Psychedelic 100 Home Pad Hippie-era albums from 1966-1969
Welcome to the Psychedelic 100… Here you will find the most outasight list of late-60s psychedelic albums in existence anywhere in the known and hallucinogenic universes. Phase-shifting, swirling organs, feedback, distortion, sitars and heaps of studio gimmickry are all on offer. So for all you groovy old hippies who long ago gave up dropping tabs for spilling chardonnay, this is the place to relive all those old memories… or discover what they would probably be like if you could actually remember anything from your misspent youth. The site philosophy is probably best summed up in the words of the great Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators who, quite remarkably, was still alive last time I checked:
If your limbs begin dissolving
In the water that you tread
All surroundings are evolving
In the stream that clears your head
Find yourself a caravan
Like Noah must have led
And slip inside this house as you pass by
How mind-blowingly far-out is that?! All these albums have at some stage shown up on CD. A bit of a bummer really. The original vinyl with all its hiss, crackle and pop is probably much closer to the astral focal point. Nevertheless, if you can cope with crystal-clear high-fidelity sound and some downer who thinks he/she has the right to digitally 'remaster' perfection, then this might be your gig. Isn't 'remaster' an oppressive word? The genre's heyday was from 1967-68 and by 1969 only the diehards remained.
The Top 100 List The Top 100 list is a statistical survey. I found about 50 lists containing anywhere from 20-300 albums each and brought them together into sort of a commune. I then tallied up the citations and determined the exact rankings using rated reviews from various music sites on the net. Much of the music from the period that we are listening to today isn't necessarily what was big at the time. Various anthologies, particularly the Nuggets series, have sparked a whole new wave of interest in long lost or forgotten psychedelic artyfacts. The Elevators, for example, are much bigger now than they ever were in the Sixties when they struggled for commercial recognition.
A cautionary note. It is probably no secret that much of the music here is drug-inspired by illicit hallucinogenic substances. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from looking over the list of artists. A fairly high percentage of them are either dead before their time or brain-fried and living in some kind of vegetable-like state. I don't want to get all preachy on you groovers, but if you are going to listen to this stuff try and do it safely.
Brit Psychedelic Various Artists Insane Times (2007) EMI
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The latest 60s psych compilation to hit the shelves mines the EMI vaults for some wannabes and future stars.
For a brief time in 1966 the 'freakbeat' scene emerged in the UK while never really gaining a solid commercial foothold. When the psychedelic explosion hit full stride in the US 1967 'Summer of Love' suddenly music giant EMI got interested.
Subtitled 25 British Psychedelic Artefacts From The EMI Vaults, this set catalogues the commercial side of UK psychedelia. The big names here include the Hollies, Yardbirds and Syd Barrett. A few of the lesser lights featured managed to make some topnotch albums - July, the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Rainbow Ffolly and Tomorrow all making their mark.
As for the rest… it is all listenable and eminently collectable. Even where the more familiar names are concerned, very few of these tracks have ever appeared on other anthologies. The real attraction for most will be the digital remastering. With 25 tracks sounding better than ever (depending on your general state of mind) this set is a valuable addition to any serious psychedelia collection.
