ORGANIC EARTHLY FLOTATION

I had no faintest idea about this Danish-based Øresund Space Collective with surprisingly many releases, until our psych/space rock expert Eetu Pellonpää asked me if I would like to review their new album. Of course I do! Eetu's identifiable cover art on this gatefold LP is a very nice companion to the music. Even the vinyl itself is unique: coloured light blue, and the etiquettes are Eetu's drawings too. So I see this release as a celebration of the good old vinyl-form that can become an important part of album's identity.

The music is laid-back, dreamy space rock with jazz & blues flavour, totally instrumental, and features guitar as the leading instrument. Kev's review tells about the central element of improvisation. I didn't know that but it's easily felt in the free-floating way the tracks move forward - or rather, keep hovering in anti-gravity. 'Walking on Clouds', like the first side is titled. The album was recorded in just two days (April 2012), which is the best proof of the skill of this group. It doesn't sound half-baked or unfinished. My only negative remark would be that the four tracks may not vary the sound, shape or mood as much as would be an ideal. But still the whole album is an enjoyable ride and suits perfectly for either background for e.g. reading - or Tantric sex (of which I have no experience actually, but that felt like the right thing to say!) - or for slow lingering between sleep and waking-up on a hurriless morning, or why not as good night music too.

The title "Organic Earthly Flotation" sums up the music pretty well. This is not cold, alienated and synthetic soundscape as much of Electronic Music is, but warm, sensitive and organic, and it sure floats psychedelically. The spacey guitar playing has a bluesy vibe and synths furthermore paint the images of space. Sometimes they are Kitaro-like windy sounds, sometimes related to Schulze, Jarre and such, sometimes bizarre psychedelic bubbling (like in the end of side one of NEKTAR's Remember The Future). Drums - and naturally bass guitar - are also an essential part of the sound. No hi-hat or fancy tempo changes, but a relaxed basic backing to give the "earthly" feel. I get associations of the late sixties Pink Floyd, Bo Hansson's Sagan om Ringen, Manuel Göttsching (Ash Ra Tempel, Ashra and solo) and some other Krautrock, Jimi Hendrix's 'Little Wing' - and perhaps also Santana for the guitar work, but I was carried there by the track title 'Carlos on the Moon', which, I believe, refers to Carlos Santana. At least that's a better bet than Walter/Wendy Carlos, right?

I warmly recommend this to all friends of bluesy, relaxed space rock.