Label: Fruits de Mer
"mushroom-warped devil disco...wired mixture of The MC5, gospel and acid house" NME
"they put on parties that rave without hype or elitism, where everyone is welcome...songs sit somewhere between Kate Bush, KLF and The Orb" Sounds
Astralasia may have formed in 1990, but Marc "Swordfish" Brennan's musical journey began much earlier. The latest release in FdM's Introduction To... series spans more than four hours, from Swordfish's first home recordings in 1982 through Astralasia classics, Fruits de Mer favourites, new mixes and previously unreleased material.
As Swordfish explains:
"This compilation is hand-picked by us. It combines released and unreleased tracks, plus exclusive mixes, to give a fuller picture of what we do beyond the usual genre labels. The recordings begin on a TEAC four-track in 1982, then follow the path through Magic Mushroom Band, Astralasia, Mushroom Project and today's Mushroom and Astralasia. Astralasia is more beat- and loop-driven, while Mushroom is organic and freeform."
The set includes music from Oceania, Wind On Water, The Darkest Voyage, Lobster Basque, Tales From The People Who Are Astralasia, Cluster Of Waves, Coloured In Dream, unreleased Something Somewhere session recordings and more—an ideal introduction to one of Britain's most inventive psychedelic bands.