ASTRO - FAR IN THE DISTANCE
Written by Mads Heilskov
Japanese noise project Astro consists of Hiroko and Hiroshi Hasegawa who have been part of countless noise bands throughout the decades, perhaps most famously C.C.C.C. and Nord. Despite this and the fact that Astro has been around since 1993 with a ton of releases behind them, this is the first time I have actually listened to them. This review is therefore only concerned with Far in the Distance and not how it fares in comparison with the rest of their discography.
To begin with, my first impression was admittedly not very optimistic. The cover art looks like one of those 90s dance CDs one would find in the bargain bins at the supermarket. In my opinion, this cheapens the overall impression of the CD causing one’s expectations to drop. Cover art is one thing, sound is another, and it turns out this release is a grower. In the first few listening sessions, I was not convinced. The sounds were erratic and without any feeling of purpose, giving me associations with this whole “noise for fun” thing which is certainly not an approach I appreciate. Upon repeated listens, however, details began to emerge and I started to get a sense of meaning in the seemingly directionless mess of rapid sonic blitzes. An atmospheric background started to become audible and the little bits and pieces of sound began to make sense, creating a sense of cohesion amidst the overall chaotic sensory overload.
Track 1, Cluster Amaryllis, goes from an ambient atmosphere with a weird noisy background to a cacophony of sounds surrounding the listener. Around the midway point, it tips over in a bass-heavy crescendo with some nice ambient textures and spacy sounds accompanying it only to descend into noisy territory again. Throughout there’s a myriad of small sounds coming from everywhere creating a chaotic feel. It is like accelerating through space colliding with everything, creating little explosions resulting in tiny pieces of rubble cascading in all directions. It varies between squeaky sounds and sporadic rhythmic outbursts before venturing into noisier territory with high-pitched sounds of distorted bells and underlying distorted horns (or something like that) and back again. By moving back and forth between calmer and more structured industrial/ambient oriented sounds and rapid noise outbursts, Cluster Amaryllis manages to keep the tension and constantly evolve throughout its little over 21 minutes of runtime while keeping the spacy feeling throughout.
Track 2, Rebel Moon and Emotional Resolution, showcases a looser approach to sound creation. It starts off with a found sound/cut-up sound collage consisting of synth sweeps mixed with sound bits of what could be cars, barking dogs, small radio snippets, and construction work sent through various filters and effects. In its first part, Rebel Moon…has a more rhythmic yet somewhat disorientating feel to it. To these ears, it feels like a hectic journey through a noisy city while intoxicated. Although the sounds are loud, everything blends together creating something that feels more distant. It is, to stick with the intoxicated journey metaphor, as if the listener experiences all the buzzing around them through a filter, adding to the feeling of disorientation and confusion. Around the 9 min. mark the spacy feeling from Cluster Amaryllis starts to re-appear, albeit only for a short while before the psychedelic urban confusion takes over again with what sounds like cut-up voices and traffic. Towards the end, the track goes into a more rhythmic and industrial-sounding direction leading to a violent climax. Overall, during the almost 25-minute timespan, small and insignificant sounds are blown out of proportion while more prominent sounds seem to be dampened and placed in the background. The way sounds are enhanced, dampened, clashed with each other, and turned on and off gives a dizzying effect reminding of a bad acid trip. This leads me to think that this track is perhaps more about tumultuous inner than outer space.
Off to a rocky start, I must say that my relationship with this CD has become much better than first anticipated. Even the cover art (which I still find off-putting) makes sense as it gives a cosmic vibe that fits well within the psychedelic exploration of outer and inner space in all its chaotic and erratic glory. This CD features a cacophony of small collisions of sound and may send the listener on a hectic and uncomfortable, but nonetheless rewarding, journey through a space full of objects that are hard and sharp, but, along the way, also beautiful. I can therefore only recommend that you put on your space suit, swallow the red and blue pills and let Astro take you on a trip into a stratosphere that is wild and chaotic rather than calm and soothing.
