'Bone music' brought Western tunes to Soviet fans by recording songs onto X-rays - The World from PRX
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Stephen Coates began collecting contraband Soviet bootlegs, known as "ribs," over a decade ago. He also researched the Soviet-era "art" of recording Western music records using discarded X-rays. Coates discussed this topic and his book with The World’s Host Marco Werman.

During the harshest days of Soviet censorship, it was nearly impossible — and also very risky — to get a hold of Western music. But people in the Soviet Union became experts at devising creative, sometimes extraordinary, ways to copy and share forbidden books and music.

One example was recording music by pressing it onto old X-ray film, instead of vinyl, for underground distribution in the USSR.

London-based audiophile Stephen Coates started collecting contraband Soviet bootlegs, known as “ribs,” more than 10 years ago. In 2023, he published a book called “Bone Music: Soviet X-Ray Audio.”

He spoke to The World’s Host Marco Werman about his collection.