Ozric Tentacles - Swirly Termination FLAC

This album has been largely overlooked due to the nature of the relationship with Snapper at the time of its release. Unfairly so in my opinion.OK, this is no Erpland, Jurassic Shift, Waterfall Cities etc. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad album though. It is an oddity though. It features various line ups: Steep is Ed solo in ’92 and Kick 98 is a remix of that year. Pyoing and Waldorfdub are with Merv and Joie. Pyoing was in fact the end of Yog-Bar-Og, which was cut off. The remainders feature the line up of the second part of the 90s (Ed, Seaweed, Jon, Zia, Rad). As a result it sounds more like the previous line up than any before or after it. It has that jammy feeling of the early Ozrics, only more focused (and with better technology). No real steps forward with this one then, it’s more like a recap of what had happened before. A bit more melodic than Become The Other, Curious Corn and Waterfall Cities too. I like more or less the whole album, but I love Space Out, the studio version of Spice Doubt from the eponymous live CD which, surprisingly, I enjoy more than the live one. I also adore Yoy Mandala, the ambient dub tune that wraps up the album. It’s got nice Indian singing and a rock jam ending. The second part borrows stuff from tunes of the past. Pyoing is guitar driven but relatively short. Far Dreaming has some really deep moments that justify the title and the re-do of Kick Muck has some interesting synths, a much better production and a different ending from the original – the one they played at the Pongmaster’s Ball in 2002. Conclusion: not a must-buy, but a solid purchase nonetheless. In Simon Baker’s (manager at the time) words, ‘a later day Bits Between The Bits.’ Fans of the earlier Ozrics style will appreciate this, though Space Out is simply amazing. Pity they don’t do this live.8/10

Totally agree about Space Out. It is an amazing piece of music. Now and again I return to it, but am afraid to overplay it and cause it to lose its magic for me... Nice review, you seem to really know what you're talking out.