ASTRALASIA Volumes 1&2 (Voiceprint) 2004
Before becoming major players on the UK underground trance/rave scene, Astralasia were a side project for members of the Magic Mushroom Band. This disc is a collection of the first two cassette only releases, originally released back in 1988/89 when they played events alongside such artists as the Shamen and Mixmaster Morris.

Volume One is laid back psychedelic hippyish stuff that would have come under the banner ‘Ambient House’; more chill out lounge than dance floor.

Volume two picks up the pace a bit in places but the fact that it was recorded on an 8 track and the fact that all this sort of thing was still in it’s infancy makes it sound a little dated now and a far cry from the full on techno assault that was to come from them later when they split from the mushrooms to become a proper band in their own right.

There are two previously unreleased tracks on her as a bonus, rough versions of things that mutated into proper tracks that would be released later in their career. This is a good taste of how the trance scene of today was born, but would probably only be of interest to those were there. For those of you that were not there, you would be better off spending your hard earned on their later releases.