Commie Electronica
A new documentary, Elektro Moskva, shows how Soviet communism worked against its citizens' desire to indulge in even the simple pleasures of modern electronics.
"Censorship was ruthless and everywhere," says one man whose friend was imprisoned for possessing American music. Another man shows off his TV antennae made of forks, because acquiring a real one was a bureaucratic nightmare.
At the film's core is the story of Russian synthesizers. They were made from scrapped or pilfered parts, sourced from the same surveillance and censorship agencies that banned electronic music. Built in secret, these instruments made unpredictable, cosmic sounds and sometimes literally shocked musicians. The scarcity of the devices made them "almost sacred" tools.
The uncertainty and eeriness of the music mirrors interviewees' recollections of daily life under communism. Shots of decaying infrastructure and old propaganda deftly capture a sense of conflicted nostalgia for the fear and excitement of self-expression. —Zenon Evans
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
of the music mirrors