SLIP INTO THE VORTEX

Multinational ensemble ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE has been an active unit since starting up some time after the millennium. With a good handful of official releases and multiple non-official ones, they've catered for the needs of space rock aficionados in a most prolific manner. "Slip Into the Vortex" is their seventh official production, and their second of 2010.

When it comes to space rock, OSC belongs to the category of bands who take an improvisational approach. Rather than crafting compositions and planning them to the minutest detail, live performances and improvisations seems to be their key approach. If they start out with a basic idea or if everything forms as their jams move along I don't know, but at this point they appear to master the art of improvisation on a level many others can envy them.

The 78 minutes of material at hand on this occasion is some of the smoothest and slickest I have come across so far from this act. The drums and bass sets the foundation nicely as always, maintaining momentum and establishing a basic motif, synths and Hammond adds spacey sounds and fluctuating textures expertly and the guitar patterns slowly evolve back and forth between soloing, psychedelic licks and drawn out, resonating notes. Not too many riff patterns this time around though, the arrangements and overall sound on this disc is of a lighter and more subtle nature. The addition of saxophone to the proceedings underlines this, and especially the first half of this album gives this new addition to the sonic palette utilized by Dr. Space and his compatriots lots of space to unfold, resulting in songs with subtle jazz tendencies.

Space rock is still the name of the game though, and while I didn't find this excursion quite as captivating as the ones from the last few years, I believe many space cadets will enjoy this album. If you want to zone out for 80 minutes, and immerse yourself in an inner cosmic journey without ever being disturbed before the journey has reached it's destination, this smooth and subtle production comes across as the perfect spaceship for this task.