Time Tourist
Encyclopedia
Time Tourist, or TimeTourist, is an album released by B12
in 1996 on Warp
. The inventive packaging for the album makes it appear as if TimeTourist is an educational computer game written in a dystopia
n year 2166 and which looks back on the late 20th century as a primitive and quaint time in the development of mankind.
The track title "VOID/Comm" refers to "VOID/Comm R&D", a fictional 22nd-century company whose "B12 Systems" division developed "WorldCOM", a shared-mind technology which frees humans from physical interpersonal contact and the need to use very much of their brains. "VOID/Comm" is likely in reference to the Voigt/Kampf test administered in Blade Runner
. The album's packaging makes reference to a number of other science fiction
names corrupted over two centuries — Phettt (Boba Fett
), Hein Len (Robert A. Heinlein
), Seaclarc Arthur C. Clarke
, A.C Mov (Isaac Asimov
), and Kaydich (Philip K. Dick
) — as well as to the Roddenberry
and Lucas
"Sacred StarTexts".
Although the featured artist for the album is B12, on the packaging, each track is associated with one of B12's aliases: CMetric, Redcell, or Musicology.
B12 (band)
B12 are a British electronic music duo consisting of Mike Golding and Steve Rutter. First appearing in the early 1990s under a variety of monikers, including Musicology, Redcell and Cmetric, the duo were often mistaken as hailing from Detroit, their sound being comparable to the so-called second...
in 1996 on Warp
Warp Records
Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music....
. The inventive packaging for the album makes it appear as if TimeTourist is an educational computer game written in a dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
n year 2166 and which looks back on the late 20th century as a primitive and quaint time in the development of mankind.
The track title "VOID/Comm" refers to "VOID/Comm R&D", a fictional 22nd-century company whose "B12 Systems" division developed "WorldCOM", a shared-mind technology which frees humans from physical interpersonal contact and the need to use very much of their brains. "VOID/Comm" is likely in reference to the Voigt/Kampf test administered in Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
. The album's packaging makes reference to a number of other science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
names corrupted over two centuries — Phettt (Boba Fett
Boba Fett
Boba Fett is a character in Star Wars. A bounty hunter hired by Darth Vader to find the Millennium Falcon, he is a minor villain in both Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi....
), Hein Len (Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
), Seaclarc Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
, A.C Mov (Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
), and Kaydich (Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
) — as well as to the Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
and Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
"Sacred StarTexts".
Although the featured artist for the album is B12, on the packaging, each track is associated with one of B12's aliases: CMetric, Redcell, or Musicology.
Track listing
- "VOID/Comm" – 5:50
- "Infinite Lites" – 5:21
- "Cymetry" – 5:58
- "Gimp" – 7:21
- "DB5" – 1:42
- "Phettt" – 5:52
- "Epillion" – 7:08
- "Scriptures" – 6:58
- "The Silicon Garden" – 3:29
- "Radiophonic Workshop" – 6:20