Mark Harwood‘s third album under his Astor moniker slips away from the obtuse atmospheres and concrete field recordings of Alcor and Inland (released on Graham Lambkin‘s KKY label in 2012 and 2013 respectively). Lina in Nidasits more in a melodic electronic framework covering a wide range of sonic and emotional states.
“The East” initiates proceedings as a proposed anthem for Britain during a potential invasion by ISIS. Things soon move into the uncomfortably claustrophobic “The Landowners,” where an oblique narrative by Estonian artist Kris Lemsalu spirals into a blurred fantasy of musical roads, nocturnal wanderings, and entrapment under floorboards. The B-side relocates itself further out as “They Cling to Each Other” hovers over uncharted ketamine lows while “The Sleepwalkers” lurches around a spider-like environment. “Amusement” tackles a cosmic music, but one that hurtles itself far beyond the outer regions of the cosmos, while “5:00am” contains within the greatest sound known to mankind. As a further shift from reason, Lina in Nida is a thrilling expose of intense atmospheres, emotional states, and ecstatic physics.
Available as 320kbp MP3 or 24bit FLAC
Tracklisting:
1. The East - 5:11
2. The Landowners -8:52
3. Venery - 3:40
4. Orion - 5:15
5.They Cling To Each Other - 6:27
6. The Sleepwalkers - 3:16
7. Amusement - 7:47
8. 5:00 am - 5:16
Astor is the moniker of Mark Harwood, Australian publisher, event curator and sound artist who is now residing in London, United Kingdom. Under this guise he deploys a wide variety of techniques including field recording, musique concrete, electronics and spatialisation. All of these forms are approached with a sense of bypassing the cliches imbedded within in order to coerce a sound world which is simultaneously contemporary, foreign, beautiful, unsettling and engaging. Mark has released 2 acclaimed lp's on Kye (USA) and has a third 'Lina in Nida' on Penultimate Press (UK).
