ERPLAND

Wonderful followup to "Pungent Effulgent", this was their first album on their own Dovetail label (apparently the band had a falling out with the Demi-Monde label). Along with Ed Wynne, Roly Wynne (Ed's brother), John Egan, Joie Hinton, Merv Pepler, and Paul Hankin, you get guests (all from earlier lineups) on some of the cuts like Marcus Carcus, "Generator" John, Tom Brookes, Steve Everett, etc. The album has a rework of "Eternal Wheel" (originally from "There is Nothing"), this time guitar is dominant, rather than being electronic, and I have to admit is quite an improvement. There's a couple of ambient pieces with "Toltec Spring" (nice use of exotic flute) and "Tidal Convergence". "Mysticum Arabicola" is heavily Middle Eastern-influenced while "Crackerblocks" is a trippy little experiment. "Valley of a Thousand Thoughts" has some African influences, complete with marimba. "Iscence" was the only reggae cut on the album and one of the rare times there are actual vocals, John was responsible for the vocals. This is truly a great album, and even those not big on the OZRICS tend to go for this album. There is enough material on this CD as not to warrant bonus cuts on later CD reissue (like the 1998 reissue on Snapper). Wonderful artwork from Blim (perhaps Blim's finest). Essential to all OZRIC fans.