Psychedelic Waves Top 30 Albums of 2019
My apologies for this coming so late, but medical issues that left me in considerable pain hampered my ability to get it finished in a timely manner. But here it is, at last, Psychedelic Waves Top 30 Albums of 2019! As always, this is a pretty subjective list, based solely on my own personal tastes and cool discoveries. I hope it allows you to discover something cool too! Here we go...
30. Weeed - You Are The Sky More of their great motorik self-described "hippie metal". Some very inventive and hypnotic jams!
29. The Writhing Squares - Out Of The Ether Throbbing bass, motorik synthesis, and skronking sax turned into a cosmic mix of freaked out lo-fi and punky free jazz and rock n' roll.
28. The Spacious Mind - The No. 4 Or 5 Gravy Band Never released archival recordings, sure, but so good to hear some great new vintage tracks from one of my favourite bands ever.
27. Alana Xo - Eleven Space rock with extra space! Dreamy instrumentals for drifting off into the night. Space out, man!
26. Stargoon - Sky Ranch: The World Beyond the World Fantastic instrumental space rock in two epic tracks.
25. Snake Oil - Dying of Sunsets Enigmatic and moody psych excursions with a sweet desert vibe to them.
24. HEAVY MOON - Heavy Moon 14 Travel through a psychedelic, post-apocalyptic landscape with some truly radioactive road music.
23. Dreamtime – Tidal Mind Space, time and the ocean depths. Heavy mellow psych and space rock.
22. Atom Made Earth - Severance Atmospheric, melancholy, dream-like hauntings of psych rock and ambient music.
21. Moon Duo - Stars Are the Light Krautrock influenced psych pop. Another winner from Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson's side project with Sanae Yamada.
20. 3rd Ear Experience with Dr. Space - Ear to Space Mojave Desert space rockers team up with Øresund Space Collective's mastermind Dr. Space for an out of this world experience. Blistering improvs to blow your mind!
19. Ed Wynne - Shimmer Into Nature Ozric Tentacles guitarist goes solo and sounds like, well, Ozric Tentacles. Still, a surprisingly fresh take on the sound at this point in his career. Happy vibes for all!
18. Jess By The Lake - Under the Red Light Shine No new Jess and the Ancient Ones album since 2017. What's the next best thing! A brand new solo album from Jess herself! All that psych occult rock just the way you love it. And oh, that voice!
17. Art Jackson's Atrocity - Tribute To Sun Ra Real band, or just a hoax perpetrated by some guys who were late for class? Who knows? Who cares? Some great, exploratory, tripped out Sun Ra inspired free jazz makes for a terrific album, whoever did it.
16. Gong - The Universe Also Collapses A strong second outing for the Kavus Torabi led Gong, with some truly epic tracks on it. Daevid and Gilli would be proud!
15. Luna Cruise - Luna Cruise Jim Morrison re-incarnated, and tripping on acid.
14. Altin Gün – Gece 70's style Turkish psychedelic grooves given a fresh and exciting new feel by this group of international musicians based in The Netherlands.
13. Colour Haze - We Are Twenty-five years into their career and Colour Haze are proving they still have the magic. Woozy stoner vibes in this collection of melodic electric and acoustic pieces.
12. Mooon - Safari Is it the sixties, man? Trippy folk and rock tunes with great harmony vocals and wild sound effects.
11. Sonora Sunrise - The Route Through the Canyon Deep, mysterious, shamanic rock from Russia, with loads of atmosphere.
10. Son of Ohm - Paradigma Cosmic, mind expanding and mind blowing electronic music. Berlin school sequences, lush atmospheres and melodies, with hints of early Floyd.
9. The Comet Is Coming – Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery With their unusual line up of synths, sax and drums, this UK jazz combo is making waves. Intense, innovative and futuristic.
8. Nik Turner - The Final Frontier The Thunder Rider returns with possibly the strongest, and most-out there album he's recorded in the string of new classics he's made since 2013's Space Gypsy.
7. Lucy In Blue - In Flight Icelandic psych with sometimes a bit of a Floyd vibe, but still doing it their own way. Another great album from this group.
6. Zone Six - Kozmic Koon Tripped out psychedelic improv; everything from heavy monster jams to ambient space trips to lush and haunting keyboard lead pieces.
5. Twink with Moths & Locusts and Heavy Friends - Think Pink IV: Return To Deep Space The older generation meets the younger generation and makes some genuine psych/space magic here!
4. The Green Ray - Five Points Of Light Mellow tunes and laidback rockers in The Green Ray's signature Grateful Dead meets Pink Floyd style.
3. The Mango Furs - Inner Migrations Top notch debut from these US melodic space rockers (although they have another album out already!). These guys aren't about extended improvised jams, this is song oriented stuff, but there is some great songwriting going on here.
2. The Pilgrim - Walking Into the Forest Sun-kissed space-folk from Gabriele Fiori of The Black Rainbows along with his bandmate Filippo Ragazzoni. Summer daydreams for your ultimate peace.
1. Djam Karet - A Sky Full of Stars For a Roof Beautiful, evocative instrumentals that combine space rock grooves with folktronica vibes. Perfect for listening to while laying in the grass looking up at the stars.
Honorable Mentions Albums that I loved but didn't quite fit under the Psychedelic Waves umbrella
Rheostatics - Here Come the Wolves Wildly quirkie indie rock. Their first album in 16 years easily ranks among their classics like Whale Music and The Story of Harmelodia.
Bonzo Fimbres - Combative Life I'm not normally much into the genre of progressive metal, but Mexican artist Bonzo Fimbres puts such a uniquely fresh spin on it that this album is hard not to like!
