Astralasia – Whatever Happened To Utopia?

***REVIEW OF THE DOUBLE CD ISSUE***

Not Astralisias best album due to the lack of female vocals from either Kim Oz, Lou Palmer or Melanie Taylor on the main album. What you get is a more experimental, synthy-spacey album with more bleeps than beats & not much of their trademark uplifting melodies. But the double CD version does include three of their BEST ever tracks in my opinion so is well worth buying!

''You must think of this as a trip, a sort of voyage of discovery''

Kicking off with the stunning 'Astral Navigation' this track conjures up images of the film 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind' but instead of the setting being an odd shaped hill in modern day Indiana, USA just imagine going back in time to neolithic man in the UK gathered around their stone circles such as Stonehenge set in vast open landscapes looking up in the sky in disbelief as colorful spaceships from another world descend to pass on knowledge that shapes the future of mankind! From the spoken word intro, repetitive synth chords & ambient sounds this track takes you on a trip back through time & space! Easily one of Astralisias best ever recordings.

Skip forward to the 'FREE' 4 track EP which again contains two of Astralasias best ever tracks, the epic A.N.D.E Part 1 and A.N.D.E Part 2. A.N.D.E Part 1 features some mighty opening foreboding synth lines which crashend into some beautiful none spoken choral vocals (which I think are from Kim Oz). If 'Astral Navigation' conjures up images of cruising spacecrafts on the horizon then A.N.D.E part 1 especially creates images of them landing & friendly aliens emerging to a disbelieving human race! (A.N.D.E Part 2 is a slightly different mix to part 1, slower with some spoken words). These are two truly epic recordings, the music is stunning-film soundtrack like-and the female vocals are mega. Why on earth these tracks wernt on the album is beyond me, they are truly up there with Astralisias best ever recordings.

Obviously there will be people who like the duby tracks and some of the more experimental. Those arnt for me, I'm more into the Uplifting & Moody tracks. But as a double CD with those three tracks on alone they make it a superb release.

this is still available from the label - don't sleep

https://magickeye.com/releases?id=EYECDLP5

One of Astralasia’s Finest albums..Perfect “After Rave’ chill out CD.
When I saw them live in 1996, it was a dance set & very lively too. But along with Early ORB albums
This is just wonderful, sweeping synths, gentle vocals & as Trippy as they come....
essential listening...!

This is not typical of Astralasia's standard bouncy goa trance vibe, but it is quite simply an outstanding, generally unknown album that I have gone back to time and again over the last 15 years. It is reminiscent of Tangerine Dream's dream-like use of arpeggios and Global Communication's seminal work 76:14 in it's open expansiveness, but turns up the trip-o-meter just a couple of notches.