Accelerated rhythms and sonic routes: mapping the sound cultures of bakalao

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article explores the phenomenon known as the “Ruta del Bakalao”, a hugely popular dance scene that first emerged in nightclubs in Valencia in the 1980s and spread across the whole of Spain in the early 1990s. In particular, the article provides an archaeology of the subculture and its music by considering the distinctive ways in which it appropriated time and space. It focusses on the significance of the accelerated rhythms of the music and the irregular opening hours of nightclubs, as well as the acoustic environments that were created through listening to the music in cars and car parks. In doing so, this article aims to consider the ways in which the phenomenon was in turn shaped by a political economy that was increasingly defined by speed and economic unevenness.