Sacred Bones Records published the official visualizer for Mort Garson‘s “Moon Journey” taken from the album “Journey to the Moon and Beyond,” out July 21, 2023. Watch the video through the YouTube player below:
Like a perennial that returns with each new spring, the Mort Garson archives have brought to bear yet another awe-inspiring bloom. “Journey to the Moon and Beyond” finds even more new facets to the man’s sound. There’s the soundtrack to the 1974 blaxploitation film Black Eye (starring Fred Williamson), some previously unreleased and newly unearthed music for advertising. Just as regal is “Zoos of the World,” where Garson soundtracks the wild, preening, slumbering animals from a 1970 National Geographic special of the same name. The mind reels at just what project would have yielded a scintillating title like “Western Dragon,” but these three selections were found on tapes in the archive with no further information.
The crown jewel of the set is no doubt Garson’s soundtrack to the live broadcast of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, as first heard on CBS News. That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for Moogkind. But for decades, this audio was presumed lost, the only trace of it appearing to be from an old YouTube clip. Thankfully, diligent audio archivist Andy Zax came across a copy of the master tape while going through the massive Rod McKuen archive. So now we get to hear it in all its glory. Across six minutes, Garson conjures broad fantasias, whirring mooncraft sounds, zero-gravity squelches, and twinkling études. It showcases Mort’s many moods: sweet, exploratory, whimsical, a little bit corny, weaving it all together in a glorious whole.
Maybe at the time it scanned as crass and opportunistic for Garson to apply his keyboards to subjects like astrological signs, the occult, hippiedom, houseplants, or the moon landing. But more than most other electronic music pioneers of his ilk, Garson foresaw the integration of such electronics into our daily lives, how they would allow us to engage with the world –in small daily things, popular trends, and big historical events– with our tweets, posts, reaction videos, and the like. In that way, Garson lived such history and then added his own little spin on things.
In celebration of the anniversary of the moon landing and Mort Garson’s birthday on July 20, we are partnering with some of our favourite independent record stores to throw a number of special advanced listening parties of the album.
Save the date and follow us on Instagram to learn more about these special events. You can also head to this map for more info on the participating stores.
To celebrate this occasion we have a limited supply of exclusive t-shirts, tote-bags and patches, up for pre-order now, and releasing with the album on July 21st. Pre-Order here, while supplies last.
We also have these exclusive and super limited (only 20 available!) midi devices for all those who want to get off the sidelines and into the ring making their own music. Patch In & Drop Out! Pre-order here, while supplies last.
And lastly we are celebrating this momentous occasion with a super limited supply of special edition Mort Garson record bundles! These bundles will come with the following:
- Color vinyl versions of all six Mort Garson records we have released including Journey to the Moon and Beyond, Plantasia, Ataraxia The Unexplained, Lucifer Black Mass, Didn’t You Hear?, and a super special out of print purple vinyl version of Music from Patch Cord Productions that you can’t buy anywhere else.
- A silkscreened box to hold the records
- An exclusive Patch Cord Productions tote bag you can’t buy anywhere else
- Journey to the Moon and Beyond Patch
- Only 100 bundles available
Pre-Order/Pre-Save: https://lnk.to/JourneytotheMoon
“Journey to the Moon and Beyond” joins Khanate’s “To Be Cruel,” Boris & Uniform’s “Bright New Disease” and SQÜRL’s “Silver Haze” in the 17th installment of the Sacred Bones Record Society! Enroll now to receive “Journey to the Moon and Beyond” on society exclusive “Earth” colored vinyl, housed in a deluxe wrap-around, hand-numbered sleeve with a wax seal. The record also comes with a very special mixtape of Moog inspiration, curated by us! The record will be joined by the next 2 eligible releases, each with the most limited color vinyl variant, special sleeves and artist curated mixtapes.
