Artist Topic number 2

Alexei Shulgin

Alexei Shulgin caught my eye as an artist because the article opened by discussing Neil Stephenson, a cyberpunk author who wrote one of my favorite books, Snow Crash. Cyberpunk was originally a genre of literature that incorporated themes of futuristic technology, and usually a dystopian social order. The protagonists are usually rogues or marginalized people usually with a knack for computers or hacking, so it is no wonder that some new artists, like Shulgin, may identify themselves cyberpunks.

Shulgin covers popular songs using MIDI for the instrumentalization, and text-to-speech software for the lyrics, all performed on an old computer using an intel 386dx processor. These songs from the album: Best of 386dx and can be found on www.easylife.org/386dx/.

His work flooded with issues involving copyright law and intellectual ownership, as he is most likely covering these songs without permission. While this may be considered theft, he the work is not about the actual song. Shulgin's covers are process pieces, and make the audience think about the work that went into translating the music to 8 bit "computer music."

Other artists I enjoy that address similar issues are the DJs Girl Talk, and Tanner4105.

386dx- I shot the sheriff
Girl Talk
Tanner 4105