psychedelia
Album: Animal Collective - Time SkiffsWednesday, 02 February 2022Animal Collective were getting themselves back to Joni Mitchell’s Edenic Woodstock garden right from the start – musically evoking the natural high of a 5-year-old’s wide-open wonder, in their case heightened by hippie schooling in rural Maryland.... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: The Electric Prunes - Then Came The Dawn Complete Recordings 1966-1969Sunday, 30 January 2022The Electric Prunes could feel happy at the end of January 1968. Since landing in London in late November 1967, they’d hung out with Jimi Hendrix and had a photo session with Rolling Stones-favoured photographer Gered Mankowitz. They also met The... Read more... |
Album: Boris - WMonday, 17 January 2022This is just boggling. The Japanese rock trio Boris have been together in the same lineup for over a quarter of a century – and it’s longer still since their original formation – but they’re outdoing themselves record by record. Their last record,... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2021: Sault - NineFriday, 31 December 2021If ever there were a year to cherish new music, 2021 was it. Lockdown v3.0 came with unwelcome updates (shit weather, structured home-schooling) and the only end in sight was of the nation’s collective tether.With passports rendered next to useless... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Looking back at 2021Sunday, 26 December 2021The archive release which had the greatest impact, and still does, was Linda Smith’s Till Another Time 1988-1996. After it turned up, the reaction to a first play was instant. How could this have escaped attention? The compilation opened the door on... Read more... |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 68: Patrik Fitzgerald, Oasis, Kathryn Williams, R.E.M., Bess Atwell and a seasonal load moreTuesday, 14 December 2021As we ride towards the holiday break on our magic reindeer, it’s time for one last theartsdesk on Vinyl, a seasonal special that, if you scroll down, contains all the usual up-to-date music reviews but, before that, takes a look at Yuletide-themed... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: The Dave Clark Five - Glad All Over, The Pretty Things - Live At The BBCSunday, 12 December 2021At the beginning of November 1964, a form of changing of the guard was evident in the UK’s singles chart. The Dave Clark Five sat at number 25 with “Anyway You Want it,” the highest placing for their follow-up to “Thinking of You Baby.” Although... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Box Of Pin-Ups - The British Sounds of 1965, Think I'm Going Weird - Original Artefacts From The British Psychedelic Scene 1966-68Sunday, 28 November 2021Signs of irrevocable change materialised in December 1965. On Wednesday the 8th, a new band named The 13th Floor Elevators debuted live at The Jade Room in Austin, Texas. Band members prepared for the experience by taking LSD in the run-up to the... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Blow My Mind! The Doré-Era-Mira Punk & Psych LegacySunday, 07 November 2021Any compilation with a track credited to “Unknown Artist” is always going to entice, especially when it’s one which goes the full way by digging into original master tapes to find the best audio sources and previously unearthed nuggets. In this case... Read more... |
Album: Electric Eye - HorizonsWednesday, 03 November 2021Bergen’s Electric Eye’s pithy description of themselves is “psych-space-drone-rock from Norway.” They also say they “play droned out psych-rock inspired by the blues, India and the ever-more expanding universe.” Horizons is their fourth studio album... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Fire - Father's Name Is Dad, Flowerman - Rare Blooms From The SynSunday, 17 October 2021Between August 1966 and November 1967, The Syn played 36 shows at London’s high-profile Marquee Club. In June and September 1967 they issued two singles on the happening Decca subsidiary Deram, an imprint scoring hits with releases by Cat Stevens,... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Help Yourself - Passing Through, The Complete Studio RecordingsSunday, 19 September 2021“Reaffirmation” is the sound of a San Francisco ballroom in 1968. The 12-minute long track opens mysteriously with what might be a Mellotron on the flute setting. A bubbling bass guitar arrives, along with jazzy piano. At 02.50, the tempo picks up... Read more... |