Review: Ozone Player: _E_ (2002, Visual Power)


1: My Name Is Bond... Jeeves Bond (6:44)

We start off with deep and dark synth bass-end stabs, but a wacky
melodic line soon struts in (at 0:15) and announces that this album
will keep its tongue firmly in cheek. For the first two minutes solid,
we have a maniacal groove repeating with minimal variation... which
points towards the reason I find this opening track to be my least
favorite. (Even the "Short Version" of this track from the promo
sampler _E Lite_ goes on too long for my taste.)

In general, _E_ is much more of a "groove-based" album than Ozone
Player's earlier _Insane Logic_, to the detriment of melodic development
and structural complexity. It's a trait that's in evidence
on more than half of the tracks on _E_, and it's the main reason I
have never enjoyed _E_ nearly as much as _Insane Logic_.

2: The Wobbling Wardrobe (5:23)

For the first minute, we have an interesting osinato provided by an
interplay of aqautic, alien voices. Subtle additions to the ostinato
pulse fade in over this time, yet these seem to be building up yet
another repetitive, groove-based track. At 0:58, we get a slow, sad,
and lilting ballet of plucked-string sounds. Though they mainly
outline chord changes, they are a very evocative addition to the (so
far) melancholy track.

Are we on a galleon crewed solely by forlorn ghosts? Guests of the
Flying Dutchman? Or perhaps viewing long-abandoned cave-cities on a
distant planet? But wait -- what was that flicker of movement in the
corner (1:55)? Can it truly be that those tiny, stylized "statues"
are suddenly moving and rattling their strange hand-tools? Make no
mistake, there are more gathering in the center of the room each
moment. And now (2:25), they start to form a rough circle and...
dance!

Over the next minute and a half that these dusty, animated relics
dance and revive piece by piece their ancient, trance-like rites, I can't
help but feel that my presence is of little importance or concern to
them. Despite the uniqueness of this spectacle, I am left somewhat
cold and detached. Before long (3:58), it seems as if all the spirits

that ever passed through these caves have returned at once to join the

festivities, turning what was once a forboding scene into one of jollity.

Is it only my imagination, or do I hear a soaring, arena-rock guitar
solo joining the fray (4:41)? Soon, my head is spinning out of
control with a jumble of disjointed sense-memories from the moments and events

which have led me to this point. By the time I have roused from this
transcendental vision, I realize that I am once again alone amidst an
ancient and dusty cavern lined with tiny statues that look so
whimsical that I can hardly believe they were meant to be taken seriously. Yet
I also must acknowledge my strange conviction that something significant
has happened before my skeptical eyes and ears.

3: Ollism (3:07)

Probably the highlight of _E_, "Ollism" gives us a symphony of
construction sounds and similarly striking noises. The effect works
beautifully, and the brevity of the piece prevents it from out-staying
its welcome. (And is it just me, or does it suddenly smell like
sawdust in here?)

4: The Runner (6:19)

By this point in the album, I'm ready for less vamping, fewer loops,
and more counterpoint. This track is fun, features some energetic
guitar contributions by the late Jouni Halmari, and frequently dips
into devious chord progressions... but it still leaves me wanting more
of an emotional connection.

Here, as in most of the album's tracks, we have a very basic A-B-A
structure with minimal sense of contrast in pitch material, texture,
and timbre. The tempo slows, but the near-identical bassline signals
that this slower section is still essentially a variation on opening
section. In the end, the track builds and builds, growing faster and
faster, until we are back where we started. The problem for me is
that we never got very far afield in the first place.

What I loved so much about _Insane Logic_ was how much content got
squeezed into the tracks. Here on _E_, I feel that the repetition and
vamping undercuts a lot of the inventiveness and freshness that I look
for from OP.

5: Broken Code (4:13)

Again: weird noise-like loop, bass groove (using a timbre similar to
that used on almost every previous track), funhouse melody, lopsided
rhythms, and a structure derived from rock songs. There's a lot to
like within this track, especially from circa 2:11-3:16, but it's also
eerily similar to an acid-flashback of the entire first half of the
album.

Three of the five tracks so far have used extremely similar timbres,
and have tended to fill the entire frequency-spectrum for the majority
of their durations. ("The Runner" and "Broken Code" in particular
conatin so many near-identical traits that they would be better served
by a track-order that separated them from each other.)

6: Light Music for Small Masses (3:01)

Here we get a nice break from the lack of contrast that I spoke about
above. The timbres are a big change from what came before, and the
gamelan sounds we remember from _Insane Logic_ make a welcome return.
This track clearly belongs alongside "Ollism" and the other tracks
from _E_, as the drum track and the constant motivic looping demonstrate --
and yet this fact underscores how limited the range of material has
been prior to this. Had "Light Music for Small Masses" come earlier
on the album, I might not feel so fatigued already.

7: Platonaut (4:19)

Though we have another track built upon almost constant repetition,
with "Platonaut" we none-the-less have a fresh wash of tone colors
once more. Sampled versions of piano, upright bass, vibraphone, strings,
et cetera, give the track a much more laid-back and less aggressive feel
than previous tracks. It's enjoyable, but fairly redundant already by
the three-minute mark... at which point there's still over minute to go.
Once again, overzealous repetition and vamping mars a promising piece.

8: Inzekt Danz (5:12)

Er... repetitive. Very repetitive. At the start, it seems like a
nice mixture of the found-sound noises from "Ollism" with the timbres of
"My Name Is Bond," "The Runner," "Broken Code," and "Saurus," but before
long it feels like an overlong and unfinished demo made by
block-copying loops and transposing them.
If there's one over-riding flaw to _E_, it's a lack of melodic
development. Vamping and chord changes are giving a higher priority
than melodic elements, and once a melody does appear, it's usually
merely a motivic fragment which may be repeated frequently afterwards,
but which is essentially never developed or varied within itself to
any degree. Later appearances of the motives may be transposed and often
have a different combination of loops and vamps behind them, but they
aren't often given a linear life of their own -- they simply exist as
icing on the "groove" cake. This leads to a lot of choppiness in the
form, and a lot of running around without much apparent rhyme or
reason.

The interesting thing is that there are plenty of examples of
*textural* development on _E_. In that sense, I feel that this album
is mainly lacking a sense of melodic flow to even out the gaps and
lurches between chordal vamps. I didn't notice this problem on
_Insane Logic_, and perhaps for that reason I prefer it to this album by leaps
and bounds. As for "Inzekt Danz", I honestly feel that its removal would strengthen
the album.

9: Re-Ollism (3:59)

A much more low-key and laid-back exploration of the construction
sounds from "Ollism," and one which mixes them with pitched
tone-colors that recall "Light Music for Small Masses" and preface "Saurus." The
sense of internal sonic contrast is achieved with great skill, giving
us another highlight for the album.

10: Saurus (6:47)
Prior to 1:08, I find this track to be the most strikingly moving of
all of Ozone Player's tracks. But at 1:08 a cheery bassline kicks in,
and what was formerly pathos turns instantly into light-hearted
celebration. What follows is still executed with taste and skill, but
it fails to interest me very much or encourage an emotional connection
on the level of what the intro prepared me for. This is especially
frustrating in light of how much I love the way the opening grabs me
by surprise, gaining my attention and building tension, only to lead me
back to less-engaging, familiar territory.

Certainly I am well aware that a wacky sense of humor is one of the
defining traits of Ozone Player's brainchild, Otso Pakarinen. Yet I
find again and again with the material on _E_ that I am drawn in
towards the tender and understated moments, while I find the
in-your-face humor of the album too broad and farcical for me to enjoy
nearly as much. The humorous moments in general don't seem to me to
be invested with the same degree of musical and conceptual sophistication
as the more tender moments.
All too frequently on _E_, momentary poignance and intimate
expressivity is quickly subverted by a more detached, cheeky frivolity
and/or winking parody, often with little advance warning. For many
listeners, that will be extremely satisfying and refreshing, if not
just what the doctor ("Doctor OP" from the inner sleeve photo,
perhaps?) ordered. Yet for myself, it's usually at least mildly
frustrating, and in the end it leaves me pining for an Ozone Player
album that speaks less to my funny bone and more to my soul.


D. K. Herpich
tepmuseq@yahoo.com