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Hitting the Links: Chris Bell, Sci-Fi Buildings, Viva La Spicy Food

12.31.2016 by M Donaldson // Leave a Comment

In short, and as part of our unpredictably recurring feature, here are five online articles I’ve enjoyed recently:



The Genius of Chris Bell, One of Rock’s Greatest Tragedies

Gradually fading out towards the end of “I Am The Cosmos,” Bell eerily repeats: “I’d really like to see you again.” He died just a few months after the single’s limited release on indie label Car Records in 1978, driving into a pole on the way home from a late night studio session.



The Sublime Sci-Fi Buildings That Communism Built

These are not your parents’ dour architecture monographs, complete with such entries as “On the problems of developing the center of Kishinev” or “Approaches to using the vernacular in Tashkent and Navoi” (real items from a 70s-era release) but are lavish, glossy, and handsome. One of these volumes was released in 2007, the rest date from within the last two years. What does this all mean?



The Next New World

It’s a fearful sight in a way, the Port of Long Beach, this endless, crushing vista of metal and dust, with not so much as a blade of grass to relieve the impression of an infinite, silent or clanking perpetual machine, of a global engine, of “global industry”; compare this to say, a view of Central Park, and you’ll feel you’ve landed in a nightmare scene out of Mordor (or Isengard, I guess).



Why Revolutionaries Love Spicy Food

The Soviet agent’s tender taste buds invited Mao’s mockery. “The food of the true revolutionary is the red pepper,” declared Mao. “And he who cannot endure red peppers is also unable to fight.’”



Where Did Son Of Bazerk Go Wrong?

This astonishing record sank more or less without trace. There are reasons for this – and some of them, with the benefit of hindsight, are teeth-looseningly obvious. Yet Bazerk, Bazerk, Bazerk is a record that still, 25 years on, sounds like it’s crash-landed on your stereo from some indeterminate and unknowable point a long way in the future.

Categories // Uncategorized Tags // Architecture, Environmentalism, Food, Music History, Russia

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8sided.blog is an online admiration of modernist sound and niche culture. We believe in the inherent optimism of creating art as a form of resistance and aim to broadcast those who experiment not just in name but also through action.

It's also the online home of Michael Donaldson, a curious fellow trying his best within the limits of his time. He once competed under the name Q-Burns Abstract Message and was the widely disputed king of sandcastles until his voluntary exile from the music industry.

"More than machinery, we need humanity."

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featured

Memory Color and Kankyō Ongaku’s New Age

Portland-based experimental producer Elijah Knutsen has crafted five expressions of Japan on Blue Sun Daydream, paying homage to the micro-genre of Kankyō Ongaku.

Greg Davis: Fourteen Tones

An online acquaintance told me about seeing Greg play nothing but an Asian gong, a performance he called “dope.” But recently, Greg has devoted himself to electronic composition, utilizing his custom software systems in the Max/MSP environment.

Felix Laband: Sine Waves in Heaven

The subjects of Felix Laband’s collages are fractured, spare, and dramatically chopped. You might find animal life, anguished faces, African imagery, drab buildings, vague slogans, and pervy goings-on. And the collages, intentionally or not, serve as keys to unlock Felix’s music.

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