B-Sides: How Many Paths to Alternative Music Can You Follow? (Infographic)
An impressive infographic reveals the tracks rock music has covered in the wake of its alternative.
Those with an enthusiasm for the series Stranger Things are very likely to appreciate at least two details of the story. First, the musical references, taken from multiple subgenres of the rock music of the 1980s, each of which decisively contributed to the success of the series by appealing to nostalgia in its audience. Next is the idea of the “inverse” of the real world in the series, an “upside down” like Lewis Carrol’s Through the Looking Glass, or the concept of parallel universes in modern astrophysics or even of Borges’ Garden of Forking Paths. All of these suggest the possibility that the world we live in has an identical, albeit inverse reflection, which is, at least in theory, possible to access.
The metaphor is undoubtedly very attractive. Within the framework of the series it could draw an unexpected connection with a practice that’s fallen into disuse but which was very common only a few decades ago: listening to the B-sides of 45 RPM records. The brief rituals of flipping over the vinyl once the A-side track has ended, and like Alice or the characters in Stranger Things, discover that other side.
Not for nothing, the image of the “B-side” was for a time rather expressive in that it symbolized that something else, an alternative that was usually relegated to the background. Music producers would bet everything on the A-side, the main song, without knowing that perhaps the other side held some unexpected surprises.
In that spirit of exploration and openness to discovery, below you’ll find what is undoubtedly an admirable infographic attempting to explore the alternative rock scenes of the 1980s. Starting with the four big poles – The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Joy Division and The Smiths – designer James Quail elaborated a broad roadmap to a genre that, without anyone having foreseen it, followed and charted an intricate, surprising and, in many cases, deep creativity.
The infographic, moreover, is presented as a diagram of a radio transistor, that medium without which the history of rock music would not have existed. In this sense, it invites us to ask ourselves what will happen to music in the digital age, the age of dematerialization we live in now.
Maps often encourage distraction and fantasy. This infographic is no exception. Perhaps many of us might like to dust off our tapes and cassette players and, with no intention beyond sheer enjoyment, we might follow the influences this image maps of the random paths of alternative music.
Related Articles
Pictorial spiritism (a woman's drawings guided by a spirit)
There are numerous examples in the history of self-taught artists which suggest an interrogation of that which we take for granted within the universe of art. Such was the case with figures like
Astounding fairytale illustrations from Japan
Fairy tales tribal stories— are more than childish tales. Such fictions, the characters of which inhabit our earliest memories, aren’t just literary works with an aesthetic and pleasant purpose. They
A cinematic poem and an ode to water: its rhythms, shapes and textures
Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water. - John Keats Without water the equation of life, at least life as we know it, would be impossible. A growing hypothesis holds that water, including the
Watch beauty unfold through science in this "ode to a flower" (video)
The study of the microscopic is one of the richest, most aesthetic methods of understanding the world. Lucky is the scientist who, upon seeing something beautiful, is able to see all of the tiny
To invent those we love or to see them as they are? Love in two of the movies' favorite scenes
So much has been said already, of “love” that it’s difficult to add anything, much less something new. It’s possible, though, perhaps because even if you try to pass through the sieve of all our
This app allows you to find and preserve ancient typographies
Most people, even those who are far removed from the world of design, are familiar with some type of typography and its ability to transform any text, help out dyslexics or stretch an eight page paper
The secrets of the mind-body connection
For decades medical research has recognized the existence of the placebo effect — in which the assumption that a medication will help produces actual physical improvements. In addition to this, a
The sea as infinite laboratory
Much of our thinking on the shape of the world and the universe derives from the way scientists and artists have approached these topics over time. Our fascination with the mysteries of the
Sharing and collaborating - natural movements of the creative being
We might sometimes think that artistic or creative activity is, in essence, individualistic. The Genesis of Judeo-Christian tradition portrays a God whose decision to create the world is as vehement
John Malkovich becomes David Lynch (and other characters)
John Malkovich and David Lynch are, respectively, the actor and film director who’ve implicitly or explicitly addressed the issues of identity and its porous barriers through numerous projects. Now