ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE – The Black Tomato

Every once in a while you get a chance to listen to something by accident that you really groove on but never knew existed. This is one of those times. It is labeled as Space Rock, Progressive Space Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Instrumental Space Rock, or something along those lines. Overall, the music is nothing more than an improvisational all-out Instrumental Jam session. However, these dudes are so good at what they do; they deserve to have their own label. OSC should be labeled as Mind Exploration Rock.

OSC was formed back in 2004 and is nothing more than a group of talented Swedish, Danish, and American musicians who get together as often as possible to play free-form improvised Space Rock music. The core members of OSC, both current and former, hail from Danish bands Mantric Muse and Gas Giant, and Swedish bands Bland Bladen, Carpet Knights, and Kaabel. Other musicians occasionally join in as well. The jam sessions alternate between Malmo, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark; across the Oresund bridge — hence a hint at where the name comes from.

OSC’s latest release, titled The Black Tomato, is only their third official CD release. It has just three song titles that hold nine tracks and contain a little over 77 minutes worth of music. Just like their first two releases, they are limited items. Their debut CD was released in January 2006, limited to only 500 copies and is sold out. The second release from October 2006 titled It’s All About Delay is a double CD set that came in a limited edition DVD case. It too was limited, this time to only 1000 copies. What is quite remarkable is the fact that the group has over 35 hours of free downloadable music in MP3 format that can be found on their official Web site.

The Discography section on the OSC website shows three official releases, and the music this band produces is really out there — very hypnotic (in a good sense) causing you to get hooked to the point that you don’t want to stop listening. On top of that, every time you listen to material that you have heard before on numerous occasions, you often end up on a different journey. It never sounds the same and it doesn’t impact you in the same way twice. The OSC experience has you opening your mind to places that you didn’t know existed. The OSC is very infectious and even just a few notes will have you hooked to the point where you’re gonna groove to it … there’s no doubt.

If you are into taking deep, hypnotic, sensual, trance-like musical excursions of the mind, give OSC a listen. The aural stimulation produced from the hidden sounds of the dueling guitars and keyboards both synthesized to extreme levels, compounded by the deep rhythmic bass and synchronous drumming all blended and mixed into a concoction of beautifully choreographed and brilliantly produced spatial nuances will make you experience things you never thought possible. The musicians oddly enough go only by their first names. Magnus – guitars, effects; Sebastian – guitars, effects; Tobias – guitars, effects; Jocke – bass; Michael – bass; Scott – synthesizers; Ola – synthesizers; Mogens – Hammond organ, synthesizers; and Soren – drums; make up OSC. For a more detailed summary involving the key players or for other band related information, check out the official OSC web site (see link below). If you want to explore something new that will blow you away, just lay back in your recliner, put on the headphones, and crank up some OSC. You’ll welcome the experience.