Psychedelia — "back to the future" or "forward to the past"

[kenposurf]

One psych band often overlooked is Fever Tree....most noted tune was "San Francisco Girls" vey cool song kind of a mix of the Airplane and Quicksilver w/more fuzztone!

[mikko]

One psych band often overlooked is Fever Tree....most noted tune was "San Francisco Girls" vey cool song kind of a mix of the Airplane and Quicksilver w/more fuzztone!

Hmm...in theory that sounds too good to be true for me. My two favorite "psychedelic" bands + more fuzz...whoah! I definitely need to check that one.

Well, all these music categories are quite stupid on the other hand, but of course they make it easier to understand what some band is all about. Like, tell me something's "goa trance" and I'll skip that one. Tell me it's early heavy metal and I'm already listening to it. But where psychedelia ends and prog rock begins? When progressive rock turns to heavy metal? I used to play in a band which was categorized as "progedelia". What's that? Progressive psychedelia or psychedelic progressive rock? I think it was something completely different.

Anyways, I hate hippies but definitely love their music.

[pfflam]

I think there is a grouping of aesthetics that sometimes goes along with the word 'psyche' that is not really all that represented so far in this thread and which I think is a very real, distinct and influential strain, namely early garage/punk/psyche - that stuff 13th FL, Standells, The Seeds, etc

That aesthetic bleeds over to the other 60s psych mentioned in copious quantities in this thread but also influenced a lot of the later outbursts of psych like the '80s Paisley Underground -(I love that stuff: The Rain Parade, Opal, Green Pajamas etc) and is currently, -at least here in Portland and in SF- having a revival

I personally love all psychedelic - and generally think that music itself is inherently psychedelic -

[wayang]

Anyways, I hate hippies but definitely love their music.

WT*? Mikko, are you sure you're not Russian? (I'm kidding, ok? K-I-D-D-I-N-G...)

Balinese gamelan music is meant to be 'hypnotic', with part of the goal being to facilitate the dancers (and various members of the village 'audience') entering trance so as to be able to convey information from the ancestors to the present generation. Interestingly, the Balinese are completely down on psychotropic drugs, considering them to be 'black magic'...an attitude that most anthropologists trace back to the 19th century priesthood-led cultural response to the European empires' dumping of opium on Asian cultures they wanted to subdue.

(Also worth noting: Balinese musicians have a strict ethic of avoiding entering trance themselves as they play...their job is to prop open the 'doors between the worlds' so others can move through.)

[pfflam]

Anyways, I hate hippies but definitely love their music.

WT*? Mikko, are you sure you're not Russian? (I'm kidding, ok? K-I-D-D-I-N-G...)

Balinese gamelan music is meant to be 'hypnotic', with part of the goal being to facilitate the dancers (and various members of the village 'audience') entering trance so as to be able to convey information from the ancestors to the present generation. Interestingly, the Balinese are completely down on psychotropic drugs, considering them to be 'black magic'...an attitude that most anthropologists trace back to the 19th century priesthood-led cultural response to the European empires' dumping of opium on Asian cultures they wanted to subdue.

(Also worth noting: Balinese musicians have a strict ethic of avoiding entering trance themselves as they play...their job is to prop open the 'doors between the worlds' so others can move through.)

That's really interesting. I suppose there is the added reluctance to be 'high' while having to play well technically.

The idea that the event conveys information is fascinating, I suppose the form that the event takes is itself a mode of conveying information, like ceremonial rituals all over the world , but, in a way the musicians are excluded from the understanding. I suppose they get to partake in other instances, but its intersting that their responsibility means giving up their own immersion, or, postponing it.

[bge66]

That aesthetic bleeds over to the other 60s psych mentioned in copious quantities in this thread but also influenced a lot of the later outbursts of psych like the '80s Paisley Underground -(I love that stuff: The Rain Parade, Opal, Green Pajamas etc) and is currently, -at least here in Portland and in SF- having a revival

Thank god the kids are listening to something I can understand again!

Any local Portland Bands to keep an eye on?

Not sure if you'd add them to the list above, but The Ocean Blue always did it for me...

[JeffZ]

For me it's things like "Tomorrow Never Knows", "2000 Light Years From Home", "Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon", pretty much any Syd Barrett song and "Armenia City In The Sky". The mellotron played a part in it; that uniquely weird instrument that has it's own tonal color even when it's imitating other instruments. Art with vivid colors played a big part in it too; it's as much a vibe as a musical style.

Honorary mention to the Searchers for taking a mild crack at it with "Popcorn Double Feature" the studio version has a wonderfully spiky string arrangement that's pure 1967.

[pfflam]

That aesthetic bleeds over to the other 60s psych mentioned in copious quantities in this thread but also influenced a lot of the later outbursts of psych like the '80s Paisley Underground -(I love that stuff: The Rain Parade, Opal, Green Pajamas etc) and is currently, -at least here in Portland and in SF- having a revival

Thank god the kids are listening to something I can understand again!

Any local Portland Bands to keep an eye on?

Not sure if you'd add them to the list above, but The Ocean Blue always did it for me...

For a while there, the band The Pink Snowflakes were very promising. But they dumped their guitarist . . . and I'm too old for them so now they suffer

But seriously . . . they had some great songs on their Myspace page

[pfflam]

And they have a couple shows coming up next week.

-I heard an album that I did not like so much but I like almost everything on their Myspace page . . . especially 'Caves', so I think they get better as they go

[pfflam]

They're reminiscent of a blend of Syd Barret, Camper Van Beethoven and assorted loud stuffs . . . . three great things to combine

[Jonesey]

Psychedelic music is a great many things - also after the 60's.
IMO a great many of the German kraut rock bands of the 70's was reeeally psychedelic and way ahead of their time as well.

Check out:
Can: Tago Mago, Future Days, Ege Bamayasi
Neu!: Neu!, Neu 2, Neu '75
Faust: Faust IV
Cluster: Zuckerseit
Tangerine Dream: Phaedra

I'm a bit surprised no one mentioned The United States of America. They weren't a guitar band, but still very fracking great.

[rikk]

How about Aorta?

[beatbyrd]

When I think of Psych music I think of:
Pink Floyd (Syb Barret era)
Cream (Desreali Gears)
Aorta
Hawkwind
Electric Prunes
Amboy Dukes
Chocolate Watchband
The Nazz
The Lollipop Shoppe
Mandrake Paddle Steamer
Plasticland
Dukes of Stratosphere
The Three O'clock

This seems like a pretty good list to me, but I would add Arthur Lee's Love, Spirit, the Blues Magoos, and Clear Light. Tom

[collin]

When I think of Psych music I think of:
Pink Floyd (Syb Barret era)
Cream (Desreali Gears)
Aorta
Hawkwind
Electric Prunes
Amboy Dukes
Chocolate Watchband
The Nazz
The Lollipop Shoppe
Mandrake Paddle Steamer
Plasticland
Dukes of Stratosphere
The Three O'clock

This seems like a pretty good list to me, but I would add Arthur Lee's Love, Spirit, the Blues Magoos, and Clear Light. Tom

and The Move!

"I can hear the Grass Grow" is totally psychedelic. Pop psych, if anything..

[beatbyrd]

[This seems like a pretty good list to me, but I would add Arthur Lee's Love, Spirit, the Blues Magoos, and Clear Light. Tom

and The Move!
"I can hear the Grass Grow" is totally psychedelic. Pop psych, if anything..

That's one of my favorite Magoos songs, along with "I Wanna be There" (from the same album).
I seem to recall that the Electric Prunes and Blues Magoos were two of the first bands to embrace this style. Tom