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Buried Treasure: Into the Next Phase with 35007

Although I now own all their albums, I still consider myself very much a novice when it comes to Dutch psychedelic instrumentalists 35007 (aka Loose). From 1994-2005, they released four full-lengths and one EP, and though I’d already coasted my way through everything but their final release — 2005’s Phase V — I didn’t quite understand what the big deal was. And it was one of those things where, all along, all I heard was, “You need to get the last album.” Well, last week, I did just that.

I’ve had my eye out for a reasonably-priced copy of Phase V for a while, and it’s taken a while to find one. Where their prior albums like 1994’s Especially for You and 2002’s Liquid are readily available for anyone who’ll have them, Phase V is more elusive. Finally, it was eBay that came through, and I wound up paying about $20 for it, which is just about as high as I was willing to go. Copies are around for twice that, when they’re around at all.

And now, I get it. From its elaborate braille digipak packaging to the oozingly jammed sound of its five tracks, Phase V is hands-down the definitive 35007 release. All of a sudden it makes sense that everyone I’ve spoken to about the band says this is where it’s at: because, legitimately, it is. The band is relaxed, confident, still rock-minded, but able to weave in and out of a given structure with jazz-like dexterity, and man, I’m digging it. On this sunny afternoon in late May, I must have been through this album three times already today, and I have the feeling I’m not done yet.

So basically you can consider this a note to both say thanks to everyone who planted the seed to check out Phase V and a recommendation passed along to anyone else who may not have checked it out or who, like me, is perhaps otherwise wondering why everyone’s so on 35007‘s junk. Heavy jams that are more than just jams, and now I too find myself wishing the band had done more.

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