Invisible Republic (book)  

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 +'''''Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes''''', by [[Greil Marcus]], is a book about the creation and cultural importance of ''[[The Basement Tapes]]'', a series of recordings made by [[Bob Dylan]] in 1967 in collaboration with musicians who would subsequently be known as [[The Band]]. Published by [[Henry Holt]], [[New York City|New York]] in 1997, [[ISBN]] 0-8050-5842-7. Subsequently published in paperback as ''The Old, Weird America'' by the same publisher in 2001.
-'''New Weird America''' describes a [[psychedelic folk]] musical movement of the [[early 21st century]]. The term is generally believed to have been coined by [[David Keenan]] in the August 2003 issue of [[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]], following the [[Brattleboro Free Folk Festival]] organized by [[Matt Valentine]] and [[Ron J. Schneiderman]]. It is a play on [[Greil Marcus]]'s phrase "[[Old Weird America]]" as used in his book ''[[Invisible Republic]]'', which deals with the lineage connecting the pre-war folk performers on [[Harry Everett Smith|Harry Smith's]] ''[[Anthology of American Folk Music]]'' to [[Bob Dylan]] and his milieu. The musical style described as New Weird America is mainly derived from psychedelic rock and folk groups of the [[1960s]] and [[1970s]], including American performers [[Holy Modal Rounders]] and English group [[Pentangle (band)|Pentangle]] and other [[psychedelic]] groups, but it also finds inspiration in such disparate sources as [[heavy metal]], [[free jazz]], [[electronic music]], [[noise music]], [[tropicália]], and early- and mid-20th century American [[folk music]]. Another primary inspiration is [[outsider music]], often played by technically naïve (and often socially estranged) musicians, such as [[The Shaggs]], [[Roky Erickson]], and [[Jandek]]. Some artists associated with the New Weird America movement have even garnered criticism for projecting an image of mental instability, exploiting the purity and naïveté of outsider status.+The new title significantly derives from the name of one of the chapters in the book devoted to analysis of the [[Anthology of American Folk Music]] compiled by [[Harry Everett Smith|Harry Smith]], reissued by [[Smithsonian Folkways]] on [[compact disc]] in the same year as the publication of Marcus's book, with portions of his book excerpted in the CD [[liner notes]].
-Other genre classifications of similar period and aesthetics are [[psychedelic rock]], [[acid folk]], [[psych folk]], [[freakbeat]] and [[freak folk]].+Marcus quotes [[Robbie Robertson]]’s memories of recording the Basement Tapes: “(Dylan) would pull these songs out of nowhere. We didn’t know if he wrote them or if he remembered them. When he sang them, you couldn’t tell.” He suggests that “these ghosts were not abstractions. As native sons and daughters they were a community. And they were once gathered in a single place: on the [[Anthology of American Folk Music]], a work produced by a 29-year-old of no fixed address named [[Harry Everett Smith|Harry Smith]].” Marcus argues Dylan’s basement songs were a resurrection of the spirit of Smith’s Anthology, originally published by [[Folkways Records]] in 1952, a collection of blues and country songs recorded in the 1920s and 1930s, which proved very influential in the folk music revival of the 1950s and the 1960s.
-Many works of the genre are issued in small editions and distributed independently. The music has been covered extensively by L.A.-based ''[[Arthur (magazine)]]'', which ran in-depth pieces on [[Devendra Banhart]], [[Joanna Newsom]], [[Cocorosie]], [[Animal Collective]], and [[Six Organs of Admittance]], released the definitive New Weird America compilation ''[[The Golden Apples of the Sun (album)|The Golden Apples of the Sun]]'', and curated the [[ArthurFest]] (2005) and [[ArthurBall]] (2006) and events, featuring a variety of artists from the movement.+Marcus also links the [[First Great Awakening]], the folk music revival of the 1950s, with Bob Dylan's 1966 tour with The Hawks aka [[The Band]], the [[Civil Rights Movement]], and the history of [[Battle of Matewan|coal strikes]] in [[West Virginia]].
-Although many artists record and/or perform with multiple bands, New Weird America is not a unified movement; the associated artists are often classified as such by journalists and the press.  
- 
-==Associated bands and artists==  
-(This list is arbitrary. It represents a small cross-section of many different types of music produced within the last 10 years.) 
-{| class="wikitable" 
-| 
-*[[Bardo Pond|500mg]] 
-*[[Adam Gnade]] 
-*[[Akron/Family]] 
-*[[Alec K. Redfearn]] 
-*[[Alela Diane]] 
-*[[Andrew Bird]] 
-*[[Antony and the Johnsons]] 
-*[[Ariel Pink]] 
-*[[Baptist Generals]] 
-*[[The Bastard Fairies]] 
-*[[Black Sun Ensemble]] 
-*[[Brightblack Morning Light]] 
-*[[Caribou_(musician)|Caribou ]] 
-*[[Caroliner]] 
-*[[Castanets (band)|Castanets]] 
-*[[Cerberus Shoal]] 
-*[[Charalambides]] 
-*[[Charlie Parr]] 
-| 
-*[[Circulatory System]] 
-*[[Comets on Fire]] 
-*[[Crix Crax Crux]] 
-*[[Cul de Sac]] 
-*[[Dame Darcy]] 
-*[[Danielson]] 
-*[[David Dondero]] 
-*[[Davenport (band)|Davenport]] 
-*[[Deerhoof]] 
-*[[Deek hoi]] 
-*[[Diane Cluck]] 
-*[[Dirty Projectors]] 
-*[[Entrance (musician)|Entrance]] 
-*[[Espers (band)|Espers]] 
-*[[Faun Fables]] 
-*[[Flaming Fire]] 
-*[[Frog Eyes]] 
-*[[Fursaxa]] 
-| 
-*[[Grant Olney]] 
-*[[Grizzly Bear (band)|Grizzly Bear]] 
-*[[Hala Strana]] 
-*[[Hush Arbors]] 
-*[[Jack Rose (guitarist)|Jack Rose]] 
-*[[Jackie-o Motherfucker]] 
-*[[Jana Hunter]] 
-*[[Jeffrey Lewis]] 
-*[[Jewelled Antler]] 
-*[[Jolie Holland]] 
-*[[Jonathan Wilson (musician)|Jonathan Wilson]] 
-*[[Joseph Arthur]] 
-*[[Josephine Foster]] 
-*[[Justin Lee Brannan]] 
-*[[Lavender Diamond]] 
-*[[Major Stars]] 
-*[[The Mountain Goats]] 
-*[[MV&EE]] 
-| 
-*[[M. Ward]] 
-*[[No-Neck Blues Band]] 
-*[[Old Crow Medicine Show]] 
-*[[Panda Bear (musician)|Panda Bear]] 
-*[[Peter and the Wolf (band)|Peter and the Wolf]] 
-*[[Pothole Skinny]] 
-*[[Raven Chacon]] 
-*[[Shannon Wright]] 
-*[[Sufjan Stevens]] 
-*[[Sunburned Hand of the Man]] 
-*[[Sun City Girls]] 
-*[[Sunset Rubdown]] 
-*[[Town & Country (band)|Town & Country]] 
-*[[Vetiver (band)|Vetiver]] 
-*[[Voice of the Seven Woods]] 
-*[[The Warlocks]] 
-*[[White Magic (band)|White Magic]] 
-*[[Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice]] 
-|} 
{{GFDL}} {{GFDL}}

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Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes, by Greil Marcus, is a book about the creation and cultural importance of The Basement Tapes, a series of recordings made by Bob Dylan in 1967 in collaboration with musicians who would subsequently be known as The Band. Published by Henry Holt, New York in 1997, ISBN 0-8050-5842-7. Subsequently published in paperback as The Old, Weird America by the same publisher in 2001.

The new title significantly derives from the name of one of the chapters in the book devoted to analysis of the Anthology of American Folk Music compiled by Harry Smith, reissued by Smithsonian Folkways on compact disc in the same year as the publication of Marcus's book, with portions of his book excerpted in the CD liner notes.

Marcus quotes Robbie Robertson’s memories of recording the Basement Tapes: “(Dylan) would pull these songs out of nowhere. We didn’t know if he wrote them or if he remembered them. When he sang them, you couldn’t tell.” He suggests that “these ghosts were not abstractions. As native sons and daughters they were a community. And they were once gathered in a single place: on the Anthology of American Folk Music, a work produced by a 29-year-old of no fixed address named Harry Smith.” Marcus argues Dylan’s basement songs were a resurrection of the spirit of Smith’s Anthology, originally published by Folkways Records in 1952, a collection of blues and country songs recorded in the 1920s and 1930s, which proved very influential in the folk music revival of the 1950s and the 1960s.

Marcus also links the First Great Awakening, the folk music revival of the 1950s, with Bob Dylan's 1966 tour with The Hawks aka The Band, the Civil Rights Movement, and the history of coal strikes in West Virginia.




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