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All Music Guide:
God Is an Astronaut made a strong claim to being the best Irish indie export of the 2000s, thanks to their mix of epic melodies of post-rock, the precision of electronic-fuelled Krautrock à la Tangerine Dream and elements of space rock. The band's status was further boosted by their active anti-war stance and their fierce live performances, which place a lot of emphasis on the visuals: the shows, especially in the band's earlier days, included self-compiled videos for each song and a lot of lighting work. Brothers Torsten and Niels Kinsella (guitar/keyboards and bass/guitars respectively), the group's driving force, come from Glen of the Downs in Wicklow, and played in a number of local bands before teaming up with the drummer Lloyd Hanney, the disciple of the famous jazzman Johnny Wadham, to form God Is an Astronaut, which debuted with the electro-tinged album The End of the Beginning (2002), out on their own label Revive Records. The two singles off the CD, The End of the Beginning and From Dust to the Beyond (both 2003), got airplay on several European MTV channels, same as Fragile (2004), which promoted their second album All Is Violent, All Is Bright (2005). Avoiding the sophomore slump -- the record gathered a lot of rave reviews -- God Is an Astronaut settled on a steady record schedule, releasing the EP A Moment of Stillness in 2006 and the third album, Far from Refuge, in 2007 (it was also available as a download). Far from Refuge was promoted by a sold-out European tour that reached as far as Moscow and Istanbul, where they played a festival crowd of 25,000. The debut U.S. tour in early 2008, however, was more of a bummer, as the band had all of their equipment stolen in New Jersey. Returning to their home turf, God Is An Astronaut hit the studio again, releasing their fourth album God Is an Astronaut in 2008. Another full-length is scheduled for the second part of 2009.
Wikipedia:
God is an Astronaut are an instrumental/post-rock band from the Glen of the Downs, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
History [edit]
After forming in 2002, God is an Astronaut took the inspiration for its name from a quote in the movie Nightbreed. God is an Astronaut's debut album The End of the Beginning was released in (2002) on the Revive Records label which is independently owned by the band. The band is also signed to Rocket Girl in the United Kingdom. Two music videos for "The End of the Beginning" and "From Dust to the Beyond" produced by the band received airplay on MTV UK and on other MTV Europe networks.
All is Violent, All is Bright (2005) is the band's second album. The single "Fragile" from the album received plays on MTV2 UK's 120 minute show and MTV's show The Comedown. God is an Astronaut released an EP called A Moment of Stillness in 2006. Their third album, Far from Refuge, was released in April 2007 on Revive Records and as a download via their website. Their fourth, self-titled album God Is an Astronaut was released November 7, 2008 on Revive Records. On February 12, 2010, a single was released on their website titled In The Distance Fading, the second song from their fifth album, called Age of the Fifth Sun, released on May 17, 2010.
God is an Astronaut performed at the Eurosonic Festival in 2012 when Ireland was the "Spotlight Country".
Live performance [edit]
The band's live performances make use of projected, self-edited footage along with lighting arrangements to form what the band calls a "full audio visual show". Each song is accompanied by its own video.
First U.S. tour [edit]
In early 2008, the band embarked on their first tour of the United States. On the day they were set to return home, $20,000 worth of equipment was stolen from their van in New Jersey. Their equipment was not insured and a tour that had reportedly already cost the band $20,000 to organize had suddenly doubled in cost.
