Empire of Dirt

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article lacks context for non-readers of the book. Please help improve this article. (April 2011) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Empire of Dirt" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Empire of Dirt" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Empire of Dirt: The Aesthetics and Rituals of British Indie Music

Paperback cover
Author	Wendy Fonarow
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	non-fiction
Publisher	Wesleyan University Press
Publication date	2006
Media type	Print (hardback and paperback)
Pages	336
ISBN	978-0-8195-6810-6

Empire of Dirt: The Aesthetics and Rituals of British Indie Music is a 2006 book by Wendy Fonarow.^[1]

Contents[edit]

The title of the book comes from one verse from the song "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails ("and you could have it all, my empire of dirt"). While writing the manuscript, Fonarow was given a vinyl edition of the Johnny Cash album American IV, which includes a cover of "Hurt", by Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records.

The cover, designed by Matthew Cooper, depicts a typical indie band (2 guitarists, a bass player and a drummer all thin) in silhouette (see sleeperbloke).

In chapter 1 the author discuss 'What Is "Indie"?'. A problem with defining indie is that any precise definition will exclude music and performers which indie fans and insiders feel should be included or include ones that should be excluded.^[2] These are some possible definitions:^[3]

1. Indie music is the one which is recorded by independent labels and distributed via independent distributors. Records distributed via independent distributors qualified for the UK Indie Chart.
2. a genre of music with a distinctive sound and style.
3. music that communicates a particular ethos.
4. a category of critical assessment.
5. music different from other genres like mainstream pop, dance, blues, country or classical.

Reviews[edit]

• Jonze, Tim (26 April 2008). "School of rock". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
• Rose, Emily (9 June 2006). "Dirty indie: 'Professor of indie rock' Wendy Fonarow explains how 13 years of gig attendance spawned Empire of Dirt". Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
• Grassy, Elsa (2007). "Empire of Dirt: The Aesthetics and Rituals of British Indie Music". Cercles, Revue pluridisciplinaire du monde anglophone [multidisciplinary review of the English-speaking world]. Archive: Book reviews (16). Universite de Rouen. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
• Itzkoff, Dave (1 October 2006). "Music Chronicle". Sunday Book Review. The New York Times. Retrieved 21 April 2011.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• "Empire of Dirt". Wesleyan University Press. 11 May 2023.