Ozric Tentacles - Live Underslunky mp3 download

lolike

The Ozrics’ career falls roughly into two main periods with their corresponding styles: the jam-based period up until ’94 and the sequencer-based one, ’95 till the present. That is not to say of course that the music changed drastically; elements from each period are present in the other, for example Sploosh (‘91) is techno-like and Oakum (‘02) is basically a jam. Anyway, this live album is for me the peak of their early career together with Erpland and maybe The Bits Between The Bits.I love this album for a number of reasons: firstly it features my second favourite line up of Ed, Joie, Merv, Jon and Zia (my number one is with Roly on bass). Joie and Merv were just so natural for the Ozrics sound, the former with his sense of melody and beautiful bubbles and the latter with his relatively simple but oh-so-tight and controlled style. The improvisation bits are unbelievable, after a few listens you forget the original form of the track.Secondly, the versions of the tunes on this album are far superior to their studio ones. Case in point, Dots Thots. Oh my god, this version is absolutely divine, not to mention twice as long as the ones on both Erpsongs and Ethereal Cereal. The synths at the ‘chorus’ section together with the jam at the second part (Joie’s solo brings tears in my eyes) make it one of my top-3 Ozrics tunes. Another highlight is White Rhino Tea, especially the soaring guitar solo in the second part, and the elongated take on Ayurvedic, clocking in at nearly a quarter of an hour. Oh, and the jams at the end of Oh-Ha-Be and Sunscape and, well, every moment of every tune. The sound is crystal clear and the band don’t miss a beat. I don’t know if it was down to the fact that they’d been playing with each other for about five years (well, Ed and Joie nearly ten and Zia maybe around a year) or because the raw recording was refined in the studio, but their communication on stage is phenomenal on this album. The setlist is very satisfying too. It’s got stuff from nearly all Ozrics albums and tapes up to then. The flow of the music is great, presenting all the aspects of their sound, space rock (Erpland), ambient (Erpsongs), dub (the jams), ethnic (Snakepit), all except Sploosh, that is. I don’t understand why it wasn’t included, it’s been a live staple every time I’ve seen them and it always goes down extremely well. Go figure. Every fan knows that the Ozrics really show their potential on stage, more so than on record. The spontaneous factor of the live show, the volume and intensity that their music is presented at in a concert has to be witnessed to be believed. This is exactly what they deliver here, though you can’t see the lightshow and Jon’s presence – the visual aspect of their show at the time. Never mind though, the aural side more than compensates if you close your eyes and you are at the right mindset. Underslunky works both as a live album and an early best-of, making it the perfect introduction to the surreal world of the Ozrics for the novice, a great addition for the fan due to the extended/altered nature of the tracks, a beautiful document of their early-to-mid career and one of its peaks, all at the same time. A definite must buy.10/10