About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherStrange Engineering Attractor

ISBN-101913689476

ISBN-139781913689476

eBay Product ID (ePID)20050399890

Product Key Features

Book TitleBone Music : Soviet X-Ray Audio

Number of Pages156 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2023

TopicHistory & Criticism, Russia & the Former Soviet Union, Russian & Former Soviet Union

IllustratorYes

GenreMusic, Art, History

AuthorStephen Coates

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.6 in

Item Weight20 oz

Item Length9.2 in

Item Width8.7 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2025-385033

Dewey Edition23

Dewey Decimal781.64094709045

SynopsisStories of the secret underground Cold War-era Soviet music subculture that distributed forbidden music on used hospital x-rays. During the Cold War era, the songs that Soviet citizens could listen to were ruthlessly controlled by the state. But a secret underground subculture of music lovers and bootleggers defied the censors, building recording machines and making their own records of forbidden jazz, rock 'n' roll, and Russian music, cut onto used hospital x-ray film. Bone Music is the follow up the acclaimed X-Ray Audio- The Strange History of Soviet Music on the Bone, delving deeper into a forgotten era when being a music fan could mean a lengthy prison sentence, or worse. Who made these records? Why did they do it and how was it even possible? Foregrounding interviews and oral testimonies gathered over five years, Bone Music presents the stories of the original bone bootleggers, their customers, musicians, record collectors, and commentators, evoking a spirited resistance to a repressive culture of prohibition and punishment. It reveals that although Western jazz and rock'n'roll were important to the Stilyagi youth culture, the true rebel music was that of forbidden Russian emigres, gypsy romances, and criminal tunes- the soul songs of a society brutally cut off from its culture. Richly illustrated with dozens of new images of Soviet x-ray discs and sound letters, Bone Music details how the bootleggers worked, outlining the technical precedents of their techniques, situating their discs in a revised history of recorded media, and bringing a wealth of compelling new detail., Stories of the secret underground Cold War-era Soviet music subculture that distributed forbidden music on used hospital x-rays. During the Cold War era, the songs that Soviet citizens could listen to were ruthlessly controlled by the state. But a secret underground subculture of music lovers and bootleggers defied the censors, building recording machines and making their own records of forbidden jazz, rock 'n' roll, and Russian music, cut onto used hospital x-ray film. Bone Music is the follow up the acclaimed X-Ray Audio: The Strange History of Soviet Music on the Bone , delving deeper into a forgotten era when being a music fan could mean a lengthy prison sentence, or worse. Who made these records? Why did they do it and how was it even possible? Foregrounding interviews and oral testimonies gathered over five years, Bone Music presents the stories of the original bone bootleggers, their customers, musicians, record collectors, and commentators, evoking a spirited resistance to a repressive culture of prohibition and punishment. It reveals that although Western jazz and rock'n'roll were important to the Stilyagi youth culture, the true rebel music was that of forbidden Russian emigres, gypsy romances, and criminal tunes: the soul songs of a society brutally cut off from its culture. Richly illustrated with dozens of new images of Soviet x-ray discs and sound letters, Bone Music details how the bootleggers worked, outlining the technical precedents of their techniques, situating their discs in a revised history of recorded media, and bringing a wealth of compelling new detail.

LC Classification NumberML3917.R8