Album Review: Jeff Mills - The Trip To Vega

The Trip To Vega is about deep outer space odyssey that occurs in the process of traveling from Earth through the Cosmos to another “favorable” star system 25.3 light-years away.

The time is year 2097, Sept 23rd.

To this day, Earthlings have managed to dodge some of nature’s more dangerous extremities, massive volcanic eruptions, Earthquakes, solar burst that knocked out the Planet’s entire electrical grid for 3 years, numerous plagues of disease, food and fresh water shortages, domestic and International Wars and many other life-changing operas, but for this event, what remains is a realization that has no remedy. The cause: Earth’s physicality has changed. It is no longer favorable for living things.

It is the constant shifting of the planet’s internal tectonic plates which has unfortunately produced an unexpected and impassable dilemma.

Because of the collisions, deep within the planet’s core, the planet is now producing an extraordinary amount of sound that includes a specific harmonic frequency that erodes the natural senses of all life on Earth.

It is intensifying. It is intolerable and it is unlivable.

Yet, some humans prefer to stay, to “ride it out” like the Titanic captain going down with his ship. Some, in total disbelief as some have concluded it is the second coming of Jesus Christ. But for most, the decision is clear. To live another day, leaving is the only rational choice.

At an increasing rate, scientific research data shows that humans and most animals, excluding the Jellyfish will eventually lose the usage of hearing and are to greatly suffer from an array of other neurological and psychological effects. The sense of touch and taste, sleep depreciation, severe nerve damage, constant hallucinations. Everyone will lose many of their cognitive abilities within an estimated 12 months from now.

On this day and every 7 days afterwards until all registered passengers have departed, the first of a fleet of large number of massive size spacecraft carrying approximately 1 million humans per vessel will permanently leave Earth to begin the long and adventurous trek across outer space to a new home: Vega.

This is not a precautionary tale as there is nothing to learn. Instead, a decision has been made and a Trip To Vega is the consequence.

Verdict: Welcome on board as we take another interplanetary trip through the cosmos. How do you capture the sound and wonderment of such a journey, well that would take a certain kind of talent, and Mr Mills has proven once more that he can create music that not only reflects the emotions of what one would imagine interstellar travel to be but in each individual piece, purvey the stages of a space odyssey. A thoroughly captivating work.

Vega Facts • Massive Debris Disks: Vega is surrounded by two distinct belts of debris: a warm inner belt of rocky, silicate dust (similar to our asteroid belt) and a cold outer belt of icy, carbonaceous material. • Potential Planet Formation: The system shows signs of active “bumper car” collisions among asteroids, suggesting it is a system still in formation, with rocky debris being processed. • Potential “Hot Neptune”: Astronomers have detected signals suggesting a Neptune-mass planet—or possibly a “hot Jupiter”—is orbiting very close to the star. • Rapid Rotation: Due to its 12.5-hour rotation period, Vega is notably flattened at its poles and bulges at its equator. • Intense Heat/Light: Vega is about 40 times brighter than the Sun. • The Ring Nebula (M57): In the same constellation (Lyra), you might observe the nearby Ring Nebula, a brightly glowing gas envelope from a dying star, visible with telescopes.

Techno/Ambient/Minimal 9/10