Ozric Tentacles - Yum Yum Tree

The Ozric Tentacles have been around for years and years. They have only one remaining original member since they formed two decades ago but have released twenty eight albums in that time. They are one of the most prolific and original bands of the past fifty years yet they have never achieved mainstream fame. 

You could be forgiven for never having heard of Ozric Tentacles. Although giants at an underground level, they are barely known by the majority of people. That said, they are a legendary band and you will almost have heard an artist or group that have taken inspiration from them. 

When I heard that Ozrics were playing in the my city, only a few hours before they were due to walk on stage, I was somewhat surprised. I live about as far away as you can possibly be from their roots in Somerset, England and I didn't expect to ever see them again when I left the UK. 

However, they came to play two shows on consecutive nights, both of which were packed to capacity. It turned out that the band are quite famous here. This is mainly due to the virtuoso guitar skills of Ed, the main founder of Ozrics. 

I had not realised that they had previously released yet another album so soon after the gig I went out and got it. As with all of their albums, I wasn't disappointed. There are a couple of albums that are not as strong as the others but generally you can buy any Ozric album and rest assured that haven't wasted your money. 

I was always fond of the band's line up when they have guy who played flutes and whistles (and occasionally some strange vocals), circa Become The Other, but their sound has become even more refined with the production getting stronger and synths getting more futuristic, if that's possible. 

Yum Yum Tree sounds excellent, the quality of the recording and the production is top notch and the songs themselves match. It is perhaps not as hard as their previous couple of albums as there is a definitely chilled out sound to this one. 

The formula is the same and all the usual components are present, from Ed's incredible guitar licks and leads, to the floaty pads and arpeggiated synths, and the live drumming pushing the Ozric sound somewhere between and beyond the boundaries of psychedelic progressive rock and dance music. The formula works well and the band obviously enjoy playing it so why change it?

The most recent line-up

There is, of course, lots of world music influences throughout the album. This isn't anything new but somehow it still sounds quite fresh, the textures and clarity in the production making everything as clean and well produced as any modern dance music. One track has a reggae/dub skank and, naturally, it spirals off in to psychedelic and hazy aural madness/loveliness. 

Yum Yum Tree doesn't disappoint at all and proves that Ed Wynne and the rest of the band have still got it. If anything I would say they are getting stronger and stronger with experience. They are not veering off in experimental directions as some bands do, they're sticking to what they do best and continuing to do it well, and getting better at it all the time. 

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Nought - self titled

Where do I start with Nought? I doubt many people reading this blog will have ever heard of them. The band formed in Oxford, UK in 1996. They were loved by John Peel and apparently they toured for a while in Russia. They've never become very widely known, which is a shame because they are an extremely talented bunch of individuals.

I'm not even sure quite how to describe their music. The sound is experimental, noisy, has elements of prog-rock, math-rock, post-rock, jazz, industrial, modern classical, and is very avant-garde. They have been compared to likes of Miles Davis, Steve Reich, Sonic Youth, Philip Glass, Stravinsky, Glenn Branca, Nation of Ulysses, John Coltrane & The Fall. I don't think this does them justice though, they are highly original and almost virtuosos. They improvise heavily while performing although if you have ever seen this band play then you have probably lost a little bit of your hearing.

I first started watching Nought in tiny little venues and was completely mesmerized by the two Fender Jaguars laying horizontally on stands, with a drill sitting on top of one of them, the insane time signatures, the discordance, and the almost inhuman drumming and bass playing. They were certainly something to behold at that time.

They have gone through a few line up changes since then, which is a shame because I don't think they've ever been quite as good as they were with the original members. I didn't understand the music at the time and I probably don't understand it now. The main member of band is not far from a genius, he composes everything and directs the band. I can only imagine what goes on in his mind.

It was a while before they released an album although they did release a couple of singles on Shifty Disco which were excellent and really did a good job to represent how the band sounded on stage.

The album itself is, in some ways slightly tamer but more crafted and mature. It contains quite a few of the old songs that they always played, including the one with the drill and a telephone ringing, but it is well produced and has more sophisticated air about it.

You can buy the album at their website here - NoughtMusic
or at the Shifty Disco website here - Shifty Disco

It is only £5 at the Shifty Disco site although you can download a couple of tracks from their website.

This is a download from their site: Ignatius

I can't find a video with music from this album but there are a couple floating around of their live performances, pretty noisy! Please just download the song because this video is really not a good representation of the band's talent.

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