SLEEPING WITH THE SUNWORM

'Sleeping With The Sunworm' has been recorded in 2008 at the Black Tornado Studios, Copenhagen/DK featuring nearly the same line-up which played 'Slip Into The Vortex' and 'Dead Man In Space' the same year. It looks like they are never getting tired of this. Or maybe OSC are even narcissistic in the end? Who cares? - celebrating a sixty minute space rock jam in one go still makes fun ... this is the message ... simply is what the musicians are longing for since several years now. And you can hear it during the last seconds, while they are leaving their space shuttle completely relaxed and joking after returning back to mother earth.

So here we have one piece which is divided in three sections - to make it easier to explore probably. They don't make it short definitely and need 10 minutes alone for a laid-back warm-up, something intriguing where, freely rotating in space, synths and guitars are hugging the sunworm in some way. The organ is backing very restrained. As nearly always the dual space guitar work provided by Magnus and Stefan is a special attraction. Coming towards the middle part the band then fades into a jazzy groove they are famous for. Space rock jam fans should take their time and participate in this excursion, where I especially prefer Part 3 due to the great dynamics and an inspired interaction of guitars, synth and organ - 3.5 stars.

Join the space trip!

Though Oresund Space Collective is a relatively new band, they have already released a vast amount of albums in which one can really have a feast of space progressive rock. In 2011 they released a couple of records, one of them is "Sleeping with the Sunworm" which is a one-song-album divided in three parts. This collective consists of six members, two of whom play synthesizers, so you can imagine this music is full of atmospheres, tripping colors and changing nuances. Worth mentioning is that despite it was released last year, it was actually recorded in 2008.

Fifty-seven minutes is what the band offers this time, as I said, divided in three long parts. The first one happens to be the shortest one, with 15-minute length. It has a soft and delicate beginning, full of special effects and even some mid-east resemblances. It is important to say that if you want to have a better experience, better to use good headphones, so you can truly appreciate the variety of sounds. In this first part the guitars don't really play the main role as in other songs of theirs, here synthesizers and percussion take the leadership, though in the last minutes there is a nice guitar riff, accompanied by some cool repetitive bass lines, and constant drums.

In the second part there is a change in the rhythm and structure, we can appreciate more dynamism and a at last, the guitar in the leading role. I believe it is almost impossible not to think of Ozric Tentacles while listening to this, their music is in the same line, though of course, this Space Collective create their original and interesting jams themselves. The twenty minutes of this second part are vertiginous, fast and hypnotic, much better than the first one, in my opinion of course.

And the final part is like a mixture of the previous two, because here we can have laid back moments, soft spacey atmospheres, constant and accurate drums, and some rockier guitar notes. There are passages where the intensity seems to increase, but it is only a warning because it actually does not happen, so in this track we have relaxed music, but not as relaxed as the first part, and trippy moments but not as fast and vertiginous as the second part. Good, but not the best Oresund Space Collective tunes I've known.

If it was me, I would honestly omit the first part and leave this album as a two-part CD, anyway it evidently shows the musician's quality and how their music is capable of creating images and taking us into their realm. Recommendable for fans of space prog rock. My final grade will be three stars.

Enjoy it!

'Sleeping With The Sunworm' - Oresund Space Collective (5/10)

Most bands that catch my attention usually do so for the quality of their music. Realistically however, that's not the only thing that could intrigue me. Oresund Space Collective first piqued my curiosity by the sheer amount of output they record. Although they have not been together for a great deal of time, this band already has a sizeable discography to work with, and releasing a few albums each year, it does not look like they are going to lose their pace any time soon. Sadly, this quantity comes at the sacrifice of musical depth. Although their final 2011 album 'Sleeping With The Sunworm' demonstrates some relaxed chemistry between the band members, the loosely improvised nature of this mega-jam is light on dynamic, tension, or really anything that would have me coming back for second helpings.

'Sleeping With The Sunworm' is essentially a single, album-length composition, split into three parts. Although there are not themes or recurring melodies to tie everything together, the music throughout each track sticks to such a narrow wavelength that any of the ideas here could be interchangeable with either of the other tracks. Being 'narrow' is not necessarily a bad thing; Oresund Space Collective have latched onto a sound they are very proficient with, and exploit every nook of it without being distracted by other angles. In this band's case, the music leans toward instrumental, laid-back space rock. There is a thick keyboard presence here, embellishing the atmosphere and adding a pleasant layer of ear candy. The most impressive element of the band are the guitar textures, however. Although 'Sleeping With The Sunworm' is rife with your typical space rock soloing, the guitars light up in the more rhythmic sections, where patient ideas are left to boil in a post-rock kettle. These ideas are usually very minimalistic, and gradually develop with the longwinded flow of the band. As interesting as a few of these ideas are however, I don't think it's enough to pull Oresund's work on 'Sunworm' into a place that I could actively recommend to another listener. Oresund Space Collective are a professional and capable group of musicians, but their approach to the space rock style conjures impressions of a blindfolded artist rushing at a canvas; although something interesting will come out once in a while, the lack of intention and focus costs the art a lot of its potential.

`Sleeping With The Sunworm' is a 57 minute instrumental space rock jam performed by the Oresund Space Collective. Lead by the charismatic Dr Space, their fully improvised music takes you on a hazy and hallucinogenic voyage, and although split into three tracks on the CD, the music is really one long continuous piece. Anyone who enjoys the deep galaxy adventures of bands like Nektar, Dom, Zone Six, early Pink Floyd and the Ozric Tentacles will find much to enjoy here.

An air of mystery surrounds the opening few minutes of the first part. A thick wall of electronic noise purrs away like pulsing generators, while gentle blowing winds and hypnotic bass draws to mind `Ricochet'-era Tangerine Dream. Warm tambourine percussion enhances this sound and gives it a repetitive trance-like loop, again like the 70's electronic artists. The music slowly builds in urgency, like a suffocating vacuum, as alien-sounding wailing synth effects creep through, stony strummed chords play over and over into infinity alongside ghostly floating organ. Then without warning, the drums kick in with a warm skipping rhythm and a melodic guitar solo take flight!

Overloaded with sonic sound effects, part two tears through deep space as the guitar takes a rougher turn. Throbbing synths and snappy upbeat drum-work soars even higher, while Steve Hillage-like fuzzed up guitars drift around the dreamy atmosphere. There's a great jazzy groove to much of this section, especially the drumming. Half way through the beat gets pounding and harder, the bass more chugging and dominating like Hawkwind. The music takes on an almost dervish like quality, maddening and overwhelming. Love how the rhythm slows up and speeds down, back and forth, really throws the listener around! Lots of squalling wah-wah guitar dripping with noise here, and some gorgeous glissando and a knockout bubbling keyboard run near the end!

Frantic drumming and crazy jumping synths fight it out before the storm subsides as we enter the third movement. A mellow come-down with some loopy keyboards, acid-drenched bluesy guitar and very loose addictive bass and drums. Fans of early 70's Floyd will love the first ten minutes of this section, and it's probably the highlight of the album. Then the beat expertly picks up again, with some shimmering keys and roaring guitar solos fighting through hissing winds and stormy waves. I love how the drumming takes on a very hypnotic, almost programmed feel! This final section has a lot of tension, and it ends the piece overall in an energetic and dramatic manner.

I react differently to this album each time I listen to it. Gripping and hugely atmospheric one time, then plodding and mundane the next. You just have to be in the right mood for it. Anyone who hasn't heard the band before might be better inclined to give the terrific `Live at Roadburn 2010' double LP a listen first, as it offers much more variety.

The CD is limited to 500 copies, so anyone interested would be wise to get in touch with the band or their reliable prog supplier and snap up a copy! I think it's important for us to support talented artists committed to our favourite progressive related genres like this, and Oresund Space Collective put out consistently good quality releases.

Although not a lot of emotional depth, `Sleeping With The Sunworm' is still a very vibrant, colourful and very listenable cosmic trip around the galaxy!

Three stars.

An hour long jam by the wonderful OSC. Guitar figures much more than in most of their releases, for the better, widening their sound. This is as calm and ethereal as their usual work, but with all the wonders extra guitar brings. The jam builds up very well, and it feels just right when the solos come in. Every instrument, as expected from the Space Collective, is played perfectly, and for a final mention, the guitars are best, nailed and carrying the day. Just great. The keys are also wonderful when they go solo. And the fact that this is a continuous improvisation, rather than just an hour long song like, say, Sleep's magnum opus "Dopesmoker", is all the more impressive. As far as space rock goes, this has to be a pinnacle. A spectacular, highly recommended listen for all space fans.