WORLD MUSIC

If you stretch right back to the mid-sixties, to a time before Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and Iron Butterfly, you can chart some of the earliest appearances of what would soon come to be known as 'psychedelia'. Initially found in the radical new sounds of New York's esoteric folk collective The Holy Modal Rounders, the fuzzy electric garage-rock of the seminal Texas-based outfit The 13th Floor Elevators and the heady, mind-rippling literary musings of a one Timothy Leary, the first shimmering wave of what we now characterize 'psychedelic rock' burned brightly throughout the latter half of the 1960's as it seemingly does now in 21st century Scandanavia. The latest offering from Sweden's psychedelic scene, Goat whipped up a fair amount of curiosity during the summer months of 2012 thanks to their genre-straddling debut 'World Music', an album that hitches afro- beats, ethnic fusion flurries and deeply-layered tribal melodies onto the fledgling group's Dungen-tinged psych-rock origins. As a result, 'World Music' belongs to that ever-growing collective of 21st century psych-rock crusaders - the likes of Wooden Shjips, The Black Angels, Dungen, 120 Days, Gnod, Tame Impala etc - who have managed to blend the funky camouflage of modern hip-rock with old-school acid-rock dynamics and their own tripped-out characteristics. Although Goat lack the dance-laced edge of the Swedish contemporaries, 'World Music' - never has a title been so apt - works a colourful mixture between cosmic poppery and more experimental avenues; progressive this ain't. It's also a surprisingly short album, though those who discover the African-blessed opener 'Diarabi', the heavy, beat-blustering catch of the excellent 'Let It Bleed' and the final, drowsily-toned epic 'Det Som Aldrig Förändras' will surely make 'World Music' last that bit longer. Imagine a heady brew of Fela Kuti-sized rhythm chops and Sky Saxon Seeds-drilled guitars, all drenched in a gutsy experimental coating, and what you have is a thoroughly contemporary take on the ever-mutating 'psychedelic' sound from this oddly unique Swedish group. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2013