Tribe of Cro - "Virtual Vinyl" (self-released)
From Aural Innovations #37 (September 2007)
The latest Tribe of Cro album was a limited edition recording that they call "live", but was recorded at BBC Maida Vale Studio, London. Tribe of Cro recorded some amazing heavy space rock albums in the mid-late 1990s, until becoming more or less inactive for several years. In fact, I didn't even know about this new album until it was sold out. The GOOD news, though, is that the band have made it available for free download from their web site, so it's out there for anyone in the world who wants it.
The mp3 I downloaded plays as a single track, and maybe there weren't any separate track listings on the album, but it really doesn't matter. The set opens with syncopated electronics and bubbling space guitars that trip around freeform style for several minutes until settling into an Ozric like interstellar groove. Outstanding jamming acidic space rock with a variety of progressive, psychedelic and symphonic influences for fans of Ozric Tentacles, Melting Euphoria and just about anyone from the 1980s UK festie psych scene.
For more information you can visit the Tribe of Cro web site at: http://www.thetribeofcro.co.uk.
Visit the Tribe of Cro Myspace page at: http://www.myspace.com/tribeofcro.
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz