NEW Ozric Tentacles

[Burley Wright]

What do you all think is the best album to start with??

[TheH]

^^

This one or the one before "Erpland". I think that Kind of Music works better live, so I would go for "Spice Doubt" which was
live in the Studio (Internet live cast) the versions on this Album sound better then any of their Studio Albums.

[Nearfest2]

"Jurassic Shift", "Strangeitude" and "Erpland". "Become the Other" is good too.

[Gizmotron]

Thank you to all!

[moecurlythanu]

While Strangeitude is one of their best albums, it's paced a little slower than the other albums from that time period, and isn't as representative as some others, imo. However, I haven't kept up with them in years. I would start with Erpland. It's probably not my favorite, but it's among their best.
As for categorizing them...I guess jammy Psychedelia/Space Rock.

[dropforge]

What do you all think is the best album to start with??

Strangeitude
Jurassic Shift
Erpland
Arborescence

or this one:

[SunRunner2]

I loved OzT on XM. I describe them as psychedelic techno Prog. They have Jam flavor too which is why they had fit into CM Music Lab. Their live shows at ProgDay were fun. They were popular with the Jam crowd and played venues around Maryland. I never decided what album to buy, but I want to now.

I recommend starting with "Pungent Effulgent" and working your way through their early 90's material, which is what I did. Jurassic Shift stands out among those releases as being one of their best, in my view. I am not familiar with their early albums prior to PE and I got off their train after Curious Corn, as I felt I had enough. However, now I am looking to get back into their later catalogue with The Hidden Step, Spirals In Hyperspace and 2015's Technicians Of The Sacred on my list to pursue. I never purchased an album by Ozric that I didn't like.

[notallwhowander]

...back when XM had The Music Lab channel, they played the band a fair bit. But nothing by them ever really stuck to me. How do you folks...categorize or describe the band?

What do you all think is the best album to start with??

They are basically an instrumental You-era Gong-style space rock. There are analogies to AC/DC inasmuch as you know exactly what you're going to get on any given album. Personally, I recommend Erpland, and have a soft spot for the later Waterfall Cities.

[Zeuhlmate]

I got into them with Waterfall Cities, and I have never really cared for the earlier albums.


Not true when I come to think of it ... Curious Corn and Become the other has great tracks too.

Spiroid is btw an excellent track to test your HiFi system for dynamics and deep bass:

[moecurlythanu]

@Sunrunner2...I'm not sure that The Hidden Step isn't my favorite Ozrics album.

[SunRunner2]

@Sunrunner2...I'm not sure that The Hidden Step isn't my favorite Ozrics album.

Then, I think I will start with that one as I revisit this great band. The reviews look good as well for this release. Thanks for the recommendation. Apparently they focused more on keyboards and an electronic leaning in the later albums, so that should be interesting to hear.

[Firth]

This video calls for El Cid[emoji6]

https://youtu.be/9gKSey2NHnI

[Firth]

And this one[emoji41]

https://youtu.be/AxHxGg1HMMQ

[Interstellar]

I bought Technicians Of The Sacred out of curiosity upon release, and it was my first real Ozric experience.
I like it, and would like to explore further, but I was a bit put off by how compressed the sound was. Is it a common feature in the OT discography ? To my ears it takes away some of the grooviness from the music.

[dropforge]

I bought Technicians Of The Sacred out of curiosity upon release, and it was my first real Ozric experience.
I like it, and would like to explore further, but I was a bit put off by how compressed the sound was. Is it a common feature in the OT discography ? To my ears it takes away some of the grooviness from the music.

Check out Strangeitude and Jurassic Shift. You'll love 'em.

[Interstellar]

Check out Strangeitude and Jurassic Shift. You'll love 'em.

Thanks. I'm taking time to check out the ones suggested in this thread, and indeed they sound good.

[battema]

Oh well, I'll play:

Jurassic Shift was my first
Strangitude or Erpland are safe starting points
Waterfall Cities is my hands down favorite


So, any of the above gets a "new listener entry point" nod from me

BTW who is the band now? Ed and...Ed?

[SunRunner2]

Oh well, I'll play:

Jurassic Shift was my first
Strangitude or Erpland are safe starting points
Waterfall Cities is my hands down favorite


So, any of the above gets a "new listener entry point" nod from me

BTW who is the band now? Ed and...Ed?

Current Members
Ed Wynne – guitars, keyboards, samples, koto, sitar, fretless bass, programming (1983–present)
Brandi Wynne – bass, keyboards (2004–present)
Silas Neptune – keyboards, synthesizer, samples, saz (2009–present)
Balázs Szende – drums, percussion (2012–present)

Ed is the only original member of the band.

[Paulrus]

Current Members
Ed Wynne – guitars, keyboards, samples, koto, sitar, fretless bass, programming (1983–present)
Brandi Wynne – bass, keyboards (2004–present)
Silas Neptune – keyboards, synthesizer, samples, saz (2009–present)
Balázs Szende – drums, percussion (2012–present)

Ed is the only original member of the band.

Wait. I thought that Ed and Brandi had split up. No?

[SunRunner2]

By the way former Ozric members played with other bands in the past including Eat Static - Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton met as drummer and keyboard player in Ozric and went on to form this Psychedelic/Trance based project.

Also, Harry Waters, the son of former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters, toured with Ozric in 2004.

[SunRunner2]

Wait. I thought that Ed and Brandi had split up. No?

No, he's still the leader. Here's some interesting news concerning their new album release and the remaster project for the earlier albums. Maybe this will eliminate the "compacted sound" that a poster above commented on:

Ozric Tentacles have announced they will release a brand new single, Humboldt Currant, this Saturday, to celebrate the Summer Solstice. The band have also announced they will release their first new album for five years, Space For Earth later this year.

"It’s a light-hearted message about feeling all right," explains Ozrics mainman Ed Wynne. "It's not trying to dig down into the depths of what is going wrong in the world but giving people a little bit of relief from everyday life, a stepping-stone into the astral plane."

Space For Earth will be the band's first new album since 2015's Technicians Of The Sacred. The Ozric Tentacles back catalogue is currently undergoing a long-running remaster series on Kscope from the band, with seven classic Ozric Tentacles albums remastered by Ed Wynne scheduled for release this year.

[battema]

By the way former Ozric members played with other bands in the past including Eat Static - Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton met as drummer and keyboard player in Ozric and went on to form this Psychedelic/Trance based project.

Also, Harry Waters, the son of former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters, toured with Ozric in 2004.

Ed and Joie also did some space electronic stuff as Nodens Ictus too.

Former TD dude Steve Jolliffe appears on at least one Eat Static album.

[Dok]

The Humboldt Current (a;-), also called the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America.[1] It is an eastern boundary current flowing in the direction of the equator, and extends 500–1,000 km (310–620 mi) offshore. The Humboldt Current is named after the Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. In 1846, von Humboldt reported measurements of the cold-water current in his book Cosmos.[1]
The current extends from southern Chile (~45th parallel south) to northern Peru (~4th parallel south) where cold, upwelled, waters intersect warm tropical waters to form the Equatorial Front.[1] Sea surface temperatures off the coast of Peru, around 5th parallel south, reach temperatures as low as 16 °C (61 °F).[2] This is highly uncharacteristic of tropical waters, as most other regions have temperatures measuring above 25 °C (77 °F). Upwelling brings nutrients to the surface, which support phytoplankton and ultimately increase biological productivity.[1]
The Humboldt Current is a highly productive ecosystem. It is the most productive eastern boundary current system.[3] It accounts for roughly 18-20% of the total worldwide marine fish catch. The species are mostly pelagic: sardines, anchovies and jack mackerel. The system's high productivity supports other important fishery resources as well as marine mammals (eared seals and cetaceans) and seabirds. Periodically, the upwelling that drives the system's productivity is disrupted by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event, often with large social and economic impacts.
The Humboldt has a considerable cooling influence on the climate of Chile, Peru and Ecuador. It is also largely responsible for the aridity of Atacama Desert in northern Chile and coastal areas of Peru and also of the aridity of southern Ecuador. Marine air is cooled by the current and thus is not conducive to generating precipitation (although clouds and fog are produced).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Current

[SunRunner2]

^^^
Holy mackerel, hold the anchovies and order me some Chile! This sounds other worldly fantastic! Definitely sets them apart from the earlier stuff that I have by them.

I will need to get this new release as soon as possible. Thanks for posting.

[zeprogmeister]

Wait. I thought that Ed and Brandi had split up. No?

Yep pretty sure that's old info. They did split up and Ed moved back to the UK, now living in Scotland so I'm not sure who's part of the band anymore. Will have to wait and see. I think his last solo album was probably meant to be an Ozric album but the name was in dispute with the divorce stuff. Presumably now that's all been worked out.