Ozric Tentacles 30th aniversary tour and album review

This album review coincides with Ozric Tentacles 30th anniversary tour, any band that has been going for 30 years through thick and thin deserves respect and thats before you have even heard their music. The music itself will satisfy dance heads, rock aficionados and ambient lovers, and often within the space of a single track !  A band that has remained true to their counter culture and free festival roots. This will hopefully explain why this awe inspiring band has been uncompromisingly making their unique style of music for such a long time….

If you have not heard of Ozric Tentacles you should seriously consider listening to them very soon (link below). It might be because they are still true to their underground scene origins or their relatively media shy nature. A band whose music has not followed trends or fads and who have been consistently flying in the face of adversity and mediocrity. Ozric Tentacles known by aficionados as ‘Ozrics’ was originally formed some 30 years ago and have released approximately 30 albums (along with many other releases). As you can imagine there have been many incarnations of the band with members coming and going as the band moved forwards in time.

Their latest album to date is titled Paper Monkeys (new releases soon to come towards end of 2013) and was released in 2011. They can be loosely and inadequately described as being space rock with electronic ambient embellishment. Ed Wynne is at the helm and many of the tracks released have been written by him and at times in collaboration with other band members. Ozrics are well known for they produce a heady and eclectic mix of music and their most recent album Paper Monkeys is no exception.


If you cannot wait just visit their site and listen, their website streams some killer Ozric cuts via an onsite embedded player:

http://ozrics.com/

To describe Ozrics Tentacles is somewhat difficult as each and every album released includes rock, dub reggae, out and out space synthesis, incredible psychedelic guitar playing (courtesy of Ed Wynne the sole remaining founding member), ethnic melody and percussive elements, ‘aciddy’ bass lines and a mix of ambient instrumentation. Their musical performance is at virtuoso level and yet remains free from genre specific encumbrances. Surprising, mystifying and astonishing are words that spring to mind when describing their prolific musical offerings.

To my knowledge, Ed Wynne arranges, produces and engineers all the music which is testimony to the mans almost super human musical and engineering talent.  

Paper Monkeys is a release with the current line up, that being Ed Wynne (guitar, composition and synths), Brandi Wynne (bass/synths), Silas Wynne (synths) and drummer Oliver Seagle. This new album has a different overall sound than any other Ozric Tentacles release. The focus has shifted away from the more ambient offerings and has a strong rock riffing presence with a subjectively warmer and denser arrangement and sound quality. The guitar is well played (as always, by Ed) and unique in texture but the use of overly wide and spacey effects has been muted somewhat in this release. Ed’s guitar tone is thicker and has a more earthy feel. The tracks are well mixed and cover all the Ozric ground one would expect and there is a track on the album for everyone.

This band really is a unique listening experience and so comparisons with other bands really does not do them justice.  The ‘musical journey’ is somewhat of a cliché but with The Ozrics you really do get a high value for money musical vacation. Musicians themsleves have great respect for Ozrics knowing what it takes to get to this standard of playing and there is enough back catalog listening candy to keep a muso going for years on end.

Here are some descriptions of tracks.

Each track on the album is fairly long compared with more traditional music releases allowing for musical expansion. This is great as it allows you to be immersed in wonderful, deep musical landscapes for an hour or so.

The opening track ‘Attack of the vapours’ is intense and frenetic, full of tight percussive energy and the busy arrangement is an assault on the auditory faculty.  

Lemon Kush - A killer delay infused riff from Ed opens this track, a warm thick blend of sounds gently opens to let Ed blast you with a solo which is reservedly held in place in the mix. Some flute like melodies embellish the sound, the energy does not let up though.

Flying machines - Whispy, extended intro start with classic Ozrics Epic feelings pervading shortly thereafter. Ed keeps the guitar fairly subdued again and an upbeat percussive outro completes the track.

Knurl - Down tempo Knurl entices you with a smooth laid back bass line, some gorgeous breakdowns which do not bloom into full Ozrics ambient mellowness, but gesture towards earlier albums.

Lost in the sky - This has a wonderful opening with Ozric synth bubbles and a synth pad to send you off to musical cloud 9. A classic Ed riff will have guitarists reaching to emulate him. This really lets you understand Ed Wynnes capacity as a guitarist, this track eludes to the odd arrangements and sound textures that the band were so well known for.

Paper Monkeys - More great electric guitar, subdued effects relative to Ed’s past flamboyance on the guitar pedal front. Overall keeping with the warm and repetitive guitar riffing. For me this is real space rock and really stands out as the most ‘rocking’ tune on the album. An awesome Ozrics ‘space tension’ break down sends you off into the ether before a guitar crescendo with Ed in full flare.  

Plowm - Beautiful rhythmic pulsing gets you in the mood for a proper Ozrics spine tingler of a track. ‘Erp voices’ (Erpland being a mystical land created by Ozrics) will give you a smile mid track before more sustained space riffing returns.

The will of the wisps - a more ambient affair with warm floating synth work.

Air City - Ambient soundscape synth pads and rhythms tantalize with gentle echoes and delays. Slowly building and brightening likes the sun coming from behind the clouds and a gentle ethnic feel that points to the South Asian seas.

Conclusion

Ozrics mean different things to different fans and thats understandable as the band has covered an immense musical ground over the years. If you like this and it floats your boat you will without fail enjoy many of the Ozric Tentacles previous albums too. There are literally so many of them but I can highly recommend, Erpland, Jurassic Shift, Waterfall cities, Pungent Effulgent, The Hidden Step, The YumYum Tree and Spirals In Hyperspace. The band currently dwell in the USA in Colorado and originate from the UK.

Review by Mastering Engineer Barry Gardner
http://www.masteringmastering.co.uk/onlinemasteringstudio.html