WOMAD

Astralasia

From United Kingdom

Astralasia produced the soundtrack to a personal revolution in thousands of young minds. Way back in '92, 'The Politics of Ecstasy' was one of the essential albums in the collection of any wild-eyed house enthusiast. If you stumbled back to their place after the club it would be placed on the decks with reverence. "Just listen to it, man," you'd be told, with a jaw wagging in emphasis, "it says it all!!" They were right, of course, and even after serotonin levels have returned to normal, it's a great listen.Astralasia seem to patch directly into the inside of your head anddeftly move about within it, triggering emotions and ideas as they do so. Essentially, they have two incarnations: one as gentle escalator to angelic bliss; the other as a full-on, positive vibe dance floor work-out. It's probably no coincidence that the former is just what you're looking for after a night of the latter.They have performed at the Whirl-Y-Gig club since its earliest days and share the intelligent, humanitarian approach to dance culture which goes down so well with audiences at the Reading WOMAD festivals. Some of their albums have tended to concentrate on a more personal, meditational groove, ideally suited to home enjoyment and inner space exploration, whilst others play games with the latest beats, bouncing them around different textures, occasionally breaking into a techno-rush or jungle stomp, but always with an intelligent approach that sets them apart from the bandwagon crowd. To find out which are which and get a feel of the philosophies behind the music, have a look at the Magick Eye website.