The Psych Rock Lounge

Big Hendrix day for me, I just picked up the box set to the right. It documents the six concerts the original Experience played at the late great Winterland Ballroom from 10/10/68 to 12/10/68. The first two discs are for the first two days, almost completely sourced from the second of the days's shows, except for one track for 10/10 and two for 11/10. Disc Three is an even mix of first and second show cuts from 12/10. Finally, disc four collects a few odds and sods cuts, such not because of them being in any way bad - certainly not -  but because of the focus on late shows and the wish to achieve a great flow on the first three discs.

Uniquely, these Winterland shows included the rarely played live "Manic Depression", two shows opened by a take on the Hansson & Karlsson jam "Tax Free", electrifying takes on Cream's classic "Sunshine of Your Love", closer for 12/10's early show being a take on "Wild Thing", and, at least twice, the band playing a mean medley of "The Defense of Fort McHenry (The Star Spangled Banner)" and "Purple Haze".

In spite of technical problems, partially stemming from how energetic the band played, the Experience is described as being very relaxed, and so able to come up with fiery musical magic throughout many solos and improvs.

There's somewhere around two and a half hours of music total in this set. First open day I get, I'm just going to listen to the whole thing in one sitting, and just experience the magic. 

 

The Gethsemane Option from 2013 is one of The Legendary Pink Dots less accessible albums to long time fans of their thirty plus years of recorded output. Before you can get comfortable while listing to cuts like The Maria Dimension or The Golden Age, the music of each song abruptly changes direction and adds to the disarming vibe of which this album is built on. Eschewing their subliminal Floyd and Crimson motifs, the band seemed to have jumped on the dark psych prog band wagon that spiked during this brief couple of years and leans toward Neu! styled Krautrock synths, disembodied noises that pop up in the sound mix and existential lyrics. This album is a dark psychedelic look at the world and is not for everyone. Even the cover is unsettling. But for some reason, it does exert a strange pull on this listener.

 

If you you're new to The Legendary Dots, I suggest starting with more accessible up beat albums released a few years before or after The Gethsemane Option. But if you like dark unsettling psych prog, then this is just what the doctor ordered. 

Ambient psychedelic soundscape Krautrock replete with spooky spoken word vocals in German. 

The brain child of German musicians Alexander Djelassy and Dirk Raupach, who supply synths, guitars, bass, vocals and effects, this is perfect psych chill out music.

btw....a short audio clip from Alan Watts is inserted around 11:00 minutes into the track.

Personally I prefer Causa Sui and Samsara Blues Experiment...but they are less sludgy and doomy but far more listenable imho.

 

 

 

That was interesting and very listenable....reminded me a lot of Tangerine Dream at times.