Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Astralasia — An Introduction to Astralasia
(Fruits de Mer intro 10, 2025/2026, 4CD)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2026-03-25

An Introduction to Astralasia Cover art

The latest Fruits de Mer introduction retrospective release is the massive 4 CD set An Introduction to Astralasia. Just like labelmates Sendelica, Astralasia is noted for their extended musical excursions. In this case, the 40 tracks on this collection range from four to fifteen minutes in duration for a modest total of five hours of music. This set of music contains plenty of previously released Fruits de Mer tracks plus new mixes and unreleased recordings. FdM releases sampled for this retrospective include Oceania, Wind on Water, The Darkest Voyage, Lobster Basque, Tales from the People Who Are Astralasia, Cluster of Waves, A Momentary Lapse of Vinyl, and Coloured in Dreams. Some of these recordings originate from as early as 1982, recorded on a 4-track Teac A3340 reel to reel deck. Marc Hunt (AKA Marc Swordfish) and the band were just learning at that time and the recordings were an accident, as they had enlisted some singers who could not sing, so it ended up as a recording of them chatting over a backing loop. The band took the name of the Magic Mushroom Band, which then morphed into Astralasia, then back again to the Mushroom Project. Today there are two bands, Mushroom and Astralasia. Astralasia’s self-titled first album was released on the Fungus label in 1990 with band member pseudonyms Swordfish, Nosmo, Kim OZ, and Moonboot, with one early member being Jason Relf, the son of the Yardbirds vocalist Keith Relf. This band was one of the originators of the acid-house rave revolution and a major player in the trance scene across the UK and Europe. In point of fact, after Fruits de Mer introduced me to Astralasia many years ago, I found their Utopia EP in a used record store and I was surprised by the techno sound, which I did not expect since they had moved on from that for the music I'd heard. I cannot begin to relate all of the excellent music on this set. Suffice it to say that there are great reinterpretations of Brainticket, Pink Floyd, Mighty Baby, The Monkees, John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, and a ton of original tracks. This retrospective is highly recommended for fans of trippy Krautrock influenced instrumentals along with early acid house music. However, it may be difficult to find a copy of this release as it sold out quickly upon its March release. But a final batch of 20 to 30 copies is expected at Fruits de Mer towers in early May.

Filed under: Archives, 2026 releases, 2025 recordings

Related artist(s): Astralasia, Magic Mushroom Band

More info
http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/astralasiaintro.html

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.