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LP
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HH 0321075LP
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In 1977 the US government sent two unmanned probes -- Voyager I and Voyager II -- on a one-way journey into interstellar space. On board each craft, a carefully etched golden record containing sonic artefacts of life on earth, including fragments of Bach and traditional musics, sounds of animals and nature, an audio realization of the "music of the spheres" and children's laughter. As the 40th anniversary of the mission loomed, the three artists, working here together for the first time, locked themselves in a dark studio, armed with three things: a gleaming desktop computer and microphone running custom software (pulled from a previous gallery installation by Tim Bruniges), a pair of keyboards from the era, and a laboriously hunted-down playlist of fragments from the original golden record (this was before the Ozma boxset existed...) The setup was such that Bruniges and Julian Day could each hear Matt McGuigan's collaged Voyager excerpts but not each other's responses, like a sonic exquisite corpse. Each artist brings insights from their diverse extra-musical practices, sound art, film making and writing, which lends a keenly sculptural approach to the material. The results are mysterious and evocative, like a submerged fever dream. The release includes a poignant lyric essay "Termination Shock" that ruminates on the Voyager program, comparing the implicit melancholy of its steady recession with a long-distance relationship coming apart. Recorded and mixed by Matt McGuigan. Mastered and cut by Helmut Erler, Dubplates & Mastering Berlin. Design and layout by WBYK. "Tip On" jacket; includes download.
Julian Day (New York) is an artist, composer and writer. Their work frames sound as a social and civic practice.
Tim Bruniges (Sydney) is a musician and visual artist. His installations and performances make use of live, regenerating sound to foreground the act of listening as an inherently creative and inclusive activity.
Matt McGuigan (Sydney) is a musician, sound-engineer, film-maker and founder of record label and production house, Hospital Hill.
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