OZRIC TENTACLES

Travelling The Great Circle: Pungent Effulgent To Jurassic Shift KSCOPE Remastered collection revisits Ozrics’ shroom-powered origins.

Ed Wynne dusts off and gussies up the first four official Ozric Tentacles albums in this lavish collection spanning six CDs and one DVD. The set begins with the band’s first non-cassette release, 1989’s Pungent Effulgent, followed by Erpland, Strangeitude, and lastly 1993’s Jurassic Shift. The four studio albums are accompanied by a disc of demos and rare concert recordings, and Live Underslunky, the band’s 1992 live album.

The remastered albums sound terrific, with warmer, richer tones and a noticeably fuller sound than the original mixes. Even when the band dives deep into a cosmic space rock jam, nothing gets lost in the swirl of instruments. The music is accompanied by a 78-page booklet by Dominic

Blake and Ed Wynne telling the story behind the albums. Admittedly, most of the stories could be summarised as: ‘Everyone was tripping their heads off (recording sessions had a habit of coinciding with magic mushroom season) and someone came up with a cool riff’. But it’s all told with sunny good cheer and an infectious sense of bonhomie. The text is generously illustrated with the psychedelic album artwork, posters, ticket stubs, and photos plus contributions from fans including Kavus Torabi and Steven Wilson.

The DVD contains the Live At The Fridge, Brixton, 1991 concert. The downside here is that the footage is a product of the technology of the time. Unsusprisingly, the lighting is geared towards creating ambience for the audience, not providing visibility for the cameras, so it’s all rather murky and grainy. Happily, the playing is fantastic, with the powerful rhythm section of Roly Wynne on bass, drummer Merv Pepler, and Paul Hankin on congas providing pure rocket fuel behind the jams.

The set is a great celebration of the Ozrics’ early years and the perfect entry point for newcomers to their mindexpanding musical excursions.