One of the net's premier music sites has this band listed in 23 genre categories, which has to be some kind of record. With its famous Andy Warhol banana cover, this has to be one of the most influential commercial flops in history. Lou Reed in fine form, John Cale's searing electric viola and gorgeous European vampire Nico - WOW!
Buy Amazon
Ptooff! The Deviants 1967 [Sire]
Anarchistic underground band out of the Ladbroke Grove community in the UK. Back in 1967 this stuff was just plain scary. The frontman was journalist and general deviant Mick Farren who wrote for underground zines IT and Oz - both of which had more than their fair share of troubles with the law. Dark, paranoid and totally vamp.
Buy Amazon
The United States of America The United States of America 1968 [Columbia]
Wildly experimental underground album that has gained legendary status, mainly for its groundbreaking use of electronic music. One of the few guitar-less bands in psychedelia, the songs collectively take various swipes at the American social order (or disorder). The music ranged from vaudevillian to the beautiful 'Love Song for the Dead Che'.
Buy Amazon
Mad River Mad River 1968 [Capitol]
Mad River would probably have fit in nicely with New York's dark underground scene, but they were a Frisco band. Lawrence Hammond's bleakly quavering vocals would go well in a zombie flick, while guitarist David Robinson could conjure up a nightmare using acoustic or electric. Different, but ever so good if you can handle all the gloom.
Buy Amazon
The Soft Machine The Soft Machine 1968 [Probe]
Topnotch avant-jazz psych band out of the Canterbury scene. Although very much a group effort, untamed drummer and main vocalist Robert Wyatt is a standout. The other key member is Kevin Ayers (bass/guitar/vocals) who took a part in most of the compositions. While not quite a classic, an incredibly influential album worth hearing.
Band leader Tom Rapp claimed he had never done drugs and that the tracks here are all "Winston-induced hallucinations", referring of course to a brand of cigarettes. The album is a bizarre concoction of antiwar meanderings based on the futile charge of the Light Brigade. Terrific stuff, available on CD with the 1967 One Nation Underground debut.
Buy Amazon
Monster Movie The Can 1969 [United Artists]
Seminal Krautrock outfit that matched it with Kraftwerk in the early-70s. Here however we get the somewhat psychotic vocal ravings of American Malcolm Mooney against a backdrop Velvet Underground-style voodoo rhythms. The epic 20 minute 'Yoo Doo Right' closes things out, pointing towards the avant-garde electronica of the future.
Buy Amazon
An Electric Storm White Noise 1969 [Island]
The brainchild of classical bass player David Vorhaus, this album has become a cult phenomenon of sorts. The record combines early use of the British synthesiser EMS Synthi VCS3 with Vorhaus' remarkable tape editing skills. Toss in lots of voices in various states of existence and the result is a minor masterpiece. Worth checking out.
