It took them a while but Glasgow based 60s influenced Psych combo The Fast Camels have finally followed up their 2007 debut album. Apparently the band experienced a membership shakeup, awkwardly prior to a scheduled appearance at the 40th anniversary Monterey Pop Festival. They regrouped with new members in 2010 and the result is the 12 song Dead Rooms and Butterfly Dreams.

I’m struck by the musical variety across these tracks, relative to the first album. One thing that hasn’t changed is that these guys can write a song, and someone knows how to craft it all in the studio. Bruisy Bedlock is a schizophrenic song that’s pure Syd-era Floyd in the first half, with its mass of freakout guitars surrounding a dark yet melodic tune. Then the band shift gears and launch into a funky thrashing Pop-Psych rocker that’s like the Hollies with Keith Moon on drums and an ever looming acid guitar. The spirit of Syd returns on the brief but satisfyingly strange Kelvin. Ditto for Camera Assassin, which has an Astronomy Domine vibe and rockets off into space. This is one of my favorites of the set. Another one of my favorites is Golden Greeter. It starts off as stoned garage Psych with Jim Morrison styled vocals, before switching to bouncy, power rocking Pop-Psych, while retaining the garage guitar and traversing a variety of surreal, freaky instrumental territory.

Other highlights include Cecilia Deal, with melodies and vocal harmonies that recall the Hollies, but with spaghetti Western guitar twang and Psychedelically snaking guitar licks. I like the bouncy tra-la-la Pop-Psych of Ken’s Sad Vice, which includes a cool 60s organ sound and trippy guitar. Penny Pinching Debt Collector begins as a light acoustic guitar and piano tune, before launching into a darkly cavernous Psych rocker with some nicely stoned instrumental segments. I enjoyed the orchestral Power-Pop of Park Day and My Little World. Cobbler Clarence is a standout, starting off with a blend of funky, soulful, theatrical swing, then later exploding into a Power-Pop rocker with passionate vocals and contrasting light harmonies. All Day Breakfast gets into some of the album’s darkest territory, mixing frantic Psychedelic Power-Pop with an acid-metal Goth vibe. And The Ballad Of Berty & Johan includes some of the set’s mellower moments, yet still jams and grooves.

In summary, The Fast Camels are, at their core, a 60s influenced Pop-Psych band, but they don’t restrict themselves to a simplistic verse-chorus-verse format. These guys incorporate lots of stylistic variety and Psychedelic freakout elements into their structured songs, and a sense of the surreal pervades throughout. A fun set of songs.

For more information visit The Fast Camels web site at: http://www.thefastcamels.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

The latest from German Prog infused Hard/Psych/Kraut rockers Space Debris features 4 side long stretch-out jams and nearly 80 minutes of music. The band are still the quartet of Tommy Gorny on guitar, Mitja Besen on bass, Winnie Rimbach-Sator on keyboards, and Christian Jäger on drums and percussion. If you’re unfamiliar with Space Debris you should know that they wear their early 70s influences like a badge of honor. And they do it good.

Colossus Stranded starts off with a slow yet potent doomy vibe, eventually taking off on a classic Prog-Psych power rocking jam with hints of Jazz-Fusion, and alternating with mellow grooving segments, which all lead to an explosive, anthem-like finale. Rimbach-Sator and Gorny are well matched on keyboards and guitar, playing off one another intuitively as they trade leads and solo together. The keyboard sounds are a golden age of Prog delight, recalling the glory days of the Hammond and Rhodes. Phonomorphosis has some of the most complex instrumentation of the set, as well as some of the most spaced out. When the band launch into a high energy heavy Prog jam, all the musicians are occupying their own individual realm, yet coming together to create a cohesive rocking whole, and stumbling across lots of catchy melodies in the process. Rimbach-Sator seems to be exploring his inner Sun Ra, with some seriously freaky keyboard sounds, as well as fuzzed jazzy and all manner of classic Prog styles, tripping and grooving along while the guitar rips off fiery solos, some of which get pretty spacey. We’re treated to some killer bubbling and pulsating Psych-Jazz guitar too. This is my favorite track of the set.

I like the Psychedelic Prog-Jazz of Cat Flow Deluxe, which at times sounds like a blend of Soft Machine and the contemporary San Francisco band Mushroom. There’s a lightly grooving and cheerily melodic section that brings to mind a fuzzed rendition of John Tropea’s A Short Trip To Space album, and the overall vibe is like a summer stroll through an outdoor bohemian fair. Then about halfway through the band switch gears and take off on a fast paced jam with more excellent keyboard/guitar tag team interplay. I also enjoyed the soulful segment that sounds like the soundtrack to a 60s movie. Finally, Journey Back To The Moon is a full on Prog-Psych assault with powerhouse organ and guitar and thunderous rhythm section, with inspired playing by all.

So set the wayback machine to 1971 Mr Peabody and head for Germany and some genuine Prog-Psych adventure. The album is available in CD and double LP formats, and vinyl junkies should note that the LP is housed in a gatefold jacket with beautiful artwork.

For more information visit the Space Debris web site at: http://www.spacedebrisprojekt.de

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Astralasia join Fruits de Mer for a LP + 7″ set of new tracks plus two unreleased recordings from 2006. I’ve not kept up with Astralasia over the years but if they’ve been primarily about Trance/Dub/Techno then they are really indulging their inner Space/Kraut rockers on this outing.

Rangoon is like Neu! meets Klaus Schulze with Space-Prog keys and the briefest of Dave Gilmour-esqe guitar licks. The Gilmour styled guitar steps to the forefront on Continuim, which is a killer grooving Pink Floyd in outer space rocker. Then there’s two 15 minute stretch out tracks. Wind On Water kicks off with Eastern percussion and floating space electronics creating a trippy cruising vibe, and then old time acoustic Blues guitar joins in. I wasn’t expecting that, and it sound pretty cool, like some kind of Mississippi Delta in the Himalayas. Around the 5 minute mark a rockin’ Motorik beat kicks in, and electric guitar starts soloing as electronic space waves and bubbling synths trip along. The guitar sounds exactly like Tim Jones work with the Stone Premonitions bands Rabbit’s Hat and Census of Hallucinations. The band jam away nicely until coming in for a peacefully cosmic acoustic guitar and weaving drones finale. The Innosence begins with a cloud of gently floating space waves, plus astral flute melodies, bleeping and bubbling electronics, and steady rhythmic pulsations. After a while the pace and intensity level pick up and a rockin’ guitar starts to solo as the electronic stars twinkle around it. Just a gorgeously mind-bending journey full of mellow, image inducing space rock and playful freaky effects that’s like a Swedish massage for your HED. Cresta Run is one of the two older tracks, being a beautiful blend of soaring cosmic electronic space, Trance grooves, and killer dual guitars; one trippy melodic psychedelic Blues and the other pure space. Finally, The Desert consists of Space-Blues and Trance, accompanied by voice narration that sounds like its describing a post-apocalyptic world. I like the dirty Blues guitar and piano combo. Lots of interesting variety and surprises on this album. Recommended.

The LP will be available in June, and as usual this is vinyl ONLY, no CDs or downloads. If interested you better hurry because Fruits de Mer releases sell out QUICK!

For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records web site at: http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Tir Na Nog are the Irish folk duo of Leo O’Kelly and Sonny Condell. These guys are veterans, having formed in 1969 and their first albums were released by Chrysalis in the early 70s. This four song EP includes three originals and a cover of Silver Apples’ I Have Known Love.

At first it might seem odd for Silver Apples to be covered by a folk band. But if you listen closely to the original I Have Known Love, you’ll hear, buried among all the strangeness, a simple and very pleasant song. Tir Na Nog zero in on that song element and make it their own. All four of these songs are beautiful. It’s gentle, acoustic driven Folk music, but with a mystical quality. If you’re unfamiliar with these guys but are a dedicated FdM patron who enjoyed Soft Hearted Scientists, then you’re sure to dig Tir Na Nog. They’re more stripped down and not as “out there” as the Scientists can get, but definitely in the same general realm. One song that’s a little different is one you won’t hear because there wasn’t enough room on the 7″, but reviewers got it (nyah, nyah!!). Andria is a love song that’s more 60s Pop than Folk, and even has a cool Jazz flavor. Nice.

The EP will be available in June, and as usual this is vinyl ONLY, no CDs or downloads. If interested you better hurry because Fruits de Mer releases sell out QUICK!

For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records web site at: http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Tor Peders are a Swedish band who released a single a few years ago and played several gigs. They recorded this one album in 2011, which was apparently even then slated to be released by Fruits de Mer, but the group disbanded after one of the key members was killed in a car accident. Having recently reconnected with surviving members of the band, Fruits de Mer has finally made the album available, including a bonus 7″ of music recorded after the album’s completion.

First, I’ll tell you that this sounds like it was recorded in the late 60s/early 70s. This absolutely sounds like a lost gem from back in the day. I listened to the album before reading the promo sheet and thought, “oh, is FdM getting into the reissue business?” Aye Makami opens the set and is a little different from the rest of the album. The intro sounds like we’re being prepped for a Deep Purple styled rocker. But lo and behold, once it blasts off we’re steeped in a blazing mash of twin guitar Surf-Psych and heavy organ. Some of the best melodic hooks are to be heard on the Acid-Pop, yet hard rocking Islossning I C-moll. The music gets more spaced out with Smafaglars varn and Sinnet rinner, two propulsive, Prog-Psych/Krautrock explorations with the guitar and keys joining on melodies and trading off licks. I especially like the way Sinnet rinner grooves along as a soulful, heavy rocking jam, yet retains a cosmic Psychedelic vibe throughout. Then what sounds like the finale is a volcanic explosion that leads into two more minutes of tectonic feedback and effects incineration.

Easily my favorite track of the set is Incident vid Domsted, which features 11 minutes of full blown Space Rock. The music builds up slowly, like a mixture of early Pink Floyd, Nektar’s Journey To The Centre Of The Eye, Grobschnitt’s Solar Music Live, and a zillion other analogies I could make. Tor-Peders do a great job of creating a bubbling cauldron of cosmic intensity, with a mind-bending sense of cool grooving drift. Rounding out the LP is a cover of George Martin’s Theme One, which Tor-Peders amps up with heavy organ and incendiary guitar (and damned if I don’t hear a wee bit of the Tommy Overture thrown in). But then we’ve got two more 7 minute tracks on the accompanying 7″. Signed tp is an easy paced stoned, yet soulful jam. And L’esprit d’escaliere is a slow, pleasantly melodic focused piece, that ever so slowly builds up to a high intensity climax.

In short, this is as glorious a retro experience as any early 70s Prog-Psych junkie could hope for. Did I tell you it was recorded in 2011?

The LP will be available in June, and as usual this is vinyl ONLY, no CDs or downloads. If interested you better hurry because Fruits de Mer releases sell out QUICK!

For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records web site at: http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

My introduction to American electronic musician Craig Padilla’s music was his contribution to the Strange Fish 1 LP released last year by Fruits de Mer. Craig has been around for many years, releasing albums on multiple labels and composing soundtracks for television, theatrical and film productions. Americans will get an inkling of what Craig’s music might be about when I say that he has been featured on the “Echoes” and “Hearts of Space” radio programs. But this 2-LP compilation of music recorded from 1996 onwards is no mere New Age fluff. Padilla’s influences include Wendy Carlos, Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, and Steve Roach, among others, and that is precisely the crowd this music will appeal to.

After a brief introductory piece, the first LP kicks off with Velvet Moon, the only track with prominent participation of guitar, which gives the music a floating electronica meets Pink Floyd feel. Cosmic Dawn has a deep space combination of electronica, Prog and classical that I enjoyed. It floats along steadily, with seductively playful melodies and multiple elements that make the music meditatively alluring yet elusively complex. It also has just enough oddball sounds to inject a welcome freaky factor to the music. Challenge Deep creates the sensation that we’re rocketing gently through the cosmos, swept along by layers of soaring electronic space waves. These are anchored by classic Schulze/Tangerine Dream syncopated patterns, giving the music a mesmerizing rhythmic quality. And Behind The Lightning is a gorgeously majestic slab of symphonic Space-Prog.

The second LP really stretches out, consisting of two 20+ minute side long expeditions. Sonar starts off with pulsating drones, angelic drifting waves, a symphonic sensation, and light melodies, before launching into a space excursion that recalls the best of 70s Klaus Schulze. The music traverses seamlessly through multiple themes, from lightly rhythmic, to sound exploratory, to floating dreamy calm. This is the kind of music you want to experience in a planetarium. Put on the headphones and gaze at the stars. Awaken To A Dream is a little different, feeling like aural brushes painting a cosmic canvas. It may be the most New Agey track of the set, but Padilla incorporates a variety of sounds that upset the typical singular New Age flow, making for a more varied and interesting experience. Overall, this 2-LP set is a great introduction to Padilla’s world.

The LPs will be available in June, and as usual this is vinyl ONLY, no CDs or downloads. If interested you better hurry because Fruits de Mer releases sell out QUICK!

For more information visit the Fruits de Mer Records web site at: http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Caricature Masquerade is a collection of unreleased collaborative recordings among artists that have appeared previously on Taped Rugs Productions releases, as well as some who are new to the label. The common thread throughout is Taped Rugs founder and head honcho Charles Rice Goff III. I’ll borrow liberally from Goff’s explanations of the source of each piece.

There are four tracks that first appeared on Suite For Zero Gravity Ballet, a collaborative collection of interstellar space music released by Ecco Hollow in 2013 (CLICK HERE to check it out). Each track was mixed by Goff, who added sounds, applied effects, and made careful edits to recordings supplied by the artists. Circus Of The Stars, with David Fuglewicz, consists of an electronic pulsating throb, toy instrument melody (like a marimba), and all manner of clattering sounds. Later the electronics get even more interesting, blasting off into bleepy blurpy space and accompanied by what sounds like electro giggling. Ionic Pentameter, a collaboration with Brava Centauri, features odd rhythms, freaky electronics, spaced out voice samples, concert piano, and a fun efx’d pastiche of sounds and instruments. Lovely Lady Of LEDA 25177, with Darlington Pair, is a highlight, being a spaced out collage of Trance music and grooves, melodic soundscapes, ghostly howling chant vocals, and other fun effects. And Antarean Vocabulary Lesson, with Total E.T., is a head spinning glom of electronics.

We also have some collaborations between Michael LaGrega and Goff. Wyandotte Winter was recorded by the duo in 2010. Goff later created a psychedelic video of wintry scenes from Wyandotte Park in Kansas City, Kansas, which he embellished with this recording as its soundtrack. The video was released on a Taped Rugs collection entitled Don’t Drag Cords Around Corners. The music is a combination of intense electronic Psychedelic concerto and Residents styled soundtrack. Goff has done lots of very interesting video work and this is a fun collection. (CLICK HERE to check it out.) What It Means To Be Whole was recorded by LaGrega and Goff Kansas in 2011. There’s a lot happening in just three minutes, as the duo rifle through a parade of themes. It starts off with a light melody that sounds like an old organ demonstration combined with space electronics, but then abruptly switches gears to a tribal/playful/orchestral mix, followed by a Goff vocal piece, and then a cauldron of space electronics surrounding a narrative bit from an old movie. It’s impossible to adequately describe this piece but I’ll say it’s my hands down favorite track of this set. Subjective Matter was recorded by LaGrega and Goff in 2010, and the following year Goff created a Dadaist video to illustrate the recording for Justynn Tyme’s Dali Krab Holiday. The music includes cavernous atmospherics, an unsettling flittering electro pattern, church bells, string manipulations and sundry other sounds that make for a spacey, haunting and sometimes sinister feel. I enjoyed this for the purely oddball array of moods. The video was released on a Taped Rugs collection entitled Psych Pshow in 2012 (Another Goff video I recommend. CLICK HERE to view.)

There are two lengthy tracks that are outtakes from the collaboration between Big City Orchestra and Goff entitled Reflected Imprecations (CLICK HERE to check it out). dAS of Big City Orchestra added sounds, applied effects, and made careful edits to recordings supplied by Goff to create these tracks. Paregoric is like some kind of avant-space soundtrack, combining strangely rhythmic Trance music and DJ grooves with a collage of freaky sounds and voices, and trips along a pleasantly oddball alien path. Opium creates a haunting Gothic atmosphere and ominous alien presence, bringing to mind a spaced out Residents Mark Of The Mole soundtrack.

Finally, The Four Walls Of Tomorrow is an outtake from the collaboration between Justynn Tyme and Goff entitled Raydio Bradcasts – Mrs. Morris Goes To Mars. Tyme added pre-recorded materials, applied sound effects, and made careful edits to recordings supplied by Goff to create this track, and I highly recommend this to fans of old radio broadcasts. Tyme and Goff do a good job of creating a fun old time radio feel, which also includes spaced out soundscapes and experimental free improv music. It’s different. (CLICK HERE for the entire Raydio Bradcasts.)

Caricature Masquerade can be downloaded for free at: https://archive.org/details/CaricatureMasquerade
If you are interested in a CD, email Charles at: padukem@sbcglobal.net
For a mind boggling array of information and catalog of releases dating back over 30 years, visit the Taped Rugs Productions web site at: http://www.tapedrugs.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Inside / Outside are the duo of Santa Rosa, California based musicians Russell Leach and Don Campau, who play a variety of instruments and electronics, including percussion, Moog, bass, guitar and field recordings. Their four previous albums were created by Leach and Campau with occasional assistance from singer Robin O’Brien. For their new album – Rooms – the duo recorded tracks with a different improvising musician in mind and asked the artists to play over the tracks. This is not, however, a compilation of the results, but, rather, intended to be heard as a compositional suite of music.

It all flows nicely. Susan Alcorn’s pedal steel is pure songbird, as it floats along with the acoustic guitar and percussion. There’s an ambient quality to her playing, even as the leads start to get frantic later in the piece. Mike Khoury’s viola and tambura add a tension laden, razor edged droning dissonance to the music that follows. The next section with James Hill’s trumpet is a standout, being a gorgeous ambient jazz groove tune with spacey effects. The rhythm and pace go off-kilter in the next segment, which includes Kyle Bruckmann’s oboe and analog electronics, creating an avant free improv jazz and experimental electronic exploration. Very interesting use and mixture of sounds on this one. Amy Denio contributes soulful vocals to a song with a great lead bass melody and trance like groove, but also incorporates experimental sound collages. Bryan Day contributes “invented” instruments to an avant free improv glom of manipulated strings and sounds. We’re groovin’ again in the next segment, with Tom Djll on trumpet and toy megaphone. This is another highlight, which struck me as a jazzy funky blend of Talking Heads and Discipline era King Crimson with a sound experimental edge. Russell and Don go it alone for a spacey, droning, sound experimental blend of ambience, bells and percussion. Anna Zaradny contributes alto sax to another intriguing blend of space ambience and sound experimentation, bringing to mind the soundtrack to an avant-garde sci-fi film. I really dig the free-wheeling electronic and sound collage fun when Al Margolis joins the fray with his various manipulations. Jon Raskin’s electronic berimbau (a single stringed instrument) sounds cool on a melodic, spacey, avant funky world music piece. Eric Glick Rieman’s prepared Rhodes electric piano bears little resemblance to a Rhodes on his contribution. I like the mood and ambience that is created when traditional instruments are manipulated (“played”) in decidedly non-traditional ways. Finally, Robin O’Brien contributes beautiful vocals that are backed by drones and waves-against-the-shore electronics.

In summary, I enjoyed the combination of ambience, rhythm and avant-garde instrument and sound experimentation throughout the album, and these elements often come together in single pieces. This is music that reveals new treasures with repeated listens.

For more information visit the Lonely Whistle Music web site at: http://lonelywhistle.doncampau.com
For all things Don Campau visit: http://doncampau.com
And I encourage everyone to visit Don’s Living Archive of Underground Music web site, which documents the “Cassette Culture” underground music movement: http://www.livingarchive.doncampau.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

It’s been a long time since we’ve had new music from Xoo. I believe the Brain Tattoo EP was their last release and that was in 2009. Well Xoo are back and in stellar form with a new full length album, Tales From A Red Planet…. This is… hold on to your hats… a CONCEPT album! Here’s the scoop:

The year is 2073. Mars has been terra-formed. There are colonies. There are cities. There is agriculture. There are frontier towns and there is freight and mining. But there are problems too. The same old issues are arising: pollution and Martian global warming, crime and social problems, psychological isolation and political unrest.

Sound familiar? The album opens similar to the beginning of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, only far spacier and with lots of UFO electronics. But we quickly settle into a spacey, drifting and gently rocking intro with a mission control voice announcing a landing on Mars. Throughout the album we alternate between songs, space-ambient interludes, and various types of announcements, adverts and radio. Like the narrative that speaks (“sells”) positively to the prospects of this new life on Mars. A Word from the Martian Tourist Board is a humorous ad for shopping and touring on Mars. “Have a nice, red day!”. Radio Free Mars is a station you can tune into. And I got a kick out of the announcement for Zephyria, the mistress of Martian erotica, appearing at the Cafe Elysium.

The album has lots of killer songs too. ReGenesis is a Space-Prog tune about new life on Mars. I like the combination of deep space orchestral keys and potent Alan Davey styled bass. Space Trucker’s Lament and Blues For A Red Planet are both immediately catchy space rock ‘n roll songs that are like Hawkwind with an 80s pop feel and a symphonic Prog edge. Yeah, I know, sounds strange, but these are excellent melodic songs. The finale on Space Trucker’s Lament is more overtly Hawkwind sounding, rocking hard amidst multiple swirly synths and mellotron-like freakiness. And Blues for a Red Planet includes blazing alien electronics, melodic guitar leads and robust bass leads. Other highlights include Lost, a pastoral but ultimately intense space-orchestral song with vocals by Canadian singer Heather Dale, and has a kind of Hawkwind Golden Void feel. We kick into high gear on Frozen!, a space rock ‘n’ roller that’s like Hawkwind with metal edged guitars and spirited dance grooves. Zephyria is a thudding slab of 70s hard rock, symphonic Prog and dance infused Hawkwind. And State of Emergency is a spirited space rock ‘n’ roll song that closes the album with Mars in a state of repression and rebellion.

Damn, I sure do enjoy this album. Xoo do a great job of blending Hawkwind styled Space Rock with Progressive Rock influences and good old rock ‘n’ roll with catchy melodies. And they do a fine job of telling their story with various narrative and instrumental transitions. The album is available as a download purchase only. The artwork is beautiful and will make those with turntables dream of gatefold vinyl.

For more information visit the Xoo web site at: http://www.alien8.co.uk

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz

Recorded Valentine’s Day 2013 at the Dragens Hule club in Copenhagen, Denmark, this live set consists of the entire concert in the order it was played. On this night the OSC lineup was Nick (The Univerzarls) and Nicklas (Papir) on guitar, Mikael (SKL, Agusa) played guitar on two tracks, Pär (Sgt. Sunshine, Carpet Knights) on bass, Birk on drums, Dr Space, Mogens and Rasmus on keyboards and synths, and the great Damo Suzuki on vocals.

Damo has been a prolific performer over the years and what has kept him interesting is that he always performs/tours with different musicians, and the merging of his trademark vocal style with a particular group of musicians results in a different experience each time. The possibilities are even more interesting with a band like OSC, whose fluid lineup results in something a little different of their own across albums. And being an all-improvisational ensemble, OSC are a perfect marriage for Damo’s freeform avant-scat-chant vocal style.

We’ve got 6 tracks, all in the 14-24 minute range, spanning 6 sides of 3 vinyl LPs (or digital download), for over 2 hours of improvisational space rock jamming delights. Damo’s Forste OSC Flyvtur is a slow steady burn, with the band tripping along in space exploratory jazz mode as Damo vocal jams. It’s got a cool combination of rolling rhythms, ambient/soundscape guitar licks and cosmic electronics. Nothing intense or heavy on this one, though the band rock harder near the end, sounding at times like a more overtly space rock version of the San Francisco band Mushroom. The whole piece is like an extended buildup in which OSC and Damo converge and meld. Energisk Reaktion 1 is next and right from the beginning the pace is lively, grooving along like a space rock Grateful Dead, soon veering into a sometimes Gong-like brand of jazz-in-space (think Hillage!). I can’t emphasize enough the importance of the bass/drums rhythm section which keeps things rolling along at a steady rocking, tightly knit pace, and that is a consistent characteristic throughout the set. This segues smoothly into Energisk Reaktion 2, so together they are really a single 30+ minute piece. This one gets more ambient space jamming, though still jazzy rocking, and includes some killer guitar effects and cool cosmic Prog keys. Later in the piece the mood gets more acid-space rocking intense, though the band come in for a gently ambient rocking landing.

And on we go throughout the set. Imagine Gong, Ash Ra Tempel, space rock Grateful Dead, space rock Allman Brothers, Mushroom, and Ozric Tentacles all rolled into one, AND with Damo Suzuki on vocals, and you’ll get something like this thoroughly enjoyable set of improvised space rock. I like all of OSC’s albums but this has quickly become one of my favorites, and not just because of Damo’s participation. These are some of the best jams I’ve heard from OSC and Damo is icing on the cake. The band and Damo take off and explore, finding that ideal medium between freeform improvisation and a sense that the spacecraft is headed down a clear, goal oriented path. Note that the 3-LP set is available in an edition of 500 copies, 100 color and 400 black, hand numbered.

6-20-14 UPDATE: When I published this review I just had the digital promo. The 3-LP set arrived today and it is freakin’ BEAUTIFUL!! Triple fold-out, band photos, and killer artwork with colors that leap off the jacket. And it’s so thick you could put it on your bookshelf. Simply gorgeous.

Stream, download and order the LP at: http://oresundspacecollective.bandcamp.com
Visit the OSC web site at: http://oresundspacecollective.com
Visit the Damo Suzuki web site at: http://www.damosuzuki.com

Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz