4 out of 5

Label: VHF Records

Produced by: Neil Campbell (recorded by)

“Octuplex” – from the free dictionary – is a type of telecommunications that allows for eight messages to be sent along a single wire at the same time. There are eight songs on Astral Social Club’s album of that name; as ASC is Vibracathedral Orchestra-er / Sunroof!-er Neil Campbell’s solo venture, the possibility of how that definition may be applied to those songs is… promisingly chaotic.

But I’m overthinking. Or perhaps not: Octuplex comes across as a jam session of sorts, with Neil (and associates) iterating through styles and soundscapes that interest the artist, and perhaps that’s the “eight messages on a single wire” aspect, given that we’re funneling these varying ideas through one composer. Noting that this was recorded over two years, though, is what structures that more as a collection of thoughts versus something comprehensive that’s intended by consideration of how the songs combine: they are separate experiences that happen to be packaged together.

Which isn’t to say the album lacks sequencing – being bookended by some synth-based squiggles, a layer of Sunroof!-y clatter, and a wonderful center of buzzy ambience – just that the songs and album is more (to me) about vibes and playing around with sounds versus trying to communicate anything specific.

The synth-based bookends are sort of the patience testers (almost always an attribute of ASC recordings), given that they’re mostly just a beat / crunchy melody that Neil periodically adds bleeps and bloops to. Towards the album’s end, these are kept short, so the somewhat nonsensical nature of these works; opener Caustic Roe runs a bit longer, but there’s some really intriguing nuance in the last few minutes as layers start to become more or less prominent, which links well with the Sunroof!-y digital nature burble of Mugik Churn. Aggro Vault is a kind of stripped down, broken techno – like a Ceephax track! – and wanders itself halfway between the first and second songs.

From Pilgrim Sunburst to Radial Hermaphrodite, I start to fall in love. These are long-running soundscapes of waves of noise, with distant beats or effects; again very Sunroof! coded, but presented in a somewhat more linear manner that separates Campbell’s solo efforts from the group’s.

On one hand, it’s a big ol’ mess of an album: a grab-bag of ideas. On the other hand, the “eight different messages” approach makes each track feel concise; the album, overall, compact. And though I don’t walk away with a succinct feeling, the messages – combined or separate – are memorable. A very approachable ASC release.