Review: Oulu Space Jam Collective - EP1

The birth of a new record label is a glorious thing, akin to a new star emerging from a gaseous nebula. When that new label releases something like this, that glory is magnified to the nth degree. In this case the label is Eggs In Aspic, a 'Psych Tape' label run from the wintry, northern climes of Newcastle upon Tyne here in the UK that is "dedicated to cataloguing the sounds of the global psychedelic underground via beautifully packaged, limited run cassettes. Our ethos is simple: if it needs to be heard, we'll put it out". What's more, they promise many, many more delights to come including Cult of Dom Keller, Black Doldrums, Kungens Män, Sly & The Family Drone, The Left Outsides and Skyjelly.....fuck yeah! The release in question this time around is from the mysterious Finnish psych outfit Oulu Space Jam Collective who are " channeling cosmic flows of the universe through their chosen instruments. Jams happen when galaxies collide"...'nuff said! They describe their music as ‘Oriental Oulu Kraut’..all I know is they have, with this tape, produced something that sets the psych/spacerock/krautrock benchmark very, very high indeed...majestic, soaring and just fucking awesome!

This tape comprises just the three tracks; however, when the first track clocks in a just under an hour....yes, you read that correctly..one hour, you can't complain about brevity, or value for money come to that!. That first track is 'Renegade Spaceman', a track that has been up on the Oulu bandcamp page for a couple of years now, this version being recorded live at Deep Space Destructors’ Rehearsal Vortex, Oulu. It is a heady beast that takes you on a journey into the far reaches of the universe and what a ride! Totally improvised, the music is some of the very finest psychedelic jamming you can hear this side of Andromeda....it takes in psych, space rock, krautrock and snippets of spoken word which all come together to make something special. People talk about music "you can get lost in" but never has that been truer than when aimed at these guys. They wield their instruments with a knowing grace and subtlety and weave cosmic soundscapes that enthrall and entrance. The guitars soar, the rhythm section is assertive without being overly bombastic and the exotic sounds of the sitar melts into the electronic wizardry....This is a truly glorious hour that EVERY psych head will love. There is enough variety in that one hour to keep things fresh and interesting but there is a commonality that ties everything together...majestic. The second track, 'Approaching Beast Moon of Baxool' is a relatively brief 24 minutes and takes the same basic elements as 'Renegade....' but adds a tad more grit to proceedings...more spacey FX and more angularity makes it, on first listening, seem less flowing than the first track, but underneath the effects lay some more excellent improvised jamming, entrenched firmly in the stratosphere. It is a track that builds and builds throughout its length and climaxes in some truly acid jamming. The third, and final, track is 'Artistic Supplies for Moon Paint Mafia' (not sure what these guys are on, but I want some!) and at just a quarter of an hour in length is probably their equivalent to a 3 minute punk blast. Another superlative lesson in improvised psychedelic space rock that, again, takes the basic elements of its predecessors but plots its own unique journey across the stars....this time more overtly space rock with the signature swooshes of sounds and the chugging rhythm that made Hawkwind such a phenomenon. It breaks down halfway through to become a slow, tranquil, atmospheric piece of Carlton Melton like bliss but slowly builds again until it reaches a glorious climax of feedback and electronica and one lone guitar, gently plucked....awesome stuff!

There will be a small proportion of head music lovers who will pass this by because it's not on vinyl....their mistake and a pretty damned large mistake at that. This is a huge, majestic EP with almost 2 hours of exemplary spacey psych jamming. Since getting the promo through I've listened to nothing else and, in a year that has seen so many fantastic releases, this is still one of the best things I've heard for a long, long time (luckily, it is officially released on Jan 6th 2017, so no best of 2016 lists will have to be changed!). These guys are proof, if needed, that Scandinavia is currently producing some of the best psych around and, if there is any justice, they will be way bigger than Goat. I truly have run out of superlatives to describe this.....just grab one of the tapes and immerse yourself in some of the best music you will ever hear. It is released on Eggs in Aspic on C120 cosmic purple cassette, a limited edition of 50 copies. It includes transparent J-card, metallic pin badge and digital download code. It can be bought via the Eggs In Aspic store here and pre-orders are up now.