“Making Scenes is as good a balance of theoretical innovation, ethnographic observation, and musical ‘scene’ analysis as I have seen in a long time. It is also the best account I have seen of the international circulation of 1990s alternative U.S. rock outside the United States.” —Will Straw, author of Cyanide and Sin: Visualizing Crime in 50s America “Timely and engaging, Making Scenes is a wonderful and needed contribution to scholarship on Bali, to debates over the relationship between Birmingham School cultural studies and the work of area studies, and to the transnational study of popular music.” — Laurie J. Sears, editor of Knowing Southeast Asian Subjects “[A] beautifully written and theoretically sophisticated book. . . presenting a complex and appropriately messy account of musical practice as it plays out in the serious games of Indonesian youth.”
Brent Luvaas
Indonesia
“Emma Baulch explores the self-professed underbelly of 1990s Balinese music culture in a nuanced ethnography that demonstrates a serious and intimate understanding of the people and events she describes. . . . [E]xceptional.”
Laura Noszlopy
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
“Emma Baulch’s detailed ethnography of musical scenes and identity politics in 1990s Bali is a major contribution to the scholarly literature on music and culture in Indonesia. . . . [T]his well-written work stands out among recent publications on Indonesian popular, rock, experimental, and underground music culture. . . . Making Scenes is a well-crafted, insightful exploration of the complex identity politics at work in the social, political, and cultural contexts of 1990s Bali. With its engaging depictions of musical scenes, detailed analyses of youth culture, and deep engagement with cultural theory, this text will appeal to scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduate students. . .”
Bethany J. Collier
Journal of Asian Studies