Ozric Tentacles

The Ozric Tentacles (commonly known as the Ozrics) are an instrumental band from Somerset, England, whose music can loosely be described as psychedelic. Formed in 1984, the band have released well over 20 albums as of 2005, and become a cottage industry selling around a million albums worldwide despite never having major label backing.

Their music is a highly psychedelic mixture of thumping basslines, sound effects and danceable keyboard and guitar work, with a sound influenced by Steve Hillage and Gong. Many of the Ozrics songs are in unusual time signatures and/or unusual Eastern-influenced modes. Furthermore, they often feature complex arrangements which change time signature, key signature and tempo frequently in the course of a track. In places, this is deliberately confusing; however, there are also moments of straightforward funk-influenced grooves.

Ozric Tentacles Discography

Albums
1. Pungent Effulgent (1989)
2. Erpland (1990)
3. Strangeitude (1991)
4. Jurassic Shift (1993)
5. Arborescence (1994)
6. Become the Other (1995)
7. Curious Corn (1997)
8. Waterfall Cities (1999)
9. The Hidden Step (2000)
10. Spirals in Hyperspace (2004)
11. The Floor's Too Far Away (2006)
12. The Yumyum Tree (2009)

Cassettes
1. Erpsongs (1985)
2. Tantric Obstacles (1985)
3. Live Ethereal Cereal (1986)
4. There Is Nothing (1986)
5. Sliding Gliding Worlds (1988)
6. The Bits Between the Bits (1989)

Other releases
* Afterswish (1991) -- A compilation from five of their first six cassettes
* Sploosh/Live Throbbe (1991) - EP/Single
* Live Underslunky (1992) -- live album
* Vitamin Enhanced (1994) -- CD box set of the first six cassette releases
* Spice Doubt (1998) -- Webcast live CD
* Floating Seeds (1999) -- Remixed Ozric songs. Various artists.
* Swirly Terminations (1998-2000) -- Not endorsed/supported by the band.
* Pyramidion EP (2001) -- One new song, 4 live tracks
* Oakum (2001) -- Jam CD, one long song
* Live at the Pongmasters Ball (2002) -- Live 2CD & DVD
* Eternal Wheel (2004) -- Best of collection 2CD
* Sunrise Festival (2008) -- Live CD & DVD
* Rare & Unreleased (1984-1987?) -- 5 CD's of early tape recordings circulating on the Internet

Members

The current line up (as in The Yumyum Tree):

Ed Wynne -- guitar, synths, programming
Brandi Wynne -- synths
Vinny Shillito - Bass
Roy - Drums

But in this band musicians come and go, so this information is probably outdated already. You could say that Ozric Tentacles is Ed Wynne, since he's the guy behind mostly everything and the only constant center of OT.

But let's not forget all the past members who have contributed: John Egan, Joie Hinton, Marcus Carcus, Merv Pepler, Nick van Gelder, Paul Hankin, Roly Wynne, Steve Everett, Zia Geelani...

Why Ozrics? Or, my humble collection

Here's a picture of my current Ozrics CD collection. Gotta catch them all, pika-pika! The album art alone makes these discs worth buying. There's also Ozrics side project, Nodens Ictus "Spacelines" (2000) album, Floating Seeds Remixed (1999) - which is not that good album IMHO, except Hallucinogens remixes - and also the Oakum fanclub CD. Pongmasters Ball DVD is missing, someone borrowed it again.

I've seen Ozrics live twice in Finland, first time in Imatra Big Band Festival 2001 and second time in Tampere 2004. I would have to say that the Imatra gig was one the best 3 gigs I have ever seen (the other two are Tool in Provinssirock 2001 and Rammstein in 2002).

I think Ozric Tentacles is the best instrumental band in the world. No, that's probably not enough. Ozric Tentacles is *the best band* in the world. That's right - better than The Beatles, better than Led Zeppelin, better than The Doors. Ozric Tentacles is the One Ring to rule them all.

The Yumyum Tree (2009)

New album in 2009! This one is very relaxed, smooth and translucent all the way through. No pointy edges, just rhythms 'n' flowing. The first three are my favourites: Magick Valley, Oddweird and Mooncalf.

Yum Yum Tree

Tracks:
1. Magick Valley
2. Oddweird
3. Mooncalf
4. Oolong Oolong
5. Yumyum Tree
6. Plant Music
7. Nakuru
8. San Pedro

Amazon Price: $17.98 (as of 12/18/2009)
Used Price: $8.85

Sunrise Festival (2008)

New live CD & DVD 2008! Not much new stuff here, but great old ones. I especially like this live version of Jurassic Shift.

Sunrise Festival

1. ...Blimey!
2. O-I
3. Vita Voom
4. Jurassic Shift
5. Sunrise Jam
6. Erpland
7. Throbbe (Only on DVD)
8. Snakepit
9. Eternal Wheel
10. White Rhino Tea
11. Tidal Convergence

Amazon Price: $17.98 (as of 12/18/2009)

Erpland (1990) & Jurassic Shift (1993)

If you are going to get just one Ozrics album, I recommend Erpland. It's my all time favourite album ever - my desert island album! But if you want two incredible albums in one package, get Erpland/Jurassic Shift two-pack. Jurassic Shift is more than excellent second choice (including musical marvels like Vita Voom, Stretchy and Train Oasis). These are the albums that turned me into Ozrics fan in the 90's, but if these don't work for you, try some of their more "modern-sounding" albums like Waterfall Cities or The Floor's Too Far Away first.

Erpland

1. Eternal Wheel
2. Toltec Spring
3. Tidal Convergence
4. Sunscape
5. Mysticum Arabicola
6. Crackerblocks
7. Throbbe
8. Erpland
9. Valley of a Thousand Thoughts
10. Snakepit
11. Iscence
12. Gift of Wings

Amazon Price: $11.98 (as of 12/18/2009)
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Erpland/Jurassic Shift

Two albums in one! These tracks are for Jurassic Shift
1. Sunhair
2. Stretchy
3. Feng Shui
4. Half Light in Thillai
5. Jurassic Shift
6. Pteranodon
7. Train Oasis
8. Vita Voom
9. Feng Shui [Live]

Amazon Price: (as of 12/18/2009)
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The Floor's Too Far Away (2006)

Ping! Splat! Jellylips! New Ozrics CD in 2006. Nine tracks of spacy tapestry and twisting rhytms.

The Floor's Too Far Away

1. Bolshem
2. Armchair Journey
3. Jellylips
4. Vedavox
5. Spacebase
6. Disdots
7. Etherclock
8. Splat!
9. Ping

Amazon Price: $17.98 (as of 12/18/2009)
Used Price: $9.88

Waterfall Cities (1999) & The Hidden Step (2000)

Another two-pack of great albums! Waterfall Cities is one of the essential albums to have, with incredibly bright tracks like Ch'ai, Coily and Spiralmind. The Hidden Step is a bit more mystical, egyptian-themed album including highlights like Tight Spin and Pixel Dream.

Waterfall Cities: The Hidden Step

Waterfall Cities
1. Coily
2. Xingu
3. Waterfall City
4. Ch'ai?
5. Spiralmind
6. Sultana Detrii
7. Aura Borealis

The Hidden Step
1. Holohedron
2. The Hidden Step
3. Ashlandi Bol
4. Aramanu
5. Pixel Dream
6. Tight Spin
7. Ta Khut

Amazon Price: (as of 12/18/2009)
Used Price: $145.75

Become the Other (1995) & Arborescence (1994)

And another great two-pack! Become the Other blows your mind with tracks like Wob Glass, Neurochasm and Cat DNA. This is probably the most "rock" album Ozrics have made. Arborescence, on the other hand, is more relaxed and organically grown album with highlights like gentle 9-minute Yog-Bar-Og and quick and dirty Myriapod. I wouldn't recommend Arborescence as a first Ozrics album to listen - it gives more for those with advanced Ozric-ears!

Arborescence: Become the Other

Arborescence
1. Astro Cortex
2. Yog-Bar-Og
3. Arborescence
4. Al-Saloog
5. Dance Of The Loomi
6. Myriapod
7. Theres A Planet Here
8. Shima Koto

Become the Other
9. Cat DNA
10. Ahu Belahu
11. Ghedengi
12. Wob Glass
13. Neurochasm
14. Become The Other
15. Vibuthi
16. Plurnstyle

Amazon Price: $13.98 (as of 12/18/2009)
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Curious Corn (1997) & Swirly Termination (2002)

Two-pack again! Curious Corn is one of those albums (with Erpland, Jurassic Shift, Become the Other and Waterfall Cities) that hooks you up permanently, if you're not already Ozrics fan. Highlights: Afroclock, Curious Corn, Papyrus.

Swirly Termination, on the other hand, is an album that the band put together from old, unreleased material just to get out of their previous record contract, so it's not one their best albums as a whole, but individual tracks like Steep, Pyoing and Space Out are great!

Curious Corn/Swirly Termination

Curious Corn
1. Spyroid
2. Oolite Grove
3. Afroclonk
4. Curious Corn
5. Oddentity
6. Papyrus
7. Meander

Swirly Termination
1. Steep
2. Space Out
3. Pyoing
4. Far Dreaming
5. Waldorfdub
6. Kick 98
7. Yoy Mandala

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Pungent Effulgent (1989) & Strangeitude (1991)

Sploosh! Two-in-one again! Pungent Effulgent was the first "real" album by Ozrics, after 6 cassette releases in the 80's. This album takes you to ancient Indian temples and changes your taste of music for good. With Strangeitude you fly to Himalaya and land on a bizarre bazaar full of wonderfully warm melodies. Highly recommended!

Pungent Effulgent and Strangeitude

Pungent Effulgent
1. Disolution (The clouds disperse)
2. O1
3. Phalarn dawn
4. Domes of G'bal
5. Shaping the pelm
6. Ayurvedic
7. Kick muck
8. Agog in the ether
9. Wreltch
10. Ayurvedism (bonus track)

Strangeitude
1. White rhino tea
2. Sploosh
3. Saucers
4. Strangeitude
5. Bizarre bazaar
6. Space between your ears
7. Live throbbe
8. Weirditude

Amazon Price: (as of 12/18/2009)
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Spirals in Hyperspace (2004)

Another great album. You could say that this one is a "routine album" since there is not that many surprises, but good stuff all around. Best parts are Slinky, Toka Tola and Plasmoid.

Spirals in Hyperspace

1. Chewier
2. Spirals In Hyperspace
3. Slinky
4. Toka Tola
5. Plasmoid
6. Oakum
7. Akasha
8. Psychic Chasm
9. Zoemetra

Amazon Price: $16.98 (as of 12/18/2009)
Used Price: $6.73

Eternal Wheel - The Best Of (2004)

The best of Ozrics 2CD! Lot's of my personal favourites are missing, but hey! If you want *all* the great tracks, you have to get all the albums.

Eternal Wheel (Best Of)

Disc 1
1. Jurassic Shift
2. Myriapod
3. Saucers
4. Wob Glass
5. Coily
6. Sultana Detrii
7. Sunscape
8. Eternal Wheel
9. Vibuthi
10. Sploosh!

Disc 2
1. Oolite Grove
2. Ashlandi Bol
3. Iscence
4. Pyramidion
5. Spyroid
6. Neurochasm
7. Kick Muck

Amazon Price: (as of 12/18/2009)
Used Price: $27.15

Live Underslunky (1992) & Spice Doubt (1998)

If you want to hear Ozrics live, these are the albums to buy (and if you want to _see_ them live, go for the DVD). Live Underslunky takes you back to 1992 with live versions of songs like Sunscape and Snakepit, and Spice Doubt webcast-live is a must have with Citadel Jam and Sploosh! live version, which is absolutely one of the greatest live performances in the world, or probably The Greatest Live Version Of Any Song Ever Made!

Live Underslunky/Spice Doubt

Live Underslunky
1. Dots Thots
2. Og-Ha-Be
3. Erpland
4. White Rhino Tea
5. Bizarre Bazaar
6. Sunscape
7. Erpsongs
8. Snake Pit
9. Kick Muck
10. O-I
11. Ayurvedic

Spice Doubt
1. Cat DNA
2. Eternal Wheel
3. Sploosh!
4. Ahu Belahu
5. Papyrus
6. Oolite Grove
7. Citadel Jam
8. Dissolution
9. Myriapod
10. Spice Doubt

Amazon Price: (as of 12/18/2009)
Used Price: $10.89

Live at the Pongmasters Ball (2002)

Live DVD with 14 tracks and a behind-the-scenes documentary. It's a hup-ho world.

Ozric Tentacles - Live at the Pongmaster's Ball

1. Oddentity (11:17)
2. Erpland (5:31)
3. Oakum (8:24)
4. Myriapod (11:10)
5. It´s a hup-ho world (7:17)
6. Pixel dream (7:40)
7. The domes of G´bal (6:00)
8. Pyramidion (12:15)
9. Saucers (8:19)
10. Dissolution (The clouds disperse) (12:30)
11. Sploosh! (7:11)
12. Ta Khut (2:35)
13. Kick Muck (5:18)
14. The Throbbe (10:54)

Amazon Price: $13.49 (as of 12/18/2009)
Used Price: $5.69

Cassette CD's

Here are the 6 Ozric cassettes from the 1980's collected to 3 CD:s. The sound in these releases is a bit different than in the later albums, so you might need some time to get used to it, but it's worth it! These discs include classics like Invisible Carpet, The Code for Chickendon, Floating Seeds, Secret Names... and many, many others. From these three I recommend buying Bits Between the Bits/Sliding Gliding Worlds first.

Bits Between the Bits/Sliding Gliding Worlds

The Bits Between the Bits
1. Eye of Adia
2. Fragmentary Aura
3. Sparkling Oasis
4. Tidal Otherness
5. Secret Names
6. Symetricum
7. Floating Seeds
8. Ozrosis
9. Wreltch
10. Afterswish
11. Koh Phangab
12. Cave of Aeolas
13. Puff Puff on a Chuff Chuff
14. Health Music

Sliding Gliding Worlds
1. Yaboop Yaboop
2. Soda Water
3. Code for Chickendon
4. Guzzard
5. Dusty Pouch
6. Sliding and Gliding
7. Kick Muck
8. It's a Hup Ho World
9. Atmospheric Underslunky
10. (Omnidirectional) Bhadra
11. Fetch Me the Pongmaster
12. Mae Hong Song
13. White Rhino Tea
14. Loaf Jaw
15. Green Island

Amazon Price: (as of 12/18/2009)
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Tantric Obstacles/Erpsongs

Tantric Obstacles
1. Og-Ha-Be
2. Shards Of Ice
3. Sniffing Dog
4. Music To Gargle At
5. Ethereal Cereal
6. Atmosphear
7. Ullular Gate
8. Tentacles Of Erpmind
9. Tress Of Eternity
10. Mescalito
11. Odham Shaw Style
12. Become The Otter
13. Gnuthlia
14. Sorry Style
15. The Aum Shuffle

Erpsongs
1. Velmwend
2. Fast Dots
3. Thyroid
4. Spiral Mind
5. Synth On A Plinth
6. Dharma Reggae
7. Tidal Otherness
8. Erp Riff
9. Descension
10. Misty Gloss
11. Dots Thots
12. Clock Drops
13. Five Jam
14. Oddhamshaw

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There Is Nothing/Ethereal Cereal

There Is Nothing
1. The Sacred Turf
2. O-I
3. Jabular
4. Staring At The Moon
5. Airy Area
6. Travelling The Great Circle
7. Imhotep
8. Thrashing Breath Texture
9. Crab Nebula
10. Lull Your Skull
11. Invisible Carpet
12. The Eternal Wheel
13. Kola B'Pep
14. There Is Nothing

Live Ethereal Cereal
1. Erpriff (Glastonbury Oct '85)
2. Tentacular Explosion (Reading Dec '85)
3. Stupid Reggae (Glastonbury Oct '85)
4. Aumriff (Reading Dec '85)
5. Obstacular Explosion (Reading Feb '86)
6. Og-Ha-Be (Glastonbury Oct '85)
7. Dots Thots (Reading Sept '85)
8. Erpitaph (Feb '86)

Amazon Price: $19.99 (as of 12/18/2009)
Used Price: $14.89

Afterswish (1992)

A best of collection from the 80's cassette albums, plus three other songs. If you want just the best Ozric songs from the cassettes, this collection is actually quite good!

Afterswish

Disc 1
1. Guzzard
2. China Type
3. Sacred Turf
4. Og-Ha-Be
5. Thyroid
6. Omnidirectional Bhadra
7. Afterswish
8. Velmwend
9. Travelling the Great Circle
10. Secret Names
11. Soda Water
12. Fetch Me the Pongmaster
13. Zaii

Disc 2
1. Abul Hagag
2. It's a Hup Ho World
3. Dusty Pouch
4. Thrashing Breath Texture
5. Floating Seeds
6. Invisible Carpet
7. Code for Chickendon
8. Kola B'pep
9. Mae Hong Song
10. Symetricum
11. Jabular
12. Sliding and Gliding

Amazon Price: (as of 12/18/2009)
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Pyramidion (2000) & Floating Seeds Remixed (1999)

This is the double-pack that you want only *after* you already have all the other albums. Pyramidion is a great song, and the 4 live versions are nice, but remix album is not that good (except two tracks: Sploosh! remix and Pteranodon remix). My recommendation: if it's really cheap, buy it then and only then.

Pyramidion/Floating Seeds Remixed

Pyramidion
1. Pyramidion
2. Xingu [Live]
3. Pixel Dream [Live]
4. Sultana Detrii [Live]
5. Aramanu [Live]

Floating Seeds Remixed
1. Sunhair [System 7 Stargate Mix]
2. Pteranodon [Hallucinogen Remix]
3. Neurochasm [Sparky Lightbourne Burger Mix]
4. Sploosh! [Youth and Simon's Hydrophonic Decimation]
5. Afroclonk [Space Raiders Dirty House Mix]
6. Strangeitude [Eat Static Remix]
7. Eternal Wheel [Zion Train Remix]
8. Meander [DJ BNX Karum Mix]
9. Wob Glass [Will White Mix]

Amazon Price: $13.98 (as of 12/18/2009)
Used Price: $8.71

Rare & Unreleased - 5 CD's worth of unreleased tracks (1984-1987?)

Early Ozrics tape recordings, sound experiments etc.

You can probably find this collection of old Ozrics material on the Internet by using Google. Sound quality here is not great, of course, but how about the music itself? Some of it is good, some of it is meh... but all in all, it's a LOT of interesting stuff for Ozrics fans. Hey, if I have to choose between listening to radio or listening this stuff, I choose Ozrics. Song titles were invented by some guy just to make these easier to sort and remember. Misspellings are his, not mine. ;)

CD1
01. The Dreaming Cat
02. Always
03. Minstrel Carousel
04. We Are Always Here
05. Sea Cucumber
06. The City Made From Sound
07. See Your Dreams In The Sky
08. The Shaman Leads The Way
09. The Beauty Of This Planet
10. Meeting The Dream King
11. The Pureity Fountain
12. Inash Ra Da
13. Medievil Tangerine

CD2
01. Breaking Eggs
02. To A Place Unknown
03. Carol To The Donkey (or Carrot to the donkey)
04. Floating On Clouds
05. The Never Ending Seam
06. Leap Frogs
07. Ballad Of The Bullfrogs
08. The Parrot Stomp
09. Up In The Jungle Tops
10. Cows Can Play The Fiddle
11. Ride On The Giants Shoulder
12. Sun's Up
13. Swim With The Dolphin
14. Spot The Hole
15. Oroonie Style
16. Yaruporoon The Human Beat Box
17. The Edge Of A Cloud
18. You Exsist In Space
19. Moon's up

CD3
01. Indian Tunnels
02. Bird Dance
03. Criss Cross Krunch Krunch
04. Heart & Soul
05. Chicken Fairs
06. Tea & Jelly Cakes
07. Space Neuron
08. In Summer Paradise
09. Pazzaz
10. Carnival Of Them
11. The Ride Of The Great Moon Snail
12. The Inflatible Potato
13. The Knowledge Of Fingers
14. The Crooked Sticks
15. Time Chain
16. Squashy Things

CD4
01. Leaving Spirits
02. Sky's Alive
03. As He Understands
04. Take You To The Medows
05. Carnival Of Them
06. The Erp Field
07. Space Rafting
08. The Comet Chaser
09. Sit Your Bum Down
10. As Sweet As Doves
11. I Love Your Groovy Shoes
12. Awaken Children, Vocal
13. Pan Thang

CD5
00. Intro Burp
01. Hot Butter Slide
02. Where
03. Fair Maiden
04. The Incoming Of A New Race
05. Thug Trunk
06. Octigliss
07. The Arriving World
08. Cyclops Passing
09. The Space Travelers Dream
10. The Unfolding Cosmic Mist
11. Cerebal Roundabout
12. Who Knows
13. Always A Brighter Day
14. Bobbing Down Stream
15. Exotic Fan
16. The Urban Guru
17. Flute Poppies

YouTube

Ozric Tentacles - Chewier (Live)

curated content from YouTube

YouTube

Ozric Tentacles - "Coily"

Ozric Tentacles - Domes of G'Bal

Ozric Tentacles - Erpland

ozric sheeps - akasha

4.733333

curated content from YouTube

Links

The Original Ozric Tentacles Home Page: Official fansite maintained by Mike Werning.
Magna Carta: Ozrics record label.
Fruit Pie Music: Ozrics booking agent.
Ozric Tentacles.net: Fansite and forum.
MySpace.com - Ozric Tentacles: MySpace profile.
Last.fm - Ozric Tentacles: Last.fm profile.

Flickr

Unedited photos from Ozric Tentacles' concert in Mocvara (in Zagreb, in Croatia), from november 2004. Photos by Goran Zec.

Ozric Tentacles in Z...

curated content from Flickr

eBay

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Philip Philip Sep 27, 2009 @ 4:37 pm

I always loved the Ozric Tentacles band an yes I agree that their the best instrumental band ever. An on the poll section on vote, I pretty much like all off the ozric's albums, except for floating seeds(remix), and one of the live albums called Live Ethereal Cereal....anyway besides those 2, I think rest of em are my favorites..the yum yum tree is a great album too like the best song I like on it is called mooncalf.

Anyway I have 1 question bout em, how old are the ozric tentacles band members?

I saw one on myspace whcih only has ed on there an hes 48 years old but what about the rest of em?

Reply

Astrano Astrano Jul 8, 2009 @ 7:30 am

Where can I but the Rare & Unreleased collection? Nothing on HMV or Amazon. Moon Snail and Dolphin are fantastic!!

Reply

Astrano Astrano Jul 8, 2009 @ 7:30 am

Where can I but the Rare & Unreleased collection? Nothing on HMV or Amazon. Moon Snail and Dolphin are fantastic!!

Reply

MAd AnDy MAd AnDy Mar 18, 2009 @ 9:32 am

I got it all, and all the live stuff from the old ftp site. totally totally spaced. and I've preordered the yum yum tree with its limited edition a2 poster from the burning shed website for only £9.99 plus p&P.

best wishes from the erpmeister
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