****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
If you can't tell the difference between Tejano music and Nortena, you will know the difference by the end of this book. The author really spells out the difference and explains it in terms clear enough for non-musicians like me. The high point of the book is when the author walks us through a comparison of the same corrido as performed and recorded by Ramon Ayala y sus Bravos del Norte (Nortenos!) and by Los Dos Gilbertos (Tejanos!).Overall, the theme of Tejano versus Norteno structures the book. The author gives a solid social history of how the two music styles developed side-by-side, as parallel styles but representing distinct social allegiances. This analytic framework makes for a very coherent study of popular culture as a reflection of identity and political position. This seems like a Gramsci-inspired study of "style wars" in popular culture, waged between the followers of Tejano music and the followers of Nortena. However, the author never mentions Gramsci nor Stuart Hall for that matter.The upshot of the book is that Nortena wins--the biggest fan base, the most bands, and the widest network of listeners on both sides of the border. The author's data is mostly limited to interviews with musicians, fans, composers, music promoters, record company execs, and other music insiders, but she nevertheless does deliver solid analysis of the cultural and social dimensions of international migration that enabled nortena to oust tejano.On the downside, the author could have (should have?) discussed some of the other aspects of the style wars, such as dance styles (quebradita vs duranguense?) and clothing styles (cholo vs vaquero?) which would have made her social analysis pack more punch. Although she's an ethnomusicologist, her knowledge of nortena culture seems extensive enough that she could enlighten us on some aspects of the culture that are not strictly musical.Also, she gives the reader the impression that the whole story ends with Los Tigres del Norte as the pinnacle of Nortena. However, a cursory look at the world wide web shows that many people now classify los Tigres as "cursi" and they have moved on to a new trend called "duranguense." The author could have brought us up to date a bit more than she did.
