| Swirly Termination | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2000 | |||
| Genre | Psychedelic rock Progressive rock Electronic World music | |||
| Label | Madfish | |||
| Ozric Tentacles chronology | ||||
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Swirly Termination is a compilation album by British band Ozric Tentacles. [1] It was initially released in 2000 on Madfish (a division of Snapper Music).
All tracks written by Ozric Tentacles.
The re-issue in 2003 (on Snapper Classics) contained the following liner notes by Simon "Eddie" Baker:
The mystery and chaos that surrounded the original release of this album will go down as one of the stranger episodes in the history of Ozric Tentacles. Without going into too much of the rather messy details preceding this release, the band were asked to deliver one more studio album to their record company before striking out with their own record label, Stretchy Records, the second Ozric-owned set up after the collapse of Dovetail.
In fact, the clue is in the title of the album, chosen by the label rather than the band, which clearly illustrated the problems both parties were experiencing at the time. Indeed, even the sleeve was designed and produced by the label with no involvement from any band members, who didn't get to see it until it was on the shop shelves. Because of these strained relationships, the recordings that were eventually delivered were effectively a series of rare, previously unreleased material dating back to 1992, and some new mixes of previously released tracks.
To the fans at the time, the "new" studio album must have sounded a little fractured and somewhat chaotic compared to previous studio recordings. Now, with the basic story told here, the album can be appreciated for what it is - an interesting anomaly in the band's catalogue, but an essential one for any fan, being that it is effectively a "clearing-out" of unused material that had been lying around in Ed's studio. A latter day "Bits Between The Bits", if you like. However, this shouldn't deter anyone from buying this album - many fans agree that it represents some the best material the band have released. To think then that if the problems hadn't arisen at the time, this material might never have seen the light of day!
So onto the album itself, which begins with "Steep" - a track Ed recorded on his own back in 1992, after having recently moved into the Mill with his new 24 track studio. Steep was a track recorded to test the capabilities of the new desk, which must have passed with flying colours as the production here is crystal and makes for a blissful opener.
"Space Out" is the studio version of "Spice Doubt", originally featured on the live internet-broadcast album of the same name and the most recent recording on this album, recorded at Pilgrim Cottage in 1998.
"Pyoing" is the rather aptly named third track. This was originally the end part of "Yog-Bar-Og" (and therefore features previous drummer Merv and synth player Joie) from the Arborescence album, a track that was already nearly ten minutes long without this extra section. The story goes that "Yog.." was recorded after a particularly heavy "psychedelic" evening and simply went too mad at the end for this section to be included! Luckily it was saved and is now featured here in all its mad glory. "Waldorf Dub" too is from the same time and features some nice deep dubby bass lines from Zia.
"Far Dreaming" and "Yoy Mandala" were from one of the many jam sessions recorded at the Mill with Rad and Seaweed, who replaced the aforementioned Merv and Joie. Spiced up and rearranged by Ed, "Yoy.." in particular is a sparkling oasis, with Eastern vocals and a beautiful bit of soloing from Ed himself. Which leaves "Kick 98", Ed's own remix of Kick Muck recorded after hearing some of the results of the remix album "Floating Seeds".
So there you go. It's a relief to finally tell the story of this release as it adds so much to the recordings. I hope that now everyone will be able to listen to these tracks with new ears and have a better appreciation of how they came about. It also makes me wonder what other undiscovered gems Ed might have lying around....!
Simon Eddie Baker, 2003
Ozric Tentacles are an English instrumental rock band, whose music incorporates elements from a diverse range of genres, including psychedelic rock, progressive rock, space rock, jazz fusion, electronic music, dub music, world music, and ambient music. Formed in Somerset in 1983, the band has released over 30 albums selling over a million copies worldwide despite never having signed to a major recording label. Throughout many line-up changes over the years, co-founder and guitarist Ed Wynne has remained the only original member of the band. The band is now credited as one of the major influences of the UK festival scene's re-emergence, becoming particularly associated with the Glastonbury Festival and their handmade series of cassette releases, mostly sold at gigs and through a fan club.
Pungent Effulgent is the debut studio album by British psychedelic rock band Ozric Tentacles. Released in 1989 to wide acclaim, it followed the many cassette-only albums they released in the 1980s.
Nodens Ictus are a British electronic music band formed in 1986 as a spinoff of British psychedelic rock band Ozric Tentacles.
Eat Static is an electronic music project from Frome, Somerset, England formed in 1989 by Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton. Hinton left the group in February 2008 after 18 years to spend more time with his family.
Strangeitude is the third studio album by British band Ozric Tentacles. It was released in 1991 on Dovetail Records and re-released in 1998 by Snapper Music.
Afterswish is a compilation album by Ozric Tentacles, released in 1992 on Dovetail Records. It is a compilation of tracks from their early cassette releases, featuring also three new tracks.
Erpland is the second studio album by British psychedelic rock band Ozric Tentacles. It was originally released on 25 June 1990 on Dovetail Records, with a digitally remastered CD/DVD release on 6 February 2017 through Snapper Music's Madfish label.
Arborescence is the fifth studio album by English band Ozric Tentacles. It was released in 1994 on Dovetail Records. The album was rereleased in 1999 on Snapper Music, this time with sleeve notes by Andy Garibaldi. It is the last album to feature drummer Merv Pepler and keyboardist Joie Hinton as full-time bandmembers, who left to form Eat Static, until the live album Sunrise Festival in 2008.
Live Underslunky is a live album by the Ozric Tentacles. The album was originally released in 1992 on Dovetail Records, and it has been re-released in 2003 by Snapper Music.
Pyramidion is a 5 track EP by English band Ozric Tentacles. It was initially released in 2001 on Stretchy Records, and later re-issued on Snapper.
The Hidden Step is the ninth studio album by English band Ozric Tentacles. It was released in 2000 on Stretchy Records. It was their last to include bassist Zia Ahmad Geelani and drummer "Rad". It was also the first Ozric Tentacles album that does not feature a cover by the artist Blim; the cover art, by guitarist Edward Wynne, features his cat Pixel.
Waterfall Cities is the eighth studio album by English band Ozric Tentacles. It was initially released in 1999 on Stretchy Records. A remastered version was also released in 2020 on Kscope.
Spirals in Hyperspace is the tenth studio album by English band Ozric Tentacles. It was released in 2004 on Magna Carta Records.
Curious Corn is the seventh studio album by English band Ozric Tentacles. It was initially released in 1997 on Madfish. A remastered version was also released in 2020 on Kscope.
Jurassic Shift is the fourth studio album by English band Ozric Tentacles. It was first released in 1993 on the band's own label on Dovetail Records. In 1998 a re-release came from Snapper Music, with one additional track. The album was released yet again in 2004, this time paired with Erpland in Snapper Music's Recall 2CD series. 2008 saw a remastered two CD/DVD set with extra tracks and live performances, plus a 24-page booklet.
Spice Doubt is a "live-in-the-studio" album by English band Ozric Tentacles. The initial limited-edition release in 1998 featured an unusual plastic covering around the case, containing oil and 2 plastic fish floating inside. It was re-released in 2003 as a digipak CD, but without the green covering.
Sunrise Festival, released in 2008, was a live album from the Ozric Tentacles, recorded 1 June 2007 at the Sunrise Celebration Festival, Somerset, England. This recording marks the return of Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton to the band, who had left in 1994 to concentrate on their other project, Eat Static. The second disc is a DVD containing a bonus track "The Throbbe" following "Erpland."
The Yumyum Tree is the twelfth studio album by the English band Ozric Tentacles, released on 27 April 2009. It is inspired by Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky.
Edward Wynne is an English guitarist and keyboardist best known as a founding member, principal composer and the only constant member of psychedelic rock band Ozric Tentacles.
Space for the Earth is the fifteenth studio album by English progressive and psychedelic rock band Ozric Tentacles. The album was released on 9 October 2020 through the Kscope label. Written, recorded and produced by frontman Ed Wynne in his Blue Bubble studio in Scotland, the album features his son Silas Neptune on keyboards and Balázs Szende on drums, as well as several additional musicians many of which are former Ozric Tentacles members. The album was officially announced on 22 July 2020 followed by the release of the single "Humboldt Currant".
