Lotus Unfolding by Ozric Tentacles, from 2023, their most recent album.
Ozric Tentacles are an English group formed in 1984 during the summer solstice at the Stonehenge Free Festival. The band emerged from the UK festival scene, gaining notoriety at the Stonehenge Free Festival, and the name "Ozric Tentacles" was picked at random from a list of names for psychedelic cereals.
Guitarist Ed Wynne is the only original member and has remained the driving force of the band’s ever-evolving line-up. In the eighties they played countless live shows during which they sold directly their self-produced tapes
Their sound is the splendid fusion of psychedelic rock, progressive rock, electronic music and other genres, all performed with great mastery.
This wonderful album is their best work, which is incredible considering that this band in almost forty years, from 1985 to 2023, has released (counting only studio ones) over 20 records. It’s a highly psychedelic concentrate of electronic melodies, hard-rock-style guitar riffs and funky-style bass lines, frequent tempo changes and Arabesque sonorities.
As always it’s complex to do a track-by-track for a record like this, psychedelic and often jam-based, so I’ll make a summary of what I believe are the best tracks:
Storm in a Teacup, a spectacular opener that shows all the band’s virtuosity; the title track Lotus Unfolding, with its meditative and spiritual atmosphere; and the closing track Burundi Spaceport, with splendid synths and percussion; and finally, Green Incantation, which has a great funky bass, parallel synth lines and acoustic and electric guitar solos, perfectly representative of the band’s space-rock sound, are definitely at the top as TOP Tracks, but also worth noting are Deep Blue Shade with its beautiful melodies and Ed Wynne’s great guitar work, and to conclude this brief summary Crumplepenny with its great psychedelic intensity.
A perfectly recognizable band, a fantastic sound suited to a very wide audience, a perfect balance between technique and electronics.
This is a spectacular album. Hypnotic and bewildering, ever-new sounds blending with an exciting rhythm section.
Artwork to frame, simply wonderful, like the record. Masterpiece!
Tracklist
1. Storm in a Teacup (9:37)
2. Deep Blue Shade (5:09)
3. Lotus Unfolding (8:13)
4. Crumplepenny (9:55)
5. Green Incantation (7:38)
6. Burundi Spaceport (5:08)
Duration 45:40
LineUp
- Ed Wynne - guitar, synthesizer, bass
- Silas Wynne - synthesizer, keyboards
- Brandi Wynne - bass
With:
- Saskia Maxwell - flute
- Tim Wallander - drums
- Paul Hankin - percussion
