Awesome psychedelic songs by (generally) non-psych bands

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Like the 60s, this thread began with a lot of good music but ended in disillusion and confusion

warn me about a lurking rake (One Eye Open), Monday, 6 January 2020 22:32 (four years ago) link

the psychedelic share is below 10% i'd say.

but Shane was taking a lot of acid at the time so it must be psychedelic music QED plus they used funny 60s visual effects in the video

Οὖτις, Monday, 6 January 2020 22:37 (four years ago) link

Do you consider, say, Nothing's Shocking to be psychedelic?

i don't know it, so no. just listened to the 1st track and i would say there might be an overlap. but i wouldn't consider it standard hard-rock neither. there is a cosmic quality to it. in french they say "planant".

walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Monday, 6 January 2020 22:38 (four years ago) link

Possibly less contentious suggestion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiloWOFuY08

Brainless Addlepated Timid Muddleheaded Awful No-Account (Pheeel), Monday, 6 January 2020 22:39 (four years ago) link

later on the jane addiction album delves more into the boring heart of hard rock, it seems.

walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Monday, 6 January 2020 22:40 (four years ago) link

Phil Ochs - The Crucifixion

Death to (NickB), Monday, 6 January 2020 22:43 (four years ago) link

xp It has all that stuff you mention... if anything, I think it's more "psychedelic" than Gish!

BeerAdvocate in the streets, Wookiepedia in the sheets (morrisp), Monday, 6 January 2020 22:44 (four years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQEvq2WDh9Y

Οὖτις, Monday, 6 January 2020 22:44 (four years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mnx8jnsYfc

Οὖτις, Monday, 6 January 2020 22:45 (four years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4pNOBIAaLI

Οὖτις, Monday, 6 January 2020 22:46 (four years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlJ27Dcv4fc

Οὖτις, Monday, 6 January 2020 22:48 (four years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK-1axSGkXc

Οὖτις, Monday, 6 January 2020 22:48 (four years ago) link

Phew, some people were almost having fun talking about music there for a minute, good thing you stepped in, wouldn’t want this thread to get out of hand

warn me about a lurking rake (One Eye Open), Monday, 6 January 2020 22:50 (four years ago) link

everything I posted was psychedelic according to at least one metric posted on this thread so far

Οὖτις, Monday, 6 January 2020 22:52 (four years ago) link

a) about psychedelics
b) made by someone on psychedelics
c) sounds "psychedelic" according to random person who has taken psychedelics
d) features "weird" sounds like stereo panning or has "dynamics" or similar

Οὖτις, Monday, 6 January 2020 22:54 (four years ago) link

xp

but Shane was taking a lot of acid at the time

making music on acid does not necessarily result in psychedelic music. i missed the ;-) in your post.

i would consider om as free jazz not as psychedelic but what do i know.

walking towards the sun since 2007 (alex in mainhattan), Monday, 6 January 2020 22:56 (four years ago) link

Shakey is having a bad trip

warn me about a lurking rake (One Eye Open), Monday, 6 January 2020 23:01 (four years ago) link

I'd argue a lot of Dan Deacon's stuff is pretty psychedelic, at least in the sense that say Animal Collection is

frogbs, Monday, 6 January 2020 23:02 (four years ago) link

I have achieved the higher stages of enlightenment, realizing that everything is psychedelic maaaaaaaaaan

Οὖτις, Monday, 6 January 2020 23:05 (four years ago) link

I'm so sorry my mild generalisation about psych music offended you to your very soul dude, I shall remedy this by trying to avoid engaging tedious genre pedants in discussion in the future.

Brainless Addlepated Timid Muddleheaded Awful No-Account (Pheeel), Monday, 6 January 2020 23:15 (four years ago) link

I don’t really get what this has to do with anything tbh. There have psych bands all over the world for like the last 50 years. And lots of them would even say that they were influenced by Can

― Death to (NickB), Monday, January 6, 2020 9:53 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah would agree with you there. THought it bizarre that that band were supposed to be not worthy of the epithet or however whoever wants to put it. Would think that any influence picked up from them would translate to sounding pretty psychedelic.
Would also think that most people who listen to music would have some shared idea of what did denote the term.
Certainly been a big part of what I've listened to for the last few decades. Music from the time the term was first being used through to other things influenced by that and other related influences since then.
Love the melange of influences playing off each other.

Stevolende, Monday, 6 January 2020 23:19 (four years ago) link

it's not you Pheeel it's this whole thread

Οὖτις, Monday, 6 January 2020 23:26 (four years ago) link

it's not you Pheeel it's this whole thread

― Οὖτις

yes, it's Literally Everybody Except Shakey

revenge of the jawn (rushomancy), Monday, 6 January 2020 23:34 (four years ago) link

it's the thread where people list all kind of random shit for no reason but clutch their pearls if I suggest the Kinks had a psych period.

Οὖτις, Monday, 6 January 2020 23:44 (four years ago) link

Did think that odd. Would have thought there were a couple lps there at least sound pretty much of the period. So would've included.

Stevolende, Monday, 6 January 2020 23:55 (four years ago) link

d) features "weird" sounds like stereo panning or has "dynamics" or similar

Interesting thing about Can is that they didn't use echo/delay and 'psychedelic' effects like stereo panning and phasing - apart from on "Tago Mago", which is why parts of that album sound kind of dated? In my opinion!

Frozen Mug (Tom D.), Tuesday, 7 January 2020 00:09 (four years ago) link

Slightly bemused in general by the idea of Can being some sort of avatar of psychedelia when so much of their music is based on minimalism and avoidance of excess - yes, granted they've got the improvisational jamming aspect too. So "Mother Sky" has the wild acid rock guitar but listen to the bass and drums, where does that fit into 'psychedelia'?

Frozen Mug (Tom D.), Tuesday, 7 January 2020 00:16 (four years ago) link

^ this is basically my point about that Smashing Pumpkins song

BeerAdvocate in the streets, Wookiepedia in the sheets (morrisp), Tuesday, 7 January 2020 00:19 (four years ago) link

Do you consider, say, Nothing's Shocking to be psychedelic?
― BeerAdvocate in the streets, Wookiepedia in the sheets (morrisp), Monday, January 6, 2020 5:29 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki5KsuP3mzM

I once played with a pine cone for a good forty minutes while listening to this album

Suggest Banshee (Hadrian VIII), Tuesday, 7 January 2020 01:00 (four years ago) link

also off topic but

well if you want a friend feed animal

right on

Suggest Banshee (Hadrian VIII), Tuesday, 7 January 2020 01:03 (four years ago) link

feed ANY animal

Suggest Banshee (Hadrian VIII), Tuesday, 7 January 2020 01:03 (four years ago) link

Slightly bemused in general by the idea of Can being some sort of avatar of psychedelia when so much of their music is based on minimalism and avoidance of excess - yes, granted they've got the improvisational jamming aspect too. So "Mother Sky" has the wild acid rock guitar but listen to the bass and drums, where does that fit into 'psychedelia'?

― Frozen Mug (Tom D.)

file next to "pink floyd", i believe

revenge of the jawn (rushomancy), Tuesday, 7 January 2020 04:27 (four years ago) link

Obviously there is a divide in this thread about whether psychedelic is a feeling or a carved-in-stone genre signifier, but I just wanted to vouch on behalf of Smashing Pumpkins that the bassline in the second chorus of Rhinoceros does feel very "60s psych". It's got that walking "Hey Joe" quality.

☮️ (peace, man), Tuesday, 7 January 2020 13:02 (four years ago) link

Cellophane Symphony by Tommy James and the Shondells

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qNQXb18l8g

jonbenetsbody (sneaker_bomba), Tuesday, 7 January 2020 18:28 (four years ago) link

classic example, love that record

budo jeru, Wednesday, 8 January 2020 02:34 (four years ago) link

Country rock outfit Goose Greek Symphony open side two of their 1970 debut with this insane track..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TB-rvitI50

Stop the tape I got spittle all over my moustache. (Talcum Mucker), Wednesday, 8 January 2020 18:41 (four years ago) link

Slightly bemused in general by the idea of Can being some sort of avatar of psychedelia when so much of their music is based on minimalism and avoidance of excess - yes, granted they've got the improvisational jamming aspect too. So "Mother Sky" has the wild acid rock guitar but listen to the bass and drums, where does that fit into 'psychedelia'?

― Frozen Mug (Tom D.)

file next to "pink floyd", i believe

― revenge of the jawn (rushomancy), Monday, January 6, 2020 8:27 PM (two days ago)

The argument about Can's psychedelic aspect is totally understandable, but I think Tom's mention of minimalism as something separate is important. That's why I brought up the Velvet Underground, for their minimalism and their avant-garde aspects that were more from the art world and that predate psychedelia. So, I think that is true also not only of Can's minimalism, but their own avant-garde aspects. If "The Murder Mystery" is more art-world avant garde than it is psychedelic, than surely "Mother Upduff" is, too.

timellison, Wednesday, 8 January 2020 22:35 (four years ago) link

I've always thought "Mother Upduff" sounds like it was inspired by the Mothers' "Help, I'm a Rock". An aside there.

Frozen Mug (Tom D.), Wednesday, 8 January 2020 22:45 (four years ago) link

Yeah, another band in that mix. But you could substitute "European Son" and "Father Cannot Yell" in my comparison.

timellison, Wednesday, 8 January 2020 22:51 (four years ago) link

I know that I'm far from alone in finding that music psychedelic.
& that isn't going to change any time soon.

Stevolende, Thursday, 9 January 2020 00:16 (four years ago) link

like i know there's this ongoing tension as to whether or not we're having this discussion seriously but to me "psychedelia" isn't this thing that magically appeared on haight street (or, you know, in texas) in 1966, i feel like it's a false dichotomy and that "minimalism" is an authentic part of the psychedelic movement, fuck i'd call the silver apples psychedelic as all hell. i just don't get the hair-splitting, i mean are there people here who want to argue whether or not "flight reaction" by the calico wall or "back seat '38 dodge" by opus i belong more to the worlds of "the avant-garde" or psychedelia? do "the murder mystery" and "what's become of the baby" not belong to the same genre because the bands fucking hated each other and didn't at all go to the same parties? i mean, where are we coming at this from?

revenge of the jawn (rushomancy), Thursday, 9 January 2020 03:57 (four years ago) link

There’s a solid connection between minimalism and psychedelia. The minimalists’ repetition and drones create unusual effects such as time dilation for the listener, the same way as do Indian ragas and other Eastern musics associated with psychedelia. Just consider Terry Riley. Lou Reed alludes to Eastern music’s repetition in an essay written in 1966: http://velvetforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=145408

Leftee, Thursday, 9 January 2020 06:50 (four years ago) link

I know that I'm far from alone in finding that music psychedelic.
& that isn't going to change any time soon.

Kinda don't think the thread is about persuading you either way.

Frozen Mug (Tom D.), Thursday, 9 January 2020 08:06 (four years ago) link

Ben Shepherd from Soundgarden seems to bring out the more psychedelic side of that band, Switch Opens and She Likes Surprises especially.

Maresn3st, Thursday, 9 January 2020 12:58 (four years ago) link

5 million elvis fans can't be wrong, the king is trippy as balls

revenge of the jawn (rushomancy), Thursday, 9 January 2020 14:34 (four years ago) link

Interesting thing about Can is that they didn't use echo/delay and 'psychedelic' effects like stereo panning and phasing - apart from on "Tago Mago", which is why parts of that album sound kind of dated? In my opinion!

Not sure I agree with the premise here. While Tago Mago is where Can really went all out with studio effects, tracks like "Future Days," "Bel Air," and "Chain Reaction" variously use tremolo, phasing, hard panning, field recordings, etc and strike me as very psychedelic in a mellow, balmy way.

J. Sam, Thursday, 9 January 2020 14:35 (four years ago) link

looool this thread, well done ilm. I came here to post Blondie's "Fade Away and Radiate," and "Shadow" by The Primitives, a trippy little bit of Indian-sounding psych amongst the pop punk nuggets of Lovely and find 200+ posts of harshed mellow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs6RLx8Jujo

A perfect transcript of a routine post (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 9 January 2020 15:13 (four years ago) link

Not sure I agree with the premise here. While Tago Mago is where Can really went all out with studio effects, tracks like "Future Days," "Bel Air," and "Chain Reaction" variously use tremolo, phasing, hard panning, field recordings, etc and strike me as very psychedelic in a mellow, balmy way.

In a subtler, less corny way, for sure. By the way, "Chain Reaction" mellow and balmy, are you sure?

Frozen Mug (Tom D.), Thursday, 9 January 2020 15:37 (four years ago) link

i mean, where are we coming at this from?

evidently everywhere and nowhere at the same time

Οὖτις, Thursday, 9 January 2020 16:28 (four years ago) link

There’s a solid connection between minimalism and psychedelia. The minimalists’ repetition and drones create unusual effects such as time dilation for the listener, the same way as do Indian ragas and other Eastern musics associated with psychedelia. Just consider Terry Riley.

I posted a Steve Reich piece upthread fwiw

Οὖτις, Thursday, 9 January 2020 16:30 (four years ago) link


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