*. The Asteroid #4 .*

Album: Introducing... (1998)

Genre: Psychedelic Rock (Neo Psych./Blues/Folk)  /  USA

Asteroid #4’s Introducing folds and blends in on itself like the long rays of a setting sun shimmering through the trees, like coloured oil on water, morphing into shapeless avenues that teeter through time. Coloured trails sweep by at the speed of sound, yet seem to take forever to pass, only to have another, and then another wash in together and explode on the irises of your half closed eyes. Only by standing so far in the distant future, and looking back on the psychedelic 60’s is it possible for a group to so lovingly capture not only the essence, but the nature of those daze. Introducing is lounge music for the mind, broadcast from unseen speakers, enticing old acid heads, letting them know that their youth and hallucinations have not gone to waste, while beams of droning rock, mixed with middle eastern back drops, and acoustic folk [much better than Ummagumma], blossom a sonic space-rock designed to completely trip you out, validate your ticket, and return you safely to terra firma. As with all great music of this genre, it’s impossible to tell where the vocals end and the instrumentation begins, everything meshes with the lightness of air, exhaled and inhaled, held in place by a solid foundation on which delays and reverberations swirl, opening doors to other dimensions, while creating musical playgrounds for the mind. Had I not been to their shows, had I not spoken with members of the band, it would be easy to dismiss this as some long forgotten musical haze... but it’s not, it’s real, and it’s here... I think. Review by "streetmouse" (Rate Your Music).

RATING:  7.5 / 10

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