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Astralasia - Astralasia


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Astralasia - Astralasia (1990 Fungus Records)

 

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1. 04:16 Fantasize to Realize

2. 13:58 Don't Drop the Bomb

3. 06:46 Sexsquat

4. 06:48 Set Me Free

5. 07:32 Astralasia Pt 2

 

 

What we have here is the very first CD album (more like an EP, huh?) release by Astralasia (they already had two tape releases before, the second of which had a similar tracklisting to this). It is very hard to find, but then I guess you’ll only like this if you’re a real fan/collector of the band, like me. At least half of the tracks are reworkings of Magic Mushroom Band songs, the group Astralasia originate from. That band had a song called Squatter in the House, which became Sexsquat and one called Astralasia, a second part of which features on this album. Possibly, Swordfish simply chose the name of this already existing track for his new group. Consequently, you can expect that the music here pretty much resembles the rock origins of the group.

 

Fantasize to Realize is indeed nothing else than a rock song, with Kim Oz’s voice all over the place. And yes, it’s kind of cheesy compared to their later trance stuff, but I think it’s sort of cool anyway. They made a dance version of this later for their next album.

 

Next one is Don’t Drop the Bomb. I really don’t know how to call that style. It sounds really old and a bit immature. There is lots of sampling in this track and also some good and catchy melodies but I think it’s not quite worth all the 14 minutes. They could have put just the same amount of substance into half of that time. Still it’s definitely fun to listen to.

 

Sexsquat is actually a slow and laid-back psytrance tune with some very good psychedelic guitar playing. Only downside is the female moaning in the background. Nothing against that sound, hehe, but I don’t want to hear it in a psy track ;)

 

Set Me Free is more like a pop song again, a dance tune featuring vocals and also guitar again. It is in fact the same sequence repeated over and over again but sound-wise it’s actually quite well-done.

 

Last but not least there is Astralasia Pt. 2, which is a very trippy flute-dominated ambient track, very Indian sounding, reminds me a lot of Suns of Arqa. And how crazy and tripped-out that flute-playing is! If I take it seriously, this is the best track on the album.

 

Frankly, to enjoy this you have to be a bit open-minded for the origins of the band. It’s not as great as the stuff they put out afterwards but believe me, this is quite funny to listen to. As I said before, it’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of Astralasia’s works. See it as a collector’s item.

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Guest Kai-Q

He He He Shaman of Sound. :)

Astralasia released before Pitched up of the Edge of Reality this EP "Astralasia" and later their first Album The Politics of Ecstasy, which was later re-released.

Very nice stuff. ;)

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