This record took the metal world by storm when it was released in 2017 and for good reason; though psychedelia and metal have long been bedmates (the inherent psychic heaviness of the dissociative dreamy drone of psychedelia being a common melting point as far back as the proto-metal preceding Sabbath), Orannsi Pazuzu achieved the dream that groups like Nachymystium and Aluk Todolo had been chasing for years prior. But if we can’t honor the blotter- and MDMA-fueled pulse of your Detroit house veterans, well, I guess Boards of Canada’s subtle shifts of reality and paradigm will have to do. There’s a holistic sense of tone and texture that wraps the entire production from end to end, creating a dreamlike atmosphere for the laid-back band to play around in. The electronics are responsible for whatever “psychedelia” the album offers and they’re hypnotic all the way through, whether they provide the dial-tone rhythm on “Lovefingers,” the frantic found-sound collage of “Program,” or the neatly ordered dismantling of general society on “Dust” and “Dancing Gods.” – Paul Pearson, The seasick, sitar-like Hawkwind warble that opens Värähtelijä accompanied with a Tool-inspired meditative bass-and-toms rhythm tells you all you need to know about formerly black metal band Orannsi Pazuzu’s modern intent. This introduced me to some really interesting and fascinating finds! Soundwaves: Pairing Cannabis With Binaural Beats, The Spark: How Masked Musician Noise Cans Uses Cannabis to Inspire His Sound, How Pairing Yoga, Cannabis, and Music Creates Positive Vibrations, Best Jazz Music Albums to Listen to While High, Cannabis Dispensaries Closest to Major Music Venues, Meditation unlocks the psychedelic potential of cannabis, Leafly Buzz: 12 fire strains for November 2020, 7 celebs invested in the cannabis industry. Biosphere “Autour de la Lune” (Don’t make me choose between this and “Substrata”. British electronic pop outfit Broadcast completed their full transformation from space-age bachelor pad indie rock to captains of their own kaleidoscopic voyage on haha Sound. Anyway, good on ya, mate! We do not share your location with anyone. With a pair of twenty minute epics and a smaller tune between, Göttsching wastes no time stretching the outer edges of rock far beyond what anyone was doing at the time, or for years to come. You requested a very large number of pages in a very short time, causing problems for our server (this can happen if you hit 'refresh' over and over). You (or someone with the same IP address as you) might be using a script or program to download pages from this site automatically. Proud is joined by multi-instrumentalist and producer Masaru Higasa, as well as Jeff Kimes on percussion and didgeridoo. It’s probably the Twin Peaks fan in me…. Here’s the deal: Psychedelic Sight revolves around two works in progress: A list of the 50 greatest psychedelic albums (this page) and another collecting the top 100 psychedelic songs. I completely understand the impulse to omit Substrata – but, I’ve just listened to it again, and I think it does deserve to be mentioned that often. Since they put Animals, Foxtrot, Fragile, The Fear of Music, and Kid A on here. Don’t see your favorite album on the list? I should make my own list. Well, to be fair I was considering Windy & Carl’s Antarctica, but it just didn’t make the cut. The Muse will encourage movement and dance, while also refreshing and delighting. We are hoping to eventually work on a solution for this when we have the resources to do so. It feels just like your best acid-fantasy out of body experience, an ideal trip that sees you zooming through the solar system like you’re on that Cosmos ship with Neil deGrasse Tyson. I won’t rant about the absence of Substrata, but surely at least one album by Biosphere just HAD to be on the list. Even the albums I love right away end up better after some time. It’s very program music-esque. Elrox – Tralfamadore (2015) The richness of details embroided into the album is staggering. Even the most knowledgeable and sophisticated selection is fraught with false historicity and misleads, but with all due respect for the effort this is more a list of psychedelic influenced music, not the the core of the genre it was intended to represent (which would obviously include 13th Floor Elevators, Pink Floyd. He immediately set about recording songs for a solo album, a process that did not come easily. So where are the other albums? Great list, my only objection is the lack of anything Boards of Canada. Also really love Alva Noto. Expo 70 “Center Of The Earth” (Exactly what it says on the tin. I so wish we could have had a follow-up from this project. You might have the Hola VPN extension installed. So glad to help you find some new things! You’ve added many of my favourite artists/albums to the list, Joe – not praised often enough. Yes, it’s technically jazz. Modula Green – Shellground (1995) Anyway, for anyone reading the comments, be sure to check out the following, if you haven’t already: I would have included Bohren & der Club of Gore, terre thaemlitz, bill laswell, Yagya [Sleepygirls], Smooth [Contemporary Past], Bing Satellites [maybe], but definitely Zoviet France and Rapoon, Gavin Bryars [Titanic], Ishq, Fantastic Sound & Mystic Moods Orchestra, 23 Degrees, Nonplace Urbanfield, Michael Mantra vs Deepchord, Pink Floyd [Soundscape Secret Track], Murcof, the Caretaker… But nice list. And it’s all on his Bandcamp! The title track is a half hour cascade of shifting tones, rippling textures, and achingly light synth melody. They’re so different they might as well be by separate artists!) The Beatles). Organic and meditative – the two longest tracks on the album are masterpieces for me. For the perfect home set-up, you can really look no further than Ambient. I’m so glad you commented. And all of it was backed by impossibly massive sounding drums, whether driving the vortex behind “Pendulum,” providing exclamatory counterpoint to the sweetness of “Before We Begin,” or providing the space-filling stereo-surround of “Man Is Not A Bird.” A great psychedelic album is best measured by the experience it provides, however, and few albums in recent memory have offered the kind of headphones-on, mind-adrift kind of sensory melt that haha Sound does. Manuel Gottsching – Dream & Desire (1977) Schulze is a prolific German composer who was part of the initial lineup of both Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel. – Wesley Whitacre, The crucial question, “What constitutes psychedelia?”, is one that recurs through this list. i play a lot of ambient on my radio show Wreck This Mess and think this list is WAY better than the other Pitchfork and imitator lists [pretty much all the same!] Turn up the subwoofer for this one, trust me. This is great .. more stuff to buy (22 of the 32). Eno’s programmed structures bounce off and reflect themselves, creating a kaleidoscopic rendition of a narrow band of musical color. It’s an important outlier in Miles Davis‘ catalogue, a quiet explosion of new sound that was quickly abandoned in favor of the burgeoning, brash fusion sound of the 1970s. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. I do have a question for you though. IMO, you should have at least one Tetsu Inoue release on your list. Inspired by all the discussion surrounding Pitchfork’s list of the genre, I decided to lay out my favorites. It is music that is overwhelmingly relaxing even when it is invigorating, and it manages to combine a deeply human element with sounds that are futuristic and fresh. Pingback: Miles Davis – Miles Smiles | Optimistic Underground, Pingback: Oneohtrix Point Never – Good Time Soundtrack | Optimistic Underground, Pingback: Replicant [mixtape] | Optimistic Underground, Pingback: Hiroshi Yoshimura – Music for Nine Post Cards | Optimistic Underground. Just kidding, I realize all this stuff is subjective. Although ambient, Taproot has a liveliness to its sound that makes it engaging and provoking—producer Zak Hoya likes to call it ‘midtempo folkbass.’. They should be top 5. ( Log Out /  Your email address will not be published. If so, you'll need to disable it when using this site, as it spams the websites you visit with fake requests. Giant Squid are reissuing 2009's 'The Ichthyologist' via, Hear Ceiling Spirits’ dense, hypnotic new single “Ultraquiet”, Windhand announces Levitation Sessions stream. Learn more about our partnership with Last Prisoner Project. I love Chill Out but I am kinda glad he used something else in lieu of it – it’s such a well-known ambient record that I’m sure most ambient fans are at least aware of. I’m diving into Ambient music for the first time and this is bar none the best list I have found. And, while I’m thinking of it… Substrata and/or Shenzhou by Biosphere, Journey to the Sun by Adham Shaikh, and for something more experimental, Radio Amor by Tim Hecker. I hope you find some new favorites. Windy & Carl “A Dream Of Blue” (None of their full albums really do it for me, but they have some killer EPs. All Rights Reserved. Reminds me of Eno’s work with Lanois. Like most psych and prog bands before them (yes, Radiohead is prog; go ahead and @ me, cowards), Radiohead realized they had to strip something away and decided that between standard pop rock song structures and the artful accoutrements that had previously merely embellished their tunes that it was the former that had to go. Driftwood possesses a complexity that will keep the listener engaged as it plays with various electronic elements, creating a musical journey that breathes with you. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages anytime. Your computer may be infected with malware or spyware that is making automated requests to our server and causing problems. This company sells your internet traffic to other people, meaning that other people can use your IP address and can break some of the above rules, causing you to be banned from this site. It’s great to bump into someone else who has a wider view of what genres like this can be. Hecq – “Night Falls”, highly cinematic, touching, incredible sound wizardry. I’ll catch it on DVD. Are you familiar with the Wolf Müller & Cass release from earlier this year, The Sound of Glades? A thoughtful & provocative listing…. Ishq – Orchid should imo never be left out of a best-of ambient release. To be completely honest, I’m not sure why I chose random order when I first wrote this list – I’d like to send a message two years back to ask myself. So glad to see Funkadelic get the love it deserves. Nice collection – especially glad to see Liumin on here.