This is the first in a series of posts about songs from my Ode to Voyager album.
The opening track is I think one of the strongest tracks on the album and in the best tradition of first songs, is a statement of intent. It came together in less than 2 hours one saturday afternoon. I had only started dabbling with Garageband on iPad and was messing about, combining an arpeggiated keyboard with smart guitar. The riff came together pretty quickly. Adding the NASA samples was a no-brainer. I've been trawling the web for NASA audio for a while now. I can't get enough of that stuff.
The Orb's U.F.Orb is a very special album for me. Whenever I hear it I'm transported back to the time and place I first heard it (A rainy saturday afternoon in September 1992, in San Sebastian, Spain). On that album they took the use of samples to a whole new level. I like to think The Information is a feel-good song - it makes me feel good. It's full of hope and aspiration like the Voyager mission itself. The sample that starts the song is of course the audio recordings of greetings in different languages that were etched on to the gold disc that Voyager carries. The Information refers to the information sent and received by Voyager during its long trip through space. This is what MP3Hugger had to say about it...
The Information is perhaps the fulcrum, a circular digital riff pocketed by vocal clips it amounts to radiant electronica. If Lemon Jelly had conspired to create it I'm sure the hype machine would have already whizzed into action.
I made a lo-fi video for this track. It's basically clips from the Voyager online archive with some light editing.
Voyager is now the fastest and most distant man made object. It has passed beyond our solar system and is some 13 billion miles from home and still travelling thanks to its plutonium power source.
You can download or buy Saganism: Ode to Voyager.