Elliott Carter Speaks: Unpublished Lectures ed. by Laura Emmery (review)

Abstract

exposure to curriculum and ideas went on to influence both their music and their visual presentation as musical acts. In addition to a close reading of specific school assignments, art performances, record sleeves, and the like, these chapters include tangents on lower-profile acts to cast a wider net and demonstrate how these influences resonated with others. While the Mekons have maintained a cult following and most of the others are mainstays of their era, with songs in regular rotation on SiriusXM’s First Wave station, Fad Gadget has much lower name recognition. The book would have benefitted from providing more context for Tovey, an explanation of why he is worthy of extended analysis beyond fitting the criterion of a Leeds-art-student-turnedmusician in that era. The dive into primary sources is impressive. The author conducted dozens of interviews over six years, including two with Andy Gill, the influential Gang of Four guitarist who died before the book’s publication. He consulted a few formal archives but also the personal archives of more than thirty people, including musicians and art faculty members. This work is borne out by the copious photos of musicians and events and other ephemera that predated their wider, more heavily documented fame. This is a book for a very limited audience, for research collections supporting popular music studies but not for public libraries. While some of the musical acts profiled, especially the Mekons and Gang of Four, have had enduring low-level fame, the writing style is far too dry to appeal to fans or a general music audience. The only levity arises in the direct quotes. Like too much scholarship on punk or postpunk, the analytical tone fails to convey the excitement of the music. The topic of punk’s relationship to arts education is too niche, and the revelations are not sufficiently generalizable to warrant including this in a broader music collection. It would be useful for area and cultural studies, however, especially the cross-pollination between visual and performing arts. It also captures an aspect of youth culture in Northern England during the British postwar consensus on the verge of the Thatcher era.