O.O.O.D - Free Range

also wanted to say CHEERS for setting a reasonable price for MP3s. i really want to buy more of them, but i will not pay virtually the same price as a full quality real CD. i'm not sure why most shops have decided to charge $13-$15 per MP3 album. no artwork, compressed sound, etc. = no way.
 
colin brought the tracks round after it had been mastered and we had a good listen. fuckin great stuff. innovative, with a real dose of soul, and that ever-present comedy edge.
Eye of the Beholder is one of the finest tracks i've heard in a very long time, good work Colin and Ott. and big up to all the OOOD guys.
 
O.O.O.D. – Free Range

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Hi-res cover: front + back

Artist: O.O.O.D. (UK)
Title: Free Range
Format: CD (jewel case)
Label: Organic Records (UK)
Cat. #: ORGCD012CD
Distribution: Arabesque
Date: 17 November 2006

Track listing:

01. 02’27” Welcome
02. 09’17” Free Range
03. 08’42” Smoke A Lot (Ricochet Mix)
04. 08’23” The Humming
05. 07’37” Solar Sway
06. 00’16” …But Handy!
07. 08’09” Oh My (Good Golly Me)
08. 08’09” Marijuajuan
09. 09’08” Rock My Soul (Joker Vs. Operator Mix)
10. 08’58” Blue Seal
11. 00’55” It Isn’t Just You…
12. 08’26” Eye Of The Beholder
13. 00’53” We Love You

.m3u-playlist: http://tinyurl.com/yyln46 (all tracks!)

Review:

O.O.O.O.H MY GOD!!1!

Now here’s an album I’ve been eagerly awaiting ever since it was first released more than a year ago… As far back as I can remember I’ve been a big fan of the O.O.O.D./Unconscious Collective output – and I totally loved the Voice Of Cod album We Are Free released last year. That’s right, I’m a fanboy and I’m so excited that I just can’t hide it. I’m about to loose control and I think I like it… Errhm… *Blush*

The O.O.O.D. collective consists of UK nutters Stephen Callaghan, Ramsay Melhuish, Ryokan Potier & Colin Bennun. These guys are trance dinosaurs and as O.O.O.D. and Unconscious Collective they’ve released two wonderful albums + a ton of EPs and compilation tracks during the last 12 years… The line-up has changed over the years, but the central hippy-trance-easygoing dogma of the collective remains as strong as ever. This third album has been six years in the making which must be some kind of record… It’s released by high-quality UK label Organic Records – so we know the platform is class A. …Anyway, let’s get on with the fun part. The music:

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: Welcome
The initial skit works as extended intro to the already familiar Free Range track… A witty piss-take setting it up what’s about to unfold…

#02: Free Range
This track was released on the Organic Records compilation Invasion From Hyperspace in 2005. Here’s a slightly rewritten recap of what I wrote about it back then: This track starts out with radio static, pop-chords and funky guitars… Not unlike groovy French filter house a la Kojak. And you’ll probably wonder if you put on the right CD!? Soon after a particularly well-executed bassline hits your ears – alongside a buzzing synth-pad and some crackling percussion… I like the uplifting melodies, but generally I like my psy a little harder and with fewer guitars than this… But it’s still a swell track and especially the last couple of minutes are nice…

#03: Smoke A Lot (Ricochet Mix)
“Everything going adequately? Very adequately sir, I’m virtually bursting with adequatulence!” As the title subtly suggests, this track is all about lighting up, taking a big puff and copping out… It starts as a laidback dubby choon covered in smoke, but before you know it the good old-fashioned trance kicks in for a while… But soon the lazy, hazy dub vibe is predominant again – only to be wrestled by the trance vibe once more… What a l33t crossover combo! Bursting with energy this track is cracking one stoned smile after another… “Why do you smoke marijuana? It’s really very simple. I smoke it because I enjoy it. It doesn’t worry you that you’re breaking the law? Sure it worries me. I mean, it worries me because I don’t want to get caught. I don’t want to go to jail for something that I consider a pleasure and harmless to both society and myself. I’m not hurting anybody. I’m not hurting myself. Why should I be punished for it?” Extra points in my cool-book for the advanced synth exploration, the consequential quotes and the tiny icing-on-the-cake details such as the genious shotgun-click which is perfectly incorporated into the percussion. Yiiiiiiiha! This is simply wonderful!

#04: The Humming
“Those Freaking elves man, they just came out of the trees, man, they just came out of the trees!” This track was released by Revolver Magazine in the summer of 2006 as an early album teaser… We kick things in gear with a quote by Rice Krispie Guy from Family Guy… The twirling melodies are soon brutally interrupted by a banging technoid bassline and some proper psychedelic quirks and a happy acid ending… So yeah, this is the hardest, fastest track thus far galloping away at an incredible speed – though never loosing touch with reality… Some kind of unprecedented UK-version of psy-tekk without the usually boring, minimalist approach… That’s right; this is full-on tech-trance with an acid twist! Wonderfully executed and destined to cause absolute havoc on the floors…. Ace!

#05: Solar Sway
“Four and one half billion years ago, the planets were formed in the gravitational collapse of a great cloud of swirling gas and dust. In that collapse the gravitational energy of this gas and dust falling inwards heated the planets as they formed. Jupiter and Saturn have not yet cooled off.” Enter the space bass haze craze tranceoid fusion jazz bonanza! This is an easy-going hybrid track that fuses all kinds of elements from ethno downbeat, over old-school melodic trance to floating future jazz... Nice and lively… Not the biggest dance floor anthem, but a sleek transition tool and a tasty home listening treat… Simple in all its complexity.

#06: …But Handy!
Another short skit… Revealing the proper pronunciation of O.O.O.D. =)

#07: Oh My (Good Golly Me)
The next track continues the somewhat laidback style Solar Sway started… Don’t get me wrong, this gets pretty fast eventually, but there’s an overall chilled, relaxed vibe through this track… A subtle groover, a steady funk-bomb and a very pleasant trance back-burner… One third through the pace has quickened and more FX are added slowly, and we eventually end up with a lush, well-balanced mix of rich psytrance with immediate smile-qualities… Reminds me a great deal of Prometheus this one. Lovely!

#08: Marijuajuan
“Acquiring marijuana. There are four basic methods of acquiring marijuana: buying it, growing it, receiving it as a gift, and stealing it!” That’s right – and this funky little number will take you thru all of them. It’s the pot smokers bible put into funky chords. And by funk, I really mean funk – this is the quintessential oddball track of the album with a very distinct, hypnotizing filter house bassline running for entire length. Deep, filtered, groovy and totally housey… Packed to the rim with humorous weed samples and weird loops, cuts and breaks. Add an unsane splash of O.O.O.D. antics into the mix and you’ve got a winner. Something completely unique here – and it works like a charm. Puff, puff, giiiiiiiiive…

#09: Rock My Soul (Joker Vs. Operator Mix)
“What listing? Batman! Thank you; please wait while an operator looks… I’m sorry, what listing? Batman! Aha, is that Manhattan? Gotham City! Gotham City, where is that, which city? Manhattan! Oh, Manhattan. Batman! Residence! Residential – thank you. You have his first name? Bruce! […] Sorry, show no listing. How about just Batman? Errm, I don’t have anything for just Batman. Nothing residential. He lives in a lair. Wayne Manor! Yeah you know, I don’t have anything on Wayne Manor either sir. Batman? Yeah! Batman! I’m sorry! Batman! I guess, you know, he’s not listed! I know. Yeah. I’ll find him. Ok, well good luck. I’ll track him down with all my hatred. Uh, ok, good luck with that. Bye! ” Another fun-filled track here which starts with a funny prank call establishing that Batman is not listed… Well, that figures! Anyway, this is a real wide-spanning tune… Bouncy, twirly and full of life… The last couple of epic minutes are pure bliss. Audio orgasm! The feel good factor has gone thru the roof! The groove is still an important factor, but the familiar psy-trance elements play a bigger role now… We’re still not in the ‘dancefloor fire starter’ category, but for sofa trancing this is as good as it gets. Exquisite!

#10: Blue Seal
And now it’s time for some sample-free, straight-to-the-point, deeply focussed, advanced trance music… That’s right; this one caters for the dancefloor. It slowly builds to a frenzy of epic proportions. The progression is simply jaw dropping and this is in essence a beautifully crafted, mesmerizing piece of enchanted trance music. Gorgeous hands-in-the-air stadium trance with rich psytrance influences … Eat this Tïesto!

#11: It Isn’t Just You…
Another short skit. This time a mysterious, eerie one. Letting you catch your breath before the O.O.O.D. steam roller of trance hits you again.

#12: Eye Of The Beholder
And if you weren’t already convinced… This one *will* blow you away! Remember the good old days when wholesome trance music swept you off your feet and catapulted you into other dimensions? Well, this track does that. This is, hands down, the best track here. The instant monster hit. The feel good choon of the year! An incredibly well-produced track made in cahoots with legendary Ott. It’s absolutely packed to the rim, wall-to-wall maximal trance music… Soaked in huge melodies, entrenched in acid and absolutely drenched in one uplifting pad after another… Will have you dancing for days, sweating for weeks and smiling for years! Words don’t really do it justice. In short, the opus magnum O.O.O.D. track post 2000 AD! Perfection!

#13: We Love You
“You have one message. We just wanted to say something. Ehh. Ok. We loooove youuuu! We’re missing you. We love you. We’re missing you. Ok, bye!” Awww… How sweet is this answering machine message? We love you too!

As you’ve probably guessed this is a fantastic album… I’ll tell you why: The musical diversity is grander than most trance albums. It’s a cornucopia of styles confined within, but not limited to, a framework of trance music with psychedelic elements. The years of production time does not go by unnoticed. Each and every track is a testament to just how much time, work, passion, dedication and love that went into them. Breaking boundaries and building bridges.

Listening to this is like going on a treasure hunt – and the best part is that you’ll come out greatly rewarded. It’s one amazing track after another – and there’s nothing even slightly close to a mediocre track here. The production is to die for and the ‘real artwork’ by Vladimir Kush is stunning. Trust me on this – this CD is going to spend an awful lot of time in your CD player… It has in mine and I’m nowhere near done with it. Definitely one of the top releases of 2006 – and as such it gets my warmest, most heartfelt recommendations. An essential purchase for any serious music lover. Enjoy!

Favourites: 3(!), 4(!), 7, 8, 9(!), 10, 12(!!)

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External links:
O.O.O.D.: http://www.myspace.com/oood
Organic Records: http://www.organicrecords.net
Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/837078
Organic Records (download): http://tinyurl.com/y5lx2r
Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/yaosvq
Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/yn4c97
Discobole: http://tinyurl.com/ykue2l
PsyBuy: http://tinyurl.com/y9eq6w
Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/yeo5ue
Juno: http://tinyurl.com/yz9jx9
Play: http://tinyurl.com/y9tclg
 
Now here’s an album I’ve been eagerly awaiting ever since it was first released more than a year ago
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Am I missing something here? Released more than a year ago ????!!!!!!!

Colin you b*ard, you lied to me! You told me it was all new fresh stuff!!!!! Right that does it!!!!!!!!! :P

Surely he means, 'conceived over a year ago'. It did in fact take a whole year to produce. Thanks for the awesome write-up tho Martin :D
 
Chris Organic said:
Surely he means, 'conceived over a year ago'. It did in fact take a whole year to produce. Thanks for the awesome write-up tho Martin :D
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It took a year to mix, actually; although there was still writing/remixing being done right up until the end, the tracks themselves were all written over the last 5 years or so.
 
Colin OOOD said:
It took a year to mix, actually; although there was still writing/remixing being done right up until the end, the tracks themselves were all written over the last 5 years or so.
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Mr Pedantic, at his finest. Ya ya, it took a year to mix. Or, you could say, a year ago we conceived of making the album, and hence, it took a year to actually produce the album. "produce" has a wide definition, you know.

I'm unsubscribing myself from this thread cos I'm sure col's gonna have to have the last word.

anyways, enough yada yada, come on everyone and buy the CD already!!!

We've got lots in stock and our webshop has the lowest price (almost) on the net!
 
Here's Damion Psyreviews take on the album:

OOOD
Free Range
Organic

It’s a little-known – and, let’s be honest, largely insignificant – fact that without OOOD, there would be no psyreviews. Their Kundalini is THE track that kept me interested in this music, after having my curiosity piqued by those very same year-dot tracks that everyone credits. Free Range has been a long time coming, and it bloody well sounds like it too. The production hugs you, lifts you up from the conventional psytrance bottom-heavy spectrum and to have this level of musical variety on one piece of plastic is almost enough to reaffirm your faith in music. The title track kicks off funky and drops into 4-4 in one of the best set-starters ever devised; after which, Smoke A Lot flitters from glistening dub to floaty doof with a sublime elegance. The Humming is evil and hefty up to a dreamy breakdown, after which it’s evil and hefty again, and Solar Sway takes things into a sort of netherworld-y, morning-trance-cum-oldskool that isn’t exactly arresting, but is jolly nice all the same. Oh My (Good Golly Me) is one of their best efforts here. It’s brave, it’s bold, and it’s beautiful. The vox distorts and warps perfectly, the techno-pounding rig botherage is in full effect, and subtle changes make it feel like a real journey, in the manner of Prometheus’ better work. Marijuajuana has a few too many samples, but its combination of shitkicking disco and dreamhouse pads make it a winner. Rock My Soul again suffers from over-samplage, which could almost be forgiven were the tune itself not quite so wandering and noodly (or should that be nOOODly). Sorry, crap joke – but then that’s what you come to psyreviews for, isn’t it? Blue Seal is a cracker. Taking ages to start, it holds the attention perfectly with intricate hooks, suggested melodies, an array of frequencies – in short, everything this kind of music should have. It all comes together in the wonderful, warming Eye Of The Beholder; utterly wonderful, fluid, epic, dreamtime stuff… the kind of which I never thought I’d here. Free Range is a decent album, with plenty of variation and with the inclusion of what’s known in the trade as “short talky bits†(think Three Feet High And Rising), it’s a winning package for home listening. Musically, it may lack a certain thunking presence – as in, it doesn’t sound like normal fullon –and as such DJ’s might find they don’t give it quite so much of an airing. But the bottom line for the rest of us is that this is a mature, confident, loveable, lasting album that’s executed with flair, grace, professionalism, and a little sprinkle of magic from another dimension. Probably.
9
 
i like the album, the ganja tracks quite funky, love the bass, as for the rest, the dog bollocks :) really hope to see oood live and lookin forward to other releases
 
finally got this through the door a few days ago, it really is a wonderful album. Its not often you hear something which really does sound like it has had so much love and attention put into it! Its got that what i find difficult balance between lighthearted fun and spin-out psychedelia which gives the tracks real personality.

I agree with damion that there might be the odd sample that is repeated 1 too many times, but thats only a tiny detail and that doesnt hinder at all what is a real treat. I was listening to 'oh my god golly me' on the train to work and i actually went "yeah!" to myself, and did a little jig. ( i think i might have loved everyone in the carriage for a split second too but dont tell anyone).

Eye of the beholder though is my favorite track. luvvly. :D


:bananada:
 
Oood's Free Range is the best "Psy-Trance" album that I've heard in years.

It's excellent.

It's inventive, bold and fun and with top quality production.

There's clearly been a huge amount of time, work and love put into this album.

It's a proper album rather than a collection of generic dance floor tracks for DJs therefore is great to listen to anywhere.

10/10

Cheers,
Bill
 
Heard OOOD play at Tribe of Frog and really enjoyed - got a copy of this recently and love it, great album - so varied and different from most the stuff you hear. I reckon this album will be around and popular for a long time...

Can't wait to see you play at Glade in the sunshine :ibiggrin:
 
In case you missed it back in the day, we've re-released this album! Originally released in 2006 on Organic Records, it has been out of print for a while but you can now buy it directly from OOOD on our Bandcamp page.

This album took us 6 years to make and we were incredibly proud of it when it came out. The full album download includes the intro, outro and interludes from the original CD, as well as all the original jewel case artwork in the highest-possible quality - including for the first time parts that were never printed properly on the original release.

Buy it now from http://oood.bandcamp.com/ and support us directly!
 
Those royalty cheques just keep piling up. I might spend the next one on an Aston Martin...
 
squbsy said:
Those royalty cheques just keep piling up. I might spend the next one on an Aston Martin...
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Good point, send me your Paypal address. We've sold two copies of the album since we released it online (cheers Joe!); as for Organic Records - as far as I can tell after a brief rummage we got £320.20 between us but Chris decided to put most of our royalties from Free Range towards his own personal debts, which was nice of him, and has since refused to make good. But there will be something on the order of twenty quid coming to you for a half writing share in one track; I'll check my email and invoice history for the figures and work it out.
 
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Faction said:
Good point, send me your Paypal address. We've sold two copies of the album since we released it online (cheers Joe!)
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I shall dangle it in front of my Facebook punters and see if we can at least double that...

...as for Organic Records - as far as I can tell after a brief rummage we got £320.20 between us but Chris decided to put most of our royalties from Free Range towards his own personal debts, which was nice of him, and has since refused to make good.
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Hmm. Shady. One of the best things about doing what we're doing at this point in history is that we can extend a cheerful two fingers at 'labels' and receive detailed monthly accounting from Bandcamp et al.

Twisted were the best of the lot I think but I've never received a penny from any of the other labels I've ever dealt with.

But there will be something on the order of twenty quid coming to you for a half writing share in one track; I'll check my email and invoice history for the figures and work it out.
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I hope it was obvious I was taking the piss but, if it wasn't, I was. I'm honoured just to be on the album. That track gives me a huge amount of pleasure when I hear it now.

We should do another one...
 
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