Psychedelic Music Thread

[Massed Gadgets]

I just read about an album by Chad & Jeremy called the Arc (or Ark??) from 1968. Looks interesting. Anybody heard it? Thoughts?

I have their previous psychedelic album "Of Cabbages and Kings" on vinyl but I've not heard The Ark. Honestly, I love their breezy folk/pop tunes like "A Summer Song" and "Distand Shores", but I felt their psychedelia was weak; a bit forced to cash in on the trend perhaps. Of Cabbages and Kings can be ponderous, and quite annoying with all it's marching band squall and what not. So after that I never bothered digging up The Ark. That was years ago though, before the interwebz and all, when I was the only person I knew who had ever even heard of them, much less was into them. Looking at other people's opinions on Amazon, it appears as if most think The Ark to be a far superior album to Of Cabbages and Kings. I may have to look into it.

[rememberaday]

S.F Sorrow by The Pretty Things. It's one of the first concept albums and it's pretty underrated.

[rememberaday]

So guys, what type of psychedelic songs do you prefer- the long, jamming, freaky ones or the concise, "poppier" ones?

[nosaj]

BOTH!!!

[Massed Gadgets]

So guys, what type of psychedelic songs do you prefer- the long, jamming, freaky ones or the concise, "poppier" ones?

I like both too, but I do have quite a fondness for long, jamming, freaky ones. One definition of psychedelic music I read once was music that was attempting to replicate the sensations of a (insert your favourite hallucinogenic drug here) trip in a musical form, I think it would be a lot easier to do that in a long, jamming, freaky piece, than a two and half minute pop song.

[rememberaday]

I think it would be a lot easier to do that in a long, jamming, freaky piece, than a two and half minute pop song.

Which is why I think See Emily Play was such a great achievement- it was the trippiest, yet one of the shortest.

[nosaj]

It would be awesome if there was a long jam of See Emily Play...

[my breakfast.]

Which is why I think See Emily Play was such a great achievement- it was the trippiest, yet one of the shortest.

Also it is in mono AND it isn't even mixed that coherently. I listen to it, jaw dropped, thinking to myself "how the hell did they pull off such a perfect track with the odds against them???". It is compounded when you hear the Gylen Circlen (however you spell it) live version and it sounds like four monkeys banging on cardboard boxes.

[rememberaday]

It would be awesome if there was a long jam of See Emily Play...

Well, Joe Boyd has frequently stated that Arnold Layne (and perhaps See Emily Play as well) regularly ran over ten minutes with long jam sections in between in 1966 and early '67 shows. I don't know if it's true, but it just adds to the frustration, doesn't it?

But what I would really, really, like to listen to is a live version of Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk (Wikipedia says that "it was played live in 1967") since it probably had more intense intrumental sections .

I've recently heard of an album known as Arzachel by a group of the same name (though some releases of the album state another name, I forget which). Some reviews for it were great, others stated it was dismal. Is it good?

[Massed Gadgets]

I've recently heard of an album known as Arzachel by a group of the same name (though some releases of the album state another name, I forget which). Some reviews for it were great, others stated it was dismal. Is it good?

Arzachel (originally called Uriel) was Steve Hillage's first band. The rest of the members in the group went on to form the band Egg (which actually sounded quite different, being more progressive than psychedelic). I personally love the Arzachel album. Some really great psychedelic rock on this album. It's noted for the 17 minute track Metempsychosis, which has been compared to Interstellar Overdrive, although I personally like it better than IO (I know, sacrilege!). The song based stuff is good too, ranging from bluesy to trippy, including an awesome cover of Keith Mansfield's Soul Thing (Queen St. Gang). So yeah, I would definitely look into this one.

[rememberaday]

I've recently heard of an album known as Arzachel by a group of the same name (though some releases of the album state another name, I forget which). Some reviews for it were great, others stated it was dismal. Is it good?

Arzachel (originally called Uriel) was Steve Hillage's first band. The rest of the members in the group went on to form the band Egg (which actually sounded quite different, being more progressive than psychedelic). I personally love the Arzachel album. Some really great psychedelic rock on this album. It's noted for the 17 minute track Metempsychosis, which has been compared to Interstellar Overdrive, although I personally like it better than IO (I know, sacrilege!). The song based stuff is good too, ranging from bluesy to trippy, including an awesome cover of Keith Mansfield's Soul Thing (Queen St. Gang). So yeah, I would definitely look into this one.

Thanks, MG. I'll check it out. Is Metempsychosis a bit repetitive, because I like long songs to have less repititon, though there are exceptions to this.

[Massed Gadgets]

Thanks, MG. I'll check it out. Is Metempsychosis a bit repetitive, because I like long songs to have less repititon, though there are exceptions to this.

I don't find it repetitive...it moves along quickly through different sections, but you'd have to listen to it yourself. One person's 'repetitive' is and another person's 'hypnotically mesmerizing'.

[rememberaday]

I listened to Metempsychosis on Youtube, and it's unbelievably good. I won't compare it to Interstellar Overdrive (which is close to my heart and therefore I wouldn't want it to lose ), but I'm surprised how underrated this album is. It's a sonic trip.

Rateyourmusic actually helps!

[GilmourGirl]

Kak, from 1968. Formed by guitarist of Blue Cheer.

[Massed Gadgets]

Check this one out...obscurity from 1970. Some great stuff on it.