Fata Viam Invenient ad Astra

With critics and listeners seemingly already in their corner, San Diego classic space/prog five-piece Astra make a Moog-heavy sophomore outing in the form of "The Black Chord". Astra won many ears to their side with 2009’s Rise Above debut, "The Weirding", on which they offset retro King Crimson-style melodies with a sense of modern urgency that indeed also shows up throughout the six tracks of the second album. It’s Astra’s balance of old and new that makes their recorded output so fascinating, and as the US has become even more enamored of all things taggable as progressive and/or psychedelic in the last three years - at least in an underground sense – The Black Chord arrives at just the right time and in just the right place for the band to be able to make the most of their songwriting…

Franz Lehar - Fata Morgana: Suites, Dances, Intermezzi
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Michail Jurowski
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 347 MB | Full Artwork: 89 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: CPO # 999 761-2 | Country/Year: Germany 2001
Genre: Classical | Style: Late Romantic, Early 20th Century, Operetta

"This delightful disc of Viennese fluff contains some marvelous tunes, plenty of enticing waltz music. The comfortable, slightly soft edged recording suits the music perfectly." ~classicstoday.com

Astra are a promising San Diego/California situated band deriving from a psych/space basis - although they are not exclusively reduced on this and implement heavy rocking and symphonic impressions. The songs evolve in a quite varied and interesting manner and you will detect some nice references to bands which must have influenced the Astra crew. They remind of early Pink Floyd and King Crimson but have a sound and style of their own. Astra are a band in love with the ‘70s, and they seem pretty unapologetic about it.

Réunit quatre courts récits, parus confidentiellement chez l'éditeur Fata Morgana entre 2007 et 2012, qui reprennent les thèmes de prédilection de l'auteur. Ils mettent en scène des personnages complexes face à des situations kafkaïennes, dans un univers désorientant. …