God Is an Astronaut — Origins (2013)

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God Is an Astronaut — Origins
Formed: 2002
Location: Glen of the Downs, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
Album release: September 16th, 2013
Record Label: Revive Records
Duration:     62:07
Tracks:
01 – The Last March     4:43
02 – Calistoga     4:30
03 – Reverse World     5:11
04 – Transmissions     4:04
05 – Weightless     4:13
06 – Exit Dream     3:31
07 – Signal Rays     4:07
08 – Autumn Song     3:48
09 – Spiral Code     4:13
10 – Strange Steps     4:56
11 – Red Moon Lagoon     4:45
12 – Light Years from Home     5:06
Members:
Current:
• Torsten Kinsella — vocals, guitars, keyboards (2002–present)
• Niels Kinsella — bass, guitars, visuals (2002–present)
• Jamie Dean — keyboards, synthesiser (2011–present)
• Gazz Carr — guitar (2012–present)
• Lloyd Hanney — drums (2003–present )
Other:
• Pat O'Donnell ( Co-writer ) — Guitar (2006–present)
• Stephen Whelan ( Session drummer) — drums (2012–present)
Former:
• Michael Fenton — drums (2011)
Discography:
• The End of the Beginning (2002)
• All Is Violent, All Is Bright (2005)
• "A Moment of Stillness" (2006)
• Far from Refuge (2007)
• God Is an Astronaut (2008)
• Age of the Fifth Sun (2010)
• Origins (2013)
Website: http://superadmusic.com/god/
MySpace: https://myspace.com/godisanastronaut
Twitter: https://twitter.com/giaa_band
Tumblr: http://giaaband.tumblr.com/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/giaa
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/godiaa
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/music/God+Is+An+Astronaut
Superadmusic: http://www.superadmusic.com/god/media.html
Agent: * Beckie Sugden — * Justin Bridgewater (USA) —
REVIEW
• Drop date is September 16th, with the 1st single on September 2nd. GiaA are a post rock band who I always think of for their use of piano. And their music I have enjoyed, but it's been a little hit and miss. Their best work or songs are brilliant. I just can't say their percentage for being brilliant is incredibly high. But all their music has definitely been worth checking out, no matter. The 2 videos below are 2 of the best tracks by them. Although "Zodiac" doesn't feature as much piano if I recall, and their record Age of the Fifth Sun and S/T record I remember not including as much as their earlier work. Hopefully Origins will; namely since the name suggests it'll be like their earlier or music from their *origins* (early influences?)
• Origins is the seventh full-length album released by God is an Astronaut and sees the band return to Rocket Girl records, who licensed the band’s breakthrough album, All is Violent, All is Bright in 2005. In the eight years since then, GIAA have continued to release albums on their own Revive Records (Far From Refuge, 2007, God is an Astronaut, 2008 and Age of the Fifth Sun, 2010), with limited promotion and yet still amassing a vast following on social media sites (150,000 fans on Facebook, half a million listeners on lastfm.com) and touring extensively, establishing themselves as Ireland’s most intense, incandescent live act.
Fortaken: http://allmediareviews.blogspot.nl/
Italian review:
• Gli irlandesi GOD IS AN ANSTRONAUT fanno parte di una ristretta cerchia di "illuminati" concentrati a far crescere un messaggio/linguaggio sonoro ricercato, che attinge dalle più svariate/dense correnti stilistiche per toccare il cuore di chi ama gustare determinate sfumature esistenziali. "Origins" è il sesto album (strumentale) della band, un lavoro decisivo, che possiede quel fortissimo mood melodico (pulsante/vibrante) scatenato dal dna dei 5 musicisti. Un ritorno caratterizzato da un'inconfondibile feeling toccante.... Già le prime tracce si presentano nel migliore dei modi ("Calistoga" e "Transmission", due dei migliori esempi). Sono sempre stato molto affascinato dal potere delle loro note penetranti e dalle immagini evocate da esse, infatti, questa percezione soggettiva si fa ancora più marcata durante l'ascolto del nuovo cd. I God Is An Astronaut dipingono con pennellate 'decise' (...e forse anche 'decisive') un'altra tela astratta dalle grandi dimensioni, servendosi delle migliori tonalità calde/fredde. Gli opposti si attraggono spesso nell'universo del gruppo e nel dramma di "Origins" tutto il loro sentire si eleva nella sconfinata bellezza. Ci sono tantissime influenze provenienti dai migliori The Cure (soprattutto nella scelta di certe melodie di chitarra), ma per questo aspetto, nessuno potrà giudicarli in maniera negativa. • Appoggio la tesi dei fans che li vedono come una delle migliori creature del post / rock internazionale. Oggi, voglio elogiare, una formazione che davvero ha saputo crearsi un impero personale all'interno della scena. Emozionali!
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• Comprising a dozen tracks, Origins fluctuates from controlled ferment (‘Calistoga’) to plaintive, piano-led reverie (‘Autumn Song’) to rhapsodic, unapologetically melodic fever (‘Signal Rays’) while never losing its focus. A wide spectrum of emotions are conjured over the course of the album and, while half of the tracks feature vocals, the voices have been laden with resonant swathes of effects so as to retain a similar ambiguity to the instrumentals. It is this ambiguity that lends Origins its power. The song titles are evocative but never prescriptive: for instance, a southern Californian town is suggested in ‘Calistoga’ while the effect-fogged lyrics speak of finding light in a seemingly hopeless situation. Perseverance in times of emotional hardship appears to be the overriding theme of Origins, though it has always been the juxtaposition of seemingly disparate sounds, words and visuals that afford GIAA their singularity. The listener’s interpretation of the music is as valid as the emotions that inspired the band to make it.
• Origins is notable also in GIAA’s return to Rocket Girl records, who licensed the band’s breakthrough album, All is Violent, All is Bright in 2005. In the eight years since then, GIAA have continued to release albums and an EP on their own Revive Records (A Moment of Stillness EP, 2006, Far From Refuge, 2007, God is an Astronaut, 2008 and Age of the Fifth Sun, 2010), amassing a vast following on social media sites (150,000 fans on Facebook, half a million listeners on lastfm.com) and touring extensively, establishing themselves as Ireland’s most intense, incandescent live act.
• The band was founded in 2002 in Glen of the Downs, Co. Wicklow by twins Niels and Torsten Kinsella, and since then has expanded to include Lloyd Hanney (drums), Jamie Dean (piano/synths) and Gazz Carr (guitar). During the recording of Origins, the band were additionally joined by Pat O’Donnell on vocals, guitar and keyboards, and the album’s more vocal-led, experimental guitar approach is due in no small part to The Fountainhead frontman, who co-wrote many of the songs alongside Torsten. The album also features brass players Donal McGuinness (trombone) and Kevin Foran (trumpet)
• Experimenting with ‘a multitude of stompboxes’, the newly bolstered line-up gives the songs an added richness, apparent on Origins perhaps most obviously on the first single, ‘Spiral Code’. The guitars twist and tangle joyously over a backdrop of energetic beats and hi-hats, creating a sound that could just as easily bring feet to a dancefloor as it could bring solace to someone listening in solitude. All in all, Origins is a sublime, multifaceted album, parading a sound which has been painstakingly honed and is as forward-looking as it is faithful to the band’s own origins and influences eleven years back.
Fortaken: http://rocketgirl-godisanastronaut.bandcamp.com/
Also:
• http://newprogreleases.blogspot.mx/2013/07/god-is-astronaut-origins.html
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God is an Astronaut have also confirmed a slew of tour dates in Europe.

√ Fri-Jul-26 GERMANY – KARLSRUHE — Substage
√ Sat-Jul-27 HOLLAND – UTRECHT — Helling (Summer Darkness)
√ Sun-Jul-28 GERMANY – ESSEN — Zeche Carl
√ Sun-Sep-22 UK – LONDON — Electric Ballroom
√ Tue-Sep-24 FRANCE – PARIS — Nouveau Casino
√ Wed-Sep-25 BELGIUM – BRUSSELS — TBC
√ Thu-Sep-26 HOLLAND – AMSTERDAM — Melkweg
√ Fri-Sep-27 GERMANY – BERLIN — C Club
√ Sat-Sep-28 GERMANY – LEIPZIG — Werk 2
√ Sun-Sep-29 GERMANY – FRANKFURT — Batschkapp
√ Mon-Sep-30 AUSTRIA – VIENNA — ARENA
√ Tue-Oct-1 GERMANY – MUNICH — Ampere
√ Wed-Oct-2 SWITZERLAND – ZURICH — Komplex Klub
√ Thu-Oct-3 ITALY – MILAN — Live Forum
√ Fri-Oct-4 ITALY – ROME — Orion Club
√ Mon-Oct-7 SPAIN – BARCELONA — Music Hall
√ Tue-Oct-8 SPAIN – MADRID — Copernico
√ Wed-Oct-9 PORTUGAL – LISBON — Tmn Ao Vivo
√ Thu-Oct-10 PORTUGAL – PORTO — Hard Club
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History:
• God is an Astronaut are a 5 piece band who hail from Glen of the Downs, Ireland. Currently one of the worlds biggest instrumental bands they took their name from a line in Clive Barker’s film ‘Nightbreed’, the band was formed by twin brothers Niels and Torsten Kinsella in 2002. After recording their first demo’s, and with numerous labels offering deals (yet looking for the band to add vocals to their music) they instead decided to set up their own label ‘Revive Records’ to release their debut album ‘The End of the Beginning’ in 2002. This crucially allowed the band to remain in complete creative control. Speaking on their debut, which was originally intended as the bands farewell to the music industry, the band say “we just wanted to finish on a release we were really proud of, we had no expectations at all.” Over the next couple of years after the album’s low key release, the band started to pick up interest mainly through word of mouth on-line with rave reviews on blogs. Both video singles from the album “The End of the Beginning” and “From Dust to the Beyond” received airplay across Europe on MTV. This was when the world was first exposed to the bands strong usage of visuals to enhance their music.
• To this point God Is An Astronaut was purely a studio project. With word spreading, the band wanted to get out and to start playing the material live and so enlisted Lloyd Hanney (who was trained by the late jazz drumming legend Johnny Wadham) to join on drums. When first out on the road their tours included visuals that were added to the live show with the purpose to enhance the emotion and structure of the songs. Initially the band picked up a wave of publicity from this, often due to the shocking images that featured on the visuals, however as their confidence grew as live performers, they put the emphasis back on their music and released their breakthrough album “All is Violent, All is Bright” in early 2005.
• In 2006 they released their first E.P. "A Moment of Stillness" (2012 version upgraded to full length album). This 5 track E.P. saw a much more ambient approach than before. In mid 2006 a licensing deal with U.K. label Rocket Girl (Vinita Joshi) saw both their E.P. and second album "All Is Violent, All Is Bright" being re-released and made available worldwide in both online stores and record stores through Pinnacle distribution (Darla USA).
• "Far From Refuge" their third album was released in April 2007. This 9 track album was recorded between September 2006 — March 2007 and seen a more live band approach. An 11 track version was also released in Japan. In October that year the band embarked on their first long tour in Europe. Quickly they were considered one of the most intense live acts ever to come from Ireland due to their visual and sonic barrage.
• In early 2008 they finally made it to the USA for their first tour. Although the tour was a success all their equipment was stolen after their last show in New York. But the band proved to be resilient and released their 4th "self titled" album "God Is An Astronaut" in late 2008. The album itself had a big rock production and a much heavier sound than before and was supported by a hectic touring schedule with 130 + shows in 20 different countries. Their last two European tours in 2009 completely sold out which helped further cement them as one of the big 3 post-rock instrumental bands in the world, even finishing in the top 90 worldwide bands on Last FM.
• 2010 seen the release of the band’s 5th album ‘Age Of The Fifth Sun’ and the band go from a 3 piece to a 4 piece with keyboard/piano player Jamie Dean joining the band. The band received rave reviews and the best ever reactions to their concerts due to the explosive energy of the new lineup. 2012 seen the re-release of their entire back catalogue, all the albums have been re-mastered by Tim Young @ Metropolis Mastering whose credits include Massive Attack, The Beatles etc... As with all the bands music to date, they describe the record as “a photograph or a snapshot of who we are in that moment of time”. Despite being 6 albums in, the band’s outlook and ethos still remains the same as it did on their debut — the sole priority being on releasing and performing music they love. © Photo credit: Derval Freeman, June 23, 2013
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