STRANGEITUDE

70s Space Rock and 90s Ambient Techno are two musical styles that have a lot in common. On the CD "Stragetude", Ozric Tentacles expertly combine the two and come up with a sum greater than the parts. Think Clearlight and Hawkwind jamming with The Orb, only better. Techno has always been an influence on OT, but it becomes more pronounced on this album.

By the time this CD came out drummer Merv Pepler and keyboardist Joie Hinton were wanting to leave the band so they could work full-time on their trance-techno project Eat Static, and it really shows. At this point both projects share a lot of the same keyboard sounds, and in fact there are a couple of tunes on "Strangetude" that wouldn't sound out of place on an Eat Static album. Merv and Joie's new techno project would go on to be one of the freshest new sounds in a genre often given over to dull cliche.

"Strangetude" also shows the band moving ahead in their mixing technique. The production on this CD is incredible, guitar solos come out of the background only to be swallowed up by waves of synthesizers and electronic sounds. This is psychedelia at its best, the soundscape is constantly shifting making repeat listenings always enjoyable. Although OT is usually kind of jazzy, there are couple songs on here that really rock in a heavy chugga-chugga Hawkwind kind of way. I also like "Space Between Your Eyes" it is excellent Dub Reggae. Usually rock bands sound so clumsy trying to play Jamaican rhythms, but these guys sound natural playing it their way.