ORGANIC EARTHLY FLOTATION

`Organic Earthly Flotation' is one of the latest in a steady cosmic stream of releases from the psychedelic Øresund Space Collective, and it's yet another reliable blast of mostly improvised and jamming space rock. As with the varying line-up featured on previous discs, founding members Dr Space and Mogens are joined this time by musicians from other bands like Denmark's Papir and Sweden's Carpet Knights, with a special highlight given to American guest Daniel Lar's powerful guitar skills. Because of this, the two sides of vinyl here deliver some of the most guitar heavy music to appear on an ØSC disc so far, giving it a very distinctive identity all its own in their eclectic discography.

The first side of the LP houses two parts of a longer jam entitled `Walking on Clouds'. It's a showcase for Lars' endless guitar soloing, with his distinctive and varied tone often channelling the sound of David Gilmour from the late 60's/early 70's Pink Floyd live shows that can still be enjoyed on dozens of bootlegs (shhh, our secret!). These two parts plod along for twenty six minutes with only slight variations, with some fleeting tempo pick-ups here and there and back again with brief wilder, more muscular outbursts spontaneously catching fire. Rising and falling synth swells wash around slow-burn reverb-heavy electric guitar ruminations that gradually grow in power, a dusty and earthy quality permeating the atmosphere. There's also some Ozric Tentacles-styled bubbling synth ripples too, and the second part is even more mellow and dreamier, with plenty of placid drowsy guitar strums over swirling synth winds.

Side B's `Carlos on the Moon' is unusually emotional for the band, gently melancholic and quietly reflective guitar strains carrying the opening minutes on lifting fizzy washes of synths. Second guitarist Nicklas Sorensen solos next to Lars throughout this one, and as the piece progresses, their two instruments duel alongside each-other, weaving together to make sweet green smouldering alien love! Par Hallgren's bass murmurs thoughtfully throughout then simmers nicely as the piece builds in intensity, Kristoffer Brochmann's unceasing hypnotic drumming casts a lethargic spell and dirty grooves even threaten to take hold in the burning climax before cooling synth waves bring us back to Earth sedately. The shorter album closer `Neptune Rising' throttles with a thrashing energy, some manic, repetitive and aggressive guitar runs sounding like Hawkwind jamming with Steve Hillage. It's cool, but is clearly whittled down from a much longer jam, so is just a tiny bit of a missed opportunity.

Special mention must go to the lavish LP set, and fans will know that the vinyl editions should really be the preferred choice to purchase for this group. Once again the band have delivered the goods with a beautiful thick gatefold sleeve with mind-bending painted artwork throughout by Eetu Pellonpää. The LP also comes with a digital download copy, so space cadets can take a cosmic trip wherever they go!

The other ØSC albums released in 2013 - the compilations `Hamburg Concerts' and `Live at the Kildemose Festival 2008-10' - not to mention the steady stream of live recordings of full live concerts uploaded onto the Net to download for free from Dr Space himself probably offer more variety than this release, but for those who especially enjoy this type of music with a particular focus on guitars, `Organic Earthly Flotation' is still a tasty slice of improvised space-rock from one of the leading modern bands in the field.

Three stars - but guitar freaks can add a whole extra star!