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Category Archives: Psych-Rock
Large Plants
Image: largeplants band@X
What was initially described in 2020 as a solo “post apocalyptic folk-rock” side project with Large Plants has now flowered into something more significant, The Thorn, Sharp’s second release in the space of just 19 months, following on from debut, The Carrier (April 2022), which emerged as a result of a writing frenzy during lockdown. Although the latest release is folkier and proggier in tone than the biker rock of The Carrier, some of the songs on The Thorn were recorded at the same time – in a friend’s dirty metal barn in Bedfordshire – https://www.folkradio.co.uk/2023/11/large-plants-the-thorn-album-review/
Large Plants debut album ‘The Carrier’ is often described as biker rock, but I feel thats an inaccurate label. Personally I love the 70’s nod of nostalgia to bands like Mountain and Wishbone Ash.
Large Plants second album ‘Thorn’.
Sleepy Sun
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Image: Discogs
Sleepy Sun is an American psychedelic rock band, formed in 2005 in Santa Cruz, and now based in San Francisco. They have a very throwback sound of wailing blues rock and acid tinged psych folk
A great video of the band in action.
Siena Root
Siena Root is a Swedish rock band with its roots in late '60s and '70s rock music. Wishbone Ash, Deep Purple, Mountain and even Black Sabbath come to mind when listening to their music. The group was founded in Stockholm in the late'90s, and their sound is based on heavy organ, howling guitars, bass riffing and big drums. It is also often enriched with bluesy female vocals, various guest musicians and psychedelic desert rock vibes. 2009's Different Realities, arguably their best album, is a great fusion of psychedelic rock and Indian folk music.
Some of my favourite tracks, with full albums below
https://youtu.be/IBNKo1ycRfQ
A really clean Live show.
Full Albums
Here Lies Man
Here Lies Man are a quintet originating from Los Angeles. Founded by members of Antibalas in the Spring of 2016, Here Lies Man mixes heavy fuzz rock with afrobeat and art rock to compose a sound all their own, taking the musical world by storm with their eponymous 2017 debut. The band gained quick attention for their “What if Black Sabbath played afrobeat?” thesis and was praised by many critics for an innovative musical style. – Article: fandom.com Photo: The Georgia Straight
Their afrobeat vibe kicks in here..
Here Lies Man- Full Album
No Ground to Walk Upon – Full Album
Ritual Divination – Full Album
You Will Know Nothing – Full Album
Lionize is an American rock band based in Montgomery County, Maryland. The sound of the band is rooted in hard rock, but they frequently experiment with varying sounds, such as reggae, dub music, go-go, and funk. Superczar and the Vulture and Destruction Manual are both heavily rock reggae. The band line-up consists of Chris Brooks, Nathan Bergman, and Henry Upton. – Wikipedia
- “Nuclear Soul” (2017)
“Superczar and the Vulture” (2011
- “Destruction Manual” (2011)
This is the most reggae influenced album of theirs
Those Shocking Shaking Days: Indonesian Hard, Psychedelic, Progressive Rock and Funk 1970-1978
Editorial Review from Amazon – The progressive music scenes in 1970s Indonesia were largely underground as a result of strict censorship imposed by the dictator Suharto. Those who performed music marked by relentless fuzz, over the top, politically charged lyrics, strong rhythms and a cranky low-fidelity were truly rebellious. And the resulting output has been largely outside of the confines of this island nation unheard or ignored. Indonesia, based in large part on the restrictions imposed by Suharto, is better known for the coffee it exports than the music it creates. This situation hasn’t been remedied by the rough-hewn Indonesian bootlegs that dotted the psychedelic landscape over the past five years. Thanks now to the tireless and expensive research of Canadian hip hop producer and Southeast Asian music specialist Jason Moss Connoy – and the trust that Indonesian rock legend Benny Soebardja placed in Now-Again Records as he traversed his homeland’s islands securing the rights necessary for us to offer you this anthology – we feel like we can, in good spirits and conscience, shine the light on some of the most impressive organizations to offer their take on the psychedelic and progressive rock and funk sounds during the early shocking, shaking days of Suharto’s regime.
Its all great but here are 7 of my favourite tracks off the album
Ouzo Bazooka is a Tel Aviv based psychedelic rock group, borrowing from the groovy sounds of the middle eastern region. Ouzo Bazooka’s exotic sound is a dizzying concoction of East meets West. Their latest excursion includes the release of a tripped-out, post-apocalyptic music video for the single “Southern Winds”. Ouzo Bazooka’s self-titled freshman album boasts 13 masterfully crafted hits that transport listeners to a drunken Middle Eastern, ouzo-drenched dance party. – Soundcloud
Kikagaku Moyo
“To anyone who has heard the music of Kikagaku Moyo, it should come as no surprise that the band’s origins lie in hours upon hours of late-night jamming, illuminated by nothing more than the geometric patterns playing behind the band’s eyelids, resulting in a natural, free-floating sound, as of-the-earth as it is intergalactic. It may be surprising that the band sharpened their improvisational skills by busking on the streets of their native Tokyo. It may be surprising that the band’s overall sound may owe as much or more to the Incredible String Band as it does to Acid Mother’s Temple. Boundless though they may be, Kikagaku Moyo are anything but lost, their child-like wonder manifested in a confident, courageous exploration of sound. Labels – psychedelic, folk, prog-rock, psychedelic-folk-mixed-with-prog-rock – do little to accurately reflect the spectrum of influences on display, let alone the more impactful realization of completeness in Kikagaku Moyo’s songs. Easily one of the most shimmering crown-jewels in the rapidly expanding BBiB catalog, look for Kikagaku Moyo and Forest of Lost Children to be found taking shape in the expanded minds of listeners everywhere.” – Ryan Muldoon
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23286-stone-garden/
One of my favourite underground psych-prog rock bands is Crippled Black Phoenix from UK, centred around the multi-instrumentalist Justin Greaves. His music goes off in so many different directions album to album but heres a little sampler playlist I put together.. Click on the Youtube icon to see all the songs.
Formed in Olympia, Washington, USA in 2008, Milk Music are a very loud four-piece who make cosmic, electric, soul rock on the subject of life and the human condition. Sonically, their songs have often been compared to those of the Wipers, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Hüsker Dü, the Velvet Underground, the Gun Club, and the Meat Puppets.- Last fm
http://https://youtu.be/LWTSh_p0r7s
Hazy Sea is an instrumental stoner rock trio from Athens formed in 2015 exploring the stoner and desert rock sound. Electric Abyss is their debut full length album, filled to the brim with fiery passion. 7 tracks of top notch Heavy Rock grooves. – Youtube
Naxatras is a hard psychedelic rock band from Greece. They have been playing together for three years developing their sound. This year sees the release of their first LP. Naxatras recorded the album live 100% analog at Magnetic Fidelity Studios with a guy named Jesus. Only analog equipment was used during the recording, mixing and mastering stages. Naxatras recorded the album at a small village in northern Greece in just 3 days.- Youtube
From the “Watch Out” (1970’s) LP. Zimbabwe Psychedelic Rock.
n an explosion of rock music that spanned from Nigeria to Zambia during the late 1970s, the revolutionary Zimbabwean rock movement, although rarely recognized and widely obscured, played a distinct role in its nation’s musical history.
This is the first time that Watch Out! will be released outside of Zimbabwe. In the liner notes, project curator and researcher Matthew Shechmeister writes, “The people who made this record, and the world it came out of, make for the most compelling and heart wrenching story we’ve ever heard behind an album we’ve featured.”
A culmination of afrobeat, heavy jams and psychedelic sounds, Zimbabwean rock uncovers the underground sound that has come to make up the distinctively African genre. As a part of the counterculture movement that took root in the country during the late 1970s, Wells Fargo rose to fame as Zimbabwe entered the last decade of its war for independence. In the face of a systemically racist and oppressive Rhodesian government, rock became an outlet for expression- Youtube
Motorpsycho is a band from Trondheim, Norway, formed in 1989. Their music can generally be defined as progressive or psychedelic rock, but they also mix in elements from metal, jazz, post-rock, pop, country and many other musical styles.Wikipedia
Angry NWOBHM guitars. Arrogant leads. A singer that’s more punk than metal. Earworm riffs. Lyrics out of the notebook of a schizophrenic religious zealot. Relentless drum barrage. 29 minutes of steel fists pulverizing your face. A vinyl collecting, tape trading, guitar shredding heavy metal kid can grow up, learn to do other things and leave the fast guitar riffs and apocalyptic metal visions of his teenage years behind. But the fast guitar riffs and apocalyptic metal visions can NEVER really leave the kid.
This is the story of Rotör’s riffmeister JVH, who found himself recording a pile of early 80’s NWOBHM inspired music in the early 2010’s. He just couldn’t help himself, once that floodgate of nasty heavy metal was re-opened, the riffs just came pouring out. The old beast woken up from years of slumber, thirsty for blood. JVH recruited four other three-letter-names to work on the songs and Rotör became it’s own kind of a metal monster, proudly standing on it’s 10 steel legs.
Rotör may include bits of Speedtrap, Hard Action, Vino Siitin, Tremor, Arkhamin Kirjasto, Seremonia or Steel Mammoth.
Thee Oh Sees is an American garage rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1997. The band currently consists of primary songwriter and core member John Dwyer (vocals, guitar), Tim Hellman (bass) and drummers Ryan Moutinho and Dan Rincon. Thee Oh Sees sound incorporates a wide range of rock genres, including 1960s garage rock and psychedelic rock, punk rock, noise rock,art punk, and 1980s post-punk. -Wikipedia
As one half of the hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks, Jordan Stephens has enjoyed enjoyed critical and commercial success. Now the 24-year-old actor and musician is branching out on his own with a new project called Wildhood. The project, which is described as being birthed from rebellion, has released an eight-track EP called ‘Vert’. The music has a kind of psycho funk rock feel to it, and you can feel him pouring his soul into pretty much every song.
Melt Yourself Down are a London based band who incorporate elements of North African musical styles, punk, jazz and funk. The band, according to saxophonist Pete Wareham, aim to produce “Nubian party punk”
https://soundcloud.com/rutabaga/sets/melt-yourself-down
Causa Sui consists of Jakob Skøtt, Jonas Munk, Rasmus Rasmussen and Jess Kahr, and have released eight albums since 2005. The trilogy set Summer Sessions that saw the band move away from the heavy-psych of their two first albums to more abstract, instrumental sounds that owes as much to Can as to american stoner-rock. Causa Sui’s sound has been described as the sound of a giant wave rolling up through the last four decades of rock. The bands new album, Return to Sky, was released March 18th 2016. -El Paraiso Records
Good speakers are recommended for this 11 minute psych rock freakout!