01	Dissolution (The Clouds Disperse)						06:15
	02	0-1						03:58
	03	Phalarn Dawn						07:34
	04	The Domes Of G'bal						04:36
	05	Shaping The Pelm						06:08
	06	Ayurvedic						10:57
	07	Kick Muck						03:53
	08	Agog In The Ether						04:05
	09	Wreltch						08:31
	10	Ayurvedism						19:03

AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Listening to the Ozrics can result in the feeling of one's consciousness going into a cosmically vast spin-dizzy state with no chemical or visual stimulation required to generate the effect. That shift of consciousness is certainly an immediate side-effect of this release, caused by the painless move between pyrotechnic instrumental workouts, drifting musical structures (such as "Phalarn Dawn") where languid dancing with lighted incense sticks seems called for, and the off-kilter space-reggae-rock-dub that forms the flow of "The Domes of G'Bal." As always, the band comfortably evades pigeonholes by dint of the fact that what begins at the first note is delightfully unlike that which ends with the last note. Remarkably, it all makes sense and there is never a sense of getting lost in the darkness. - Steven McDonald

Pungent Effulgent
Format: CD
Record Label: Snapper Music
Catalogue #: SMMCD 545
Year of Release: 1989
Time: 75:00
Info: Ozric Tentacles Homepage


Tracklist: Dissolution (The Clouds Disperse) (6.15), O-I (3.58), Phalarn Dawn (7.34), The Domes of G'Bal (4.36), Shaping the Pelm (6.08), Ayurvedic (10.57), Kick Muck (3.53), Agog in the Ether (4.05), Wreltch (8.31), Ayurvedism (19.03).

Dissolution has a nice start featuring electric guitar with delay effects. After a while the bass and drums join in and after two minutes the tempo increases and the whole changes into a more uptempo tune. This second part features a lot of electronic effects, guitar solo's as well as the only (spoken) vocals on the album ('Illumination, dissolution, devolution, evolution", etc). When the track nears the end it slowly gets more chaotic until it's over after six minutes. One of the highlights on the album.
O-I, a remake of a track which originally appeared on the There is Nothing cassette, has a rather funky bass line mixed with bits of flute. The song also features a synth solo, several wonderful breaks and lots of tempo changes into uptempo sections.
Phalarn Dawn starts peacefully with a slow continuing monotonous rhythm combined with some keyboard effects which together create a rather ambient sound. This track, in which nothing much happens, mainly leans on its drum and percussion rhythms. The flute sounds which give the track a more Asian feel can't make the track much more interesting. It shouldn't have been longer than half its seven and a half minutes, really.
The Domes of G'Bal starts with a keyboard intro which would not have been out of place on a Jean-Michel Jarre record, but soon to your surprise the track changes into a reggea rhythm. This is one of the splendid examples of the variety within the music of the Ozrics; reggae rhythms combined with electronical keyboard effects and guitar solos with a more Middle Eastern atmosphere !
Shaping the Pelm starts with electronical effects and an ethnical percussion rhythm. When the song starts to get quite boring a flute solo follows in the second half of the tune. Like Phalarn Dawn a rather forgetable track.
Ayurvedic is the longest track of the original album. After a minute of menacing keyboard effects a bass line starts which would not have been out of place on a Porcupine Tree album. Electric guitar picks up the same melody as the bass and the song slowly builds up. After a quiet intermezzo with flute and guitar the power of the track increases and the initial bass line melody returns. A short percussion solo and strange vocal babblings follow when the song suddenly changes into a reggea/dub like tune which fills the last 3 minutes of the song, which also feature a funky bass line and electronic and vocal effects and a rhythm guitar with echo effects. The band could have been slightly more creative in this second bit, but its still one of the best tracks on the album.
Kick Muck, originally from the Sliding Gliding Worlds cassette, immediatley brings a very different mood with it's agressive, sharp and quick lead guitar, followed by more Middle Eastern synth parts. The percussion on this one is stunning as well !
Agog in the Ether was fully written and performed while the band was high on mushrooms. Jungle sounds are mixed with flute and synth creating a musical wilderness. After about two minutes percussion and drums come in, playing a tribal rhythm. That's pretty much it.
Wreltch was the bonus track on the first CD release of this album. It originally appeared on the The Bits Between the Bits cassette. It starts with some experimenting on a xylophone-like synth. After 2 minutes the song suddenly changes into a rather free formed space rock song with an uptempo beat and lots of experimenting on synth and guitar. The recording quality of the track isn't as good as the rest of the album and the song's structure isn't either.

The bonus track Ayurvedsim is an extended live version of Ayurvedic. The tempo of the first part is a bit higher than on the original. The improvisations take place in the second (reggae) part of the song, where the band almost sounds like The Police for a while. There's lots of little changes in the bass line and weird sounds from the synths (even a strange chainsaw-like sound). The sound slowly builds to a climax where the reggae influences are exchanges for rock again.

Pungent Effulgent features some amazing tracks which you definitely have to hear (Dissolution, O-I, The Domes of G'Bal, Ayurvedic, Kick Muck) but also some less interesting stuff (Phalarn Dawn, Shaping the Pelm, Agog in the Ether, Wreltch) which lacks a good melody, hasn't got a melody at all or are just to long and boring.

The artwork is very nice with the band's wizard-like mascotte (the Pongmaster) in front of a landscape with psychadelic skyline.

The remastered version of the CD features one bonus track (Ayurvedsim) and extensive liner notes about the album. Instead of description of what the tracks sound like (I can tell for myself, thank you) I would have preferred some more information about this period of the band instead.

Conclusion: 8- out of 10.

Ed Sander

========

Reviews
One of my personal favorites, the Tentacles have an absolutely unbelievable sound, in the same vein of fusion as Djam Karet, yet with bubbling spacey electronics, more keyboards and a Gong influence that takes that bands space fusion style and leaves their silliness behind. Yet again a band that has a virtual library of styles, Ozric Tentacles on the course of an album will move from intense high speed fusion, to incredibly atmospheric electronic music to a track that could only be described as a prog bands answer to reggae. Anything by these guys comes highly recommended, and I mean HIGHLY.

The music is virtuosic keyboard/guitar rock, anchored with a strong drum-bass rhythm, improvisational at times, yet always strongly executed. At times, the guitar work is reminiscent of Steve Hillage's work with Gong, with, as one reviewer put it, "...none of the metaphysical bullshit...." There is a strong improvisational element in their music, yet not to the extent of self-indulgent doodling. This band was hailed as one of the best bands of 1990, with Erpland. Live Underslunky was recorded at gigs played in November 1991. These guys manage to get their live pieces to live up to the standard of their studio material, and the result is a fine collection of "space rock" in the best traditions. All the favourites are here, including "Erpland," "Bizarre Bazaar," etc.

This is another band that has been raved about on the net in the past few months. What I've heard has been instrumental spacey stuff that is really difficult to classify, but I can hear strains of Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, and even Jethro Tull. Very heavy on the sound effects, solid bass lines. Worth a listen, without a doubt.

Ozric Tentacles is generally regarded as one of the best things to happen to progressive/psychedelic rock in recent years. I agree. They have developed quite a following in the U.K. and a cult following seems to be developing here in the States. Erpland is a non-stop psychedelic jam of the finest kind from start to finish. Erpland (and other Ozric music) is based around the incredible interplay between Ed Wynne's guitar and Joie Hinton's ethereal synthesizer. Hinton has the bubbling/gurgling synth down cold and I think the keyboard work on this album is some of the best space synth work in recent years. Wynne is an impeccable guitar player whose chops draw from the best of Steve Hillage. The obvious influence at work is Gong during their Planet Gong trilogy, though there isn't the silly fantasy themes that occasionally gets in the way of Gong's music (e.g., Angel's Egg) at times. There are no lyrics and the focus is on the incredible, mind-blowing jams with distinct mid-eastern influences that would feel right at home in any opium den. Titles such as "Tidal Convergence," "Mysticum Arabicola," and "Valley of a Thousand Thoughts" indicate the direction you'll head when listening to these, particularly if you recently visited that opium den. Songs like "Eternal Wheel" and "Tidal Convergence" highlight the intense fusion of Wynne's furious playing against a backdrop of celestial sounds from Hinton's keyboards. Others, such as "Toltec Spring," "Cracker Blocks," and "A Gift of Wings," use guitar, synth, and various percussion instruments to develop a wonderfully engrossing and meditative atmosphere. "Inscence" shows the band's exploratory style, which takes the space theory and overlays it on a reggae foundation. Unique, to say the least. Simply stated, this album gets my highest recommendation. Pungent Effulgent was actually released on LP before Erpland but on CD after Erpland. It is similar to Erpland though a both spacier and more experimental in many places. Wynne's trademark guitar is all over. Strangeitude is usually mentioned as a favorite by those who haven't heard Erpland, the most commonly cited fave. Strangeitude has a more aggressive edge relative to previous albums. Live Underslunky is an excellent live set though the "ambience" or "spaciousness" of their studio work is missing. Afterswish was a collection from their first six cassettes but its purpose is nearly negated by the Vitamen Enhanced boxed set which contains CD versions of the first six cassettes. Afterswish has a couple of new tracks, though, making it worthwhile for the Ozrics completist. Jurassic Shift finds the band treading familiar ground (ala Strangeitude) instead of breaking new ground. Start with Erpland or Pungent Effulgent. -- Mike Taylor

Top progressive instrumental band of the '90s from the UK. Erpland and Strangeitude are both excellent CDs full of consistently strong material and brilliant playing. As many have said before, Ozric Tentacles has just about everything you could want: a highly accomplished drummer with a huge sound, an aggressive bass player featured prominently in the mix, a guitarist worthy of praise, plenty of top-notch synthesizer work, and a flute player and two percussionists to boot. The sound is somewhat reminiscent of later Gong but much tighter.

Rather overrated psych-prog band. The only album I actually own is Pungent Effulgent, but if you ever associate yourself with other prog-heads, you can't help but be exposed to them. As for Pungent Effulgent, there are a few tracks with playing that will leave you spellbound ("Ayurvedic" and "Dissolution (The Clouds Disperse)," but especially "KIck Muck"). But for every "Kick Muck," there are two or three laborious "world-music" pieces that leave me bored. Their music has been compared to Gong, and indeed there is a similarity except that the Ozrics is all instrumental. I'd just as soon listen to Gong, or for something more modern, Djam Karet, who are much more original (they don't cop Hillage riffs, etc.). There is definitely some good music on all their albums, but overall they don't live up to their inflated reputation. -- Mike Ohman

Erpland and Pungent Effulgent are pretty good. Strangeitude and Jurassic Shift sound like progified dance music to me. Boring repetitive rhythms, endless jamming with no purpose. Yawn. Maybe if they took speed instead of pot they'd regain some of their intensity. -- Mike Borella

I find it a bit hard to listen to all two hours of Afterswish in one sitting, but so far my impression is fairly positive. The first 40 minutes or so is classic Ozric Tentacles. Killer psychedelic jamming reminiscent of very early Hawkwind. These guys can say more in an instrumental than most bands can say with words. However as the album progresses it goes a little bit downhill. In other words, from classic to just plain good. Great music for studying and/or sex. :-) Fans of Erpland will love the first disc while the second is more along the lines of Strangeitude. Maybe this isn't the best place to start with Ozric Tentacles, but it is a must for any fan.

I only have Afterwish, but it's enough to sell me on this band. Erpland is supposedly their best. Strong You-era Gong influence without the silliness. Very tight. Incredible, incredible, incredible band.

I have Erpland, Pungent Effulgent, and Live Underslunky. With all the raving, which is mostly deserved, I'm a bit hesitant to say this, but I'm not sure one needs to get more than one Ozrics album. The ones I have aren't distinctive enough (distinctive from each other, that is) for me to even think about which one might be my favorite. But I'd recommend checking the band out; it's wonderful stuff nonetheless.

This prolific British band plays in a style that dates back to the space-rock and psychedelic rock of the early '70s. The tracks on Arborescence consists essentially of guitar improvisations on a backdrop of groovy rhythms by the bass, drums, percussions and synthesizer sequences. The production is rich but retains a natural (live) feel that's perfectly suited for the spontaneity of the performances. Music with an energy that can transport you to far away places.... Every collection should include at least one Ozric! -- Paul Charbonneau

Afterswish is compilation from the six cassette-only releases (which are now out on CD).

Here's a review of sorts from '94-99:
1994 saw a major line up change for Ozric Tentacles, with Joie Hinton and Merv Pepler departing to concentrate full time on their electronic outfit Eat Static. Taking their place were Seaweed, a Tim Blake disciple and synth wizard, and new drummer, Rad.

1995's Become the Other showed that the new band was stronger than ever, delivering nearly an hour worth of new material with all the usual blend of traditional instruments with weird synths and ethnic sounds. There is a good balance of moods, ranging from full speed ahead space rock with furious guitar and drums to tracks anchored by deep bass grooves, to more mystical ethereal outings such as the laid back title track. If you liked Aboresence, you're sure to like this one.

Spice Doubt is a limited edition live album taken from a webcast in 1998. Featuring older tracks plus some new material, it showcases the talents of the band live, particularly the virtuosity of Rad (who cites Neil Peart as a major influence). While in the studio he is relatively restrained, live, he is all over the drum kit, particularly on the 10 min. "Dissolution" - incredible! Equally, Ed Wynne's guitar work is more over the top, with lots of wild playing and improvisation. Overall this album is 78 mins of high quality, high energy space rock from on of the finest bands in the genre. It will not disappoint.

The following studio album, Waterfall Cities shows a leaning towards modern ambient/trance styles which were hinted at in Curious Corn, with less organic playing particularly in the drum department. However this is not to say the modern sound is weak or more commercial (heaven forbid!)-it is still uniquely Ozric.

IMO, despite being quite different from the sound of albums such as Pungent Effulgent or Erpland, Waterfall Cities, like Curious Corn is an excellent album with strong compositions, especially on the more band oriented tracks. While there are still tablas and ethnic flutes to be found here and there, Eastern influences are less prominent on this album than on previous works. Although overall Waterfall Cities is somewhat light on guitar, when the guitar is featured it is impressive, with some of Vai's influence showing on Ed's "acrobatic" solos. Highlights are the impossibly tight opening track, Coily which starts out in a twisting 17/18 riff, first with synth, which is then joined by drums, and clanking bass, or the 9 min+ "Sultana De'trii", a mellower piece based around a progressive dub-reggae theme, with drifting synths and arpeggiated guitar.

Swirly Termination is a contractual obligation album, made up of outtakes and unreleased material from 1998 that is not supported by the band. Reportedly weaker than official efforts, with an unpolished sound reminiscent of earlier material.

The latest official release The Hidden Step is generally more band oriented with a bit less of a programmed trance feel than Waterfall Cities. Ed Wynne's trademark guitar is more prevalent throughout, and there is a stronger emphasis on Eastern/ethnic elements, both in composition and delivery. Touted as a crossover album that will appeal to fans of Hawkwind, Gong, Tangerine Dream and beyond. -- Daniel Briggs


========================

Title: Ozric Tentacles
In: Guitar Magazine, Sep.01, 1994, v.4, no.8, p.40
Summary: The hirsute rustics currently taking prog rock to a new audience in the country's clubs.


1st Page:
(full page picture of Ed playing guitar with eyes closed)
big bong...

A 400 year old millhouse-cum-recording studio on the river Avon... evidence of the odd 'exotic' cigarette... a clutch of dodgy 70's Gong albums. Who'd live in a house like this? Why, it's the Ozric Tentacles! Danny Eccleston goes west to meet chief Ozric Ed Wynne, ambient guitar prog overlord and creator of 13 albums in nine years. 'We're almost as big as the Zappa section in the record shops now...'

avon calling!
'We're all obsessed by mystery,' smiles Ed Wynne. 'I think that's fair to say. There's Joie and Merv obsessed by aliens and UFOs, and me... well, I'm obsessed by sound really. Music's a mystery, isn't it - 'cos really it's just a load of nonsense, it's just noise... Why should organising it create emotional responses? It's fun to be honest, this mystical, mysterious weirdness, and our way in is through the music.'

If the Ozric Tentacles needed anything so pretentious as a 'manifesto', maybe this could be it. Their bucolic blend of progressive rock, English rural psychedelia meshed with umpteen strands of 'world' music has, they're proud to say, no significance beyond itself. Unfazed by the demands of fashion and unsmirched by the smog and cynicism of the metropolis, they're happy in their West Country hideaway, where the pub shuts at ten and there's nowt to do but retreat behind the four-foot thick walls of their 16th century millhouse and jam like mad bastards on mescalin.

'The Americans love the idea of this place, 'cos of course they haven't got much that's over 200 years old. When we tell them we live in a 400 year old house where we make space rock music, they think it's great. They think we're all druids!'

It's an idyllic spot alright, shrouded by trees, and as good a place as any to discuss the aptly-titled "Arborescence", the Ozrics' latest 'proper' LP. Guitarist Ed Wynne glances absent-mindedly out of the window of his attic studio and reflects that it wasn't always thus...

'It was about 1982. There was a group of us who were into jamming for the sake of jamming, and doing little bits of recording and having fun with it. Then we started going to the free festivals with a generator, a band, amplifiers and a drum kit. That's really how we formed.'

The press are found of painting the Ozrics as mongrel-owning, yoghurt-knitting spaceheads with an allergy to the 20th century, but they're more likely to talk about the tough old graft behind their irresistible rise than spout pseudo-medieval mumbo jumbo. Their first full-length tape was entitled "Erpsongs" and gained an impressive currency among those for whom 'prog' was not necessarily a dirty word and, putting to shame the myriad of so-called 'indie bands' with surreptitious major label distribution deals, another six followed, mail-order only.

'"Arborescence is our 13th album,' says Ed. 'We're almost as big as the Frank Zappa section in the record shops ha ha! I don't go into record shops very often, but when I see it I think, That's just mad! I talk to people who've only got into us since our last album, "Jurassic Shift", and they say, "That was good, is there anything else we can here?" and I say, "Well, there's these other ten!"

If the Ozrics' were a fish, they'd be the Coelacanth. Thought extinct for a thousand grillion years or so, their particular strain of out-there, musicianship-heavy psychrock was suddenly rediscovered, thriving on the overlooked festival scene. Their rehabilitation as something approaching a hip musical entity was unexpected, but the recent flowering of ambient electronic music (courtesy of The Orb amongst others) has certainly helped. It seems the hippies are back...

'We were the band that didn't stop. The punk rockers wanted us to stop, but we persisted. We used to be guaranteed a gig at every festival we went to, at somebody's tent or other, but we can't do that anymore. When you go to Glastonbury now there's the massive stage and a production line of bands.'

Ed's not keen on that nasty punk rock music, then? 'Well for me it seemed like a very strange move for people to stop trying to achieve what they were trying to achieve - suddenly there was this anti-talent kind of mentality. But I thought, This can't last forever. So I stood firm doing what I was doing. In America they call us prog rock. They don't see the hyped "festival band" image at all. They simply see us as more progressive rock music from England - which we take as a compliment really.'

To their credit, and to the relief of music fans whose original problem with prog rock concerned the po-faced elitism of bands like Yes rather than their admirable (if sometimes overstretched) musical ambitions, the Ozrics are, above all else, a superfun partay. Not for nothing have they gained the affection of 'rave' audiences nationwide; the Ozric Tentacles are slaves to a monster groove.

'That whole thing about progressive rock being "high-brow, sophisticated, difficult music", that if you were a real music head you'd understand it, the elitism and all that - no, we're not into that at all. There are moments when it does sound like that in our music, but what we try and do is guide people through the music in a way they can cope with. We try and make it sound fun, which guides them through the pathways of the more complicated passages.'

Joie and Merv, the Ozrics' keyboardist and drummer, juggle their space rock commitments with time spent twiddling with machines that go 'bip'. And while their Eat Static dance project continues to thrive on the rave scene, the Ozrics remain in similar demand. Ed shakes his generously thatched head...

'We're always asked to do raves. For some reason we manage to get away with it, and I don't know why because this is not really rave music at all. Then again, people do dance to it and... well, it does have strange noises in it! It's weird that the ravers can only get off on house/techno music, and us. I personally find that more than half an hour of that incessant beat drives me up the wall!'

Make no mistake, the Ozrics are a guitar band (well, they're a flute band too, but that's another story). A master of everything from the Eastern and esoteric through lissom reggae to electrifying fusion-widdle, Ed can, um, play a bit. A fact which Joe Satriani, for one, is well aware of.

'I hadn't a clue that it was going to happen,' boggles Ed. 'They'd asked me if I'd like to see Joe Satriani and I said yeah, 'cos it'd be a guitarist burning up on stage which would be fun to watch. But when I got there, I was immediately ushered backstage and asked whether I had my guitar with me... They'd set up this jam in this dressing room, just me and him and a couple of guitars and all these cameras! And there we were having this weird little jam! It was really hot as well, so I was sweating away feeling very strange indeed. In fact it made me feel strange for about three days!


'Mind you I think Stevie Vai has the edge on him compositionally. It's almost like Joe's trying to play songs without the lyrics, retaining the song form. It's something I'm very keen to break away from myself. Also, I like Vai's sense of humour and his textual guitar sense. I think that he's really mad and I think he's opened the way for really "mad guitar" to be explored. Acrobatic guitar playing I call it.'

But what of the Ozrics' fabled eclecticism? Aren't they open to the same charges of patronising ethnic tourism that dog the likes of Sting and Paul Simon?

'Behind all of those kinds of music there's something deep-rooted and very strange,' argues Ed, 'but it's been watered down and watered down until the western ear can appreciate it more. We like to try and find it from a few notches back, before it actually becomes too saccharine. Some of the tapes we have are really odd, really mad; some of it doesn't even sound like music. Like, a one-string catgut violin played in a little shack somewhere can sound like God knows what-like someone oiling a piece of squealing machinery or something, but you can still find a tune in that.'

As the festival season grinds to a muddy and acid-fugged halt, there's an autumn tour from the Ozric Tentacles to provide our Indian summer's last mystic yahoo. Which is cool because with or without the catgut violin the Ozrics live is a fearsome prospect. Shaggy freaks prancing in epileptic lights they might appear, but in truth few 'rock' bands sail quite so invigoratingly close to the improvisational wind.

'It's a very fast thing doing an Ozrics gig,' marvels Ed. 'It's flying at you at a hundred miles an hour. Joie likens it to a conveyor belt going past with all these different shaped holes, and he's got to pick the right blocks to fit in those holes as they go flying past. And you have to get every single one right! And it's the same for me on guitar, except the conveyor belt for me is going at a thousand miles an hour. You've got split seconds to decide what you're going to do next, and a lot of concentration goes into it... and that's why I can't help but pull these faces. It's the bane of all lead guitar players. I hate watching myself on video, 'cos they always go close up on me when I'm playing a guitar solo, and I look hideous, especially with the strobe light flashing - you get these tortured, flickering faces. It's like Hieronymous Bosch!'

As the scent of pig slurry and silage sheds comes creeping tangily through the open window Hieronymous Bosch seems an unlikely comparison. Constable - solid, comfortable, English - would perhaps be more apt. 'The Americans insist that we're very English indeed,' concedes Ed as he waves vaguely at our oak-beamed surroundings, where a well-appointed mixing desk somehow fails to disturb the modest aura of a 18th century cottage industry...

'It's funny,' muses Ed. 'I've evolved from 4-track to 8-track to 24-track, so I've always had to invent ways of working around those limitations. It's an unusual setup. For one, I don't have a computer in here, because I don't really like TV screens in the room; I find they suck part of my brain away, absorbing my energies, 'cos I keep finding myself looking at them rather than using my ears, which is what you're meant to be doing. Still, you make all these efforts to make sure it's perfect and because everyone's speakers are different it never sounds the same!'

So in an Ozrics Utopia everyone would have the same speakers? 'Ha ha yeah! And in a perfect world, everyone will have their own surroundsound room dedicated to...'
To the Ozric Tentacles?
'Well yeah, of course!'

Danny Eccleston

(ON SAME PAGE)

ed's hands and feet


For a player with such a yen for space age sonics, Ed's guitar setup is surprisingly sparse. For a start he largely makes do with just two electrics; a newish Ibanez Jem and a beaten-up Ibanez Artist...

'The Artist is from the days when active circuits were yet to be properly tamed, so it's incredibly powerful. In fact, when I tried it out in the shop I almost blew up the amp! The active section has bass, middle and treble controls and a booster. So I take the bass and the treble ones right off, stick the middle on full and the booster on full, and use the actives 'on' switch as my lead switch. It basically triples the output of the guitar, which actually sounds quite nice through a Marshall, heh, heh! I really rely on those wild electronics now - it's a nice middly sound and it really pokes out.'

More esoteric instruments include an insane transferable-neck number hand-made by Ozrics' manager John Bennett. Bored of your 6-string? No problem: simply unlock from the back, slide out the neck (complete with bridge and strings) and shunt in a 12-stringed neck, or even a piezo-equipped solid acoustic unit. Easy peasy, and if that fails to appeal there's always Bennett's patent chipboard sitar.

Though Steve Hillage remains something of a guru, Ed's guitar sound is anything but a slayish copy of the Gongster. In fact, it's as full and round as it is weirdly synthetic.

'What I like about the sound that I do have is that I've kept the option of making it semi-artificial if I want. The distortion that I use is mainly from an old Marshall amp, which allows the rich sound of the guitar. I have it set right on the edge so that it's clean if you play quietly or distorted if you play loud; so it's always got that raw edge to it.

I also use a tape echo - a Korg Stage Echo - because tape echo sounds nice when it goes overload. Digital echos sound a bit to much like numbers crunching to me. I've got a Boss Super Overdrive pedal, which again you can still hear the original guitar through. I use a Crybaby wah-wah pedal, a Boss chorus and a compressor. I've also got a couple of the Boss micro-rack things - a phaser and a flanger. It's a really strong, mouthy sort of phaser; you can almost make it talk.

Recording, I usually mike the amp up if I can, with a Shure SM57. I wouldn't trust a rack. I know that nowadays that's what they like to use, just giving the PA a left and a right, but I like to think that if the PA blows up at least I can turn my amp right up and there'll still be a gig. If I had a wah pedal, an echo unit and a valve amp, then I could do a gig anywhere probably. The rest are just luxuries.'

'We also use acoustic guitars in the background,' continues Ed. 'We take everything out apart from the treble and mike them real close - like, using the guitar as a texture rather than the main instrument. I like to have two of them, one on each side, like a curtain behind the music, or twinkling stars... depending on what state of mind you're in!'

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Man, oh man, oh man oh man. I cannot put into words what the experience was like last night. It was the second time I saw 'em (first was last year in Atlanta), so it's not like I didn't know what we were in for. But, holy cats, I felt like I had just stood in the small space between two trains passing each other at full speed. For about 2 hours. I knew it would be an incredible show when I went down to the venue before just to catch a look and possibly say hello. No such luck; they had sound-checked and gone to dinner by the time I got there. But the guy watching the back door, who hadn't ever heard of Ozrics let alone heard the music, was raving about the sound check. Aparently, this guy was floored. "Man, I can't wait to actually see the show!" he giggled, teetering on a bar stool outside the back door. Jeeze-oh-peter, what can I say? My girlfriend Patty may have stated it best afterwards when she looked down, shook her head and said "Man, that was a MEAN show!" The band seemed more relaxed than I remembered at the previous show. They were incredibly tight (of course) but I was surprised by how loose they were with the music in terms of just cutting loose and wailing. I guess this didn't strike me so much last year. And they were having a _lot_ of fun playing. I think the crowd was very responsive and enthusiastic, which it seems encouraged a wicked performance. I can't remember the whole set list... not necessarily in order: Vita Voom (I think), Xingu, Chinatype, Pixel Dream (what a god@#$% tune!!!), Saucers, (wow... it was more than I could have imagined), Eternal Wheel, Vibuthi, Sploosh! (this tune kicked my ass) and I can't remember what others. They had written Sunscape on their setlist for the encore, but decided to play White Rhino Tea and Throbbe instead. Whew... I mean, jeeze, what can I say to describe it?

The club they played was relatively small. Narrow, but pretty deep. The place was packed once Ozrics started. (Incidentally, Star People impressed me much more than they did last year... but then again, last year I spent most of the set trying to figure out what the hell was going on.) Most everyone was in a Halloween costume, and this amused the band; Ed, John and Seaweed made comments about how strangely people dress in Nashville. In all, though, it was great to see so many people support the band and appreciate the music. I was really surprised by how many people were there and the enthusiasm expressed for the band. Doesn't it feel strange how you can feel like you are one of a few people that knows of Ozrics (especially in NashVegas), and then you go to the show and it's packed? I kinda wish I'd gone to Atlanta for tonight. Oh well, maybe I'll catch a West Coast show later on. :)

For the information of those seeing upcoming shows: They are out of "The Hidden Step". The guy at the table (I forget his name) said they didn't bring nearly enough with them, obviously. So if you're counting on getting the CD from the show, like I was, you're outta luck. Jon added "Good luck finding it." It seems that the best bet is to order from the web site. One last thing: How much has admission been for the other shows? Last night, it was $7!!!! $7!!!!! A small venue, incredible band, $7!!!! Is this simply criminal, or what? I was ready to pay $20! still coming down,

-Jonathan Ewald

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A Short History
Ozric Tentacles was formed at the Stonehenge festival in 1982 when the initial band members met around an open fire. The name evolved from a joke about imaginary breakfast cereals. In 1983 they started gigging in clubs, like The Crypt in London, and a second synth player and percussionist were added to the band. They also played all the major festivals after that, and six hour shows (!) were well within the bounds of probability.
During the eighties the band released no less than 6 fully instrumental tapes, plus an official outtake tape, issued under the guise of Noden Ictus. The first tape consisted of a selection of 14 pieces from the 84/85 period and was released in late 85 under the name Erpsongs. In 1986, no less than three tapes were released. Tantric Obstacles (15 new tracks), Live Ethereal Cereal (8 live recordings) and There is Nothing (14 new songs). The fifth cassette, Sliding Gliding Worlds, was released in 1988 and contained 15 new tracks. The last tape was a collection of 14 rarities and left-overs under the name The Bits Between the Bits.
In 1988 the band was invited by Hawkind's Dave Anderson to record their album debut in his studio and release it on his Demi Monde label a year later. This turned into Pungent Effulgent. This album was quickly followed by a second one called Erpland in 1990, a double LP released on their own Dovetail label on which Pungent Effulgent was re-released shortly after.
The band slowly started to attract a more mainstream audience. Executives played the CDs on their car stereo while younger kids, exhausted by the two note Techno of their generation, discovered the pleasant chill out properties of The Ozric's music. The band started to put more focus on the electronic side of their music, resulting in their third album in 1991, Strangeitude, which also featured their only single to date; Sploosh.
1991 also saw the release of a double CD with a collection of songs taken from the 6 cassette-only albums plus a couple of previously unreleased tracks; Afterswish. A live album called Live Underslunky was released in 1992. Most of the tracks on this album originated on the three studio albums. 1992 was also the year in which guitarist/keyboard player Ed Wynn set up his own recording studio in an old mill.

By 1993 Ozric Tentacles grossed over 3 million dollars, had their own label, mail order & distribution business, made shirts and produced their own music. The audience of the Ozrics had slighly changed from New Age hippies to a much wider cross-section of the music population. Although their next album, Jurassic Shift, certainly wasn't their best to date, it was extremely successful. The reason for this would probably be a mixture of coincidences. Besides the growing fan base the album title resembled the title of Spielberg's Jurassic Park movie - released in the same year - and it got even more publicity because of the first use of hemp in the (tree-free) LP sleeve and CD booklet; the first commercial use of such tree-free paper in the music industry. The album went straight to number 11 in the UK charts and sold over 50.000 copies.

In 1994 all the 6 cassette albums were re-released on CD, as well as in a box set called Vitamin Enhanced Ozric Tentacles, which was soon withdrawn because the Kellogs Company protested against the parody on their cereal packagings on the box set cover. After releasing three more studio albums, Aborescence (94), Become the Other (95) and Curious Corn (97) the band released a recording of a live Internet broadcast in 1998 called Spice Doubt Streaming. By this time only two guys of the original band, Ed Wynne (guitars & synths) and John Egan (flute and voices), remain. Some of the former members decided to put more time into Eat Static, a techno Ozric offshoot. Nevertheless, the band is still producing the same blend of styles they have done for 16 years now and plan to release their next album in the summer of 99. Besides that, remastered versions of Become the Other and Arborescence are planned for release in the spring of 1999.

So .... what's it like ?
Here's some descriptions I found while doing some research:
[The music] will move from intense high speed fusion, to incredible atmospheric electronic music to a track that could only be described as a prog bands answer to reggae.
The music is virtuosic keyboard/guitar rock, anchored with a strong drum-bass rhythm, improvisational at times, yet always strongly executed.
There are no lyrics and the focus is on the incredible, mind-blowing jams with distinct mid-eastern influences.
... a highly accomplished drummer with a huge sound, an aggressive bass player featured prominently in the mix, a guitarist worthy of praise, plenty of top-notch synthesizer work, and a flute player and two percussionists to boot.
... I'm not sure one needs to get more than one Ozric Tentacles album. The ones I have aren't distinctive enough (from each other) for me to even think about which one might be my favourite.
The sound owes as much to jazz, Asian musics and acid house as it does to straight-ahead rock.
In an age where so many bands fall into ready made categories already overflowing with their peers, the Ozric Tentacles stand their own. (...) unique blend of progressive ethnic-space-dance-jazz-rock (...)
Ozric Tentacles have formulated an updated strand of progressive rock for the rave generation, combining all the quirky melodrama and advanced musicianship of the 1970s fusion with the spacey, dance-floor Nirvana of the 90s.
(...) bucolic blend of progressive rock, English rural psychedelica meshed with umpteen strands of world music (...) Make no mistake, the Ozrics are a guitar band (well, they're a flute band too, but that's another story). A master of everything from the Eastern and esoteric through lissom reggae to electrifying fusion-widdle.
Finally, Ed Wynn himself:"People put all these words together to try and describe it, that's the weird thing. They might title it ethnic, psychedelic,space reggae, ambient, rocky, blah, blah, blah, you know. Who knows ? Music of the mind, armchair journey music or whatever. It is escapist in a way."
People have compared Ozric Tentacles to (early) Hawkind, Pink Floyd, Gong, Steve Hillage and even bands like King Crimson and Black Uhuru. Tracks can be divided into 'band-based' and 'sequencer-based' songs.
Enough about that all, let's have a look at six of the recent remastered re-released and two latest pieces of work by this band.