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Jan 11, 2012

Joshua rated it:

Library Journal Review:

Indie culture, by its very nature, exists outside of and often rails against mainstream culture: independent record stores in opposition to Best Buy, craft festivals in opposition to Ikea, zines as opposed to Rolling Stone. As a corollary, Kaya Oakes reminds us that indie culture has a strong history of reciprocity between producer and consumer. Indie culture is a creative community that should produce an equal amount of inspiration and consumption. Oakes lo More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 10, 2009

Kaya rated it:

I'm changing my review of my own book from four stars to five just because I can. Sheesh, every other author does it!

To be honest, I know Slanted and Enchanted isn't perfect. I'm not surprised that many reviewers have gripes about what I chose not to write about -- after all, as I admit in the introduction, indie is essentially definable only to the individual who participates in it, whether as an artist or as a spectator. So if you believe indie started in the jazz age, in the paleo More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Oct 06, 2009

Elevate Difference rated it:

I’ve always thought of indie culture as the marriage of individuality and community, and of course, a celebration of the do-it-yourself (DIY) morality that is ingrained in our society. However, some of our most creative pioneers are often obscured from mainstream art, music, and literature. Kaya Oakes’s Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture offers a well-researched history and analysis of the DIY movement and the creative brilliance this community has generated. An engaging and r More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 10, 2009

Imogen rated it:

This is totally my shit, so I'm probably not the best person to review it. I'm reading it going "yeah! Exactly!" a lot more than I'm going "Oh! Interesting!" So it certainly wasn't boring, but I mean, I have been playing in independent bands and making zines without getting paid for anything for the last ten years, PLUS I've been working in bookstores that whole time, so I'm pretty up on all this.

I wanted there to be more, and for it to go deeper, and I kept thin More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 28, 2009

Bill rated it:

I found this book to be a bit of a mixed bag. While I appreciate that someone was attempting to cover a wide range of ground in exploring the indie culture, I was hoping to come out with a little more inspiration. Maybe the book was just skewed more in the direction of the mechanics of the indie movement instead of showcasing the personalities and passion that I crave to read about. I guess this is the price to be paid for attempting to cover so many large, diverse movements in such a limited am More...

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Sep 23, 2009

Donna rated it:

I saw the spine of this book on the shelf at my library and thought, "Oh hey, someone wrote a book about Pavement." Then after reading the blurb, I had the impression that the book was going to be a more general history of indie culture.

The scope of the book was certainly wider than my first assumption, but it wasn't as broad as I'd hoped. It focuses almost exclusively on a couple of west coast scenes. It was certainly informative about those areas, but I wish that the intr More...

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Nov 25, 2011

Derek rated it:

Those readers predisposed to disliking Kaya Oakes' Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture surely have the ammunition to take it down a peg or two just from the cover--that disagreeable buzzword is plopped right there in the title, making it look like one of those terrible Books for People Who Don't Read Books that they sell at Urban Outfitters. But to dismiss it so senselessly is unfair to say the least--indeed, the book is a thoughtful examination of a culture that is relatively More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 19, 2011

Sarah rated it:

The positives are that the book is well-researched and covers some interesting topics. For instance, a chapter on crafting and the Renegade Craft Fair, which I would have wanted to read an entire book on, and a surprisingly interesting chapter on comics and graphic novels. There was good information, for me at least, about what was going on with music during my own Dark Ages, where I didn't have a thing I wanted to listen to, and my friends didn't either. The book dragged in several places th More...

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Apr 19, 2011

Andrea rated it:

This book spoke to ME! So I reveled in every bit of it. Part nostalgia trip, part sociocultural study, part celebration of independent creation, part sad reality regarding the incessant co-opting of "indie" culture. Oakes focuses a lot on music, starting with punk and independent record labels & venues like 924 Gilman... East Bay punks, grunge, riot grrrl, and the '90s college radio resurgence (dedicating an entire chapter to Pavement, whose debut album the book is named after) that re More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 15, 2009

Travis rated it:

I wanted to hate on this book before I even read it, figuring that it was just another in this endless-series of titles cashing in on the corporate rise of what used to be "indie culture." If that phrase makes you cringe, then you know what I'm talking about.

The author does an earnest, professorial job of trying to document the changed landscape whether the subject is comics, music, design or crafting. The strengths are in the current quotes from still-active participants More...

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Jun 01, 2010

Simon rated it:

(3.5 stars) A very engaging look at "indie" culture, which the author defines as anything in opposition to the current status quo. Oakes finds indie roots in the New York School of poets and particularly Frank O'Hara, but the book covers everything from music to crafting. This is not a book for hipsters; hard work and a supportive community are necessary for anything indie to have a chance and even then things might not work out. (Oakes was involved in a now-defunct magazine) In the en More...

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Sep 17, 2009

Teel rated it:

I'm on my iPhone, so I'll be brief: I found this book to be both enlightening and inspiring. I kept wishing eBooks had already come out of the Stone Age (see: Nick Cave's Bunny Munro for iPhone for a taste of their potential) so that every time Kaya mentioned a band, an album, a song, I could hear a sample, so that when she wrote about an album cover or a comic book character or art style, I could see it. Kaya's descriptions were excellent and engaging, but this is a book that truly deserves an More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 11, 2010

Serah-Marie rated it:

It's focused mostly on the west coast, and from that mostly on San Francisco. But hey, I've read a TON about east coast indie already, and I think San Francisco is neat, so I'm in. I think it would have been neat to drop the pretense, just go for it, and make it 100% Bay Area and dig even deeper, relate what it is about the city itself that lends an indie inhabitants. It's touched on with Oakland and 924 Gilman Street, but I'd love to hear more. In the end though that's my personal taste, and no More...

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Dec 29, 2010

Amy rated it:

Just as I suspected. Meh.

I mean, maybe very few perspectives on this topic are going to really resonate with me. Everyone has his or her own story to tell, and while this story is blended with historical nods and contemporary case studies, this just wasn't as engaging as I had hoped it would be. I found myself skimming over pages and pages, but kept reading anyway, hoping for a thread to grasp onto. Not that this book was terrible, just that it was not what I was hoping for. Maybe I s More...

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Aug 06, 2009

Casey rated it:

An insightful book about the recent history of many forms of independent art and expression. This book covered music, poetry, comics, traditional art, etc. In some ways, it was very nice that the author was a part of the movements she was discussing, but occasionally she had subjective views on the matter, which was distracting. I did enjoy reading about things that the author was clearly passionate about, and that she discussed a wide variety of topics and people, instead of sticking to the sam More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 07, 2010

Patrick rated it:

Talking about the Bush presidency and the anti-war movement: “...even crafters got in on the revolution, creating guerrilla knitting collectives and subversive craft networks.” What? Yeah. Maybe the dumbest thing I've ever read in print, but she also compared the band Pavement to classic rock and said that their "Crooked Rain" album sounds like Led Zeppelin, which leads one to believe she has either never heard "Crooked Rain (which would be odd, since she titled her book after More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 14, 2009

John rated it:

This book is written for those who already have the "anti-corporation, go-small-guy-unless-you-get-too-big" bug. The book is about the development of indie culture. It starts in the 60s with the Beat Generation and Hippies and tracks the development of punk (but mostly Minutemen and Mission of Burma, oddly enough, which seemed like rehashing We Jam Econo) through the riot grrrl and handcraft movement of the past decade. There's a lot to like in this book, I found the chapters on Paveme More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

May 17, 2011

Adrian rated it:

There were some interesting parts and my opinion improved as I went on, but I thought it wasn't that interesting overall. I was also really put off by the lazy writing--saying that the Minutemen were "mostly fucking around on guitars" or saying "you". (Those are just a couple examples; I found new examples almost every page.) There are times when writing lazily or informally are fine (blogs, emails), but I expect more from a book.

It also suffers from the problem More...

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May 24, 2011

Reid rated it:

This is a much needed look into the how and why of a culture that has become prevalent and vastly misunderstood. The biographical and autobiographical anecdotes that Kaya Oakes lays out span from music to DIY, and from comics to small press. All of which is written in an attempt to answer the complex question, "What is indie?" It is a question oft scoffed at, but one that has begged for more than just an answer given by a lackadaisical blogger's Sunday morning rant. Oakes's analysis is More...

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Jan 10, 2011

Maggie rated it:

I was under the impression when I ordered this book that it was only about indie music. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it's a much broader look at the development of indie culture in everything from crafting to publishing to comics. While by no means comprehensive, it's a good starting point.

Overall, I had very mixed feelings about this one. There are sections I liked quite a bit and will definitely revisit, possibly with my students. Oakes is at her best when she sticks with o More...

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Sep 08, 2010

Bobby rated it:

This book had a lot going for it and conveyed good information regarding indie culture. The early chapters set the historical context, but focuses too much on the Bay area (which is the scene the author is more familiar with). My interest increased with the following chapters explaining the influence of zines, comics, and indie rocks. The final few chapters delve more into discussion of what "indie" has become and the adoption and subsequent perversion by corporations. This is what More...

1 comment like

Mar 05, 2010

Nina rated it:

This book got off to a good start. I appreciated the approach to historical context, beginning very appropriately with the poets of the New York School and the Beats, evolving into Bay Area radical scenes like the Diggers before delving into punk- a good, solid primer on the genesis of what we now call "Indie".

Perhaps this is evidence of the difficulty of writing about the recent past, because after the punk discussion the book fell apart for me. The emphasis after punk More...

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Jan 10, 2010

Chelsea rated it:

This book was just another example of how annoyingly pretentious self-titled hipsters/indie folk can be. While the evolution of indie culture is definitely an interesting topic worth exploring, Kaya Oakes lacks the literary finesse to execute the history behind indie culture in an engaging and entertaining way for the reader. I lost all interest in the book when I came across this passage regarding a reading club in Oregon:

"At its core, though, Reading Frenzy is really about rea More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 14, 2009

Sarah added it

Thought this was wonderful: clear, informative, fascinating to read, sobering (artists/writers/musicians, do you want to know how much work goes into production, and what it's like to do that work?), and even inspiring. This book conveys, very specifically, the honorable madness of doing a lot of hard work for little or no money, on top of your regular life. It conveys the nature of the artistic gift culture. (cf. Lewis Hyde)

I liked the Bookslut review, which I think catches some of More...

1 comment like

Nov 02, 2009

Michaela rated it:

I've been putting off reviewing this book for nearly two months -- partially because I won a copy through Goodreads courtesy of the author. (I never win anything, so the fact that I won at all was pleasing, indeed.) As a journalist, I feet the need to give that full disclosure right away.

Anyway, I was updating my Currently Reading list this morning, and realized that I really needed to indicate that I'd finished this book. I'd kept it around as a reminder to write my review -- which More...

1 comment like

Jun 01, 2009

Gary rated it:

I'm still left wondering why Oakes seems to have simply skipped over the 1970s in her decade-by-decade build up in the beginning of the book, and why she didn't hunt down Dennis Cooper -- a man who ahs continually had his hand in indie music, zines, small press and indie literature, etc. But, those are indeed minor qualms.
The book is well-researched and compulsively readable (I read it over one weekend), and helped me to fill in the gaps in the areas -- small press, DIY crafts -- that I di More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 12, 2009

Erica rated it:

This book is a fine overview of indie culture, but anyone who knows a lot about indie culture might be a little bored. It's unfair, but I couldn't help thinking of Our Band Could Be Your Life while reading it. It's unfair because OBCBYL concentrated just on music, whereas Slanted and Enchanted is about all of indie culture, but I felt like OBCBYL got into a lot of the personal stories that make indie culture so interesting to me, whereas this was more of a general survey--which is not necessaril More...

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Jun 16, 2011

Victoria rated it:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! When I first picked it up, I assumed it would be about hipster trends like skinny jeans or just name drop obscure indie bands. I am so pleased to find out that it was more about DIY culture from a Bay Area perspective. It covered topics from suburban punks touring in vans across the country in the '80s to crafting culture to mainstream media and pop culture taking indie ideas and cashing in on them. From beat poets to zines to small publishing presses and indie bo More...

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Jul 27, 2010

Shanna rated it:

A pretty good overview of several different components of indie culture. My favorite chapters were the ones that spoke of the DIY movement in crafts, as well as the etymology of the word indie. The author also did a good job explaining why places like Urban Outfitters market to indie audiences, but are, inthemselves, inherently not indie. The only thing I wish would have been a little more extensive was the chapter on indie music in the 90's. Other than that, a well rounded book.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 06, 2010

Carolyn rated it:

I mostly cared about the sections on music and have read Michael Azerrad's This Band Could Be Your Life. TBCBYL was definitely a primary reference for her writing on the music scene, so I didn't learn anything new. But beyond that, it was well written and interesting to learn about the other indie scenes I know less about (publishing and crafting).

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