Oh Astro are a married couple, Jane Dowe & Hank Hofler, from Illinois. Their sound consists of sampling and mixing, sort of like an experimental mashup.

Reading their biography, it said that Dowe actually released a CD prior to Oh Astro (Institutional Collaborative as Terre Thaemlitz/Jane Dowe in 1998).

It would seem that Dowe & Hofler first collaborated on their debut album, Hello World. From what I’ve read, their live shows seems to have a lot of programming, videos, and improvisation. Kind of what you would find in performance art musicians.

Well they’re back now with a new album called Champions of Wonder which was released November 6, 2007 on Illegal Art.

Although most of their songs consists of nothing but samples, there are songs that their daughters sings on (Lucy on “Lucy Sees the Moon” and Ella on “Robot Love I Love You”).

The first two songs is available for download on their website. The second song, “Hello Fuji Boy” I think may be lifted from Lionel Richie’s “Hello” but it sounds so warped that you’re not quite sure.

I did look it up on their myspace blog and it does list these samples as part of the song: Hot Chip “Boy From School,” Fujiya & Miyagi “Ankle Injuries,” and Lionel Richie “Hello”.

It also looks like they’re going to be playing around in the Illinois area, so if you reside there, check them out: