Berk concludes that our understanding of historical political economy must take markets, technologies, and organizational forms as the contingent outcomes of such constitutional politics, rather than as premeditated contexts for state and economic development.

In the summer of 1978, the B-52's conquered the New York underground. A year later, the band's self-titled debut album burst onto the Billboard charts, capturing the imagination of fans and music critics worldwide. The fact that the group had formed in the sleepy southern college town of Athens, Georgia, only increased the fascination. Soon, more Athens bands followed the B-52's into the vanguard of the new American music that would come to be known as "alternative," including R.E.M., who catapulted over the course of the 1980s to the top of the musical mainstream. As acts like the B-52's, R.E.M., and Pylon drew the eyes of New York tastemakers southward, they discovered in Athens an unexpected mecca of music, experimental art, DIY spirit, and progressive politics--a creative underground as vibrant as any to be found in the country's major cities. In Athens in the eighties, if you were young and willing to live without much money, anything seemed possible. Cool Town reveals the passion, vitality, and enduring significance of a bohemian scene that became a model for others to follow. Grace Elizabeth Hale experienced the Athens scene as a student, small-business owner, and band member. Blending personal recollection with a historian's eye, she reconstructs the networks of bands, artists, and friends that drew on the things at hand to make a new art of the possible, transforming American culture along the way. In a story full of music and brimming with hope, Hale shows how an unlikely cast of characters in an unlikely place made a surprising and beautiful new world.

Covers those bands and artists who have rejected the mainstream in favor of innovation, originality and the pursuit of their own unique musical identity.

The literary equivalent of a great dive bar jukebox--inspiring, provocative, irresistible, and the perfect gift for all music lovers. At the heart of all music fetishes, there are lists: ten essential female murder ballads, ten unsettling songs for a midwestern white guy to wake to from a coma, ten smutty Bob Dylan moments, and of course the ever-popular staple of all music lists (and listeners)--ten best breakup songs. Hang the DJ compiles what contributors might once have scribbled in the back of their textbooks or school folders, when they--like all of us at one point--were absolutely sure that they alone were the sole guardians of Musical Truth; that Sparks' number two hit, "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us," really should have made it to the number one spot, that Gary Numan was merely a misshapen progeny of Bowie's Thin White Duke persona, that female singer-songwriters are better than their male equivalents. Mixing anecdote, humor, reference, and sheer dorkiness--but with the bizarre insight of an anthropological study in pop-culture protocol--Hang the DJ is a collection of lists about musical loves, hates, dreams, and nightmares from music-lovers such as Rick Moody, Jonathan Lethem, Simon Reynolds, Ali Smith, Amanda Petrusich, and many other bloggers, journalists, novelists, poets, and musicians.

Music's top journalists celebrate "Spin" magazine's 20th anniversary with original essays tracing the history of alternative rock.

BBC Radio 6 Music is the station for people who are passionate about music: its award-winning presenters are constantly bringing a wealth of fresh tracks to the airwaves, from both new and established artists. In this book, BBC Radio 6 Music draws on its pool of knowledge and experience to provide an alternative offering to the mainstream music most radio stations play, bringing the reader an authoritative guide to 500 alternative classic songs and the stories behind them. Featuring contributions from the station's most popular DJs and producers - including Cerys Matthews, Craig Charles, Gilles Peterson and Huey Morgan - BBC Radio 6 Music's Alternative Jukebox is the perfect route to escaping the mainstream and discovering a world of unforgettable tracks. With choices of works by a diverse range of artists, such as Gil Scott-Heron, Gram Parsons, the Pixies and Ghostpoet, these are the songs that tell the story of alternative music.

At once a groundbreaking cultural history of rock music and an impassioned defense of the unique value of art, The Day Alternative Music Died is a timely and essential addition to the cultural discourse. Featuring a meticulously researched and eminently readable narrative that will appeal to both casual and diehard music fans, The Day Alternative Music Died tells the fascinating story of the tensions between artistic and commercial aspirations throughout the history of rock music. Author Adam Caress grafts the vital and untold story of the rise and fall of the alternative music scene in the 1980s and 90s into a larger rock music narrative that spans half a century, shedding light on a number of crucial developments in rock and popular music which remain widely misunderstood, even as they continue to have far-reaching implications for the future of music creation, consumption, and criticism. With a scope that encompasses everything from Bob Dylan's arrival on the rock scene in the mid-1960s through Spotify's recent attempts to establish a new model for music distribution, The Day Alternative Music Died provides engaging and valuable insight into what it means to be a music fan, artist, and critic here in the 21st Century.