DIY: The Rise of Lo-Fi Culture

by Amy Spencer

“A veritable cornucopia of self-made worth. . . . The Rise of Lo-Fi Culture is a triumph from beginning to end. . . . Highly recommended.”—Trakmarx.com “A . . . comprehensive guide to the evolution of DIY culture as we know it today.”—Bookslut.com This exploration of lo-fi culture traces the origin of the DIY ethic to the skiffle movement of the 1950s, mail art, Black Mountain poetry, and avant-garde art in the 1950s. It follows the punk scene of the 1970s and 1980s to the current music scene. It charts the development of music outside of the publicity machine and examines the politics behind the production of “homemade” recordings and publications.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music, History, Art, Pop Culture

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far, I have to agree with many of the other reviewers. It is kind of a bland covering (re-covering) of the DiY movement, including music and zines. It provides a superficial introduction for anyone not already familiar with the DiY movement/subculture.

I am curious why Spencer chooses the time she does to where zines found their roots? It is traced back to sci-fi zines of the 1930s and I have read this in multiple locations (so it must be true, right?), but she goes on to explore indie publishing through Village Voice, Berkeley Barb, and others. If this is the case, then I wonder about independent press of the abolitionist era (and others): The Liberator, Freedom's Journal.

I understand keeping politics separate from the creation of zines and zine communities, but if major indie publications with strong ties to politics are going to be included as a plot point along the way to zine subculture, then where are the other, non-white independent presses? Are they not a part of this story? It is curious to me what gets dubbed a zine or an independent publication and what doesn't, as well as who gets to tell the story of independent publishing and what/who gets included.

[Z.R. Southcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an independent writer in trade fiction, I appreciated the look at self-publishing from a more political and personally expressive approach.

Reminded me of the power of being independent.

[amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why does this book suck so much?

It manages to make a fascinating modern Western subculture horrendously boring.

I'm not putting much thought into this review but am still having more fun than when reading this book.

The table of contents is more entertaining than what's written in the chapters.

It's full of grammatical mistakes. Who edited this book, and how did they allow it to be published with such glaring (and consistent) errors? I feel like I'm reading some dashed-off blog post, but this is ostensibly the culmination of years of research.

Despite only giving surface treatment to about a hundred topics that could (and have) filled libraries, each chapter still manages to feel like 20% content and 80% filler.

I would have been bored with this book at 12, which is saying a lot because I read all kinds of trash when I was 12.

So very frustrating. I wouldn't be so ANGRY if I wasn't also terribly disappointed, in a[n unfortunately:] personal way.

[Matt Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nicely-done, fairly complete history of zines & contemporary DIY culture. If you're already pretty familiar with modern zine history, a lot of this will seem repetitive, but it makes a nice introduction to someone previously unfamiliar with the subcultures behind the rise of zines in the 20th century. Also, hopefully, provide inspiration to those who find DIY culture interesting but a little overwhelming.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

informative on the relationship between fans and artists, and why two way communication is important. somewhat repetitive in it's presentation, and a somewhat British-centric view, but it does try to be inclusive. the interviews add perspectives.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun journalistic overview of DIY music and culture

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great history of the DIY music movement. Highly rec!

[Rae Gee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book inspired me to get back into making zines! 'nuff said!

[Alex Forster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent overview of zine culture, history of independent publishing, and lo-fi music. Doesn't go into massive detail of any of these in particular, and it's certainly dated considering it's 2005 release. The structure is also somewhat confusing as sections are repeated in different parts and concepts are reiterated a number of times.

[hazel · Rating 2 out of 5]

did not finish. very surface level :p

[cj · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate to not finish a book, but sometimes life is too short. Perhaps I'll pick it up and flick through it again at some point. I only got through about one third, so perhaps the final two thirds is where the good stuff is? - in which case, my apologies for the one star rating. Of the stuff that I read: there's some interesting bits and pieces about zines and self-publishing history (truthfully, not much), but zero attempt at analysis other than of the most banal sort. I learned, for instance, that blogging 'offers a chance for individuals to express themselves and place details of their lives in front of a potentially huge audience.' Thanks for that.

This book makes some really awesome and fascinating (sub)cultural phenomena REALLY DULL, and - in so far as I got through it - makes only the most superficial attempt to tease out the connections and disconnections between the different strands of DIY culture. Also, I don't know if the sloppy editing is meant to recreate the folksy, imperfect charm of lo-fi publishing? But it didn't really work for me.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really appreciated the intent of this book, but the actual execution, for me, suffered by Spencer's attempt to cover too wide a breadth of subject matter. Trying to cover an in-depth look at the whole history of zines and the DIY music scene including indie releases, merch, and pirate radio, it was just far too much to tackle in one go.

The result is a "for dummies" guide to DIY culture. Unfortunately, most people who would be interested in this book already know a vast majority of what it is presenting. Because she covers such a span of content, there is little depth of knowledge, which makes it hard to justify reading nearly 400 pages of surface content.

In short: meh.

[Hanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately Spencers book felt uninspired and was extremely boring to read. It felt carelessly edited (there were so many grammatical errors that even I, as a non-native speaker, spotted them) and it felt like a book written for people who are more into lists of dates and names than into stories.
I would also have preferred it, if Spencer had sorted the chapters chronologically and not according to DIY „medium“ (like zine, music, etc.) as there are so many overlaps in between those, that the information became very repetitive.

[Sean]

yikes. a real drag so far. poorly-told rehashing of several well-covered histories, really superficial investigation into major counter-cultural events, a bit depressing. but, it has clued me into the Desperate Bicycles, which has been a fun discovery.

blargh. done with this one. pretty bland.

ok ok if you're a 17 year old with little exposure to any type of alternative western culture, this might be a good place to start, so long as you can suffer through the stifling prose. sorry!

[Artur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Of course 100 pages about publishing a zine is a little too much but then you got next 100 about music that justifies the pain. All important genres are included and thoroughly described. the icing on the cake is the part about illegal radio stations both is USA and UK.

[Nicholette · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright. Some of the chapters about 'zines we're interesting but it did have some pretty large boring chunks. Like I said, some of the history is interesting but meh.