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Genre exploration part two: PSYCHEDELIA

  
 
rizla mission
15:51 / 30.11.01
In the past, I've always given 60s Psychedelia something of a wide berth.

See, one the one hand, I really dislike all that incredibly tedious 'acid jammin' nonsense pedalled by the Grateful Dead and Phish and so forth..

..and on the other hand, I also dislike the equally tedious British tradition that runs from 'Abbey Road' and 'Revolver' through Pink Floyd all the way to Spiritualized - not my scene at all.

In fact, the only Psychedelic records I've ever really gotten into are the ones made in the 90s by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips..

But I get the feeling that SOMEWHERE in all this West-Coast 60s stuff, there's an incredibly cool underground sound that was never really captured by any of the famous big names associated with Psychedelia.

Cse in Point: 'Shifting Sands' by the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, which is included on a CD-R send to me by FLux, and which is absolutely mega.. I want to listen to things like that ... or the sort of stuff that 'Tides of the Moon' by Mercury Rev was inspired by.

Where's the best place to start for beautiful, freaky psychedelic stuff unhindered by muso-prog self indulgence?
 
 
Rev. Wright
16:01 / 30.11.01
I'm a big Can nut, and I have to say that I am also a fan of my local band Loveless, a rather self indulgent psychedelic band.
check them at http://www.loveless.st

I will have to get my hippy friend Mick on teh case.
Any questions regarding Psychedelic bands, I can pass to him and return with answers asap
Krautrock is a speciality
 
 
uncle retrospective
22:25 / 30.11.01
Riz, try a band called Bardo Pond. On Matador records (a good start point if ever there was one). Huge basslines, nice female vocals way down the mix, white noise gutairs sweeping in around the 4 min mark.
the song you need is Tantric Porno.
get it here.
http://www.audiogalaxy.com/list/searches.php?SID=0fed05d519996c107b524abb58896b2d&searchType=0&searchStr=bardo+pond
 
 
Margin Walker
23:10 / 30.11.01
quote:Originally posted by Rizla Year Zero:
Where's the best place to start for beautiful, freaky psychedelic stuff unhindered by muso-prog self indulgence?

Yo, do yourself a favor and pick up any of the "Nuggets" compilations from Rhino (Get the box set if you can find it--it comes with a very thoroughly researched history of all of the featured bands). Everything from psychedelic to garage rock of the most obscure act of the age. If I wouldn't have rented it from the library, I'd have missed out on a lot of cool shit (The Sonics, Doug Sahm, The Seeds, The Trashmen, etc., etc.).

Why are you still reading this?! Get going!!
 
 
Ierne
00:15 / 02.12.01
Where's the best place to start for beautiful, freaky psychedelic stuff unhindered by muso-prog self indulgence? – Rizla Year Zero

Tough call... but maybe Love?

There's some Audio tracks on the site...see if you like.
 
 
[N.O.B.O.D.Y.]
01:05 / 02.12.01
Ierne, you are right. Love is a great place to start; their best known disc is "Forever Changes", but all of them are great. (BTW is Arthur Lee still in jail?)
Another fine start point would probably be The Zombies' Oddysey and Oracle. If you like these bands, you should give an opportunity to Gorky's Zygotic Mynci; they have released a new album some time ago. And I suppose you already own the whole Syd Barrett discography including Pink Floyd's debut; if you don't they are all great stuff too.
And if you liked Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs; you should follow Dave Fridmann's career as a producer. If you have followed The Flaming Lips career, you already have The Soft Bulletin; there's also a record by The Delgados produced by him. There's a lot of great psychedelic bands out there...

[ 02-12-2001: Message edited by: [N.O.B.O.D.Y.] -Thank You C.A.B.J.- ]
 
 
Ronald Thomas Clontle
02:40 / 02.12.01
Arthur Lee is indeed still in jail. My favorite Love LP is not Forever Changes, the one I like the best is De Capo. I never really think of Love as being a psychedelic band...a lot of it is more in an electric folk area to my ears. almost like Fairport Convention without all the Britishness...

I second most of the recommendations made thus far, especially the Nuggets comps. Bardo Pond are a good band, I'd recommend picking up the Set & Setting LP if you wanted to try them out.

Rizla: The West Coast Experimenal Art Pop Band LPs are *very* rare, and yr better off just downloading them off of Audiogalaxy (most of their catalog is there) rather than losing yr mind and pulling out yr hair trying to find them. There is a lot more great WCEAPB songs out there... If you like them, I encourage you to find the United States Of America LP...they only did one album, and it is self-titled. It's in the same vein of psychedelia, has a lot of super-leftist lyrics, and features a wide variety of early electronic instruments and tape manipulations.

The Silver Apples are a great psychedelic band too, in addition to being electronic innovators...the s/t cd with their first two records is worth yr money for sure.

I can't remember if I gave you anything by the Bonzo Dog Band on that cdr...I've made a lot of cd-rs that open with "We Are Normal" and "Shifting Sands"...anyway, Bonzo Dog Band are well worth trying out.

There's just so many different kinds of psychedelic rock out there, I'm a bit overwhelmed trying to answer you... The Nuggets comps (one is of US bands, the more recent one is UK) are a great place to start, just tons and tons of great classic songs, a lot of one-hit wonder types.

As for the newer psychedelic bands... if you close your eyes (or maybe not...their packaging is pretty damn pyschedelic), the Shimmer Kids Underpop Association from San Franciso are pretty much vintage psychedelia in a time warp. Most of their catalog is up for download in mp3 on their website. Excellent music. I highly recommend it.

You know what Fridmann-produced LP is really underrated? Home's XIV. (I somehow get the feeling I'm the only one here who owns a copy...)

Oh............ you might want to either check out/reconsider the first three Smashing Pumpkins LPs (Gish, Siamese Dream, Pisces Iscariot). Seriously.

Can was mentioned, and I'd really recommend listening to them if you weren't already. A good record to pick up if you want an overview is the Cannibalism 1 LP, which has a lot of the finest tracks from what is generally considered their glory days (songs like "Yoo Doo Right", "Father Cannot Yell" "Halleluwah" "Mushroom" "Spoon" etc).
If yr the type to think that anthologies and greatest hits are for little girls and grandmas, then try getting Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi, Soundtracks, or Monster Movie first...

Faust is another great Krautrock group that you may be interested in...I highly recommend Faust IV, which contains one of the finest psychedelic ballads EVER, "Jennifer".

I would also recommend looking through Perfect Sound Forever...they have a lot of articles about psychedelia/garage rock/prog/kraut/electric folk revival (not to mention a lot of other wonderful music), all of it well written.

If you were in NYC, I'd drag you over to Other Music, which has a large chunk of its stock devoted to this music, and carries a lot of obscure records in these genres... You can browses the psych section of theironline store, though.

[ 02-12-2001: Message edited by: Flux = Yr Fact-Checking Cuz ]
 
 
Analogues On
09:18 / 03.12.01
Yep, the Nuggets compilations are a great and inexpensive place to start, lots of fresh faced punk kids playing pysched-out garage pop somewhere between Detroit and the West Coast. Todd Rundgren/The Nazz were a total revealation to me.
I would also second Can, Silver Apples and The Zombies, mentioned above.

Rizla, you might also like Beefheart, Residents, The Fugz or 13th Floor Elevators, although some people just, well, don’t.

For a full on psychic onslaught I habitually recommend the Unholy Trinity of:
Forever Changes by Love
Fun House by The Stooges
Maggot Brain by Funkadelic.

Wholly righteous.

And for Lips/ Rev weirdness try Olivia Tremor Control’s Black Foliage.

Flux, I own the Home XIV LP too, based on the Dave Friedman/ Michael Ivins connection. Didn’t get it for a long time, but its now a personal favourite. They call to mind that “short lived beauty of white chocolate before crumbling on a Deluxe an’pushin air into a crystal” muse of early Mercury Rev.
 
 
Ronald Thomas Clontle
09:37 / 03.12.01
quote:Originally posted by RedRunningLord:
Flux, I own the Home XIV LP too, based on the Dave Friedman/ Michael Ivins connection. Didn’t get it for a long time, but its now a personal favourite. They call to mind that “short lived beauty of white chocolate before crumbling on a Deluxe an’pushin air into a crystal” muse of early Mercury Rev.

Hmm. I actually kinda sorta prefer some of their earlier stuff, like Home IX, which sounds a lot more like Pavement than the Flaming Lips...a lot more raw and garage. They were a lot more anarchic and strange... Still, songs like "Truly Judy" "Salty Water" and "So Much Love" are real gems...

and since when were the Nuggets box sets cheap? I want YOUR paycheck, buddy...

re: Olivia Tremor Control. I don't recommend Black Foliage, I don't think it is very good. Dusk At Cubist Castle, however, is pretty amazing.

You've gotta be careful with those Elephant Six kids...they don't really have a firm grasp on quality control...
 
 
Analogues On
09:37 / 03.12.01
The Nuggets set is inexpensive compared to spending shit-loads on import LPs or buying endless compilations looking for the good stuff. Can’t think of anywhere else you get so much quality psyche for yr money.
Start saving dude.

And where can I get earlier Home stuff? Haven’t seen anything in the UK except XIV.
 
 
Mystery Gypt
09:37 / 03.12.01
I second the recommendation for United States of America, their songs are super catchy but full of electronic weirdness from Joe Byrd, who went on to arrange and produce a whole lot of other psych stuff.

there was a band in boston called Ultimate Spinach that was essentially created to compete against the west coast sound, they have a chick with a great voice singing numbers like "hip death goddess" etc.

the second blue cheer record, called New! Improved! has some of the heaviest guitar you'll find, they were like stomping on ground that would later be trodd by the melvins but with the psychedelics hitting hard.

there are also some great albums by Paul Kantner / Grace Slick. she was first in a band called The Great Society that kicks, and later there was an album called Blows Against the Empire that's a real mind warper.

Agitation Free, (german?) has this great way of playing sweeping instrumental psych numbers and then weirdly sliding into cosmic space sounds, the effect makes you continually forget exactly what you're listening too.

Amon Duul were a german hippy commune who had mandatory sex and drug consumption and their records are suitably fractured.

Hapsatch and the Colored Coat are another really out there crew, they did a lot of graphic design in the day and then they rocked hard -- their first album is great, though very peculiar.

hmm... spacious mind is contemporary, very cool... ash ra temple were 70s krauts who even had an album with leary...

i second the Other Music suggestion as well. if you're not in nyc or boston, go to their website. i think they probably have a psych section; and check out albums put out by the japanese label captain trip.
 
 
Ronald Thomas Clontle
09:37 / 03.12.01
quote:Originally posted by RedRunningLord:

And where can I get earlier Home stuff? Haven’t seen anything in the UK except XIV.

A lot of it is really hard to find and/or out of print. I have a big chunk of the earlier stuff on tape from a friend from Florida who knew them...

Here's more info on Home.

Mystery Gypt: I've never heard of a bunch of those bands, but I'm glad you mentioned them, I'll see what I can find online... You obviously have great taste.

For more on Amon Duul I, go here.
 
 
A
09:37 / 03.12.01
There is a series of compilations called PEBBLES, which are in a similar vein to Nuggets, and focus mainly on obscure US 60's garage bands that released one or two singles and then dissappeared without a trace. I have no idea if they're still inprint, or where you would find a copy.

For more recent semi-psychedelic stuff I'd recommend later Dead Kennedys (seriously), My Bloody Valentine (it's a different kind of psychedelic, but it's still psychedelic to me), "Coastal" by Godstar and "Giant Steps" by the Boo Radleys.
 
 
[N.O.B.O.D.Y.]
09:37 / 03.12.01
13th Floor Elevators!!!!How could I forget about them? That's definitely one to try if you haven't heard them.
 
 
Cop Killer
09:37 / 03.12.01
quote:Originally posted by the diabolical count adam:
There is a series of compilations called PEBBLES, which are in a similar vein to Nuggets, and focus mainly on obscure US 60's garage bands that released one or two singles and then dissappeared without a trace. I have no idea if they're still inprint, or where you would find a copy.


Pebbles is still in print, as is the Back From the Grave, but BFTG won't touch psychadelia at all, but focus on 60's punk and that's all.
The Flamin' Groovies have some good psych stuff (about half of it is really rockin' and half of it is kinda weak [that's a basic statement of their actual albums, they have no ones that rock all the way through, it's a tough call]).
I highly recomend ? & the Mysterians for a completely fucking rocking pre-psych kinda thing, especially their original LPs and 45's.
 
 
Pin
09:37 / 03.12.01
And to be a wanker: Any chance of catalogue numbers?At least for some of the compilations...
 
 
rizla mission
09:37 / 03.12.01
Y'know, I saw a review of one of those Nuggets compilations in - of all places - the student paper the other day and thought 'ooh, that sounds good.' I guess that's the place to go.

Obviously I'm already down with My Bloody Valentine, Bardo Pond, Captain Beefheart - but I've never thought of any of them as being psychedelic .. odd that, as on reflection they clearly are..

quote:Originally posted by Mystery Gypt:

there was a band in boston called Ultimate Spinach that was essentially created to compete against the west coast sound, they have a chick with a great voice singing numbers like "hip death goddess" etc.


I'm sold.

quote:Originally posted by Flux = Yr Fact-

Rizla: The West Coast Experimenal Art Pop Band LPs are *very* rare, and yr better off just downloading them off of Audiogalaxy (most of their catalog is there) rather than losing yr mind and pulling out yr hair trying to find them.

Y'know, I'm sure I saw a few West Coast Experimental Art Pop Band albums (on CD no less) last time I was in Selectadisc .. but I wanted to check whether their general output was any good before I bought any - do you think they'd be worth it?
 
 
Ronald Thomas Clontle
10:55 / 03.12.01
Rizla - Ah! Ah! buy it! buy it! If you liked "Shifting Sands" you will definitely like the rest...they have three LPs, you can't go wrong, I'm sure...my knowledge is all mixed up through their catalog, so I can't recommend a specific LP...just go for it!
 
 
Saveloy
11:05 / 03.12.01
There's an eponymous album by a band called White Noise which came out about '68-ish, and which rules. I say band, they were a bloke, another bloke and Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic workshop (she was the one who created the Tardis noise for Doctor Who, and did the theme with Ron Grainer - I think) and they only did the one project. Anyhow, it's got yer psychadelic guitars, yer wafty lady vocals and yer mad electronic noises. They use tape edits the way samples are used nowadays. I think you'd like it, it's basically three people mucking about in a studio and it's NOT SERIOUS (self-consciously serious is what you don't like, right?) It's available on CD, too.

Can: the nearest to psychedelic they came, I reckon, is the early stuff with Malcolm Mooney on vocals. You'll find it on an album called Delay 68 which features their earliest recordings (a couple of duds, but 3 or 4 crackers as well - Uphill, 19th Century Man and O Little Star) and Unlimited Edition, another compilation covering oddments from their whole career. Not in itself a great intro to the band, but some great tracks again. I'll see if I can sort out a *cough hack urh-hem*

On the subject of seriousness, do you not even like early Pink Floyd, the fun stuff with Syd Barett? Some of that was quite poppy.
 
 
rizla mission
11:11 / 03.12.01
SAVELOYYY!!!!

Anything involving the people responsible for the Dr. Who theme has to be worth getting (I've been meaning to start a thread on it actually - I think I will).

I haven't heard much early Pink Floyd, but, y'know, even if they weren't too bad in those days, having Pink Floyd in yer record collection when you're my age is like having Mein Kampf on your bookshelf in 1946..
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
11:14 / 03.12.01
quote:Originally posted by Rizla Year Zero:
having Pink Floyd in yer record collection when you're my age is like having Mein Kampf on your bookshelf in 1946..Oi! You're pissing on my teenage years from a great height!

Sigh. I guess that answers the "cool" thread once and for all...
 
 
Ronald Thomas Clontle
11:30 / 03.12.01
quote:Originally posted by Rizla Year Zero:
SAVELOYYY!!!!
I haven't heard much early Pink Floyd, but, y'know, even if they weren't too bad in those days, having Pink Floyd in yer record collection when you're my age is like having Mein Kampf on your bookshelf in 1946..

Rizla, the first Floyd LP, Pipers At The Gates of Dawn is magnificent, and you should really look into that album...Syd Barrett wrote all of those songs, he was the lead guitarist and singer, and it is dramatically different from the Floyd that you know...
 
 
rizla mission
12:09 / 03.12.01
I know, I know, but it's an ideology thing rather than a music thing - I WILL NOT give in to the lure of being a hippy..
 
 
grant
15:58 / 03.12.01
Trust me, Rizla, it's NOT hippie music by a long shot.

Song titles:
"Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk"
"Careful With That Axe, Eugene"
"Astronomy Domine"

It's light years from "Everybody get together, c'mon and love one another" music.

I can second (third, whatever) the Nuggets compilations, and the Zombies.

I will also add: any band ever covered by Camper Van Beethoven and Camper Van Beethoven themselves. Can't recommend them enough. Get the *early* stuff, before they became MTV sweethearts and imploded.
"The Day that Lassie Went to the Moon" is delightfully fractured, and "The History of Utah" is psychedelic bliss about Mormons and UFOs.

Their web site features random free mp3s, all from the pre-big-label records. Check 'em out. Not 60s psychedelia by a long shot, but in the same spirit.

I kinda like The Worst of Jefferson Airplane album. It's got a few songs from their first few albums each. Nicely spacey.
 
 
Ronald Thomas Clontle
01:22 / 04.12.01
quote:Originally posted by Rizla Year Zero:
I know, I know, but it's an ideology thing rather than a music thing - I WILL NOT give in to the lure of being a hippy..

I wouldn't say Syd Barrett is so much a hippy as he is an acid casualty lunatic with an amazing voice and a gift for melody...
 
 
mondo a-go-go
10:08 / 04.12.01
quote:Originally posted by Mystery Gypt:
I second the recommendation for United States of America, their songs are super catchy but full of electronic weirdness from Joe Byrd, who went on to arrange and produce a whole lot of other psych stuff.

i third that. their album is available for around £7 these days. coming down is a BIG fave of mine.

quote:there was a band in boston called Ultimate Spinach that was essentially created to compete against the west coast sound, they have a chick with a great voice singing numbers like "hip death goddess" etc.

now, see, aside from that one track, i didn't really get into them.

i also second ? & the mysterions and the 13th floor elevators

quote:I haven't heard much early Pink Floyd, but, y'know, even if they weren't too bad in those days, having Pink Floyd in yer record collection when you're my age is like having Mein Kampf on your bookshelf in 1946..

you're wrong. you're soooo wrong. anything syd barret does i KNOW you'd love. it's not hippy prog, it's psychedelic whimsy. and i don't mean that to be particularly twee. if you like some of the bonzo dog band stuff, you'll dig early pink floyd.

good psyche bands from the 60s include the electric prunes (check out their song i had too much to dream last night, kaleidoscope (they have a good greatest hits pacakage out on cd), vanilla fudge (they mostly did freaky covers), the monkees (no, i kid you not. check out some of their albums), and one band whose name i totally can't remember, but they did a track called semi-suburban mr jones. if i could remember who they were, i'd pick that cd up too...

linkage:
* marmalade skies
* ombomb
* psychedelic 60s
* head sounds
* orange sunsine web radio
* whole buncha links
 
 
grant
13:16 / 04.12.01
the later monkees, yeah. when they toured with hendrix.

that (brilliant) electric prunes is on the first nuggets compile, along with the 13th floor elevators' "you're gonna miss me."
 
 
Opalfruit
14:18 / 04.12.01
Hmm, Psychedelia. Early Jefferson Airplane's very good, I only listened to them because I heard "White Rabbit" (argh! the monstrosity that became Jefferson Starship!).

The Zombies were also great, there's you'll find a lot of people have covered their stuff especially "She's Not There" - but no version I have ever heard has been able to beat "Time of the Season". Avoid Argent though!

And I'll second Ultimate Spinach, bought one of their albums just because a band with a name like that can be either brilliant or totally shit - no inbetweens. I was suprised by what I heard - but I Love The Ballad of the Hip Death God (Think Hippie Death God, that might make you feel better Rizla!).

[Tangient]: oh, and I'm still listening to a lot of stuff on the CDs flux sent me, must make a shopping list for after ChrisTmas - the sales will be here Yay. (That's a point Flux did you get those tapes I sent?)[/Tangient Ends]

More recently, Early Screaming Trees (My Pet Band) albums have some Tracks that can only be called Psychidelic check out Grey Diamond Desert, Yard Trip #7 (Clairvoyance, Buzz Factory and Invisible Lantern and Uncle Anesthesia albums - but buy Anthology if you want the hear a good mish mash of their early stuff).

Also check out Calexico, they were going to Tour earlier this year but they cancelled (ARSE!).

Cornelius are a tad ecclectic listening...

Erm... I'll stop now. Like Pink Floyd, early and later stuff too... wracking my brain for other stuff, will have to go home and look at my CDs and Records to think of more....
 
 
Captain Zoom
16:42 / 08.01.02
sorry, didn't read the whole thread, so I don't know if this has been mentioned yet.

Sianspheric - The Sound of the Colour of the Sun.

Huge washes of effect's laden guitar and nice melodies. Qualifies as modern psychedelia as far as I'm concerned.

Zoom.
 
  
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