I've always been interested in Russia, ever since the USSR. Indeed my Son is married to a Russian girl.
I read the propaganda, both for and against. There is an interesting article in the Moscow Times - which is an external west-leaning publication. Nevertheless it is sometimes a spy-glass into Russian contemporary history.
The article in question is about a method of distributing western music by means of used x-ray film. It's a fascinating read, though short on the technical detail that most of us would like to know.
Maybe some of our post-soviet members can contribute some knowledge.
British Musician Tells Story of Russian Records on Bones
I read the propaganda, both for and against. There is an interesting article in the Moscow Times - which is an external west-leaning publication. Nevertheless it is sometimes a spy-glass into Russian contemporary history.
The article in question is about a method of distributing western music by means of used x-ray film. It's a fascinating read, though short on the technical detail that most of us would like to know.
Maybe some of our post-soviet members can contribute some knowledge.
British Musician Tells Story of Russian Records on Bones
Don't know anything about that but I have a russian/soviet pressing of The Stooges 'Fun House'.
Either way I remember back in the 80s there was this Latvian guy who recorded Swedish radio, got into hiphop and techno and eventually learned to scratch on RtRs instead of turntables.
He released a single under the name East Bam, I think I've got it somewhere.
Either way I remember back in the 80s there was this Latvian guy who recorded Swedish radio, got into hiphop and techno and eventually learned to scratch on RtRs instead of turntables.
He released a single under the name East Bam, I think I've got it somewhere.
It must be direct to disk recording with a cutting head and using the X Ray sheet as "vinyl".
Which then can be played back in any regular cartridge/turntable combination.
A similar technique was popular in the 50´s and early 60´s, you paid a couple bucks at a back room "studio" and went home with something Mom could play and be proud of.
FWIW Elvis, Beatles and many other artists recorded similar ones .
Single copy only, those records can´t be mass produced.
Standard Vynil also starts by direct recording a master disc, but it then is copied into a metal plate which is used to inject the commercial ones by the thousands.
I can easily imagine inventive Russians making some DIY recorder and using X Ray film as a cheap/free media, but guess surface must be veryb rough so unbearable noise.
Which then can be played back in any regular cartridge/turntable combination.
A similar technique was popular in the 50´s and early 60´s, you paid a couple bucks at a back room "studio" and went home with something Mom could play and be proud of.
FWIW Elvis, Beatles and many other artists recorded similar ones .
Single copy only, those records can´t be mass produced.
Standard Vynil also starts by direct recording a master disc, but it then is copied into a metal plate which is used to inject the commercial ones by the thousands.
I can easily imagine inventive Russians making some DIY recorder and using X Ray film as a cheap/free media, but guess surface must be veryb rough so unbearable noise.
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I grew up in Moscow in late 1970s and 1980s and there were no recordings on X-ray films that time- we were far past this, being able to get original Western music on LPs.
One could officially buy some Soviet pressings manufactured by license or get them, as well as original Western LPs, at the black market. Many teenagers and young adults had tape recorders, both R2R and cassette, and exchanged music this way.
After Soviet Union fell, many more LP licences of cult Western groups such as Queen became available.
One could officially buy some Soviet pressings manufactured by license or get them, as well as original Western LPs, at the black market. Many teenagers and young adults had tape recorders, both R2R and cassette, and exchanged music this way.
After Soviet Union fell, many more LP licences of cult Western groups such as Queen became available.
Zvuki Mu... Oh yeah! We distributed them on cassettes before they became available shorty before or after collapse of the Soviet Union.
Their frontman, Petr Mamonov, was a show of his own.
You enjoy the band waay more if you understand Russian.
Their frontman, Petr Mamonov, was a show of his own.
You enjoy the band waay more if you understand Russian.
Not a word, unfortunately, but this didn’t stop me in owning their entire discography and some bootlegs.
There is a very fine Russian film that shows the black market and tape recordings activity - THE VANISHED EMPIRE.
One of my favorite films - shows a group of friends living in Moscow in 1973, same year i graduated from high school. I always wondered what life was like for folk my age in the USSR. You get to see the rumblings of the young folk becoming restless with the closed society.
I have had it confirmed by folks who lived there that this film is very realistic.
Highly recommended for a number of good reasons. Bet you will want to watch it numerous times. I sure have! It is always in my stack near the player.
In general, music of Western origin was unavailable in the Eastern bloc after WWII. Especially jazz, which was considered as "decadent" music.
Home recording gear was not commercially available either, being of western origin, and we didn't have convertible currency. This situation led to various cheap and inventious techniques, like recording on X-ray films, that period lasted until the 50's (at least in my country).
Home recording gear was not commercially available either, being of western origin, and we didn't have convertible currency. This situation led to various cheap and inventious techniques, like recording on X-ray films, that period lasted until the 50's (at least in my country).
Evatone sound sheets, The Angry Samoans submitted their song Steak Knife which had 2/3rds of the lyrics censored even though it was meant as an insert into an alternative music magazine. The Florida men felt compelled to do it.
Thank you for that, it made me feel really happy. Lo-fi is so cool. I bet there are collectors out there with thousands of them. It must have been in vogue all over the world for awhile. ToS
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