Oh Astro

After starting this CD in my computer I had to take it out and check it in a real CD player to make sure there wasn't a defect in the disc. Listening to Hello World is like listening to a dotted line — one second there's sound, the next there isn't. Taking fragmentation to the limit of listen-ability, the six tracks on Hello World are reminiscent of Dabrye, circa 2002, only with simpler rhythms and less fluidity within songs. "Lame Arm Quirt" has fewer spaces than some tracks with its simple pixelated rhythm and something sounding like stylised knife sharpening. "Circuits Gleam" sounds exactly like its title — shimmering truncated melodies flirting jaggedly like two butterflies dancing until it winds down and tips off. While the distracted style of Oh Astro does sound like an extension of the Prefuse 73-style attention deficit method of music construction ("All My Favorite" comes closest), it lacks the diversity of sound sources and wow factor of one audio reference tumbling in after another.