Short Reviews [Oresund Space Collective - 2007 - "It's All About Delay"]

Some seventeen months after their eponymous debut album, Swedish stalwarts of psychedelic Space Fusion ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE are back, with a double CD outing this time around. The first disc includes eight compositions ranging from 5 to 15 minutes, whilst the four tracks on its companion are all long, together lasting for nearly 80 minutes. The interchange of both intense and eclectic jams, with no less than three swirling (more often improvised than direct) solos to the fore, and more restrained arrangements are typical of most of the pieces. The approach that OSC demonstrate from the outset is truly original, the music still not revealing any direct influences, but since it represents a kind of collective image of various psychedelic- and space rock types, associations with some other artists periodically take place. It would be a long story to list all the performers with whom OSC have some common ground in style, so I won't be verbose in this respect. To have a general idea of the album's predominant picture, imagine a cross between Jade's "Jazz Afro Design Electric", "No Commercial Potential / And Still Getting the Ladies" by Djam Karet, Pink Floyd's "A Saurceful of Secrets", Escapade's "Remembrance of Things Unknown" and "Pungent Effulgent" by Ozric Tentacles. There are only two tracks that don't completely blend with the said 'scenario': Circus Yoda-2 (which is somewhat underdeveloped, as the music, while being obviously directed towards a climax, never reaches it) and the first imaginary half of Jupiter Flyby from Disc 2, where the music is always slow and is generally rather plain. As it is "It's All About Delay" is no more than a good recording, since - paraphrasing the outing's title - there are a bit too many delays in the music's evolution to be found on some of its twelve tracks, though I could easily compile a one-disc masterpiece from those.

VM: June 6, 2007