What is Lost Masters?
Imagine the best albums you never heard...
'Lost Masters' is the unique new art installation from celebrated artist Max Lowry, launching at the world famous Selfridges department store in London for a 6 week run in August 2008
Centred around the concept of 9 'lost' albums by some of the biggest names in the history of popular music including, for example, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Madonna, Prince and Jimi Hendrix, 'Lost Masters' presents a thought-provoking and amusing illusion, a 'what if that really did happen' moment. This is an environment in which imagined collaborations between some of the world's best loved artists are vividly brought to life.
Using Lost Master's nine as a starting point, anyone can participate. You can add your own 'Lost Masters' right here online, allowing you to get creative and put together your own designs for those recording collaborations you always wished had taken place.
'Lost Masters' will also be showcasing new music with exclusive live performances from some of the most exciting new bands from IE music's roster - taking place at Exclusive gigs around the UK.
Exclusive, limited edition copies of individual 'Lost Masters' albums alongside other exclusive merchandise from the exhibition is available to buy online and at Selfridges - with a percentage of profits going to our official charity partner War Child.
Lost Masters - A Message From the Artist
So you're at work, or at a bar with some friends, or maybe you're at home with the radio playing softly in the background and a song comes on, your head turns, you close your eyes and suddenly you're lost. The world around you gets a little fuzzy and the only thing you can focus on is this damn song, your song, and the memories... Funny how songs can act as bookmarks in our lives.
The fascination I have with music means I devour any snippets of news about my favourite musicians. When one of them releases an album I find it hard not to embellish and elaborate on the information I've been given by the media and can't help but fantasise about what else might have been happening in their lives while they were making the music.
But is it that really so strange? Songs play a huge role in our lives - I know, for example, that each part of my day has its own tune, its own soundtrack - today I woke up to Xfm radio, I listened to 'Primal Scream' when I went for a run, 'Blur' is playing while I type this, I know I'll listen to 'U2' when I walk to my studio later, a bit of 'Radiohead' while I paint, 'Cat Power' as I walk back home, 'Sam Cooke' as I get ready to go out - the list goes on...
When an artist sings about their own experiences, the subject matter usually involves a universal theme that we can all relate to. In this way, their songs have become the natural accompaniment to our lives, so I guess I've always felt compelled to explore the possibilities of what might be happening in theirs.
Let me make this clear - 'Lost Masters' is make believe. It's simply a celebration of my love for music. It's a world for music lovers where anything is possible.
"Why the appeal of lost albums over ones that came out as planned? It's because if one is a full stop, the other is a question mark. When albums actually appear, it's the end of the story."
Instead of simply reading about these icons in the press (and filtering the fact from the fiction), fantasising about the possibilities can be far more exciting.
Once an album has been released the mystery always fades and sadly it usually ends up gathering dust along with the hype that surrounded it before it was released.
We only have to look at what happened to some of the legendary 'lost' records when they finally did get released - For example Brian Wilson's 'Smile', the follow up to The Beach Boys peerless 'Pet Sounds', took 38 years to complete during which time the obsessive speculation from fans reached a fever pitch. However once Wilson actually delivered this 'lost master' the fantasies quickly evaporated, the album became a reality and interest faded.
I realise now, that as well as going to the gigs, queuing up outside HMV to buy the latest releases, sitting at the back of the class as a kid sketching my favourite bands logos on the back of my maths book, it was the fantasies of what was yet to come or what might've been that inspired me to create 'Lost Masters'...
"I really haven't had that exciting of a life. There are a lot of things I wish I would have done, instead of just sitting around and complaining about having a boring life. So I pretty much like to make it up. I'd rather tell a story about somebody else."
