Overview

This book explores the album 'Külmale maale' (To The Cold Land, 1989) by J.M.K.E. – the most legendary punk rock band in Estonia – concentrating on the meaning of the album in different sociocultural contexts from its release until today. In 35 years, the album has not lost its relevance: It was selected by 102 music critics as the best Estonian album of all time in 2014 and is listened to by all generations of punks. The story of J.M.K.E. illustrates the subcultural organization not only in Estonia but in the Soviet Union in general, where pop music and the existence of subculture was more or less censored for 50 years. Broadly, it presents the influential role of pop culture in the transition from a totalitarian society to early capitalism and from subcultural to post-subcultural society.

Full Product Details

Author:   Brigitta Davidjants (Researcher, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Estonia) ,  Fabian Holt
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions:   Width: 12.60cm , Height: 1.20cm , Length: 19.60cm
Weight:   0.171kg
ISBN:  

9798765103111

Pages:   160
Publication Date:   09 January 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

1. ‘Jesus Mary, shrieked the hag’: Lyrics, sound, and memory The beginning ‘To the Cold Land’ 2. ‘I am the censor!’: Surrounded subcultures Prequel: pop culture under siege Punk arrives in Tallinn! Songs about oppression: censorship and psychiatry 3. To the Cold Land: from war crimes to the fear of disappearance Escape as a form of protest Immortal sadists The fear of disappearance 4. ‘They don’t know my name’: pacifistically about anarchism The butterfly and the atomic bomb Militancy in the sheepskin of pacifism Phosphorite - no thanks! 5. ‘Hello perestroika!’: The Estonian punk movement at its peak Perestroika scepticism Hello perestroika! The journey to the album - a view from Finland 6. ‘Endless Saturday’: J.M.K.E. in the midst of different ideologies Illustrations Index

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Author Information

Brigitta Davidjants is a journalist and researcher at Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Estonia. She has published countless articles in various Estonian media outlets. In her academic research, she looks at Armenian national identity constructions but now focuses on the marginalities of subcultures. Davidjants has also written fiction and worked for human rights organizations (such as Estonian LGBT Association, Estonian Refugee Council).

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