The Album Club: "Pungent Effulgent" by Ozric Tentacles
 

On we go to the third album of round two. Review and discuss here, please.

Cool. Prog fusion psychedelia - almost completely instrumental and one vocal part sounded like Hindi or something. Quality musicianship. I thought the Middle Eastern or Indian musical themes were sort of cliche but that didn't bother me too much. Fun listen 3/5 stars liked it.

Not supposed to start till tomorrow, technically, but ok.

Think you're too eager to retain your A Plus status...
:shycouch:

Then why the **** did you open the goddamn thread you ****ing Nazi?

Bat, put up a goddamn meme

You vill read ze rules, und you vill comply!!!!
https://camo.derpicdn.net/f0286ec67d...gmP1ru1ui4.jpg

(The new album gets posted Sunday, so everyone knows a) what it is and b) to stop (ostensibly) posting reviews of the previous one, but the actual listening/review process lasts from Monday to Saturday.)

Folks is voting but not writing

Ban 'em Frown!!!

This sounds like the soundtrack to a non-existent 80's fantasy movie.

The drummer is fantastic in the tracks where the drum sound sounds more 70's and less 80's.

There's a lot of sounds here that initially seem appealing to me, but after a while I wish there would be some more complexity to the sounds.
It's hard to explain what I mean by that. The synths this band likes to use on this album have a sort of bright, colorful and unsophisticated quality to them. They're appealing much like a handful of gummy bears; sweet and colorful, but best abandoned after a whil for something richer and more nuanced, like some dark chocolate.

It's basically the same thing that turns me off retro wave, like this for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDBbaGCCIhk
Too much sugar, not enough fiber.

The rockier parts are more appealing to me - and the weirder they get, the better. But it does feel more like a load of jamming than any real songwriting. I wish there was more of a feeling of narrative development to the music. Chords and rhythms changing to leads forward rather than looping. This album relies pretty heavily on the following formula: Establish a groove, then ride on it with some variations for several minutes and end the track. This isn't really all that interesting to me.

I'm simplifying it a bit, as there's a bit more going on here, but I do feel like the songwriting is a major problem for me with this album.
If anyone thinks that's a bit of a strange perspective for a music nerd, I'd get that, but I just never really connected with neither prog or rock much.
Or prog-rock. I like my jam on toast, but not so much in music.

Now that I've complained most of the time so far, I'd like to point out that I do find this album enjoyable a lot of the time. It's just that I sort of start wishing there was more/something else going on after a while. It's fun at first, but it gets old for me. The album is 64 minutes long and I feel like my interest in this caps out around the 25 minute mark or so. If this was the soundtrack for a game, I'd probably be more on board with it as it would be in the background then.

There's some good musicianship here and a rock solid rhythm section. I also find some of the keyboard and guitar playing to be quite good.
Thankfully there wasn't much singing going on, because what little there was simply sounded corny to me.

I've regretted my ratings of 2 of my 3 previous album club albums, so I don't know if I feel good about rating this one.
Suffice to say, I'm not keen on returning to this band, but I did have some fun along the way.

Attempting to retcon my scores so far, I'd go with this now:

Hiatus Kaiote - Choose Your Weapon: 5/10
The Divine Comedy - Casanova: 5/10
Goldmund - Famous Places:4/10
Ozric Tentacles - Pungent Effulgent: 6/10

This way, there's some room for worse and better albums, plus the numbers reflect what I think of the albums relative to each other a bit better.

The Ozrics are tough to define since they're sort of an amalgamation of all their big influences (Gong-esque psychedelic prog, Hawkwind's instrumental meanderings, Tangerine Dreamish New Age, Berlin School, Chicago House, etc)....but I suggested this album because I like the variety and mixes of tempos, moods, etc. Pungent Effulgent came out in 1989 but it has a lot of personality. They also put on one helluva good live show. :D

I'll also make the argument that they were ahead of their time in some ways in regards to what was to come in electronic music. This, for instance, was recorded in the mid 80's but sounds like something that could have come from Aphex Twin over a decade later.

It's a nitpick, but I seem to remember the video I used stating that the album is from 1990. Which might of course be totally wrong.

The vinyl release was in 89, and the CD followed in 1990 with an additional track.

Pungent Effulgent - Ozric Tentacles

I’d been meaning to explore Ozric Tentacles ever since my initial forays into the Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble and related recordings of Amorphous Androgynous, but I’ve often felt turned off by the “rock” half of space rock and so from Hawkwind forward I’ve never really given it a fair shake. This week’s listen to OT’s first non-cassette release seems a fitting opportunity to explore the genre.

One of the properties of this album that helped ease me into the rock of it all was that it is almost entirely instrumental. That definitely enhances its accessibility in my book. I was also surprised by the really clean production quality of the recording, which was unexpected for a jam band album out of the late eighties. There are plenty of atmospheric swirling and shimmering effects here, and that’s certainly a plus for me. Slow it down a few clicks, drown it in heavily-sustained keys, and sprinkle in some random John Carpenter or NASA samples and you’d have something right off my shelves. Still, I heard some muted field recordings of birds chirping… so we’re not far off.

By the end of the third track I was getting in the mood for a bit of Bill Laswell so I was quite pleased to hear “The Domes Of G'bal” open with a laid back tempo, reggae rhythm, echo-laden laughter samples, and sweeping effects which clearly flirted with dub.

I enjoyed the majority of the album, though “Kick Muck” was not at all what I was looking for. That said, I imagine it works well to change up the pace here and there for the sake of interest. Thankfully, the closing track returned to a more atmospheric pace, with two minutes of gradual, beatless introduction. The percussion is complemented by more field recordings and world instrumentation, finally tapering off to the sound of cicadas. It appears that two additional tracks were added in subsequent releases - first "Wreltch” for the CD edition in 1990 which did not appear on the original LP, and “Ayurvedism (live)” in 1998 for the first bonus track remastered edition. In 2009 Vinyl Lovers pressed a deluxe edition featuring these two tracks plus five more bonus selections, but I won’t have time to survey the additional content tonight.

All in all an enjoyable listen. Yet another reminder of why return to this club each week. It’s definitely put me into a groove, and I plan to spin Alice in Ultraland and FSOL’s Lifeforms tomorrow.

[b]7.5/10[//b]

What a god-awful album cover. This may be the worst album cover I have ever seen. Fortunately, the album itself is better, but not spectacularly so. I think this album is interesting at times, but no song in particular really stood out. There were a few spots on the album where I could get lost in the soundscape created, and those were generally the parts of the album that I enjoyed the most. Other times, there was just a bit too much synth for my tastes and it ended up sounding like an 80s documentary about the Maya. However, the drums were tight.

Personally, I'm not into the whole jungle feel they tried to put out with some of these tracks. The more guitar-driven ones were generally the ones I liked better. Of course, any of the longer tracks had the tendency to venture into redundant jamming territory. I feel bad for this album, because there are a lot of cool sounds here, but they're bogged down by the cheesy-sounding and repetitive (and both) bits.

6/10

On my list of favorite to least favorite albums:

Chicago - Chicago Transit Authority
Ozric Tentacles - Pungent Effulgent
The Birthday Party - Prayers On Fire

Ozric Tentacles - Pungent Effulgent

Apparently the Ozrics were for a long time associated with their gigs at the Glastonbury Festival (and earlier the Stonehenge Free Festival). I could certainly imagine being there at the time, high on ’shrooms and syncing in with the energy of the crowd, it would have been amazing. However this kind of atmosphere can have the effect of setting the bar low, as what feels incredible in that sort of environment doesn’t necessarily translate to being a great composition when listening to a recording after the fact. There is definitely some cool stuff here however, and it may just be my own taste that I tend to prefer a concise distilled statement to a long jam. The opener works well and is a great example of trance techno melding with live playing. Other tracks like 'Ayurvedic' could be great at half the length. This is improving for me with more listens so I'll definitely keep it in the library for now.

6.5/10

It's hard not to think of the Grateful Dead as you read that. The difference being is you can listen to the booter of the Dead show you attended 3 decades ago and you'll think damn that music is even better than I remember.

It's probably a little unfortunate that we end up having another (mostly) instrumental album after last week's choice, but I'd say I enjoyed this one a lot more than Goldmund's effort. That said, while I wouldn't have much negative to say about it, I can't enthuse too much about it either. It's certainly enjoyable, but like a lot of instrumental albums (let's be honest: other than the opener it's all instrumental) one track often melds into another and even though I've listened to this several times now I still couldn't really pick out a particular track; again, it's almost like one long composition. That's not to say there's no variety, unlike Goldmund; there is plenty. I just tend to have a problem finding where one track ends and another begins a lot of the time here. But don't take my word for it; let's see what the Matrix has to say about it.

1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?
Very reminiscent of some of the instrumental work of the Alan Parsons Project in parts, guitar riff reminded me of “Run like Hell” by Floyd. Good energy in the track though it kind of doesn't really build towards anything, hence the idea of a jam. When the vocals (the only ones on the album) come in they're jarring and unncessary, and spoil the flow of the music for me personally.
2. What did you think of the opening track?
I liked the music, the energy, the beat, but the vocals were unexpected and ruined it. Almost.
3. What did you think of the next track?
Muc better, pure instrumental now
4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions? (see note 1)
On the one track they came in on, no. Keep vocals out of this album please.
5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not? (see note 2)
Yes, very spacey and psychedelic. Rocks out a good bit too.
6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)?
Better, after I realised there would be no more singing.
7. What did you think of the lyrical content?
n/a
8. Did you like the instrumental parts? (see note 3)
n/a
9. What did you think of the production?
Insert answer here
10. Did you know of this artiste prior to listening to the album, and if so, did that foreknowledge colour your perception of this album?
Yes. Ant had presented them for the PRAC some years ago. I don't recall being too impressed, but it was a while ago and I couldn't really say I remember. Working on the assumption that I didn't think much of them, then I was not expecting too much here, so yes, the fact that I had heard them before did colour my perception of the album initially.
11. Is this, generally, the kind of music you listen to or not?
Pretty much. I like a lot of instrumental albums, and as I say, I hear quite a lot of APP here.
12. Assuming you listened to the album more than once, on repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?
Kind of about the same. There was nothing I heard on the fourth listen that I didn't hear on the first really.
13. What would you class as your favourite track(s), if you have any?
I couldn't pick out one track; it all kind of blended together for me into one long composition. As a straightforward rock track rather than a space rocky/psych/whatever experimental jam, “Kick muck” is pretty righteous. I like "Wreltch" too.
14. And the one(s) you liked least?
Probably the opener, due to the offputting vocals, though the closer was a bit of a stretch.
15. If the album in question is a debut, did that fact allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated? (see note 4)
n/a
16. Are you now looking forward to hearing more from this artiste, if you have not heard any of their other material?
I might listen to some other albums, yes.
17. Were you surprised by your reaction - positive or negative - to the album?
Yes, because I remembered being quite meh about the one in the PRAC, but this was pretty good.
18. Did the album end well?
I'm not a fan of nineteen-minute closers. Ordinarily. This is not an exception to that rule.
19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?
Leave out the vocals entirely, shorten the closer.
20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?
I couldn't say it was particularly cohesive, and there were a few different styles utilised, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it hit and miss.

I'd be happy rating this as an 8/10. Good stuff. Not great stuff, but certainly good stuff.

Ozric Tentacles - Pungent Effulgent

Enjoyable instrumental rock with a prog/psych/space influence.
I saw Ozric Tentacles at the 1993 Reading Festival, not knowing anything about them at the time but liking what I heard them play live at the festival.
I don't listen to them much but I've listened to several of their studio albums since seeing them live and none of those albums have ever come quite close to their live performance for my musical listening pleasure.
My first listen to the album had me ranking it a 6/10. Not bad, but (based on my previous experiences with their studio albums) I didn't think I'd rank it any higher or listen to it more than a couple of times.
I'm now into 8 or 9 listens and it's gone up to a an 8/10 for me. By far the most spins I've yet given to an album in this club.

The guitar at the beginning of the opening track reminded me of some of David Gilmour's guitar tone from "The Wall" by Pink Floyd, and they seemed like they were also giving bit of a nod to Hawkwind with the breif vocal bit on the first track.
The album is loaded with all sorts of musical ideas and the more I played it, the more I noticed. This album kept growing on me with each listen and though it hasn't been my highest rated album to date, (in the album club) I thought it certainly has been the most musically interesting album pick so far.
Excellent musicianship as well as production, lots of different musical syles and techniques on display, plenty to keep me interested and coming back for more.
Favorite tracks were; "The Domes Of G'bal", "Ayurvedic", and "Kick Muck."
Least interesting track was "Shaping the Pelm" which (compared to the rest) sounded like an uneccesary filler track of boring, New-Age Muzak.

A good album overall and an 8/10 from me.

I had about 3/4 of a good review typed up on Thursday that I lost after leaving the tab and other terrible excuses from the album club on mb edition 23.

Anyways, I'm not going to do an in depth review like I had planned. I voted that I liked the record. It had some prime musicianship that had jams that were easy to bop along to, touching on progressive and psychedelic tenets, like the Belew-era King Crimson influence on the guitars in the beginning. Most of the songs were approachable yet interesting, and the less compelling elements of the album aren't enough to weigh the whole thing down. I thought that the synth presets (I presume) were just too cheesy for their own good despite whatever interesting melodies the keyboardist was playing. The dub element brought the album down as well, as it just made the tracks that it's prevalent on super dull. With that being said, the drums were generally interesting and the guitar solos themselves were cool even if they occasionally had the arena rock tone that I hate. Even without their notoriety as a live band, I can tell that these guys would be a primo live experience though. A lot of the time it feels like psychedelic bands never reach their full form in the studio but rather when they're up front delivering the music and you can see their passion. So while I credit these guys for being talented and passionate about what they do (which I thought was clear by how the eclectic nature of this album didn't feel forced or unnecessary), this album only gets up to a 6.5/10 for me.