Astral

Astral is a shoegaze group based in San Francisco, California.Astral was formed by singer-guitarist Dave Han and drummer Shawn in 1999; bassist Amy Rosenoff joined them in 2001.Their vocals are frequently compared to those of The Cure; other influences include My Bloody Valentine and Joy Division.Their music is of an ethereal, melodic nature; this ambient sound is created largely by heavy use of distortion and feedback effects in Han's guitar.Astral are also notable for incorporating improvisation into their live performances.In 2002, Astral released a self-produced EP, "Only Sometimes".In 2003, Astral released an LP, entitled "Orchids".Two songs from that album, "Raining Down" and the title-track instrumental, were preloaded in the Rio Carbon MP3 Players.In 2008 the band released their second album Sleepwalker.