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May 23, 2005
the fireworking profession
Astrobotnia - Part 1
When the Astrobotnia records first came out on Rephlex Records (run by Aphex Twin) in 2002, no one really knew who was behind the name- and a lot of people were speculating that it was Aphex Twin himself, releasing new music under a pseudonym. Turned out not to be the case. Astrobotnia is actually Aleksi Perala, who records sometimes under the Ovuca name, and sometimes (once?) as Cylobotnia. (Wouldn't it be great if I said something here like: "Unfortunately, by the time this was announced, I had already spent 2 years and the majority of my own inheritance (coal-mining money) in a vain effort to uncover Astrobotnia's secret identity"...) This is the sort of music that just demands attention though, and the added mystery with respect to the musician's background really heightened the allure of Astrobotnia's 3 releases (Pts. 1 and 3 were CDs, Pt. 2 was a vinyl-only, with 6 untitled tracks).
This sample mix of tracks from "Part 1" begins with 'Lightworks', which is just undeniably gorgeous- it's composed of field recordings of fireworks, hanging ambient chords, and careful, delicate drum programming. It's both similar to and very different from Boards of Canada's work (it is sad, and pretty, and great- something about 'Lightworks' especially is like looking at old pictures of your parents from when they were your own age). 'Lightworks' transitions into 'Hallo', which is a slow and sticky twisting workout. 'Everyone' is one of the most recognizable tracks, since it has a sample from the great Tom Hanks movie, "The Burbs", where the character Art says, "I want to kill everyone, Satan is good, Satan is my pal", in a sweet, chanting rhythm. The remainder of the mix has at least 2 more tracks sampled (but I can't tell which ones are which), a little more upbeat and sunny than the preceding stuff.
Part 1 is probably my favorite, but I will say that Parts 2 and 3 are pretty much equally great. If you'd like to buy 1 or 3, it looks like Forced Exposure has them right here, but it looks like Part 2 might be just a bit harder to find.
Posted by Kevin at May 23, 2005 09:13 AM
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