Borderlands: Dub Techno’s Hauntological Politics of Acoustic Ecology

Authors

  • Alessio Kolioulis Paris 8 / La Sapienza

Keywords:

Dub techno, Detroit techno, dub diaspora, acoustic ecology, post-Fordism, neoliberalism

Abstract

This article explores the aesthetic, social and economic relationships between dub techno and urban space. Sketching out the neoliberal economic transition from the post-war economy to a post-Fordist society, this article lingers on dub/techno trends from four cities: Kingston, London, Detroit and Berlin. An archaeology of dub techno is reconstructed into four parts, each highlighting an affective relation, or “sound map”, between music and neoliberal economic production. Starting with the hauntological melancholia of London-based Burial’s music, this article traces the history and sonic networks of the dub techno diaspora, from Detroit techno’s city of urban decay to Berlin’s divided city. Finally, dub techno is narrated through a “borderland” mapped sonically between Detroit and Berlin, suggesting a futuristic politics of dub techno’s acoustic ecology.

Author Biography

Alessio Kolioulis, Paris 8 / La Sapienza

Alessio Kolioulis is a PhD candidate at Paris8/La Sapienza University. Alessio holds a BSc in Development Economics from the University of Florence and a MA in Social Anthropology of Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies. He is an editor for Millepiani and Eterotopia France, an independent publishing company based in Paris. Alessio works in the Impact Awards Team at Stars Foundation. He lives in Brixton, London.

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Published

03-Nov-2015

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 2 (2015): Echoes from the Dub Diaspora

Section

Feature Articles

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