Can anyone recommend some good pyschedelic music?
Asked by
Emerson (
67
)
January 7th, 2009
Preferably not techno/rave music. I’m thinking more along the lines of MGMT/ The Zombies/ The Doors. Any good ideas?
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
48 Answers
Pink Floyd (old stuff), Bowery Electric, Sky Cries Mary, Dukes of Stratosphere, Le Loup, Slowdive.
Thanks guys. Any specific songs?
Pick up Pink Floyd’s “Piper at the Gates of Dawn”. Trippy. All of it.
If you’d like to explore some more cerebral-type music, check out:
Explosions in the Sky
Do Make Say Think
TV on the Radio
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Sigur Ros
Arcade Fire
Stereolab
Radiohead
Old school bands would be Love, early Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, The Charlatans, Spirit, Tomorrow and The Yardbirds.
Some modern bands would be The Flaming Lips, The Apples in Stereo, Of Montreal, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Animal Collective. Of special note would be any band started by Cedric Bixler-Zavala or Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, such as At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta, though their boundaries vis-à-vis “psychedelic” are a little flexible.
I’d also like to plug one of my favourite psychedelic singles- “Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again?” by The Monkees, written by Peter Tork and with an unexpectedly great guitar solo by same, off their 1968 soundtrack album Head. It’s a trip! And Eight Miles High, by The Byrds, is the quintessential pop-psychedelic single. Because you know, it’s a song about flying. On a plane. Right.
Old psych:
-THE SEEDS
-Os Mutantes
– Love
-Sid Barrett/Pink Floyd
For the best old psych compilations, hands down, refer to the Nuggets volumes.
Some cool newer psych bands:
- Gris Gris
– Gang Gang Dance
– All Night Radio
– The Psychic Ills
Obviously ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ (Beatles) would qualify.
Porcupine Tree (a British band) has some pretty psychedelic songs out there. Their lead singer is Steve Wilson.
I recommend the song “Unquiet Grave”. Absolutely lovely.
Pink Floyd and the definitive “Arnold Lane” the best for me, can imagne myself in the Marquee in London ‘65
I was going to suggest Shpongle but thought it was bit more electronic than what the asker was after.
thats why i went for the songs that were less electronic and focused more on raja rams awesome flute playing. ^_^ id kill to see them live…
I know “jazz flute is for little fairy boys” but Jethro Tull has a pretty big catalog of trippy b-sides and conceptual pieces…and although this will cause a TON of outrage, I always considered the Cure psychedelic in a…uh…mmm…cure kind of way.
@forestgeek, Dukes are really XTC and lots of their stuff is good.
@ligthyseared thanks for turning me on to a new band :)
Elton John (Crocodile Rock, Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting) and the That 70’s Show Theme Song.
Oh my GOD, I love that Spiritualized song, it’s so… Electrifying.
@steve6 – Yeah, I like XTC, but love the Dukes and have all their stuff. I only have one XTC record, but should probably listen to more someday.
I’ve got the Dukes on Vinyl and their art is as psychedelic as their music!
Almost forgot old Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, Jesus and the Mary Chain, Sisters of Mercy, Alien Sex Fiend, Butthole Surfers!
forestgeek, try Drums and Wires, English Settlement, Rag and Bone Buffet for starters.
Awesome steve6, I’ll check them out for sure. Thanks!
Bongwater
probably my favorite band of all time. the earlier albums have more pure noise and sound collage. they approached the psychedelia genre at least in part by doing a straight-faced homage or parody. the later ones get into more traditionally listenable sonic territory. probably my all-time favorite band, so there you go…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bongwater_(band)
*The 13th Floor Elevators and Roky Erikson
One of ’‘the’’ psychdelic bands. Bongwater covered two, I think, 13th Floor Elevator songs. Roky Erikson worked with or fronted the 13th Floor Elevators and then went on to do his own solo stuff.
His Name Is Alive
started as a kind of gothic psychedelic folk. I really like their early more goth stuff. again, college rock with a sense of humor.
*Legendary Pink Dots
gothic psychedelia…
Brainticket
I picked a CD out of theirs because the seller called it possibly the most psychedelic record ever. I think possibly so…
Hawkwind
effectively created their own genre called space rock and went on from the 1960s to the present day.
*Prince Rama of Ayodhya
a wonderful current band who I personally know… more people should hear them.
http://www.myspace.com/princeramaofayodhya
* – starred the more clasically “pschedelic” ones.
Oh, I forgot to add: Brightblack Morning Light (more opiate than psychedelic though). My favorite song from their debut (self-titled) album: “Black Feather Wishes Rise.”
Definitely Pink Floyd, but that’s pretty obvious.
Someone else mentioned Sigur Ros, which is also an excellent idea.
I highly recommend Def Tones, too.
John Lennon can be pretty psychedelic. (You had to be pretty stoned to get into George Harrison too. )
“Tommy” by The Who is a pretty crazy album too. (It’s amazing I can remember way back then considering I fried half my brain!)
Who did, “Welcome to the Grand Illusion?”
actually Brainticket deserves a star next to them. and, I meant their first (only?) record.
@Ria- How could I forget the o-so-amazing Hawkwind?
Jefferson Airplane, the White Rabbit album, especially the song “Go Ask Alice” is pretty much the pinnacle.
The Doors debut album (of the same name) is almost entirely trip music, especially Crystal Ship, Light My Fire. Oh, heck, really all of it.
Jimi Hendrix Purple Haze.
There are so many more.
Hey judi Styx did the grand illusion. Excellant at the time.
Woohoo those were the days. Air guitar solo
Green Tambourine – Lemon Pipers
Trippiest guitar everrrr.
Yeah, Talking Heads are awesome! I have all their albums.
‘Crocodile Rock’ is phychedelic? I thought it was 50’s rock nostalgia.
a couple more from the ‘60s: the United States of America and Sweetwater. (I actually don’t know much about the latter. heard a few tracks and thought a lot of them.)
Im really starting to fall in love with the Talking Heads.
I mean this isnt pyschedelic or anything~
The Heads are good no doubt.
seriously i just got the greatest hits cd last week, i havent listened to anything else since… lol
ill have to give Beck a listen when i get done obsession over Talking Heads.
Answer this question 
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
Composing members:
0
