohja and Jan Anderzén for granting me access to their record collections and for their patience in getting the research material back from me.
References
Born, G., & Hesmondhalgh, D. (Eds.). (2000). Western music and its others: Difference, representation, and appropriation in music. Berkeley, CA, Los Angeles, CA & London: University of California Press.
Brusila, J. (2003). Local music, not from here: The discourse of World Music examined through three Zimbabwean case studies: The Bhundu Boys, Virginia Mukheswa and Sunduza. Helsinki: Finnish Society for Ethnomusicology.
Burnett, R., & Wikström, P. (2006). Music production in times of monopoly: The example of Sweden. Popular Music and Society, 29(5), 575–582.
Feld, S. (2000). A sweet lullaby for world music. Public Culture, 12, 145–171.
Feld, S., & Kirkegaard, A. (2010). Entangled complicities in the prehistory of ‘World Music:’ Poul Rovsing Olsen and Jean Jenkins encounter Brian Eno and David Byrne in the Bush of Ghosts. Popular Musicology Online, 4. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from http://www.popular-musicology-online.com/issues/04/feld.html.
Gronow, P., & Saunio, I. (1990). Äänilevyn historia. [The history of record]. Porvoo, Helsinki & Juva: WSOY.
Hall, S. (1999). Identiteetti [Identity]. Tampere: Vastapaino.
Kaartinen, M. (2001). Toinen – vieras. Näkökulmia kolonialistisen toiseuden tutkimukseen [Other – foreign. Perspectives for research in colonial other]. In K. Immonen, & M. Leskelä-Kärki (Eds.), Kulttuurihistoria. Johdatus tutkimukseen (pp. 387–401). Helsinki: Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura.
Kanerva, T. (2011). Afrikan tähdet. Soundi, 2, 18–19. Helsinki: A-lehdet Oy.
Löytty, O. (2005). Johdanto [Introduction]. In M. Lehtonen, & O. Löytty (Eds.), Rajanylityksiä: tutkimusreittejä toiseuden tuolle puolen. [Border crossings: Research routes beyond the Other]. Helsinki: Gaudeamus.
Middleton, R. (2000). Musical belongings: Western music and its low-other. In G. Born, Georgina, & D. Hesmondhalgh (Eds.), Western music and its Others: Difference, representation, and appropriation in Music, (pp. 59–85). Berkeley, CA, Los Angeles, CA & London: University of California Press.
Mäkelä, J. (2009). Comeback: Reunions of music groups as a memory industry. In V. Kurkela, & Väkevä, L. (Eds.), De-canonizing music history (pp. 127–138). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Novak, D. (2011). The sublime frequencies of new old media. Public Culture, 23(3), 603–634.
NPR (2011). 2010 was a very bad year for trying to sell music. National Public Radio. Retrieved April 11, 2012, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/01/06/132694660/2010-was-a-very-bad-year-for-trying-to-sell-music.
Perpetua, M. (2011). Vinyl sales increase despite industry slump. Rolling Stone web pages (http://www.rollingstone.com). Retrieved April 11, 2012, from http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/vinyl-sales-increase-despite-industry-slump-20110106.
Pickering, M. (2001). Stereotyping: The politics of representation. Chippenham and Eastbourne: Palgrave Macmillan.
Richter, F. (2014). The LP is back! The Statistics Portal. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from http://www.statista.com/chart/1465/vinyl-lp-sales-in-the-us/.
Said, E. (2003 [1978]). Orientalism. London: Penguin Books.
Shuker, R. (2010). Wax trash and vinyl treasures. Record collecting as a social practice. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.
Taylor, T. (1997). Global pop: World music, world markets. New York, NY: Routledge.
Taylor, T. (2007). Beyond exoticism: Western music and the world. Durham & London: Duke University Press.
Thiam, R. (1999). Orientalismikriittinen ja postkolonialistinen näkökulma suomalaiseen musiikkiin. Musiikki, 29(4), 391–415.
Wikström, P., & Burnett, R. (2009). Same songs, different wrapping: The rise of compilation album. Popular Music and Society, 32(4), 507–522.
Young, R. J. C. (2003). Postcolonialism. A very short history. Oxford & New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the University of Tampere and The Finnish Doctoral Programme for Music Research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, Higher Education Press
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Aaltonen, L. (2016). Crate-Digging Columbuses and Vinyl Vespuccis—Exoticism in World Music Vinyl Collections. In: Machart, R., Dervin, F., Gao, M. (eds) Intercultural Masquerade. Encounters between East and West. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47056-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47056-5_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-47055-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-47056-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)