Mark this down as a different kind of “lost” album.
Scottish composer and musician Erland Cooper wrote an album celebrating the life and work of novelist and dramatist George Mackay Brown, who was born and lived in Orkney, Scotland. It was done to mark what would have been Mackay Brown’s 100th birthday.
Instead of releasing it, Cooper announced on his Twitter account on 7th July 2021 that he had hidden it somewhere on the Orkney Islands archipelago.
“Where the only existing copy of my album is hidden is marked with a very special stone,” he wrote. “It has two distinct engravings with a feather on the rear. This beautiful piece was made by sculptor Jo Sweeting. Only if you find it, should you dig at all. As years go by, seek gently.”
Clues as to its whereabouts were scant, although he linked to a website that had a counter running, ticking down the time to when he would actually dig up and release the album should it not be found by anyone else, regardless of the weather damage to it. He said the digital backup of the album had been permanently deleted and the 1⁄4 inch tape was the only recording in existence.
On the site were a handful of black and white photos of him burying the tape, most significantly a shot of him holding up the tape by the sea, with only the topography to go by, presumed to be Orkney.
“I only ask that if you do find it, please bring it back to me where we will play and listen together,” he wrote. “At that point I will release the unearthed tape and share it back into our digital world.”
Fast-forward to early October 2022, however, and Victoria and Dan Rhodes managed to find the tape at Burgar Hill on the island of Rousay, spotting the carved stones that marked where it was buried.
Just how damaged the recording on the tape is remains unclear but Cooper says he will release it regardless (unless it has been totally wiped). “This thing that I cast into the soil, covered with a biscuit tin, and then put a violin on top, has now become so precious, having spent a long dark winter under the soil,” he said.
Digital treasure hunts have become something of a cliché in music marketing over the years, but a real-world treasure hunt still retains the power to surprise and delight.
