Why bananas again?! I crossed this phrase several times now and it sounds weird every time again. Maybe this slogan arose from completely naive believes of parents in the 60's about psychedelia and their tripping youth. Well, "Banana, the mindexpanding fruit!". Bananas found their way into a psychedelic hippie movement on various ways. Sooner or later you will cross "The Electric Banana - Blows Your Mind" LP or a book called "Electrical Banana: Masters of Psychedelic Art"... you see, it's a topic to explore! About the song: It's an instrumental psych rock piece by this Colorado band, that only released that one single with the b-Side "Peak Beat". The drony bass-line is building the basement for the fuzzed guitar patterns. Great psychedelic sound indeed!
Jacco Gardner is a talented young musician form the Netherlands. I recognised, who he is, after reading, that he played on MiriMay's single, that will hopefully be released on Saturno Records soon! In brackets I read "The Skywalkers" behind his name. Then I knew, I'd have to checkout his stuff too! Some of you might remember, that I posted a song by the Skywalkers some time ago (here you go). Their 2010 album "Year One" is just amazing! Due to strange results of effects that where added to the drum-section, the drum sounds quite unnatural, almost like an electronic drum, but it ain't one actually. However, Jacco's music is not only a great enrichment to the contemporary psychedelic scene, but also he seems pretty committed to his work. The US label "Trouble in Mind Records" released his latest single and will release his upcomming and new album "Cabinet Of Curiosities" on CD and LP (propably in february 2013). What to say about the sound? It's pretty mellow and dreamy and sometimes makes me think of Sunshine and Baroque Pop. The second video below even reminds on the early Pink Floyd stuff... I know it's a pretty canned comparison and too often used, but hear it yourself ;-). All in all it gets in a similiar direction than the Sufi's music (see some posts below), but it's less weird and trippy, it's more like having a daydreamy day and lying on a grassy hill, feeling a warm breeze, having flowers all around you and watching the clouds, while you are floating along with them... Don't forget to like Jacco on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jaccogardnermusic
Within the rediscovery of better, lesser and really obscure and unheard psych music from the 60's and 70's, the selftitled album of this UK psych folk act, appeared again on several label imprints that rereleased it. But that's just the factual and boring background. I could tell you the stories, of how often it got bootlegged etc., but I'm a bit tiered of it and don't think this knowledge is very amusing if you are after the music and it's spirit, that enfolds ones you tuned in. Without any research and checking, what I can find in books about this band, other things come to my mind to share about it. If you contemplate about the froncover artwork, you will soon notice that the musicians on it are looking like children's of the ancient god Pan. the trees in the background are merging with the horns of the mystic beings. Could it be more inviting like this for a gentle hippie/psych folk record? Flutes are leading into the depth of the song, wich rhythmically dance along and morph into something ambivalent, that is somehow soft and greenly-protecting, and somehow melancholic and a bit wailing. That makes me feel a bit like being on the run, but surrounded by benevolent creatures of the forest. a bizzare but familiar feeling. It's been a long time since I heared the compelte album. It's time again it seems. Maybe I'll find more songs from it to post here some day. Also their second album wasn't bad as well.
Listen to the song (and album) and you'll watch your mind melting and dripping into deeper layers of perception... I remember reading on Linda Perhacs homepage, that Trish Keenan, the singer of Broadcast, was a huge fan of her sound, but sadly died in a car accident(?) in 2011. The name of the two groups together (Broadcast & The Focus Group) and the long and strange album name ("Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age") awoke my interest. And when I listened to it the first time I was a kind of blown away. Their experimental psychedelia is something quite unique - at least for me as I know only very few things that would be really equal in their musical style. They are often described with "old library music sounds, sixties-inspired pastiches, and soundtracks to 1970s films and programmes, as well as the sound collage of musique concrète." Except for the 60's psych pastiches, I'm pretty unfamiliar with the other styles, and even never heared of "library music" before ... damn, what's that?! find it out yourself! the reason why I'm posting a video today and not just an mp3, is, that the video expresses optically, what the song brings to your ears. together this grows to a real mindblower!
This song is taken from Bill Synth's great "Acid & Flowers" compilation, that got released in the 90's by "Timothy's Brain". One of the best psych comps around by the way! But, what to say else about it? Huh... ! Well, the mood of this track is placed somewhere between the Ultimate Spinach and Jefferson Airplane - maybe you noticed, I have a predilection for that chorus like soft psych, as well as for organs, so "Lantern Gospel" is beaming me up once again!
Luckily someone band-familiar shared some words about the band on Crud Crud's blog. Since I'm not the one, being familiar with them, I prefer to qoute those lines here: "I must admit, I think the song is kinda cheesy. However, a studio band the World Column was not. They were orignally known as the Segrams (ave.. age was 15 y.o.) They were on the road giggin' almost nightly for years a range of 20,000 miles a year. During this time,they shared the stage with performers such as Jackson 5, Aerosmith, Dave Clark 5, Herman's Hermits, Sonny and Cher. When they recorded these 2 45's they were still teenagers. These guys studied music-one in Sweeden, one at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, and one at Indiana University. Studio heads lookin for a one hit wonder-no. Talented kids who rocked the stage-ask anyone from the midwest from this era. Most of these guys went on to raise families. I'd love to say as a teenager I had this type of experience and then 40 years later people are bloggin about my music. I just found that their song So Is the Sun is found on 6 different complilation CD's produced between 2000 and 2006. Rock on. Benoit and Meyer-rest in peace. Be proud Kaplan and Boller."
The Sufis, a new psych band from Nashville are beaming you up with kaleidoscopic soundpatterns. There are elements in their music, reminding me on the UK psych from the 60's - I'm talking of bands like "The Open Mind", the more psychedelic pieces of "The Eyes", Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" & co., or some lysergic songs by the Beatles... I can also hear strong parallels to Broadcast & The Focus Group's "Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age" ... Klemen did a nice interview with the Sufis and if you dig their sound and would like to know more about them, check it out here: http://psychedelicbaby.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-sufis-interview-with-calvin-laporte.html
about 4 years ago, I started this blog with the intention to share psychedelic art with all of you, adding some thoughts here and there, recommend some stuff, ... Yet it have been only songs - (mostly) - that I posted. For the future I'm planning A.) to post more regularely, B.) also to post video's/trailers/etc., psychedelic visual arts/drawings/so called digital-art (photo-"manipultion" etc.), introducing artists and performers C.) I'm also planning to post news about my two projects; my record label for Psych Rock & Acid Folk, called "Merlins Nose Records" and my shop "Surreal Peppermint Store", which is dedicated to supply you with "Psychedelic Delights for Body and Mind"!
Since a lot of mp3's are down and I have to re-upload them again, I will try to post one new post per week and restore one of the old posts and adding them to the top.
I'm excited to get this blog more active and I'm also glad about every feedback I do get on topics or whatever...
The Eyes, were an Freakbeat and Garage Rock group from London in the 60's. I don't know much about them, but that they have realeased a load of singles and Acme licenced them and putted out a propper reissue of them in a compilation in 2006 together with Lion Productions. Sooner or later I will post another song form this comp, wich is entitled "The Arrival of the Eyes" and also feat. alternate takes/demos. Some of the tracks (as well as this one) are quite psychedelic! "The Immediate Pleasure" for example leans toward a strong Byrds vein (before they had their "cowboy attitude" ;-) ) mixed up with that certain british beat of the 60's, the Beatles cultivated.
The Quit Jungle's '67 single got bootleged quite often. starting with the countless amount of psych comps and ending with the recent Garage Greats exact repro 45's ... What is known about this band? Let's ask Canuckistan Music: "Toronto's Doug Rankine and the Secrets scored huge in early 1966 with a rather goofy novelty hit, a quintessentially Canadian ode to the burly Toronto Maple Leaf forward Eddie Shack called 'Clear the Track, Here Comes Shack'. This tepid Merseybeat clone rocketed to number one on the CHUM-AM charts in Toronto in February, 1966, ultimately and inexplicably charting for nine weeks. However, by early '67, having by then adopted the hipper-sounding Quiet Jungle, the lads debuted with the first of two seven-inchers for the Yorkville label, later home to fellow garagesters the Ugly Ducklings. 'Ship of Dreams', is stellar psychedelia, opening with an eerie guitar squeal that presages Fever Tree's 'San Francisco Girls', and with delicious organ riffs and mellifluous harmonies that would justifiably see it hit #31 in February of that year. Flip it over and the wax explodes with some gruff and snarly - if not a tad formulaic - garage punk. The Quiet Jungle followed this with the less interesting, though much tougher to find, Too Much in Love / Make Up Your Mind (also on Yorkville), before vanishing from Toronto's Yorkville scene. Unbeknownst to many, though, is that the band found gainful employment as session musicians for the budget label Arc, churning out fodder for hundreds of K-Mart and Kresge bins with an entire set of Monkees hits, as well as a totally lame-o Christmas disc, The Story of Snoopy's Christmas and Other Favourite Children's Songs (Arc)."
A nice interview with Doug Rankine from the band can be read at: The Garage Hangover!
Otis Optic & The Option People are aband based in Germany. They released their debut on Nasoni Records and mark their discoraphy highlights along with a hand full of other albums. Although it's a mystery to my, why they are that little known. ok, it's the label-politics regarding promotion on one hand, but on the other they are not known to a lot of Garage Punkers. Their songs consist of a strong psychedelic style, and they rather established in the Neo-Psych scene (Vibravoid, Liquid Visions, Siena Root, ...). So let me recommend their album to everyone who is digging the good old Garage-Psych! The band's last activity is dated back to 2008, so just let's hope they have not broke and will delight us with more goodies in future!
Beneath Joana Newsom, Devendra Banhart, Iron & Wine and others, Joesephine Foster is one of the leading voices in the so called New Weird America genré, wich consists of a mix of alternative folk/songwriter and a remembrance of the psychedelic folk of the 60's and 70's. maybe some of it rooted as well in the freaky 90's folk as well (The Iditarod, Stone Breath, In Gowan Ring etc. ...). No Questions, Josephine's "Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You" (where this title-track comes from) album is miles ahead of her other releases, wich are quite ... let's say, very strange (except for the "Little Life" EP). The Hazel Eyes album I could play over and over again. it's so deliciouse! it's a bit like Zen, turning everything topsy-turvy.
I doubt if I should post this song on the jukebox, since it's more than worn out and everybody of you might have heared it about 100 times already on several comps... however, this is a classic psych pop tune you should not miss to listen to once again. highly driven in that UK "Pepperish" psychedelic vein with a lot of echoing effects swirling around your head, even if you have no headphones on.
Aleppo Pine is a contemporary band from Spain. Their creations consist of a strong singer & songwriter vein, with a hint of Grateful Dead-like ease and strong leanings to psych folk bands and artists like Mark Fry, Amber, Maureeny Wishfull and others... "Black Wizard" reminds me on this gentle hippie-like sounds we are used to know from Yellow Autumn or the Tree People. Imagine longhaired, dovelike fellows and woman in couloured cloths, exotic visions and a peaceful rainbowfamily of the living light spirit. It's no wonder that the album where this track comes from is called "Holy Picnic". I highly recommend this band to anyone crossing the jukebox! you can listen to the whole album and/or pruchase it here: http://aleppopine.bandcamp.com/album/holy-picnic
"The Baroques had a fuzz-guitar/keyboard-damaged sound that retained much of the garage intensity of ’66 while plunging into the experimentation that marked the latter part of the decade." (~therisingstorm.net)
Starting like a psych-pop ballad, you'll later get overwhelmed with tons of heavy fuzz storming through your mind. Iowa is one of this sort of songs, wich might suprise you of their short runningtime. If you hear the experimental garage-psych-jams you probably would expect an 8-10 minute journey. However, this way it's been a nice flipside for their single "Mary Jane" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqDa5hCSQX0).
The Ultimate Spinach is an legendary project, founded by Ian Bruce-Douglas and a couple of friends from the non existing 60's Boston scene. You might wonder about the band's obscure name. if so, read what Ian has to say about it: "...One day, in 1967, I was in my room, tripping on some really pure LSD. I started looking at myself in the mirror and my face was doing funny things. I had a bunch of colored markers I used to draw with. I grabbed a green one and started drawing all these psychedelic designs on my face. When I was done, I looked at myself and said “Whoa! I am ultimate spinach. Ultimate spinach is me!” A couple of months later, I started “The Underground Cinema” and when we signed with The Parasite, I changed the band’s name to “Ultimate Spinach” for “luck”. Some luck!"
the first two albums of the 'Spinach, where really masterpieces, but then it began to crumble within the band and conflicts increased. Ian left the band after they recorded their second album "Behold & See". the thrid album is, - to be honest - not even worth to listen to. However, if you interested in more information about the Band's history, you can read an interview with Ian at Klemen's "It's Psychedelic Baby" magazine:
Most of you will know about the Incredible String Band I guess. Those that never heared of them and are just about to discover them, either love their mystic and freaky sound or the find them just annoying and strange. if you are searching for psychedelic folk & related music you will soon discover, that there are more and more occult and black magic people and bands are cavorting within contemporary scenes and releases. one good thing about the ISB is, that they seemed to be mostly peaceful, openminded and into "hippie-mystics" and white-magic. that's what makes me enjoying them as much as I do. so this song is one of several that are waiting to be posted at the jukebox. I hope you are enjoying this "cosmic-ringelreien" as well.
Lyrics:
Then come to me secretly
And with your silken feather
And with your silken feather
Open your rooms
Never, in fact, as he gazed amazed
At two lost eyebrows lisping into the unexpected
And the archetypal postman delivering your seed letters
Whose eyes are black eggs really
Upon a long shore, upon a long shore
Open your door, open your door
'Ask anyone,' he muttered, as he spat a small,
Brilliant blue insect whirring into the gauze.
'I would advise stilts for the quagmires,
And camels for the snowy hills
And any survivors
Their debts I will certainly pay.
There's always a way, there's always a way.
I smiled with that gallantly concealed forceful nervousness
That has proved that oysters cry
And that I have come to know and accept as myself.
And plucking a barbed feather from the morose universe
I called him deathless
And he left before he could reply
Open your eyes, open your eyes
Our first father, Abraham, whose bosom
Was the unique soul of the humans
Was certainly as bewildered as we are
If not infinitely more so
And with an ancient ceremonial gesture of dismissal
He pointed forward.
Verily, verily
Verily, verily
The first day was golden
And she coloured the sun
And she named it Hyperion
And she made it a day of light and healing
The second was silver
And she coloured the moon
And she named it Phoebe
And she made a day of enchantment and the living waters
And the third was many-coloured
And she coloured the earth
And she made a day of joy
With the scarlet strength of seed
In the fourth black and white were mingled into quicksilver
And she coloured Mercury
And she made a day of wisdom
And the signs that are placed in the firmament
The fifth was bright blue
And she envisaged Jupiter
And she made a day of awe and circles, circles
And she sent it to guide the blood of the universe
The sixth was burning with icy, green flames that glowed white
And of her beauty she made Venus
And she made a day of love
Whereby all beings are united
The seventh was rich purple of the mollusks
And she coloured Chronos
And she made a day of idleness and repose
Whereon all beings cease from struggle.
Verily, verily
Verily, verily
I am the pebble in your very own eye
I am the sword and your enemy dies.
I am the storm and the hurricane wind
I am the thorn of an unkind friend
I am desire what colour my eyes?
I am Loki wizard of lies
Catch me, find me, see me if you can
I am the guilt of an honest man
Then seven times we raised our arms and with cat-stretch
Sent our footspells yawning into the multitudes
In need we called upon the mother of all living
Three times for succor
But with ambitious spears they made us change
They crouched behind their mirrors and fought on.
I will not allow them praise
That broke the harmonious globe in splintered fragments
And yet they moved perforce with a perfect pattern
And complemented harmony with dischord
And light with darkness
It was then that we stepped out of our world machine
Between the palm and the fingers
Peeling like gloves
And for each eye that shed one tear,
We made of that tear an ocean
And in the five directions
We loosed our several craft.
Wild sea, I say today,
Please be a sweet cow for me
Amethyst galleon, out on the rolling sea
Gentle as lightning, easily
Take me to the root of the world tree
Amethyst galleon, out on the rolling sea
Your face is consumed in a bruised sky's glance
By the brazen wall with your sword and lance
Where
Where dappled maidens, endless danced
Round the root of the world tree.
Wild sea, I say today
Please be a sweet cow for me
Amethyst galleon, out on the rolling sea
Wild sea, my love is salty for me
Every ripple in her body is a wave in me
Amethyst galleon, out on the rolling sea.
I never heared of this band until I read about them in one of Anazitisi Records' last years' newsletters. so the usual process began. I searched for them on youtube, digged, what I heared and got hold of their "In Retrospect" CD. The sound of Six Feet Under is of a darker shape, just in the vein of the "John Bassman Group", "Analogy" or "Axe". although this track is of a very short playtime, it's worth each second listening. heavy driffen guitar lines meet organ vibes and female vocals.
"baaaahhh, aaah, baaaahhh, aaaaah, ..." the Alarmclock's '67 single "Incense and Peppermints / The Birdman of Alcatrash" is a landmark in the history of the psychedelic music of the 60's. to be honest, their full length debut is really awesom! gentle and soft psych pop melodies merge there with rocking tunes and touches toward jazz. "The Birdman of Alcatrash" for example is another great piece, wich becomes very surreal shortly after it beginns. more tracks from the album are coming someday for sure! the soundtrack of the '68 psychedelic cult-movie "Psych-Out" (starring Susan Strasberg, Jack Nicholson, Dean Stockwell and others...) also feat. a nice selection of Strawberry Alarm Clock songs. below you'll find the trailer:
The lyrics:
Ba-ba, ba-ba
Ba-ba, ba-ba
Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind
Dead kings, many things I can't define
Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind
Incense and peppermints, the color of time
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win, but nothin' to lose
Incense and peppermints, meaningless nouns
Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around
Look at yourself, look at yourself, yeah, yeah
Look at yourself, look at yourself, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
To divide the cockeyed world in two
Throw your pride to one side, it's the least you can do
Beatniks and politics, nothin' is new
A yardstick for lunatics, one point of view
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win, but nothin' to lose
Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind
Dead kings, many things I can't define
Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind
Incense and peppermints, the color of time
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win, but nothin' to lose
The spacey psychedelic sound of The Lemon Fog never sounded better with all their singles, previously unreleased outtakes, and complete version of 'Summer, ' all from the original master tapes. Hailing from Houston, Texas, The Lemon Fog blew many minds during 1967- 68, quickly becoming a popular draw at the local Houston hot spot, The Living Eye. Their first single 'Theme For The Living Eye' (changed to 'Lemon Fog' upon release) was a psych- pop flower power masterpiece released in the winter of 1967. The B- side 'Echoes of Time' was nothing short of brilliant, reminiscent of the British psych scene. In June, 1968, the second Lemon Fog single, 'Summer, ' was released and remains the signature track of the band with its moody and introspective sound, unusual for a summer themed song. 'Summer' should have been a number one hit. The Lemon Fog's third and final single, 'The Prisoner' and 'Day By Day' was released in November 1968, but also failed to chart. The surreal lyrics and tight playing of The Lemon Fog obfuscate the fact that the members were in high school when these sophisticated psychedelic masterpieces were recorded. (~Cicadelic Records)
Alongside Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, Anne Briggs, Wizz Jones and other acts, the Pentangle formed the so-called "British Folk" sound, that started with traditional songs in the beginning and later went further to folk-rock arrangements. With Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, the Pentangle already had two songwriters of major importance in their lineup. In the move of the late sixties consciousness, they also added a sitar to some of their tracks. The band's psychedelic leanings might emerge the most on their '69 album "Basket of Light", where this track is sourced from.
July are an excellent example of UK Psychedelia. on their '68 debut album a fine blend of weird reverb and trippy stereo shenanigans drives their songs. most of them consist of a strong pop-vein that might be typical for records from the late 60's UK psych scene. on some tracks a sitar and eastern melodies emerge and build a kind of highlight for the whole album in my opinion. Dandelion Seeds appears to be a bit stoned and reaches it's peak with the dreamy passage somewhere in the middle of the playtime.
Georg Deuter established himself in the early 70's and is known to most of you for his involvment in the Krautrock genré. His early recordings are mostly built up of Acid Folk elements, eastern influences and experimental music. Today he is living in the staates and earns his money with recording meditation CD's that are related to practice and points of view teached by Osho. sadly those are the albums I can't get into. they consist of this "all-is-peaceful-and-happy-if-you-clean-this-ashram-and-visit-your-familiar-esoteric-shop-regularely-to-buy-new-age-stuff"-vibe. that doesn't mean necessarily that I think he is not authentic, but there is too much commerce about angels, tarot, gurus, ... these days it's maybe harder than ever to deal with this contents as there are too much dodgers and moneymakers out there. another issue of this new age scene is, that it's hard to dive deeper into the material by consuming all those goods that are praised to give you the "ultimate-enlightment-trip" ... you see, I'm very careful about stuff thats directly associated with this commerce. and it's probably the easiest to move out into the forest, climb a tree, prais mother earth, and be flashed by spirituality gleaming through the cosmos.
gladly this track is not as flat as the other ones he later did.... the album "D" where this song is taken from can be tagged as a real psychedelic record I think. a weird mix of Acid Folk, Psychedelic Rock and Experimental Jams will await you on it. so just forget about everything and let you take away by this swirl of mind expansion...
The beginning of this terrific track could be like the soundtrack of a surreal and strange movie in the vein of Holy Mountain or El Topo. But for you all, who are familiar with psychedelic folk music, this will be tagged as freaky acid folk ;-). All in all you can compare this one to a mix of Hanna Tuuliki's Nalle and Susan Duncan-Smith's masterpiece for the soundtrack of Keoma. If you wondered, what this duo called "The Sun Also Rises" did on the rest of their debut, I think it's the best to quote my friend Mad Hatter's words: "The husband and wife duo from Cardiff have captured moods by patterns of sound and words. Totally influenced by the Incredible String Band, the album offers whimsical, acoustic acid folk, with weird, disjointed hippie lyrics about a fantasy world of mythological beings such as fairies, elves and dragons. It’s a charming period piece."
Dean Allen Foyd is a brand new band from Sweden, who will release their debut album at the end of march on Chrusher Records (CD & LP). Their sound is oscillating between contemporary famous bands like Baby Woodrose and Vibravoid. There's a lot of garage-psychedelia to discover in their songs as well as heavy psych and classic rock vibrations that remind on Jimi Hendrix, Cream and more...
Together with a load full of other bands they will perform at the Freak Valley Festival 2012 in Germany very soon (18./19. May). So, if you have the possibility, be shure to get some tickets! more info here: www.freakvalley.de
I was really surprised, when I read for the first time of the Hollies doing psychedelic music. I was checking their '67 album "Evolution" due to the trippy coverart, but I was rather disappointed when it turned out to be another standard pop record. Shortly afterwards I gave a try to the "Psychedelia at Abbey Road" compilation and found a pretty song by the Hollies called "Maker". It's maybe nothing special and as normal as their other works, but the sitar in there gives it a completely new character. So it turned out to be a really cool psych-pop track.
