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Serving the UMN community since 1900

The Minnesota Daily

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Endangered

There’s nothing wrong with a little nostalgia. It’s deceptively simple to feel and it’s often the subject of unjust, public shame. Brendan Chilcutt is undercutting that with a website full of aural delight.

A&E presents to you, The Museum of Endangered Sounds. The site’s owner and creator, Chilcutt, aggregated classic sounds from the ascending and descending blips of AIM to the whirr of a rotary phone and gave them a home. His explanation for the advent of the site at the bottom of the page feels half-serious (especially when positioned next to that photo), but there’s an unmistakable tone of sincerity toward the end of the text:

“My ten year plan is to complete the data collection phase by the year 2015, and spend the next seven years developing the proper markup language to reinterpret the sounds as a binary composition.

If you don't understand my passion and the significance of my work, you probably never will. But

if you do, then you've come to the right place.”

Part conceptual art, part geek and wholly rooted in nostalgic indulgence, should Chilcutt’s museum grow into what he intends it’ll no doubt be compelling. It’s worth mentioning that “should” is the operative word in that last sentence.

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