The ever-excellent Rockadrome label changes step, releasing this 1974 private press prog/experimental LP from Baltimore fruit loops OHO.
This version restores all the material that was supposed to make the original single LP a double–clocking in at a whopping 73 minutes. There’s a huge variety of style and shapes on offer here, moving from spoken word theatricality to acidic guitar lines, which cut across consistently strong material. Despite the experimental nature of many of the songs, there are real tunes and hooks in abundance on many of the tracks.
This is an absolutely unique record–think of it somewhere between Genesis and Zappa if you need a reference point. The tunefulness throughout acts a perfect counterweight to the more outlandish passages of music and surprises abound even after several listens.
OHO conjure up a truly mind-melting alternative world that you’ll want to visit again and again.
The 2008 outing “Bricolage” is also available as a double CD/DVD set.
–Austin Matthews
