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desolation center

03.21.2021 by M Donaldson // Leave a Comment

Loose observations:

  • I’ve loved all these bands since around the time these shows were happening in the distance and this film somehow made me love them all a little bit more.
  • Bruce Licher’s been on fire for such a long time with his screenprinting and design. I’d love to have one of those tickets in a small frame.
  • Funny that the SRL guys come off here as some pre-Jackass bros with explosives.
  • I didn’t expect that the Minutemen were the heart and soul of Desolation Center (the organization and this movie). I knew the final part about D. Boon was coming but it still hit me like a ton of bricks.
  • The ‘festivals are huge nowadays’ montage at the end seemed unnecessarily tacked-on, but, overall, this movie is a really important document of the crafty independent music scenius in the US that grew out of Reagan’s ’80s.

Desolation Center is streaming now via Kanopy and available as a digital rental in the usual places.

Categories // MEMORA8ILIA Tags // Los Angeles, Minutemen, Movie Recommendations

An Amazing BBC ‘Bootleg Report’ from 1971

04.10.2019 by M Donaldson // Leave a Comment

I previously wrote about bootleg culture in the age of streaming and reminisced on the simple days of CD bootlegs sold in my own record shop. Now my pal Kenn Richards — via his essential Research {Curation} Reduction newsletter — alerted me to this 14-minute BBC documentary from 1971 examining the bootleg scene in London at the time. Holy cats, this is wonderful.

The video features incredible quotes and contributions from Led Zeppelin manager Peter ‘no one heavier than me’ Grant, ‘The’ Pink Floyd, Yoko Ono, and John Lennon who prefers to be in a bag. Also, it’s so quaint how the guy who manufactures bootlegs and the other guy who sells them (at a Virgin Records, no less) are so open and casual and like ¯_(ツ)_/¯ about it.

Here’s some bonus content from the same year: Neil Young discovering bootlegs of his own work in a Los Angeles record store. Watch the guy behind the counter — his uncomfortable body language as Young starts flipping through the bins is priceless.

Categories // Items of Note Tags // Bootlegs, Documentary, Email Newsletters, London, Los Angeles, Pink Floyd

8sided.blog

 
 
 
 
 
 
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.

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