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.
It's been a while again since the last post. at the moment I'm quite busy with my shop and label. however, here's another great track for you to enjoy! "Bracelets Of Fingers" is taken from the Pretty Things best album, the "S.F. Sorrow". a huge load of british psychedelic pop in a mixed vein of the early Pink Floyd, the Beatles in Pepperland and UK popsike... oh and maybe a bit of the Who's musical "Tommy" feeling. groovy effects, swirling vocals, sitar and everything you need.
