Posted in Questionnaire on July 15th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Hasse Horrigmoe of Øresund Space Collective
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Well, I’m a musician, so I play, practice, compose, mix. It seemed to come by a coincidence when I was 16-17, but I don’t think it was when I, in retrospect, observe the impact it had in my life. I was a manic music fan and by chance ended up in the same class in high school as a guy who was able to show me how to improvise the blues scale over a song I knew.
Describe your first musical memory.
Getting great kicks from children’s songs when I was growing up.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Hard to say… for my own activities; Tangle Edge 1983. Otherwise; concerts with Magma in Oslo 2007 and Genesis in Gothenburg 1976, with Bill Bruford, of course. Numerous listens to records…
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
In music; playing with Tangle Edge in 1983, when we stretched boundaries for what we thought was possible or even existing. In life; through a Kriya-yoga esoteric course.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
To somewhere that already exists, but unfolds as the end place of the journey you started with an idea.
How do you define success?
I haven’t been interested in commercial success, so for me it is artistic development, especially being able to finish ideas through recordings, but also in live situations.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
The 1980s.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Recording a solo album with material of a certain kind that I have never executed before.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To lift the human spirit to a finer perception.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
A few years ago, in the always-curious and amorphous orbit of Denmark’s Øresund Space Collective there appeared lifesigns from an entity known as West, Space & Love. Further investigation revealed an album of improvised, richly organic space rock, pared down from some of the expansive jamming for which ØSC are known in favor of a naturalist experimentation. The record was called simply West, Space & Love (streamed here), and like any good science fiction tale, it easily warranted a sequel.
West, Space & Love Vol. II brings back the trio of percussionist Billy “Love” Forsberg and sitarist KG Westman — currently and formerly of Sweden’s Siena Root, respectively — and renowned synth specialist Scott “Dr. Space” Heller of the aforementioned Øresund Space Collective for seven tracks/44 minutes recorded last December in Stockholm, expanding the scope somewhat from the first outing by bringing in guests on violin (credited to Jonathan), delay pedal (credited to Mathias) and santoor (credited to Moa) to go along with the host of instruments handled by Westman, Forsberg and Heller themselves, be it sitar, Hammond, double-neck guitar, bass, cajon, ki-gonki, qaraqab, spring drum, cuica, Roland SH1000, Korg or Dr. Space‘s own custom-made analog synth. Despite this varied palette, Vol. II of the West, Space & Love saga flows together easily, and held mostly true to the first album’s ethic of recording live to analog equipment, having done basic tracks in two days with minimal, also-live overdubs following, in order to preserve as organic a feel as possible. Those efforts are audible in nearly every stretch of the record, which arranges its two sides longest to shortest (immediate points) and offers maximum immersion across the board.
Well, maybe not entirely across the board. I won’t say much for the experiment “Pig in Space” which ends side A by overstaying its welcome at 2:30, but clearly the trio were having a good time while making it. That parrot-in-Citizen–Kane-esque jarring moment aside, West, Space & Love sets a tone early of blending the earthly and the cosmic and holds to it for the duration, beginning with 11-minute opener “Floyd’s Dream.” Of course, the title is referencing Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream, and the gracefully unfolding progressive guitar, electronic beats and space-drone that ensue reinforce that meld. The song follows a roughly linear motion, but its payoff remains somewhat understated — they never overdo it, in other words — and as sitar begins “Khaan Paan,” the vibe is immediately welcoming. For those who never heard Westman‘s work in Siena Root, he’s a player of significant ability and knowledge, and “Khaan Paan” demonstrates some of the form of his work as a whole, but winds up in an excellent call and response with violin in its second half, adding to the folkish impression.
At five minutes, it feels short, but West, Space & Love still have a lot of ground to cover, as the space-swirling “2002” — another referential title — shows in its three-minute, synth-led course. Percussion pulses deep under the interwoven tones, but there’s no effort made to ground the proceedings, so they wind up that much more hypnotic, the trio lulling the listener in with this multifaceted approach and then surprising when “Pig in Space” starts out with its synth wash and oink-oink noises and moves into a funky groove with blown-out drums and more rhythmic oinking. It’s silly. It’s clearly supposed to be silly. I won’t begrudge West, Space & Love having fun. That’s obviously the point of their having gotten together again to start with.
Westman opens side B launch with meditative sitar on “Oscillations in D Minor,” an 11-minute companion-piece to “Floyd’s Dream” on side A that further emphasizes the increased breadth of West, Space & Love‘s second outing. One of the record’s most straightforward drum grooves takes hold late and provides a welcome and molten psychedelic apex, but “Oscillations in D Minor” is no less satisfying in its quiet moments, the group putting some of their richest sonics forward at the start of each half of Vol. II and still giving distinct impressions in each track. They keep expanding from there.
“Anybody out There” includes vocalizations — the only ones on the album, from what I can tell — and an overall softer touch of dreamy keys and drones, building to a wash of synth improvisation, suitably lonely in its vibe to warrant the title given but unremittingly progressive and feeding smoothly into closer “Time Compression,” which brings together both sides of West, Space & Love‘s approach in gorgeously textured space-prog, as though after all this exploring, the three-piece found a planet where all these things — plus Hammond — coexist in harmony. The prevailing vibe is perhaps more classic heavy rock with that addition of Hammond, but that hardly makes “Time Compression” out of place with the rest of the album before it. Rather, it adds to the context of the release as a whole, which builds on the considerable atmospheric accomplishments of the debut and establishes an aesthetic for West, Space & Love even more distinct from its members’ other outfits. One only hopes they decide to make it a trilogy. There’s certainly nothing here to make one think they don’t have more to say as a band.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 6th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Lest we forget among all our cosmic revelry that the bulk of space is pitch black, Danish explorers Øresund Space Collective provide reminder of the encompassing emptiness with their latest outing, Ode to a Black Hole. More droned-out and somewhat less bent toward krautrock-style jamming than the bulk of their improvised work, it’s a single piece broken up over two extended tracks — “Ode to a Black Hole Part 1” and “Ode to a Black Hole Part 2” — that is enough of a departure from their usually bright-toned fare that it does make sense as a standalone release.
I think my favorite part about Ode to a Black Hole, though — aside from the swirl and sense of vastness to it — is the fact that it was recorded at the same time as Øresund Space Collective‘s most recent studio album, Different Creatures (review here). That record was over two hours long! And it wasn’t everything they had! I love it. It just shows how unceasingly creative this outfit is. I really think that if you were to roll tape and come back half a day later, they’d still be jamming. And it would still be awesome.
Release date for Ode to a Black Hole is May 1, but the first part is streaming now, and Øresund Space Collective come to the US for the first — and quite possibly, only — time this August to play Psycho Las Vegas. Here’s more info:
This was a long experimental DOOM drone track recorded at the same studio session as the Different Creatures album. This was highly inspired by us listening to the band, BONG. It is something completely different from anything ØSC has ever released but I think it is pretty cool.. Enjoy the trip…
Releases May 1, 2016
Tracklisting: 1. Ode to a Black Hole Part 1 2. Ode to a Black Hole Part 2
Jonathan- Electric Violin, Theremin, Guitar Mats- Bass (2nd Half), Hasse- Bass (first half), Doun Douns Alex- Drums KG- Synthesizers Jonas- Hammond and Synthesizers Dr Space- Synthesizers Mathias- Pedal Steel
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 15th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Spaced out. Also brutal. Also legendary? The lineup for the 2016 Reverence Valada festival doesn’t have that many bands on it yet — just 12 total for a three-day event — but while more might be coming, the fest is already showing a considerable breadth, with Killing Joke and Ozric Tentacles as headliners and a host of psychedelic and space rock acts on the card, from desert rock progenitors Yawning Man through Nik Turner, Papermoon, Farflung, Zone Six and the Øresund Space Collective. That’s more than a little bit tripped the hell out.
The PR wire brings details, and it’s also worth noting that the fest doesn’t take place until next September, so there’s plenty of time for them to add more acts. Could be one to keep an eye on as we move through the New Year.
Dig:
Killing Joke and eleven other acts confirmed for REVERENCE FESTIVAL VALADA 2016
Portugal’s biggest heavy, psyche and indie music gathering REVERENCE VALADA FESTIVAL is back in 2016, with industrial post-punk legends KILLING JOKE headlining the third edition of the festival, taking place near Lisbon on September 8-10th.
Formed in 1978 in London, KILLING JOKE has been post-punk and industrial forerunners since then, offering fifteen original albums to the world, among which is their well-acclaimed new LP “Pylon”, released on Spinefarm this October.
Also announced as main acts are English psych-space rockers OZRIC TENTACLES, this year’s best new bone-crushing doom act WITH THE DEAD formed by Cathedral’s frontman Lee Dorian and Electric Wizard’s former members Mark Greening and Tim Bagshaw, as well as California-based founding fathers of the desert rock movement YAWNING MAN.
On top of that fantastic announcement, the festival is also happy to be hosting New-York’s avant-garde duo SILVER APPLES, Nik Turner’s very own SPACE RITUAL band, and many other acts mentioned below.
– REVERENCE FESTIVAL 2016 – September 8-9-10th in Cartaxo, South Portugal Weekend and day tickets available AT THIS LOCATION
Current lineup is as follows: KILLING JOKE OZRIC TENTACLES WITH THE DEAD SILVER APPLES YAWNING MAN SPACE RITUAL THE PAPERMOON SESSIONS FARFLUNG PAPIR RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON ZONE SIX ØRESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE
REVERENCE VALADA FESTIVAL is a huge celebration of the best that underground music has to offer, providing a premium heavy and psyche lineup with dozens of international acts spread over three days in the greenness of Valada’s Parque de Mereindas along the Tage river. The first two editions of the festival have hosted over 150 bands international bands, including great headliners such as Sleep, Hawkwind, Amon Düll II, The Black Angels, Electric Wizard and Graveyard. This has become a real pilgrimage for many indie, psych and stoner music fans around the world.
This year, the festival will take place during the second weekend of September in Cartaxo (about 50 kilometers from Lisbon), once again offering an impressive range of underground psychedelic acts and DJs over three days.
Before we get to all the tracks and this and that, I have to say, this double-size year-end podcast was an absolute pleasure to put together. Fun. Actual fun. I don’t know if it was the preponderance of excellent songs to work from that came out in 2015 or what, but I had a really good time making my way through the near-four-hour run, and I hope you feel that way too as you listen.
It should go without mentioning, but I’ll give the disclaimer anyway that this is in no way, shape or form a complete rundown of everything awesome produced this year. My own Top 10 has bands on it who aren’t represented here, so if you don’t see something you think belongs in the mix below — looking at you, Baroness fans — please keep in mind that it’s not my intent to offer anything more than a partial summary. Otherwise, I’d have to make it a year long.
Thanks for listening if you get the chance to do so, and if there’s something here you haven’t yet checked out, I hope you dig it. The flow is pretty easy front to back, but we get into some more extreme stuff in the third hour for a bit before going grand with Elder and the “Digestive Raga” from Øresund Space Collective, which seemed an appropriate way to end off giving everyone a chance to process what’s just been heard. Please enjoy.
Track details follow:
First Hour:
0:00:00 Acid King, “Red River” from Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere
0:08:24 Clutch, “Firebirds” from Psychic Warfare
0:11:23 Bloodcow, “Crystals and Lasers” from Crystals and Lasers
0:14:28 Stoned Jesus, “Rituals of the Sun” from The Harvest
0:21:25 Ufomammut, “Plouton” from Ecate
0:24:33 Geezer, “So Tired” from The Second Coming of Heavy: Chapter One Split w/ Borracho
0:32:36 Wizard Eye, “Thunderbird Divine” from Wizard Eye
0:37:40 Mondo Drag, “Crystal Visions Open Eye” from Mondo Drag
0:42:08 Fogg, “Seasons” from High Testament
0:48:26 Goatsnake, “Grandpa Jones” from Black Age Blues
0:53:02 Snail, “Thou Art That” from Feral
Second Hour:
1:03:17 Sergio Ch., “Las Piedras” from 1974
1:06:40 All Them Witches, “Blood and Sand – Milk and Endless Waters” from Dying Surfer Meets His Maker
1:13:54 Death Hawks, “Ripe Fruits” from Sun Future Moon
1:18:45 Colour Haze, “Call” from To the Highest Gods We Know
1:26:46 Kadavar, “Last Living Dinosaur” from Berlin
1:30:50 Spidergawd, “Fixing to Die Blues” from Spidergawd II
1:35:02 The Machine, “Dry End” from Offblast!
1:38:01 The Midnight Ghost Train, “Straight to the North” from Cold was the Ground
1:42:00 Kind, “Pastrami Blaster” from Rocket Science
1:48:29 Valley, “Dream Shooter, Golden!” from Sunburst
1:54:22 Graveyard, “From a Hole in the Wall” from Innocence and Decadence
1:58:09 Demon Head, “Book of Changes” from Ride the Wilderness
Third Hour:
2:02:50 Egypt, “Endless Flight” from Endless Flight
2:12:29 Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, “Empires of Dust” from Brothers of the Sonic Cloth
2:20:09 With the Dead, “I am Your Virus” from With the Dead
2:25:45 Ahab, “Red Foam (The Great Storm)” from The Boats of the Glen Carrig
2:32:08 Kings Destroy, “Mr. O” from Kings Destroy
2:36:37 Sun and Sail Club, “Dresden Firebird Freakout” from The Great White Dope
2:38:33 Sunder, “Wings of the Sun” from Sunder
2:42:41 Weedpecker, “Into the Woods” from Weedpecker II
2:50:50 Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Pusher Man” from The Night Creeper
2:56:26 Eggnogg, “Slugworth” from Sludgy Erna Bastard split w/ Borracho
Fourth Hour:
3:02:48 Golden Void, “Astral Plane” from Berkana
3:09:34 Elder, “Lore” from Lore
3:25:24 Øresund Space Collective, “Digestive Raga” from Different Creatures
Posted in Features on December 10th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Please note: This list is not culled in any way from the Readers Poll, which is ongoing. If you haven’t yet contributed your favorites of 2015 to that, please do.
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Last year, I did a Song of the Year post, but it wound up having basically a list’s worth of honorable mentions at the bottom, so as we move further into year-end season, it seemed only fair to give more releases their due.
One of the trickier aspects of putting this list together is trying to separate songs from the context of the albums on which they appear. That is, thinking of a given song as a standalone entity, apart from the track before, the track after and whatever else the record on which it appears might have on offer. I did my best to make sure these tracks had enough power and presence within them to be considered on their own as well. I’d expect that much of whether or not you think I was successful in that will depend on how much you agree with the picks. That’s fair enough.
And to that end, as always, please let me know if you think something was omitted here, if there was a song that really stood out to you this year — somebody’s single, or something from a record, whatever it might be — that doesn’t show up on the list. Hell, there are only 10 included. That’s bound to not be everything. Still, these are what hit me especially hard this year:
The Obelisk Presents: The Top 10 Songs of 2015
1. Elder, “Lore”
2. Acid King, “Center of Everywhere”
3. High on Fire, “The Falconist”
4. Death Alley, “Supernatural Predator”
5. Snail, “Thou Art That”
6. All Them Witches, “Open Passageways”
7. Sun Blood Stories, “Witch Wind”
8. The Atomic Bitchwax, “Hey Baby Ice Age”
9. Goatsnake, “Grandpa Jones”
10. Øresund Space Collective, “20 Steps Towards the Invisible Door”
Honorable Mention
A few honorable mentions: Kings Destroy‘s “Mr. O” remains a sentimental favorite and a song I go back to on many occasions when I need a boot to the ass. Clutch‘s “X-Ray Visions” efficiently reaffirmed the righteousness of their direction since Earth Rocker, while Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats‘ “Melody Lane” did likewise for that UK outfit’s malevolent grit-pop.
It was buried under a morass of riffs, but Windhand‘s “Kingfisher” was a standout, while Kadavar‘s “See the World with Your Own Eyes” skillfully walked a fine line between inspirational and cornball without any concern for sliding from one to the next, and so didn’t. If this list went to 11, Graveyard‘s “Too Much is Not Enough” would’ve been my next pick for the unabashed soulfulness pervading its melancholy atmosphere.
Notes
What was to be done with Elder‘s “Lore?” In the end, I’m not sure any other single track showed the kind of scope, the emotive presence, the poise, the progression and, pivotally, the groove it did. In its three stages, the 16-minute album centerpiece and title-track underlined the sheer mastery Elder put on display across their third full-length’s span. Wait a few years and you will find bands coming out who sound like this.
I had a hard time picking a song from Acid King‘s Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere. “Coming Down from Outer Space” has that mega-hook. “Red River” rolls so fluidly. In the end, “Center of Everywhere combines all those aspects with the atmospheric breadth that played such a huge role in making the album so special. It simply would not be denied. Similarly, High on Fire‘s “The Falconist” from 2015’s Luminiferous is arguably that trio’s most melodic, progressive work to-date. Infectious, heavy and emotionally resonant in a way that a lot of their material actively works against being, to my ears it’s the boldest thing they’ve done.
Scope was a big part of the appeal of Death Alley‘s “Supernatural Predator,” the Dutch band running between Motörhead and Hawkwind in one song and bringing in former The Devil’s Blood vocals Farida Lemouchi to help them do it. At nearly 13 minutes long, its hypnosis feels like it could push even further if it wanted to, and that’s one of my favorite aspects of it. Also over 10 minutes long, Snail‘s “Thou Art That” was for me the defining moment of their excellent Feral album, a whopper of a riff marking a place within a brooding psychedelic landscape that even just three years ago I’m not sure they would have been able to conjure in the same way. One of those tracks that eats like an album.
There was a video of All Them Witches playing “Open Passageways” at a radio station in Nashville that was out before the song had a title, and since I first saw that earlier this year, I’d hoped it would make its way onto their third album, Dying Surfer Meets His Maker. It did, and the arrangement was stunning from the propulsive drum work and sustained consonants of the vocals to the weeping violin. It was between “Witch Wind” and “West the Sun” from Sun Blood Stories‘ Twilight Midnight Morning, but the former was the hook that first caught my ear and made me dig deeper into the Boise natives’ 2015 offering, and I couldn’t discount that factor. A release that continues to deliver every time I put it on.
I remain a sucker for The Atomic Bitchwax, and while their Gravitron album was harder hitting overall than anything they’ve done in a while, “Hey Baby Ice Age” balanced that with a bit of their penchant for a poppier hook, and the result nestled into my mental jukebox, where it remains in high rotation to this day. Goatsnake‘s “Grandpa Jones” had a similar effect, its megagroove and ultra-catchy chorus continue to be stuck in my head more often than not. If I had any desire to escape from either whatsoever, it might be a problem.
Rounding out the list of 10 and worthy of special note is Øresund Space Collective‘s “20 Steps Towards the Invisible Door” from their recently-issued Different Creatures album. I think it’s the most recent release on this list, but I had to get the song in somewhere. It’s a sprawling 45-minute jam that could just as easily have been put out as its own full-length, but closes out the 140-minute double-CD gorgeously by pushing the listener farther and farther out to the very limits of the reaches of space rock. Progressive improvisation is no easy feat, but “20 Steps Towards the Invisible Door” left the band with no option but to include every second of its extended span. It’s all essential.
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These are just my picks. If you agree, disagree, have more to add, I’d love to know about it in the comments. Thanks for reading.
Posted in Reviews on November 19th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Øresund Space Collective are among psychedelia’s most open and most stringent of bands. Now active for more than a decade, the Danish collective are fiercely committed to a single idea — it just happens to be that single idea is being open to all things at all times. To wit, the prolific, prone-to-documentation Danish/Swedish outfit led by synth-player and bandleader Scott “Dr. Space” Heller have maintained their ethic of being entirely improvisational and amorphous in their lineup, and that has resulted in an expansive catalog of live and studio recordings of some of the world’s most expansive space and kosmiche rock.
Their latest pair of offerings through Space Rock Productions, released within a month of each other, together stand as a solid compendium of some — not all — of their scope. Released last month, Out into Space, is a 3CD live offering captured in Feb. 2015 at their 10th anniversary show at Loppen in Christiania, playing to support 2014’s Music for Pogonologists (review here) though obviously not actually playing anything from the record since it’s all improvised, and the even-newer Different Creatures is a 2CD/3LP studio album. Both are completely different lineups apart from Heller — in fact, in the case of Out into Space, it’s no fewer than three different incarnations of the band playing a single show. It suddenly makes sense why Øresund Space Collective would have the recorder running as often as they do. How else to keep track of what they’re doing at any given point?
The concept for Out into Space is an exception to start with, though. Their 10th anniversary gig was more than the average show. They played three sets, again, each with a different lineup, in an attempt to capture the beginning, middle and current eras of the band — or at least give them some representation. As a result, each set has its own specific feel, whether it’s the way the band seem to rally around the guitar in “The Last Glide” on disc one or how “Stargate 7431” on disc two has its own progressive edge. Heller speaks to the assembled crowd between jams, informing them of what’s happening and introducing each band, and though at over three and a half hours of material, one could hardly call Out into Space anything other than comprehensive, it’s worth noting that it’s not complete. The third set, the recorder gave out. They literally out-jammed the recording equipment. That’s the scale of jams we’re talking about here.
Heller announces it’s 1AM as that third set kicks off with the 34-minute “A Long Night Amongst Friends” — he says, “Time to go to another planet” as the ultra-fluid track gets underway with a soft jazzy roll on the drums and yet another foundational bassline, the low end seeming to be the factor that holds the material together no matter who’s playing it at any given time — Jocke first, Thomas second, Jiri third — and it’s around the solid groove that the molten jamming happens in extended earlier pieces like the krautrocking “Has Anyone Seen Nick?” from the first or the particularly spacey “Chocolate Orange Candle” in the second set. While each has its own personality, I’m not inclined to pick a favorite from among the three lineups. It seems against the concept of Out into Space entirely, which was so clearly to bring these different personae together as one cohesive (if constantly shifting) whole, rather than to drive them apart. While it can be overwhelming in a single sitting — it is an afternoon long, after all — Out into Space provides years’ worth of psychedelic fodder to dig into.
So naturally they let it breathe for about a month before dishing out a follow-up. That’s not a criticism. In the tradition of the best of space rock, Øresund Space Collective do not stop to examine, do not stop to bask. They continue to move forward and on to the next thing, letting history sort it all out in their wake. The next thing? Different Creatures, which was recorded over a period of three days, Oct. 24-26, 2014, and found the band working as an eight-piece with Heller on synth as ever, plus Alex on drums and percussion, guitarists Jonathan (also violin, Theremin, electric mandolin and Hammond), Mattias (also pedal steel and shaker) and Mats (also bass on “Juggle the Juice,” “Digestive Raga” and “Bon Voyage”), bassist Hasse, key specialist Jonas and sitarist/synth-player KG. This lineup tears into over two and a quarter hours’ worth of material, showcasing distinct and differing vibes on the half-hour “Digestive Raga” and “The Man from Wales” while universally impressing with the chemistry at the heart of their improvisations. “Digestive Raga” — which, presumably, was performed after lunch — or the penultimate “Raga for Jerry G.” would be highlight candidates were it not for the sheer immersiveness of closer “20 Steps Towards the Invisible Door,” which is an album unto itself at 45:14 and emphasizes not only the beauty at heart in Øresund Space Collective‘s creative process — getting to the very core of group performance that brings individuals together working toward a common purpose — but also the beauty in the result of that process.
Hypnotic from its launch stages through to the strings and synth at its gradual comedown, it lives up to the promise of album-opener “The Ride to Valhalla” and speaks in its entirety to what makes Øresund Space Collective such a special project to begin with. To compare it to Music for Pogonologists seems moot since it’s different players throughout, but it wouldn’t matter anyway. “20 Steps Towards the Invisible Door” and Different Creatures as a whole have their own persona, and in capturing that special moment in time, unfiltered, unrestrained, gorgeously mixed, Øresund Space Collective once again affirm their position as the foremost jammers in the known cosmos. There are others who jam, and others who improvise their work along similar lines, but nobody who seeks to turnover their lineup with such regularity and still maintain such a consistent quality of output. Even within the vast realm of space rock and heavy psychedelia, Øresund Space Collective remain one of a kind.
Øresund Space Collective, Out into Space (2015)
Øresund Space Collective, Different Creatures (2015)
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 23rd, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Like the best space rock in this universe, it’s damn near impossible to keep up with Øresund Space Collective. Between their amorphous lineup of players coming and going, constantly updated catalog of bootleg live recordings on archive.org, extended live albums, fest appearances, guest spots, etc., you’d pretty much have to be in the band to be able to have an handle on all of it, and even then it seems like that handle would be tenuous at best. That, of course, is the whole idea. I very much dug last year’s Music for Pogonologists 2CD full-length, and just as I’ve started to dig into a new three-disc (!) live album, issued just a couple weeks back and suitably titled Out into Space, along comes a new studio full-length, Different Creatures, set to release next month. It is a staggering, overwhelming amount of music, and when you get down to the fact that most of what Øresund Space Collective does is improvised on the spot, their output seems even more encompassing. They’ve got jams for light-years.
Info on the new one follows, as sent along the PR wire:
Øresund Space Collective- Different Creatures
Space Rock Productions SRP030
Release date: Nov 2015 Triple Gatefold Vinyl 200 on black vinyl 300 on coloured vinyl 1000 2CD in a 4 panel digipack with 24 panel fold out poster
The Øresund Space Collective is a super group made up of members from various Scandinavian rock groups. These include the Carpet Knights (SE), Mantric Muse (DK), Bland Bladen (SE), Gas Giant (DK), Hooffoot (SE), First band from Outer Space (SE), Siena Root (SE), My Brother the Wind (SE), The Univerzals (DK) and others. The band has played numerous festivals around Europe including the Roskilde Festival (2015), Copenhagen Jazz Festival (2010), Kildemose Festival, Roadburn Festival (Holland 2010), Space Rock Odyssey (Sweden 2008), Slotsskogen goes Progressive (Sweden 2008), Space Force 1 (Finland 2009), Psychedelic Network (Germany 2009, 2013), Occultrance Festival (2011) in Belgium and Burg Herzberg, DE (2014). By 2015, the band had played about 90 concerts in 10 different countries! The band first started releasing music in 2006 on the Transubstans Label in Sweden and has over the first 5 years released many albums on several different labels.
This marks the 20th Øresund Space Collective release. The music presented on the deluxe 3LP gatefold or double CD was recorded by a very special group of musicians from Sweden and Norway (plus Dr SpaceDenmark) at the Black Tornado studio in Copenhagen. The members are from a wide variety of bands including Tangle Edge, Agusa, Camper Van Beethoven, My brother the Wind, Gösta Berlings Saga and Ex-Siena Root. The mixture of pedal steel, sitar, violin, mandolin, and theremin, presents a new and exciting sound and energy ranging from high energy space rock like Ride to Valhalla to very laid back country space blues with Jam for Jerry G and Indian space trance of the Digestive Raga. We created an unknown tribute to the Welsh band, Man, on the track, Man from Wales. There were some interesting sound experiments included as well to bridge the sides. Finally, the massive 45min, 20 steps towards the invisible Door.. Wow.. what a piece of music..
Enjoy….
Recorded at the Black Tornado Studio, Copenhagen Oct 2014. Engineer Lars Lundholm. Mixed by Jonathan Segel with spiritual guidance from Hasse. Artwork by Mårdøn Smet. CD and LP Layouts by David Graham. Photos by Sabine Pottien.
LP1 (CD1) Side A Ride to Valhalla 19:37.65 Juggle 3:49.05
Side B Digestive Raga 20:55.33 Extended version on CD only (30:03)
LP2 Side C (CD1) Man from Wales 13:23.36 Bon Voyage 6:11.33
Side D (CD2) Raga for Jerry 20:16.13
LP3 (CD2)
Side E 20 Steps Towards the Invisible Door Part 1 25:18.11
Side F 20 Steps Towards the Invisible Door Part 2 20:01.05 (track is combined into one 45:19 min track on the CD)
The band on this release was the following: (in alphabetical order) Alex – Drums and Percussion Dr Space – Analog Synthesizers Hasse – Bass, DounDouns Jonas – Hammond, Synthesizer, Electric Piano, Guitar* Jonathan – Guitar, Violin, Theremin, Hammond*, Electric Mandolin KG – Sitar and Analog Synths Mattias – Guitar, Pedal Steel, Shaker Mats – Guitar, Bass**
*on The Man From Wales **on Juggle the Juice, Digestive Raga, Bon Voyage
