Hippie nonsense

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That focus record is very funny, but it'd be pushing it to say it's good....

I like a noisy acid inspired racket - surely the band par excellence would be The Thirteen Floor Elevators?

More in a mo.

In terms of walking the walk and talking the talk, The Elevators certainly did it. They took acid pretty much continuosly, contributing in no small part to Roky Erikson's hospitalisation, and Tommy Hall certainly reflected the cosmic pretensions that acid inspires in his lyrics. "Step Inside this House" has dozens of semi-mystical references thrown together in a big hallucination stew, and it works, absolutely.

Paul Drummond has written a great bio of the Elevators. Really corking read.

Live/Dead is the one you really want for starting with the Dead. A lot of their stuff does dissapoint, I find, although lately I've also been quite partial to Anthem of the Sun.
Not very keen on QMS. Although it's a flawed record in many notable ways, I've always had a big soft spot for After Bathing at Baxter's by Jefferson Airplane, as it's an example of acid-bloated hippie self-indulgence that comes out sounding a little different from the norm. Very little blues jamming on display. Crown of Creation is actually the best Jeff album, but that's coming from a different place, much more focused, shorter songs, sounds like the comedown aftermath to a particulalry dark trip.
Gong are one of the greatest from the British side of things, but I've only started listening to them recently so won't pretend to make definitive recommendations. Other people on here could though, I think.

You should be able to pick up a copy of Cambert Electrique for a few quid of ebay - it was one of those records that had a mass promotion in the 70s for £1.49 (same as the Faust LP) so there are loads of copies. I don't rate it that much - one really nice track and otherwise a bit wacky - but I need to listen to it again.

There's loads of fantastic British psychedelia but a lot of this is very whimiscal and English. More tea in Kensington and pretending to be a teapot than mainlining smack into one's groin in the Haight.

You might like The Red Krayola as well, label mates of the Elevators, for a real unstrucred racket that coalesces into amazing songs like "Transparent Radiation" (later covered by Spacemen 3). Only one I've heard is their first "Parable of Arable Land".

Nit more obscure - I like the self-titled LP by Morgen a lot as well. It's one of the "heaviest" things I own in that genre. Snarly punk vocals, and cruncing riffs. I put a track from it on my mixtape, and there's a Youtube link in the review. Don't know much about him beyond that.

STN said:

elevators are magic. As is Erikson's solo LP, The Evil One, but that's just b-movie swamp rock.

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Does that feature "I walked with a zombie"? Great title.

Beat of the Earth - This is an Artistic Statement
Raven - Back to Ohio Blues
Oracle - Nataraja De Nada
Daybreak - Daybreak (may veer too far into "bad blues" territory, but it's worth a listen)
Hapshash and the Coloured Coat - Hapshash and the Coloured Coat
Vulcan - Meet Your Ghost
Human Instinct - Stoned Guitar
Les Rallizes Denudes - Blind Baby Has Its Mother's Eyes (followed by everything else)
Earthen Vessel - Hard Rock: Life Everlasting
C.A. Quintet - Trip Thru Hell (Not as heavy on the fuzz blowouts as the rest of this stuff, but still totally twisted)
Lard Free - Lard Free (this has some ridiculous electronic stuff as well)
Frolk Haven - At the Apex of the High (Veers into art student fuckery at times, but some heavy, jammed out bits. Features pre-fame Stuart Copeland!)
Madrigal - Madrigal (Another one that gets a bit piss-aroundey)
Finchley Boys - Everlasting Tributes (Really varied album, but has some cool psych bits)
Josefus - Dead Man Alive
Randy Holden - Population II
JW Farquhar - The Formal Female
Leaf Hound - Growers of Mushroom (another bluesy one)
Ramases - Space Hymns
Skuldedog - The Spirit of Music
Mushroom - Early One Morning

You may be disturbed to know I actually cut quite a bit out of this list...

Oracle, Vulcan, Les Rallizes Denudes, Human Instinct, Madrigal, Lard Free, JW Farquhar and bits of the CA Quintet.

Yeah the Elevators are amazing. The guitar sound on those records is sublime, that shimmering dreamlike quality. Also they seem to have a fair bit of Morricone vibes on some tracks (Rose And The Thorn for example). All three of those albums are stone cold classics.

And Till Then is the best Byrds song not written by the Byrds.

Speaking of which I've always thought the Rosetta stone of the west coast psychedelia thing is the Byrds' Fifth Dimension (although, admittedly I haven't heard the Great Society). It seems to be the point where psychedelia erupts from within folk rock's process, you've got majestic folk like Wild Mountain Thyme and John Riley right there next to tracks 8 Miles High, See You, Psychodrama City, etc.

Four Sail and Out There by Love are full of great feedback laden psychedelic rock, and I'll always recommend the live Jefferson Airplane stuff along with the studio albums. That stuff seems to have a bad rep, but I think they work up a great ramshackle racket live.

DannyL said:

You should be able to pick up a copy of Cambert Electrique for a few quid of ebay - it was one of those records that had a mass promotion in the 70s for £1.49 (same as the Faust LP) so there are loads of copies. I don't rate it that much - one really nice track and otherwise a bit wacky - but I need to listen to it again.

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"tried so haaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd to get therrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre"

re: first post here, the Fugs record on ESP w/ Slum Goddess and Nothing is a good record...

STN said:

I have never knowingly heard a Grateful Dead LP, I'd love to like them, but suspect I actually wouldn't.

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start with the first S/t one... basically just a speedy garage rock LP...

then Anthem of the Sun, very cool record... a good sort of crazy...

i also ride for Aoxomoxoa... find the OG mix, not the one currently one CD... (if it says remixed 1971 on the back, you don't want it...)

bassbeyondreason said:

gC.A. Quintet - Trip Thru Hell (Not as heavy on the fuzz blowouts as the rest of this stuff, but still totally twisted)

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Yeah, I've got this album. There's two or three killer tracks on there in amongst some fairly boring Love-style stuff.

Don't think they were hippies though, at least definitely not in the 'peace and love' sense. But then, exactly what sort of Hippies are we supposed to be talking about here? Or is it another thread about psychedelia?

I'd definitely include a lot of Krautrock stuff in here too if we're talking hairy acid-jam freakouts, Amon Duul and all them.

...erm, The Electric Prunes? Steppenwolf? Jimi Hendrix even?! - I think I put all this sort of stuff together because of the 'Easy Rider' soundtrack. Hippie nonsense of the highest order.

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wahey, I managed to embed this correctly (Savage Rose did do some great records, this is not one of them, love those sheep)

Benny B said:

Yeah, I've got this album. There's two or three killer tracks on there in amongst some fairly boring Love-style stuff.

I'd definitely include a lot of Krautrock stuff in here too if we're talking hairy acid-jam freakouts, Amon Duul and all them.

.

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I really like that CA Quintet LP but then I love Love as well.

In terms of Teutonic Bearded Heaviness, I think Yeti is the only one you need by the Duul. That record is so hairy, you can hear the beard as it plays.

(The other LPs are more proggy).

Guru Guru ("UFO") also have a nice line in hirsute cosmic riffing.

STN said:

I'm really after swirling maelstroms of guitar feedback.

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defo Guru Guru's UFO then, as Danny mentions.