Big Dipper

***Big Dipper Crashes on the Platinum Planet is the latest, and perhaps boldest, excursion into the perilous realm of Astronomy Pop by veteran indie-rockers BIG DIPPER. Inspired by a triumphant reunion tour in support of Merge Records' 2008 3-disc retrospective Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology, the band returned from the stratosphere with a stellar collection of brand new songs. Just a few weeks after touring, Big Dipper began recording the new material in GARY WALEIK’s top-secret Command Module studio. The album boasts cover art by Guided By Voices' main-man ROB POLLARD, a huge Big Dipper fan (Pollard rates them the 20th greatest band in rock history, #19 being T. Rex!). The recording line-up consists of guitarist/vocalist BILL GOFFRIER, drummer/vocalist JEFF OLIPHANT, late-era Dipper alum TOM BREWITT on bass and the aforementioned vocalist/multi-instrumentalist/producer Waleik, with special guest appearances by Commander FRANK BORMAN and Command Module Pilot JIM LOVELL of the Apollo 8 Mission as well as some of the Dippers' offspring. The disc's 12 songs shimmer with Big Dipper's trademark sound: twin vocals, ethereal harmonies, dynamic guitar arrangements by Goffrier and Waleik (dubbed by some a "two-headed guitar monster"), Oliphant's powerful drumming and Brewitt's melodic bass playing. But longtime fans may also be surprised at how easily Dipper has stretched its own boundaries.