Ozric Tentacles: C/D, S/D

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I really wanted to know something about this band. Is this really far-out or just a wilder Phish-type band? Where should I start discovering their work?

― JP Almeida (JP Almeida), Saturday, 11 October 2003 21:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

They're very, very Gong-influenced, but with a dancier vibe.
I'd say semi-classic, they have some great stuff, but also a lot of overtly "more of the same" stuff.

I haven't heard their latest few albums, but I've been told by some people that they've started doing good stuff again (after quite a few albums of rather Middle-of-the-road material)

Nonetheless, for me, so far the big classic has been Erpland, so try that on for buns.
Later material might be even more dancefriendly though.

Destroy: Swirly Termination. Messy compilation-ish thing.
Other than that, a lot of what I've heard is sort of "search if you really like the band, destroy if you just want a few of the best ones" f.ex. Jurassic Shift, Strangeitude and Become The Other.

― Øystein The Octave Doctor (Øystein H-O), Saturday, 11 October 2003 21:19 (9 years ago) Permalink

I bought their double disc 80s stuff on a whim after hearing some of their stuff while on something. I think you have to be on something.

The, uh, i dunno.

It's like this. You know how on like early post-S.B. Floyd, there's (excluding the song Saucerful of Secrets) mostly pretty slow songs, and they put in little sonic goodies that make it "trippy", or whatever, and it's pretty good, ok, O.T. plays at double speed and does nothing but the sonic goodies, at which point it turns into self indulgent, untastefull crap.

― Helltime Producto (Pavlik), Saturday, 11 October 2003 23:14 (9 years ago) Permalink

I think you should buy some Gong before buying any Ozrics.

― nickn (nickn), Sunday, 12 October 2003 06:50 (9 years ago) Permalink

I find they are more similar to steve hillage's solo rekkids (eg "motivation radio", "L", "Fish Rising") than to gong. I met ed ozric years ago when a friend interviewed them for "sound on sound", and he said that when he was a kid he used to sit up at night listening to the friday rock show, and he'd tape all the instrumental breaks. He wound up w/loads of tapes full of guitar and synth solos, all chopped away from their parent tracks so to speak. That kind of explains the way they sound quite well. I think they're great, and would second oystein's recommendation of "erpland". If you don't like that, you probably aren't going to like anything else they've done. They don't sound much like phish to me.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Sunday, 12 October 2003 11:58 (9 years ago) Permalink

Well, I was looking for some more Gong-sounding bands and picked up a couple Ozric disks cheaply based on some things I had heard, but despite the similarities, they just didn't grab me like Gong did. Great instrumental chops but none of the quirky melodic whimsy. I have Arborescence and Aftershwish (which is a 2-CD '84-'91 compilation). How do these compare to Erpland?

― nickn (nickn), Monday, 13 October 2003 03:05 (9 years ago) Permalink

i used to live in the same house as one of the ozrics a couple of years ago - the bassist i think. he lived in a self contained flat at the top of the house and wasn't about a lot but i bumped into him occasionally. nice bloke tho

― Robin Goad (rgoad), Monday, 13 October 2003 07:42 (9 years ago) Permalink

Where I am originally from (Milton Keynes) there used to be c.1990 an aspiring (yet dire) metal band called Dominion, who fell under the influence of special brew and permanent abuse of other things, and became firstly a heavily Hawkwind-influenced (yet dire) band, and then just a bunch of local addicts who were still referred to as Dominion. Anyway, IIRC, every time they played live (there weren't exactly many 'alternative' type events or venues in MK back then, so you'd tend to bump into them a lot) and every time their fume-emitting van went past in the street, the Ozric Tentacles tune 'Kickmuck' (which I think was on Pungent Effluent or Effulgent or whatever it was called) seemed to be playing.

Despite this poor mental association, that particular tune was pretty good, as I remember.

― M Carty (mj_c), Monday, 13 October 2003 09:38 (9 years ago) Permalink

I never got "afterswish", b/c I had all the tapes that it's a comp of. "arborescence", is that the one with "sploosh" on it? I'm not that mad on that one, if so. The tapes were great, and it was a real thrill when a new one came out, or you got a good spin-off band's cassette, like nodens ictus or s.th. like that. BUT, the recording quality isn't as good as the later, "proper" albums generally. "Erpland" is better IMO. That whole tape trading scene was really good, interesting and a lot of phun, but it all seems to have gone, which is a bit sad.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 13 October 2003 11:04 (9 years ago) Permalink

Classickish.

If you don't like noodles, keep well away. I have enjoyed their Live Underslunky, er, live album many times. "Sploosh" is a fantastic song wherever you hear it.

And more to the point, Eat Static sprung from Ozrics, thus classicifying them forever...

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 13 October 2003 11:13 (9 years ago) Permalink

Pungent Effulgent is the one for me.

― tigerclawskank, Monday, 13 October 2003 14:27 (9 years ago) Permalink

I've downloaded some tracks, and I do like some of the simplest, bass+guitar+drums+synth texture structure songs (I guess that these are the older ones), but a lot of it is drenched in new age-type synths and it sounds too artificial to me. I guess I'm not going to enjoy anything released after Erpland...

― JP Almeida (JP Almeida), Monday, 13 October 2003 15:15 (9 years ago) Permalink

Arborescence has Astro Cortex, Yor-Bar-Og, Arborescence, Al-Salooq, Dance of the Loomi, Myriapod, There's a Planet Here, and Shima Koto on it. I should re-listen to see if there's anything there.

― nickn (nickn), Wednesday, 15 October 2003 04:02 (9 years ago) Permalink

3 years pass...

I've got a bunch of this stuff now thanks to emusic. But, I got really bummed using my monthly limit on double-cd ozric albums, so I actually took to the store and bought some of the rereleased double cds on snapper where they give you 2 albums for the price of one, basically. So far, I guess I have maybe 6 albums and plan on getting at least 4 more. They're a cool band because you can work to it and it seems to enhance concentration. Or you can get totally fucked and it seems to deteriorate concentration. Really, quite a multi-functioning aural tool.

― dean ge, Tuesday, 3 July 2007 16:31 (5 years ago) Permalink

If you don't like noodles, keep well away.

Why is this noodles? It's instrumental, not freeform jamming. Most of the stuff I have so far is synthy, bassy reggae and dub with textural guitar washes and odd sound effects with the occasional speedy guitar-driven kids' toy commercial rocker.

The strange thing about it is that it's very melodic for music with no melody and which goes nowhere.

I think it actually defies genre categorization. You could simply call it "rock," but many would disagree with you since it sounds like background music you might hear at an aquarium or something.

― dean ge, Tuesday, 3 July 2007 16:41 (5 years ago) Permalink

I went to a local noise show recently where the sound guy was playing Ozrics. I felt that didn't bode well, and I was right - it didn't - he shut the sound off as the first act started hacking at a pig's head with a machete. In disgust I went home and gave away all my Ozrics cassettes... part of me wishes I'd kept Underslunky, though.

Classic-ish, but they all sound a bit the same for me... oh, but destroy Curious Corn, tis pretty horrible.

― Rombald, Wednesday, 4 July 2007 19:15 (5 years ago) Permalink

5 years pass...

Paper Monkeys sounding really great as the last of the summer sunshine is streaming through the windows. The artwork is LOL prog rock but I'm really digging the nu age feel..

― mmmm, Monday, 3 September 2012 10:04 (8 months ago) Permalink

I always liked them live in the late 80s then found the material in the early 90s really glossy. So maybe I just need Afterswish if I actually need anything.

Used to see them quite a bit when I was tripping at things like Mutoid Waste Co parties.
Some of the pre-90 stuff live has turned up torrented over the last few years.

― Stevolende, Monday, 3 September 2012 10:30 (8 months ago) Permalink

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