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I know it when I see it.

kaeth wrote:I make hallucinogen-music. It's created to mimic the music the psychedelic mind creates out of silence, such as the experience inside of an isolation tank. It's sounds are sculpted to be enhanced in a psychedelic state. It's full of heavily filtered synthesizers, stereo-separated effects, ambience and noise. I often call it psychedelic music, but it has little to do with the psychedelic music that came before. When I call it psychedelic, it's because it's been inspired by acid, and not by Jimi Hendrix. Any similarities are purely coincidental. I don't really care if that's incorrect genre-wise.

This was a great key post no one seemed to address. The actual psychedelic experience (for me at least) has been different every trip and presumably different for every individual. I don't think it's particularly constructive to call "bullshit" on anyone's idea of "what is psychedelic." You either connect with the resulting sounds/music on that level or you don't. I don't personally hear stuff like Black Angels or Warlocks as relevant to my idea of the psychedelic experience, but that's not to say others won't. Just one sorta weird example: I find immersive listening to certain Messiaen pieces quite "psychedelic" because his use of transcribed birdsong dovetails with some of my experiences freaking out on how coooooool the choruses of birds sounded in whatever park or forest I was in. His "intent" when he composed that stuff is irrelevant to my connection to it. Logging "psychedelia" as any kind of historical musical continuum or set of signifiers misses the point imo.

I mean, I haven't ingested hallucinogens in a few years but when listening to music was an option sometimes I really wanted to hear Astral Weeks or some Miles Davis, other times I really wanted to hear Alien Soundtracks or some Coil, knowhatimean?

due in part to this very issue, lately when people have asked me i've just taken to describing the music i play as "like.. space blues"

D.o.S. wrote:Also Tame Impala blows.

That is the take home message here, people.

sultanofswig wrote:I don't think it's particularly constructive to call "bullshit" on anyone's idea of "what is psychedelic." You either connect with the resulting sounds/music on that level or you don't.

Great point. I know what I consider "psychedelic" but others may not get that same effect. For me it's closer to Stars of the Lid, some Throbbing Gristle, Washing Machine (the song), Live Ummagumma from Floyd, Big Fun by Miles D, Amon Duul II's Yeti, a lot of the more ambient Nadja releases and collaborations, Expo 70, etc where you can just tune in and tune out..... and the idea of doing drugs is so unappealing to me while listening or playing music, but I'm sure for others that essential. The dudes in my band all duck out and smoke a joint before we get into some really trippy shit but man, that just doesn't work for me.... too each their own and all that shit amirite......

retinal orbita wrote:

sultanofswig wrote:I don't think it's particularly constructive to call "bullshit" on anyone's idea of "what is psychedelic." You either connect with the resulting sounds/music on that level or you don't.

Great point. I know what I consider "psychedelic" but others may not get that same effect. For me it's closer to Stars of the Lid, some Throbbing Gristle, Washing Machine (the song), Live Ummagumma from Floyd, Big Fun by Miles D, Amon Duul II's Yeti, a lot of the more ambient Nadja releases and collaborations, Expo 70, etc where you can just tune in and tune out..... and the idea of doing drugs is so unappealing to me while listening or playing music, but I'm sure for others that essential. The dudes in my band all duck out and smoke a joint before we get into some really trippy shit but man, that just doesn't work for me.... too each their own and all that shit amirite......

Excellent points, both of youse.

You ask a person what kind of music they like to listen to while on psychedelics and they'll just tell you the kind of music they like to listen to.

Iommic Pope wrote:

D.o.S. wrote:Also Tame Impala blows.

That is the take home message here, people.

Yeah, well, that's just like, your opinion, man

cedarskies wrote:

Iommic Pope wrote:

D.o.S. wrote:Also Tame Impala blows.

That is the take home message here, people.

Yeah, well, that's just like, your opinion, man

I love Kenny Loggins. It's all good.

Chankgeez wrote:

retinal orbita wrote:

sultanofswig wrote:I don't think it's particularly constructive to call "bullshit" on anyone's idea of "what is psychedelic." You either connect with the resulting sounds/music on that level or you don't.

Great point. I know what I consider "psychedelic" but others may not get that same effect. For me it's closer to Stars of the Lid, some Throbbing Gristle, Washing Machine (the song), Live Ummagumma from Floyd, Big Fun by Miles D, Amon Duul II's Yeti, a lot of the more ambient Nadja releases and collaborations, Expo 70, etc where you can just tune in and tune out..... and the idea of doing drugs is so unappealing to me while listening or playing music, but I'm sure for others that essential. The dudes in my band all duck out and smoke a joint before we get into some really trippy shit but man, that just doesn't work for me.... too each their own and all that shit amirite......

Excellent points, both of youse.

You ask a person what kind of music they like to listen to while on psychedelics and they'll just tell you the kind of music they like to listen to.

For some, it could be Phish bootlegs. For others, it could be the Pulse 2xCD by Pink Floyd..... for others it could be Bob Marleys Legend.....

I think that the term "psychedelic", much like most of the English language, has just strayed from it's original meaning over time. This is pretty typical of how culture evolves, and while it may no longer be the same word in the classical sense, it doesn't necessarily invalidate the current "psychedelic" scene.

I think it's more just a term used for bands that should otherwise be labeled "experimental". The only issue with that is that "experimental" is too broad of a defining term in music now (you could be talking anything from Brian Eno to Midori), so "psychedelic" has just become a go-to term for experimental rock. I'm sure, like DubKitty said, that some bands and artists still hold true to the mindset of classical psychedelia, but I don't think that it comes down to anything but semantics at this point, since it's such a subjective thing, art.

That said, I like Tame Impala, screw you guys.

Your idea falls apart when you realize that There's nothing experimental about most "psychedelic" music nowadays, though. It's exactly what happened to the "progressive" part of prog.

I suppose. Maybe it's just becoming a term for an alt scene, then. Rock music, in my opinion, is becoming pretty stagnant as a whole anyway. I'd love to see something new happen. It's been a while since I've been captivated by a band for being innovative.

Hip Hop's finally coming into it's own, which is pretty cool to see as it starts to go through the same kind of changes that rock's been going through for years. (see: Kool AD for experimental [arguably classically psychedelic] hiphop).

Kool Keith's been making Psychedelic Hip Hop for decades. Same with Del.

I think everything just feels played out because it's all accessible at any given time. Nothing's shocking.