Someone has gone and mapped the entire history of alternative music

3 Dec 2016

The Kooks at the Villa Arconati music festival. Image: Restuccia Giancarlo/Shutterstock

Okay, whether you are an R.E.M. or a Smiths fan, an authority on Pixies or Sonic Youth, or an obsessive of The Cure, this is the map for you.

Everybody has an anthem or a go-to album that signified a time of awakening or heartbreak in their lives. Like a favourite duvet, the songs are a source of comfort and stir strong emotions and memories.

Those of you lucky to have lived through the mesmerising decades that brought us everything from the Ramones to The Smiths and Joy Division to the Buzzcocks, Nirvana, Blur, Oasis (and God knows what else) will love this new map.

Designed by the Dorothy studio and available for around €41 (£35/$43), the amazing print entitled Alternative Love Blueprint – A History of Alternative Music charts the history of alternative and independent music mapped out to the circuit board of an early transistor radio.

Someone has gone and mapped the entire history of alternative music

Alternative Love Blueprint – A History of Alternative Music. Image: Dorothy

The poster comes screen-printed in metallic gold on a dark blue background.

“Our Alternative Love Blueprint celebrates over 300 musicians, artists, managers and producers who (in our opinion) have been pivotal to the evolution of the alternative and independent music scene from Bill Haley & His Comets – whose 1950s’ Rock Around the Clock became the first ever anthem for a rebellious youth – to the DIY ethic of present-day bands like Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead.

Someone has gone and mapped the entire history of alternative music

The Ramones on Alternative Love Blueprint – A History of Alternative Music. Image: Dorothy

“The print weaves it way through many musical sub-genres and counter-cultures, including early underground and experimental rock (The Velvet Underground), proto-punk (MC5, The Stooges), New York and CBGB’s punk (Ramones, Patti Smith), UK punk (Sex Pistols, The Clash), Two Tone and Ska (The Specials), krautrock (Kraftwerk, Can, Neu!), hardcore (Black Flag, Hüsker Dü), riot grrrl (Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney), post punk and Manchester’s lesser Free Trade Hall fallout (Joy Division, Buzzcocks, The Fall), grunge (Nirvana, Pixies), alternative (The Smiths, R.E.M.), Madchester (The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays) and garage rock revival (The White Stripes, The Strokes).

Someone has gone and mapped the entire history of alternative music

The Sex Pistols on Alternative Love Blueprint – A History of Alternative Music. Image: Dorothy

“The print also salutes creative catalysts such as Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, and innovating record labels including Stiff, Rough Trade and Postcard.”

The poster is a collectible for the music-obsessed person in your life.

The Kooks at the Villa Arconati music festival. Image: Restuccia Giancarlo/Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com