Orchids is the debut album of dream pop

Dream pop

Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...

 band Astral

Astral (band)

Astral is a dream pop 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...

. It contained ten songs and was released in 2003. The title track, Orchids, is a highly melodic instrumental slightly reminiscent of space rock

Space rock

Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...

. The record was mixed at Stout Recording Studio in Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

 and was engineered by Randy Burk, who in the past had worked with Swingin' Utters The album charted #119 on the CMJ 200

CMJ New Music Monthly

CMJ New Music Monthly was a monthly music magazine with interviews, reviews, and special features. Each issue included a compact disc with 15 to 24 songs by well established bands, unsigned bands, and everything in between...

. Two songs, Orchids and Raining Down, were preloaded on the Rio Carbon

Rio Carbon

The Rio Carbon is a line of digital audio players that was produced by the now defunct Rio from 2004 to 2005. It was similar in size, capacity, and cost with Apple's iPod Mini which debuted earlier the same year...

 MP3 Players.

Track listing

1. Barreling (3:09)
2. Blinder (4:35)
3. In Heaven (3:22)
4. Under Lock and Key (3:55)
5. Turn Me Around
   Turn Me Around EP
   Turn Me Around was the name of a rare vinyl EP released by Astral in 2003. It was given to concertgoers without charge; only 200 copies were made....
   
   (2:41)
6. Slumber (4:54)
7. Orchids (3:01)
8. Last Light (4:05)
9. Raining Down (3:29)
10. Forbidden Kiss (5:19)