386 DX

Billing itself as a "cyberpunk-rock band," 386 DX was the creation of Moscow-based contemporary artist Alexei Shulgin. Using an outdated computer running Microsoft Windows 3.1 and an Intel 386 processor, Shulgin programmed elaborate MIDI covers of classic rock and pop tunes by bands like Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Sex Pistols, and Nirvana, sung by a text-to-speech program with a digital Russian accent. Stylistically, the results fall somewhere in between Bell Labs' early speech synthesis experiments and the Dictionaraoke phenomenon that achieved a degree of online popularity during the early 2000s. 386 DX performed concerts on streets and at galleries, parties, and venues throughout Europe, Asia, and North America and released two albums. The project was revisited with the 2021 compilation Biggest Smash Hits. Alexei Shulgin originally worked as a photography artist before shifting his focus to the Internet during the 1990s. He started the 386 DX project in 1998, and began giving performances in which he simply pressed a key and the computer played the pre-programmed music, sometimes with screensaver-like visuals projected in the background. In 2001, experimental label Staalplaat released The Best of 386 DX, an enhanced CD containing 15 songs and program files that allow the listener to reconstruct the music on their own PC. A second album, Legends of Russian Rock, was released in 2002 as a free supplement to an issue of Kontkultura magazine, and consisted entirely of renditions of Russian rock & roll tunes. 386 DX's songs became perennial favorites on New Jersey-based free-form radio station WFMU and gained a following on the Internet, particularly the cover of "California Dreaming." After several years of inactivity, the project returned in 2019, making a surprise appearance at a New York City subway station and performing at a net history exhibit at the New Museum. 386 DX made its first appearance on vinyl when Staalplaat released the Biggest Smash Hits compilation in 2021. ~ Paul Simpson