twentieth release in fat cats famed split series compilations, this record combines norways alog with sunroof! member astral social club.
active since 1997 and one of norways leading exponents of experimentalelectronic music, alog is the duo of espen sommer eide and dag-are haugan, mainstays at the rune grammofon label.
alogs unique, hybrid sound has since developed through four albums that have unfurled a series of abstract yet accessible, self-contained sound worlds, each animated with their own internal logic, mixing a wide variety of bothelectronic and acoustic sources into something warm, intricate and organic.
alog embrace the freedom to flit and root in the cracks between strands of minimalism, electronica, post-rock, improv and vernacular music, merging woozy, stuttering electronica (a la oval or nobukazu takemura), with rich, shoegazey guitars, freeform improvisation, scandinavian folk, field recording and the masterful editing and soundscaping of electroacoustic composition.
astral social club is the project of prolific scottish-born neil campbell, apivotal figure on the uk post-punk underground, with a vast catalogue and numerous collaborations.
a member of both matthew bowers total and sunroof! projects, he appeared on three of the latters albums before helping to form the hugely influential and prolific (over 40 releases) leeds-based drone/psych-rock outfit vibracathedral orchestra in 1998.
campbell left vco in 2006 to go solo as astral social club, under which moniker he has released a number of albums (on labels like vhf, important, qbico, textile) and an ever-increasing stream of self-released cdrs in alimited edition series of volumes (currently up to #19).
the three tracks here were recorded by campbell, john clyde-evans, paul walsh and spider stacy.