Cards on the Table

One of The Telegraph’s Best Music Books 2011 We live in a pop age gone loco for retro and crazy for commemoration. Band re-formations and reunion tours, expanded reissues of classic albums and outtake-crammed box sets, remakes and sequels, tribute albums and mash-ups . . . But what happens when we run out of past? Are we heading toward a sort of culturalecological catastrophe where the archival stream of pop history has been exhausted? Simon Reynolds, one of the finest music writers of his generation, argues that we have indeed reached a tipping point, and that although earlier eras had their own obsessions with antiquity—the Renaissance with its admiration for Roman and Greek classicism, the Gothic movement’s invocations of medievalism—never has there been a society so obsessed with the cultural artifacts of its own immediate past. Retromania is the first book to examine the retro industry and ask the question: Is this retromania a death knell for any originality and distinctiveness of our own? Front Cover......Page 1 Author bio......Page 3 Other books by author......Page 4 Half-Title......Page 5 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Dedication......Page 9 Contents......Page 11 Introduction: The 'Re' Decade/The Retroscape......Page 13 Prologue: Don't Look Back: Nostalgia and Retro......Page 29 Part One: 'Now'......Page 41 1. Pop Will Repeat Itself: Museums, Reunions, Rock Docs, Re-enactments......Page 43 2. Total Recall: Music and Memory in the Time of YouTube......Page 95 3. Lost in the Shuffle: Record Collecting and the Twilight of Music as an Object......Page 126 4. Good Citations: The Rise of Rock Curator......Page 169 5. Turning Japanese: The Empire of Retro and Hipster International......Page 202 Part Two: 'Then'......Page 221 6. Strange Changes: Fashion, Retro and Vintage......Page 223 7. Turn Back Time: Revival Cults and Time-Warp Tribes......Page 242 8. No Future: Punk's Reactionary Roots and Retro Aftermath......Page 280 9. Rock On (And On) (And On): The Never-Ending Fifties Revival......Page 316 Part Three: 'Tomorrow'......Page 349 10. Ghosts of Futures Past: Sampling, Hauntology and Mash-Ups......Page 351 11. Out of Space: Nostalgia for Giant Steps and Final Frontiers......Page 402 The Retroscape (Slight Return)......Page 439 12. The Shock of the Old: Past, Present and Future in the First Decade of the Twenty-First Century......Page 443 Acknowledgements......Page 469 Bibliography......Page 471 Index......Page 481 Back Cover......Page 500 We Live In A Pop Age Gone Loco For Retro And Crazy For Commemoration. Band Re-formations And Reunion Tours, Expanded Reissues Of Classic Albums And Outtake-crammed Box Sets, Remakes And Sequels, Tribute Albums And Mash-ups ... But What Happens When We Run Out Of Past? Are We Heading Toward A Sort Of Cultural-ecological Catastrophe, Where The Archival Stream Of Pop History Has Been Exhausted? Retromania Is The First Book To Examine The Retro Industry And Ask The Question: Is This Retromania A Death Knell For Any Originality And Distinctiveness Of Our Own? Pop Will Repeat Itself: Museums, Reunions, Rock Docs, Re-enactments -- Total Recall: Music And Memory In The Time Of Youtube -- Lost In The Shuffle: Record Collecting And The Twilight Of Music As An Object -- Good Citations: The Rise Of The Rock Curator -- Turning Japanese: The Empire Of Retro And The Hipster International -- Strange Changes: Fashion, Retro And Vintage -- Turn Back Time: Revival Cults And Time-warp Tribes -- No Future: Punk's Reactionary Roots And Retro Aftermath -- Rock On (and On) (and On): The Never-ending Fifties Revival -- Ghosts Of Futures Past: Sampling, Hauntology And Mash-ups -- Out Of Space: Nostalgia For Giant Steps And Final Frontiers -- The Retroscape (slight Return) -- The Shock Of The Old: Past, Present And Future In The First Decade Of The Twenty-first Century. Simon Reynolds. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [431]-440) And Index. One of The Telegraph 's Best Music Books 2011 We live in a pop age gone loco for retro and crazy for commemoration. Band re-formations and reunion tours, expanded reissues of classic albums and outtake-crammed box sets, remakes and sequels, tribute albums and mash-ups . . . But what happens when we run out of past? Are we heading toward a sort of culturalecological catastrophe where the archival stream of pop history has been exhausted? Simon Reynolds, one of the finest music writers of his generation, argues that we have indeed reached a tipping point, and that although earlier eras had their own obsessions with antiquitythe Renaissance with its admiration for Roman and Greek classicism, the Gothic movement's invocations of medievalismnever has there been a society so obsessed with the cultural artifacts of its own immediate past. Retromania is the first book to examine the retro industry and ask the Is this retromania a death knell for any originality and distinctiveness of our own? We live in a pop age gone loco for retro and crazy for commemoration, band re-formations and reunion tours, expanded reissues of classic albums and outtake-crammed box sets, remakes and sequels, tribute albums and mash-ups. But what happens when we run out of past? Are we heading toward a sort of cultural-ecological catastrophe where the archival stream of pop history has been exhausted? Simon Reynolds, one of the finest music writers of his generation, argues that we have indeed reached a tipping point, and that although earlier eras had their own obsessions with antiquity the Renaissance with its admiration for Roman and Greek classicism, the Gothic movement's invocations of medievalism never has there been a society so obsessed with the cultural artifacts of its own immediate past. Retromania is the first book to examine the retro industry and ask the question: Is this retromania a death knell for any originality and distinctiveness of our own?