List of Figures ; List of Music Examples ; Acknowledgements ; Introduction: Nor-tec and the Borders ; 1. Origins Revisited. Myth and Discourse in the Nortec Collective ; 2. Tradition, Style, Nostalgia, and the Kitsch ; 3. Getting the Word Around ; 4. "Where is the Donkey Show Mr. Mariachi?" Reterritorializing TJ ; 5. Producers, DJs, Fans, and the Performance of Nor-tec ; 6. Dancing with Desire ; 7. Nor-tec and the Postnational Imagination ; Bibliography

"In this brilliant study of a local culture's transnational dynamics and dimensions, Alejandro Madrid reveals how radical changes in contemporary commerce and culture are imbuing old identities, borders, and boundaries with new meanings."--George Lipsitz, author of Footsteps in the Dark "The Nortec Collective stands astride the US/Mexico border creating an art of hope and adaptation. This music represents all that is possible along the new frontier, and it has fomented a movement of art and film and literature that is unique in the world. Alejandro Madrid's masterful study of this brilliant hybrid stands as one of the important texts in the history of the new, shining, borderlands. Nortec sings, 'Tijuana makes me happy.' This work makes us happy to be alive."--Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Devil's Highway and The Hummingbird's Daughter "Alejandro Madrid is an amazing thinker. His fresh theoretical insights are synthesized from a broad base of knowledge and disciplines. This work will appeal to anyone interested in border studies and contemporary societal trends, as well as those with an interest in contemporary music and activism through music."--Brenda M. Romero, Associate Professor of Musicology and Ethnomusicology, University of Colorado "Alejandro Madrid has brilliantly captured Nor-tec's burst into the twenty-first century. This is an innovative book that effectively balances traditional with virtual fieldwork, musical analysis with a cultural-oriented approach, and theoretical reflections with empirically grounded investigations. Madrid's critical mind and analytical skills meet the ingenuity and eloquence of the Nortec Collective."--Helena Simonett, Vanderbilt University, author of Banda: Mexican Musical Life across Borders "Nor-tec has spawned audio imitators, Volvo ads, t-shirts, and indie films, popped up everywhere from art installations to MTV and HBO, and now Tijuana's first-next-big-global-thing finally has its own full-scale scholarly book that lends a critical ear to border beats. With a focused and serious mix of theory, interviews, and lots of listening during long nights in Tijuana clubs, Madrid has done the music and the scene a great service by unraveling its histories and dissecting its meanings for fans and scholars alike."--Josh Kun, University of Southern California, author of Audiotopia: Music, Race, and America" "Alejandro Madrid has in this book skillfully accomplished to make us understand the Nortec's collective past, its origins and development throughout its ten years of existence. Nor-tec Rifa!' is fundamental for all people interested in Mexican music and/or electronic dance music." --The World of Music "Madrid's analysis provides a good case study to consider border studies as a dynamic theoretical tool for the study of identity as a transient and changing strategy used to navigate and survive the complexity of dominant ideologies." --Latin American Music Review "Expertly researched and well-written...Alejandro Madrid's engaging study indeed does much to reveal the dynamic complexity of early twenty-first century Tijuana--and US-Mexico borderland culture--as a whole." --Popular Music "Nor-tec Rifa! is a reference for studies that deal with the construction and negotiation of individual and collective identities in liminal contexts and under conditions of globalization. It is also an important contribution to electronic dance music studies, hybrid music cultures, and postcolonial Latin America." --Yearbook of Traditional Music "Without a doubt, this is the best, more serious, and intelligent book about the party scene in Tijuana. Other people had tried it before, but most of them ended up drunk and saying stupidities. On the other hand, this book, encapsulates the media and intellectual discussions that Nortec has generated." --Heriberto Yepez, Replicante "An important work...Nor-tec Rifa! is one of the few existing interdisciplinary case studies that delves into the multicultural connections of dance music, technology, the Internet, and Mexican-American border cultures. Hopefully, it will prop open the door for more to follow." --E-Misférica

Selling point: A sophisticated discussion of very hip new areas: popular music studies, Latin American music, EDM, and border studies Selling point: Ideal for upper-level undergraduate use--designed to be useful in the classroom Selling point: Written by an award-winning author

Alejandro L. Madrid is a musicologist and cultural theorist whose research focuses on the intersection of modernity, tradition and globalization in music and expressive culture from Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2005 Alejandro received the prestigious Casa de las Américas Musicology Prize. He is Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Selling point: A sophisticated discussion of very hip new areas: popular music studies, Latin American music, EDM, and border studies Selling point: Ideal for upper-level undergraduate use--designed to be useful in the classroom Selling point: Written by an award-winning author