Astral Social Club

Neil Campbell, a seasoned British experimental musician, shifted his focus to Astral Social Club after departing Vibracathedral Orchestra in 2006. Serving as an outlet for solo and small-group recordings and performances, the project fused pulsing, forceful techno rhythms with rich, engulfing layers of psychedelic noise. He builds these disorienting, frenzied collages using an extensive collection of drum machines and electronics, frequently layering and blending sounds in a DJ-inspired approach. His method of encasing beats within shadowy, buzzing textures recalls Third Eye Foundation’s handling of drum’n’bass, yet Campbell’s results remain markedly more playful. Although the music often registers as disordered, he does not regard it as completely improvised; greater organization exists here than in many of his earlier projects, leading him to describe Astral Social Club as his “pop” project.

Campbell’s musical activities reach back to the late ’70s, when he first began improvising on any available equipment. During the ’80s he participated in several little-known groups including Smell & Quim and ESP Kinetic; toward the close of the decade he formed A Band, an improvisational ensemble whose lineup and name shifted unpredictably and occasionally featured Richard Youngs. In the late ’90s he founded the experimental psych-rock outfit Vibracathedral Orchestra and worked with Matthew Bower’s Sunroof! and Total projects. Astral Social Club itself began in 2005, its name taken from a bar near Campbell’s residence whose sign supplied artwork for numerous self-released CD-R albums. VHF Records, the label associated with Vibracathedral Orchestra and Sunroof!, issued a self-titled Astral Social Club CD in 2006 comprising reworked material drawn from the 2005 CD-Rs. Campbell sustained the series into the 2010s while issuing additional full-lengths, cassettes, 7"s, and split releases on other imprints. The vinyl-only LP Star Guzzlers appeared on Qbico in 2007; Important Records released two ASC albums that same year—Neon Pibroch on CD and its companion Super Grease on LP. In 2008 came the 7" singles “Monster Mittens” on Dirty Knobby and “Skelp”/“Ginnel” on Trensmat, the CD Sieben Stax on Bottrop-Boy, and the LP Model Town in a Field of Mud on Textile Records. The 2009 LP Plug Music Ramoon surfaced on Dancing Wayang, while VHF Records issued the Octuplex CD; also that year Qbico released the Psychic Smog 1-7 LP and FatCat Records put out a split 12" with Alog as part of its established split series.

Happy Prince issued the Happy Horse CD in 2010, and a split 7" with Glockenspiel appeared on Krayon Recordings. The Generator Breaker LP arrived on Dekorder in 2011, accompanied by a split 12" with Tomutonttu on Tipped Bowler Tapes and the “Snaefell” 7" on Trensmat. Wonderyou released the Magic Smile CD in 2012. Must Die Records issued the “Metal Guru” 7" in 2013; Trensmat released the Electric Yep LP and NNA Tapes the Destiny SNFU cassette that same year. Fountain Transmitter Medications, an LP paired with a CD of extended compositions, came out on VHF in 2014.