"Boxed set" of previously unreleased music spanning new age and neo-classical compositions as well as jazz and rock & roll, plus and assortment of newly recorded tracks especially for this project.

30 MP3 Songs
NEW AGE: Neo-Classical, NEW AGE: Ambient

Show all album songs: RAHU Songs


Details:
Electronic Artist ROB ASTOR Releases âUnseenâ Tracks On RAHU

ROB ASTORâs RAHU, Filled With Outtakes And Alternate Versions Of Music From Previous Albums, Is A Soundtrack For Fiction, Film, & Nature

With the release of four studio albums and a holiday collection to his credit, Rob Astor has cleared his musical vaults, packaging numerous unreleased recordings as a double CD offering entitled RAHU. The title is fitting for two reasons. The first reason, in Ancient Burmese, the word ârahuâ means âunseenâ. The second reason, a bit more complex, is as a science fiction author, Rob has been writing a novel bearing the title RAHU.

Packed with music intended as a soundtrack to three stories, alternate versions of previously released material, and filled out with brand new recordings, Rob Astor equates his RAHU collection to a box set. âMusicians always have leftovers that just donât fit on their albums. I know that very well now,â Rob says with a laugh. âIn every sense of box sets being filled with outtakes and rarities, RAHU is my little box set.â

âMany of the tracks on the first CD are music I wrote as a soundtrack for the RAHU story,â Rob Astor says. âI had an idea in mind to create a full blown soundtrack, thinking the story was good enough to be a film.â The music goes with key scenes in the story. Fusing the sounds of Tangerine Dream, John Williams, James Horner, Spencer Nilsen, Norm Orenstein, Biosphere, and Ken Davis, Rob Astorâs soundtrack works in a way that can only be described as Rob Astor in content.

Using a blend of New Age and Neo-Classical, the track âLife On Europaâ is heartbreakingly beautiful, gorgeously magical in its execution. Much like the story, the RAHU collection has many moods woven throughout its tapestry. âDinosaur Spheres Descending From Orbitâ and âEarth Twin & Earth Parallelâ build to a real sense of danger while âAurora On Planet Rahuâ is bright, filled with a sense of hope. âSix Moons Of Plutoâ, inspired by a recurring dream, âSways in time with the thoughts of trees.â The calming tranquility of âWalking In the Garden At 3 AMâ will transport you to another dimension filled with the peacefulness of a midnight walk through nature.

The RAHU novel tracks are just a sampling of Rob Astorâs soundtrack visions. âSummer Rain On Ganymedeâ, combining Jazz elements to sound rainy, belongs to a short story entitled âGanymede Summerâ. âDream Sequenceâ, âApproaching Stormâ, and âXâhal Minorâ were all written for another novel, BATTLEGROUND ALBANY. Reflective of his John Williams influenced Neo-Classical work on XENOPHOBIA, âXâhal Minorâ is built around converging String Sections leading up to complete chaos in the form of a pounding back beat. âIf I had a character named âXâhal Minorâ in the story of XENOPHOBIA, I would have placed the track on that album.â

Stepping back in time to early 2003, many of the tracks Rob Astor was working on remained largely unfinished because of a snowmobiling accident. âAs I began working on XENOPHOBIA and BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS (in 2006), I also wanted to finish the work Iâd begun back then. I didnât want this body of material to lay around forever incomplete. The music wanted life as much as I wanted to give it life.â The extra effort was worth the wait!

RAHU has a total of thirty tracks. Thatâs two and a half hours of music! Some of Rob Astorâs best recorded works are showcased within the confines of these two compact discs. âI fell right back into the mindset I had (then) for the unfinished music. Surprisingly, polishing them was much easier than I expected.â

A grand total of fourteen tracks might have once been a part of Robâs first CD, QUADRANGULAR OSCILLATIONS, including the nine tracks written and recorded for the story of RAHU, as well as the other soundtrack pieces. One of those was intended to be the first albumâs title track, âQuadrangular Oscillationâ. Rob was looking for a very specific sound to the music, one which he didnât find until much later. âI was going for a very metallic feel,â Rob explains. âI didnât get it right until well after the fact.â

âQuadrangular Oscillationâ was Robâs first experiment at setting music to a scene in a movie. âI wrote the track to go with the part in âCube 2: Hypercubeâ where everyone faces off with the Razor Sphere.â

Also included on RAHU are a few more versions of Rob Astorâs favorite piece of music, âEchoes Of Raindrops (Xackâs Theme)â, which belongs to a novel called LIBERATION DAY. (Thereâs also a version on MARSTROPOLIS.) âTwo of those versions were finished in 2003 and I completely forgot I had them for a few years.â Look for a rain of computer chips instead of raindrops while listening to these. The third is an extended remix, finished in 2000.

The longest piece of music on RAHU from those past sessions, and in Rob Astorâs entire catalogue to date, is âNorthern Lightsâ, a New Age ode to the Aurora Borealis. It was conceived and envisioned to be Symphonic in length and released as a one track EP. In this finished version, Rob Astor finds the length to be perfect. âThe music is still a soundtrack for a natural phenomena.â

Some of albumâs other alternates include an extended version of the highly popular BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS track âGet Vertical!â as well as various versions of âEndor-9 Aviaryâ. RAHU outtake material can be sampled in the form of two tracks intended for the previously mentioned album in the form of âDouble Helixâ and âDark Side Of The Sunâ, left out because they felt different than all the rest of the music, according to Rob.

As for brand new recordings, Rob Astor serves up several on RAHU. âEventide Sunriseâ combines Electric Guitar with New Age. âHades Playing Pianoâ is a Piano lament Rob says was inspired by a dream detailed in the albumâs liner notes. Looking to the past for inspiration, and bringing his soundtrack endeavors full circle, Rob Astor also created music fit for the days of silent films in his track âSilent Movie Romanceâ, proving he can explore any style and perfect it.

Pick up a copy of Rob Astorâs latest release RAHU. It just might turn out to be the soundtrack for your creative projects!

*****

RAHU
Liner Notes

RAHU is my pseudo box set of previously unreleased material. I never knew it could be so easy to amass so much music in a short period of time that wouldnât fit on my other albums. Gradually, I ended up with around three CDsâ worth of music just between 1999 and 2003. Many of those tracks were simply unfinished. In the years since, Iâve recorded more music, some of which didnât fit on more recent albums, and revisited the body of work I wanted to do back in 2003. This two disc collection is the result of my efforts. Each track has a description about the title and where it was intended to go. Several pieces of music on RAHU, I think, represent my best work.

Rob Astor

All tracks composed, arranged, performed, recorded, and produced by Rob Astor. © 2007 by Rob Astor. Cover art by Harry Grillo. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable law.

CD Number 1

Get Vertical! (Extended Version)
This was the first version of âGet Vertical!â. I guess I do things backwards sometimes. In the last two years, when I have an extended version of a track, I tend to start there and edit my way down to an album version. Before then, it was a matter of adding additional music to an existing piece, as I suspect it was done in the 1980s when there were a ton of bands with 12â extended singles. âGet Vertical!â is an expression used by some my science fiction characters. The inflection is of mild surprise or shock. I wanted to do a track constructed in the same way as a song by the Japanese group Seat Belts called âPushing The Skyâ. The track is a really heavy rocker with certain parts I used as a template. In playing with that songâs build, I came up with this piece of music. Its counterpart can be found on BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS.

Radial Cybernet 3
While mixing this track, I went back on a whim to try it with the additional Drums as it appears in the remix version. I liked the effect better than this version. But, this version was too good to just be tucked away in my archives forever. You can find the remix version on BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS.

Northern Lights
One of several tracks I began in 2003, this was going to be a full Symphonic length New Age piece. I wanted âNorthern Lightsâ to be a true soundtrack of the natural Aurora Borealis. However, as I wrote additional parts and blended the textures, I discovered the music didnât really have to be forty or forty-five minutes in length. It was perfect in this shortened, yet eleven minute form. I had wanted to release this as a one track EP. That was the plan for a forty plus minute piece of music. The need disappeared when it comfortably fit in this collection.

Liquid Glass
The title of this music was inspired by something my sister said to me as we discussed clear pool water on a hot summer day. She compared it to liquid glass. I went out to my pool and swam around, instantly coming up with sound ideas for an aqua influenced track. I knew it wouldnât fit on either XENOPHOBIA or BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS (which were also being recorded at the time), so, âLiquid Glassâ was held over for this album as one of a few brand new pieces created to fill out this release.

Eventide Sunrise
âEventide Sunriseâ is an alteration of a few parts of âDiamond Dustâ. The latter began as a set of lyrics I wrote several years ago. I had musical ideas, however, none of them were ever recorded. After finishing the track, I wanted to do a variation on part of itâs theme in a different way, using Electric Guitar. The end result is something that put me in mind of a glorious sunrise. Eventide comes from a planet name in a video game called Galactic Empire. This was also the final track I recorded after sessions lasting for eighteen months. BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS was pretty much full by then. Fortunately, RAHU has space for âEventide Sunriseâ.

Life On Europa
The first of many tracks intended to be the soundtrack of a novel Iâm writing called RAHU. As a group, the tracks were all started in 2003 and put on hold when I was in an accident that sapped all my physical and creative energy. The title of this one, âLife On Europaâ, says it all. The scene is of a science group exploring under the ice of one of Jupiterâs Galilean Satellites and discovering life actually exists there. The music is almost straight New Age, combining Classical orchestration to really drive a dramatic musical point home. A discovery of this magnitude would certainly qualify as magical. My music is a blend of the ethereal and moody. Itâs one of my finest blends of styles.

Walking In The Garden At 3 AM
A pleasant title, donât you think? It evokes visions of peacefulness, of a sleepy night possibly. Certainly one of exclusion or isolation. But, in a good way. In RAHU, thereâs a scene where a few of the main characters take a stroll in a midnight garden under a clear dome aboard a spaceship. The plants are all illuminated by star light, creating serenity. This piece of music captures the feeling I was going for in the setting and of the mood shared between the characters in the story at that point.

Drifting Through Stardust
A very short transitional piece of music for a scene in RAHU where a giant spacecraft heads deep into the solar system. This one was actually completed in 2003.

Six Moons Of Pluto
âSix Moons Of Plutoâ began as a recurring dream I was having about the discovery of five additional moons orbiting Pluto. I decided to use the concept as a scene in the RAHU story, to illustrate how little we really know about whatâs out there in the darkened, far reaches of our solar system. Recently, two new moons have been spotted in orbit of Pluto, officially named Hydra and Nix. With Charon (pronounced as Sharon for those in the know), the total is three. When the New Horizons probe locates the others and NASA does a documentary about Pluto, someone please tell them Iâve already written the perfect music! The number six figures into the time signature as well. I was once given a great compliment about how the music moves in time with the thoughts of trees.

Geometric Language
Another short piece of cue music finished in 2003. Itâs more of a play on sound effects. The scene is of a huge computer read out where the language used is represented by geometric shapes. While recording MARSTROPOLIS in 2005, I used the first part this version to compliment the music of âTholos Restoredâ by having an echoing/panning effect. At that time, I didnât think I would ever release either of the âGeometric Languageâ tracks.

Geometric Language II
This second version, also completed in 2003, is a variation on the first. I like them both equally and would have a tough time choosing one over the other for cue music.

Aurora On Planet Rahu
In itâs purest form, the music of this track is all about an awakening, of coming out of a long darkness and realizing the thinking of old was wrong. Itâs time to usher in the thinking of new. Intended for just such a scene in RAHU, the track also became the title track of sorts for this album. The word âRahuâ is an Ancient Burmese word meaning âunseenâ. In Astrology, thereâs also the Rahu and Ketu of the moon, acting as an ascending and descending Yin and Yang. To make the music more positive in feel and flow, I used a very high key, B Minor, to differentiate from the darker feel of some of the other tracks. Itâs also a rarer exception of my creating an extended version after the fact. I liked certain spots so well, I went back and increased their length.

Dinosaur Spheres Descending From Orbit
For this scene, thereâs supposed to be a feeling of uncertainty and eventual panic. What if alien ships suddenly began dipping into Earthâs atmosphere? This music underscores those feelings. I even created the sense of the dangerous by using effects and chopped bars to lend the feel of the sound of these objects racing by, off to destinations all around the globe, intentions unknown.

Earth Twin & Earth Parallel
The last of the RAHU soundtrack compositions, this scene takes place late in the story. Imagine yourself at peace, drifting off to sleep, looking out across the Golden Gate Bridge, watching the stars. You make a comment about how beautiful the Earth is, hanging up there in the sky. Almost asleep, you snap back to reality, bolting upright in bed. Something is very wrong. Earth Twin and Earth Parallel arenât supposed to occupy the same dimensional plane. And now, they could be on a collision course.

Dream Sequence
One of three soundtrack pieces of music for another novel Iâm writing entitled BATTLEGROUND ALBANY. Thereâs a scene early on where one of the main characters has a curious dream that doesnât end so well. This one was finished in 2003.

Approaching Storm
You think youâve reached the climax of BATTLEGROUND ALBANY. You are not there just yet. Our heroes return from a victorious battle. However, the alien force is still in pursuit. Their commander has boarded a ship and intends to exact decisive revenge. Itâs a prelude to the actual climax. I was able to finish the track when I added pounding Percussion to âXâhal Minorâ. The Percussion transferred perfectly to this piece of music, playing off the feeling of tension replaced by optimism, building toward the unexpected.

Xâhal Minor
Originally based on Joel McNeelyâs âXizorâs Themeâ from the STAR WARS SHAWDOWS OF THE EMPIRE Soundtrack, I wanted to create the feeling of panic and extreme danger. All the intensity of a heated battle. Had the title not been made up by me and had actually been a mythological name, I would have used this track on XENOPHOBIA. âXâhal Minorâ has the same overall feel of the John Williams influenced Neo-Classical pieces on that album. The title is the name of the alien ship in BATTLEGROUND ALBANY that swoops down out of the sky, positions itself over the city, and opens fire, randomly slaughtering anything in its path. Our heroes face this one last challenge of driving them back and saving as many lives as they can while inhuman chaos reigns. âXâhal Minorâ is the score music for that scene.

CD Number 2

Summer Rain On Ganymede
This is the last of my true soundtrack compositions. True in the sense that it was written to go with an original story belonging to me. âSummer Rain On Ganymedeâ goes with a story called âGanymede Summerâ. I have a set of lyrics for the music, based on a saying used in the story. âA womanâs heart is as fickle as the rain on Ganymede.â Ganymede is the largest moon of Jupiter. Part of the far future plot revolves around a romance that took place there. The Piano part was recorded in 2003. The Percussion was added to make the music sound rainy.

Hades Playing Piano
Hereâs a track based on a dream. My dreams come in full color, complete with plot and characters. The dream that spawned the music was mythological in nature. I was traveling with some sort of Greek raiding party into the Underworld. Our leader was going to retrieve the head of Medusa. We floated in a large wooden ship on the river Styx, passing through black marble tunnels decorated with gold, lit by flickering torches. We came to a sort of waterfall formed by steps and made our way down into the Kingdom of the Dead. At the bottom, I paused, separated from the main group, as I heard someone playing a sad and lonely tune on a Piano. I went into a chamber where a single shaft of light illuminated the figure of Hades, brother of Zeus and Poseidon, represented in my dream by Elton John, sitting at a black grand Piano playing this plaintive ballad. I wondered if it was music about his lonely vigil, of being the ruler of Hell, or if it was a longing for his wife Persephone. I was moved, witnessing something Iâd never heard about in mythological tales. Nowhere is it mentioned, to my knowledge, that Hades had any musical inclinations. I did my best to recreate the music of my dream especially for this release.

Silent Movie Romance
This track could possibly stand in as soundtrack music. I didnât write it with that idea in mind. What I wanted to do was see if I could compose something with the feel of music from those early days of film when the soundtrack music was played live on Pianos and sometimes with small Orchestras in the theaters. I can see figures on screen acting out with exaggerated movements as I listen. Boy and girl meet. Boy and girl fall in love. Girl is kidnapped by villain. Boy rescues girl. All is right once again with the world.

Double Helix
The shape of a strand of DNA. âDouble Helixâ was the first track I wrote and recorded for BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS. Unfortunately, âDouble Helixâ and âDark Side Of The Sunâ have a feel that doesnât quite fit with all the other tracks on that album. Ultimately, I left them off for that reason, and because of the issue of time, concerning the length of this track in particular. Thereâs a meditative mood in this one.

Dark Side Of The Sun
The second track written and recorded for BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS. The title is a kind of oxymoron. There really canât be a dark side to the Sun. The Sun constantly radiates light. Metaphorically, however, there can be, which makes it thought provoking and interesting. In astronomical terms, a dark side of an object is the side of a body out of direct communications range. The concept is possible after all. So, whatâs on the far side, or dark side, of the Sun?

Quadrangular Oscillation
Another track begun in 2003. This was supposed to be the title track of my first album, QUADRANGULAR OSCILLATIONS. It wasnât finished because I couldnât create the right metallic sound textures. âQuadrangular Oscillationâ was also my first attempt to create a piece of music to go with a movie scene. Much like âXenophobiaâ fits the scene in REVENGE OF THE SITH where Padme and Anakin look out across the city at each other, âQuadrangular Oscillationâ fits a scene from the movie CUBE 2: HYPERCUBE where everyone comes face to face with the terrifying Razor Sphere. As for the title, thereâs a logic to it as well. Quadrangle is a mathematical term given to a geometric shape with four sides. Oscillation is a pulse, like sound waves or light waves, for example. Most of the music on QUADRANGULAR OSCILLATIONS was written in a 4/4 time signature. (âSwimming Between Galaxiesâ was written in 4/8 with some parts changing to 2/8. âEchoes Of Raindrops [Xackâs Theme]â is in 4/4 with a 3/1 overlay.) Quadrangular represents the 4/4 time while oscillations stands in for the sound of the music.

Diamond Dust
This track was only a set of lyrics written several years ago. I never had any of the musical ideas recorded. But, I knew how I wanted âDiamond Dustâ to sound and feel. Mellow New Age blended over a moderate Beat. In some ways, it was going to be similar to âTropic Of Antarcticaâ. Diamond dust is the name given to some snowfall on that frozen desert capping the South Pole. The air is so cold and thereâs so little moisture, snowflakes often cannot fully form. Those under developed flakes are called diamond dust. One of the lines in the track was, ââ¦eyes as blue as ice, sparkling like diamond dust.â Lyrically, I was going for the cold metaphor. In the end, the music evolved beyond my original concept for the better. Without some of the instruments present in this finished version, âDiamond Dustâ doesnât feel like a complete piece of music. In this form, it is complete.

Endor-9 Aviary (Edit)
When I first recorded this track as it is on BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS, I thought it was too long. I took out some of the repeat at the end. The result was good, however, proved the album version was fine and this version was too short. I kept it in case I needed to add something to RAHU to help fill up large blocks of unused time. I have this thing about CDs being filled to their maximum capacity whenever possible. Itâs a good thing I save everything!

Endor-9 Aviary (Extended Intro)
Playing around with the structure of the BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS version, I wanted to hear what the track would sound like with a longer introduction; the opening Guitar played alone, and then repeated against the grinding Bass. Right away, I knew it was too long. Again, I liked this version so much, I had to keep it. Fortunately, there was room enough to include it here on RAHU.

Echoes Of Raindrops (Xackâs Theme) (Science Fiction Mix Alternate Key)
I wrote and recorded the first version of this track as it appears on QUADRANGULAR OSCILLATIONS in 1999. Being the curious and creative guy I am, I needed to experiment from time to time with the music in altered settings. These versions were recorded in 2001. The spring rain has become a rain of computer chips. Although it sounds like itâs in the same key as the original, itâs actually an octave higher. This version was recorded following a playing of the music in the same key as the original.

Echoes Of Raindrops (Xackâs Theme) (Science Fiction Mix)
The first experiment where I drastically altered the music of something I liked really well is best evidenced here. The transformation was amazing. I liked both versions with their computerscape rain and kept them long enough to forget I even had them until recently. Pay careful attention to that 3/1 overlay I mentioned before as it chimes away.

Echoes Of Raindrops (Xackâs Theme) (Shower In The Rain Extended Remix)
This extended remix, and the extended version on QUADRANGULAR OSCILLATIONS, were recorded in 2000. The music here retained the rainy feel I used in the original. So, I had to try it out. This one is slightly shorter than the first extended version. As I was playing that one, I was so into the music that I did an unintentional repeat toward the end. As far as Iâm concerned, it turned out great.

Aurora On Planet Rahu (Extended Version)
An extended version of the optimistic title track for a novel and for this album. Somehow, it feels fitting to use âAurora On Planet Rahuâ as a reprise. For the time being, Iâve finished recording original music. More is sure to come at some point. I explore every new idea as it comes to me. There are two more albums finished, waiting in the wings. One of music from the late 1800s to the early 1900s called YESTERYEAR CLASSICS, and one paying tribute to Rock and Pop music from the 1960s to the 1990s called INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION. Thereâs the possibility of my exploring some Classical stuff in the near future as well. Creative urges always lurk just below the surface. Thereâs room for everything under the sun! For the time being, Iâm looking at a new horizon, one where I will dive into the world of literature once again and create worlds of words as I have created worlds of music. As for the music, Iâm looking at a few years of promotional efforts as new creative juices simmer.

Special thanks to Harry for creating my cover art!

Be sure to check out all my other CDs: BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS, SHINE A LITTLE LIGHT CHRISTMAS COLLECTION, XENOPHOBIA, MARSTROPOLIS, and QUADRANGULAR OSILLATIONS.

And, drop by my MySpace Music page:

http://www.myspace.com/soloartistrobastor