A Curious Mix of People: The Underground Music Scene of 1990s Austin - Explore 90s Austin Culture & Alternative Music History" 使用场景: Perfect for music historians, 90s culture enthusiasts, and Austin locals interested in underground music history. Great for book clubs, music education, and nostalgic gift ideas.

Author: Beets, Greg

Texas

Published on 17 October 2023 by University of Texas Press in the United States.

Paperback / softback | 288 pages, 48 b&w photos
178 x 255 x 24 | 760g

A twisting path through Austin¡¯s underground music scene in the twentieth century¡¯s last decade, narrated by the people who were there.

It¡¯s 1990 in Austin, Texas. The next decade will be a tipping point in the city's metamorphosis from sleepy college town to major city. Beneath the increasingly slick exterior, though, a group of like-minded contrarians were reimagining an underground music scene. Embracing a do-it-yourself ethos, record labels emerged to release local music, zines cheered and jeered acts beneath the radar of mainstream media outlets, and upstart clubs provided a home venue for new bands to build their sound.

This vibrant scene valued expression over erudition, from the razor-sharp songcraft of Spoon to the fuzzed-out poptones of Sixteen Deluxe, and blurred the boundaries between observer and participant. Evolving in tandem with the city¡¯s emergence on the national stage via the film Slacker and the SXSW conference and festivals, Austin¡¯s musical underground became a spiritual crucible for the uneasy balance between commercial success and cultural authenticity, a tension that still resonates today.

The first book about Austin underground music in the ¡¯90s, A Curious Mix of People is an oral history that tells the story of this transformative decade through the eyes of the musicians, writers, DJs, club owners, record-store employees, and other key figures who were there.