Ozric Tentacles: Erpland
If you’ve wondered what a modern hippie band might be like, look no further than Britain’s Ozric Tentacles. They were and still are a regular on the British free festival circuit.
From the mid to late 1980s the band released six privately issued cassettes: Eprsongs (1985), Tantric Obstacles (1985), Live Etheral Cereal (1986), There is Nothing (1986), Sliding Gliding Worlds (1988), and The Bits Between the Bits (1989). All have been since reissued on CD, which are recommended (but their proper label albums are better places for the newcomer to start).
The band, like Gong and Hawkwind before them, was never known for a steady lineup, with only guitarist Ed Wynne the only constant Ozric member. 1989 saw the release of their first proper-label album Pungent Effulgent. The band then quickly established their own label called Dovetail and in 1990 released Erpland.
Ozric Tentacles was influenced by the likes of such bands as Gong, Hawkwind, and Steve Hillage, added some ethnic influences (particularly Asian and Middle Eastern) and modern influences as well. Unlike those mentioned bands, Ozrics was almost entirely an instrumental band. If you like the stunning psychedelic cover artwork done by someone by the name of Blim, you’re sure to dig the music.
The album opens up with a superior remake of There is Nothing’s “Eternal Wheel” (more guitar oriented in this version). A couple of cool ambient numbers follow, including “Toltec Spring”. “Mysticum Arabicola”, as the name might suggest, is a strongly Middle Eastern influenced number. “Crackerblocks” is a stunning spacy ambient number with strange electronic effects. “The Throbbe” is one of the weaker numbers, just a throbbing synth bass and drums and little else. “Iscence” is a reggae type number and one of the rare times vocals are included, courtesy of flautist John Egan. The title track shows the band at their more rocking side. “Snakepit” is another cool Middle Eastern number.
The big thing I admire about the Ozric Tentacles is their blatant disregard of commercialism, which really helped build up their loyal audience following. Not only that, but the band never forgets the past, so many times, they sound like a 1970s progressive space rock band, while including modern influences, like techno (without sounding like techno). Plus they have the sense to use both modern digital synthesizers and old, analog synthesizers, and using both types of synths very tastefully. So if you want to get in to this modern hippie band, Erpland is an excellent place to start.