Yup it’s that time again where everybody shows off their impeccable taste with a end of year list of their “best” albums. It’s not been a vintage year for Psychedelia but there have been enough releases we have been digging down in our psychedelic basement to put a list together of 20 albums along with a few compilations/anthologies and singles/EPs. As we always say, this is the music we have really liked throughout 2018 and other opinions are available…………..however these are the sounds that have been on heavy rotation in our psychedelic basement and that we feel warrants inclusion on a list of great records of the year. As usual it’s an eclectic mixture of face melting Psych Rock, fuzzed out Psychedelic Pop, strange and beautiful psych tinged Folk music, 70s influenced retro Rock, innovative Folktronica, Prog Rock, ethereal Shoegazing, Kosmic exploration in distant galaxies and what other far out left field sounds we have been digging throughout the year with everything on the list being of equal merit.
ALBUMS
Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt (Bella Union).
The Oscillation - Wasted Space (Fuzz Club).
Beautify Junkyards - The Invisible World of Beautify Junkyards (Ghost Box).
Harmony Rockets with Peter Walker - Lachesis/Clotho/Atropos (Tompkins Square).
Melody Fields - Melody Fields (Kommun 2/Sound Effect Records).
The Limiñanas - Shadow People (Because Music).
Trembling Bells - Dungeness (Tin Angel Records). "Taking the sounds of the more tripped out late 60s/early 70s Acid Folk bands as a launch pad for their songs, Trembling Bells then add plenty of modern Psych Rock influences creating music that is Folk Rock inspired but is not really Folk Rock in the…….erm……traditional sense but a complex mix of a whole host of of fluid layers and textures seeping down to the Folk roots."
A Place To Bury Strangers - Pinned (Dead Oceans).
Prana Crafter - Enter The Stream (Sunrise Ocean Bender/Cardinal Fuzz). “Inspired/influenced as much by the sounds of early 70s kosmische German bands such as Agitation Free as by American introspective Alt-Rock singer/songwriters, Prana Crafter’s very unique approach to Acid Folk takes his new long player, Enter The Stream, deep into uncharted waters rarely explored by his peers."
Julian Cope - Skellington 3 (Head Heritage).
Lay Llamas - Thuban (Rocket Recordings).
Landing - Bells In New Towns (El Paraiso Records). “Less experimental than their previous release on El Paraiso, 2016’s Third Sight, Bells In New Towns is a hazy blend of full tilt Shoegaze/Psych Rock that sounds not unlike the present day, bulked up Slowdive with shimmering guitars and half whispered vocals fusing together in the mix and glacial Eno-esque ambience that resonates over 10 exceptional tracks."
Jack Hayter - Abbey Wood (Gare du Nord Records).
The Prefab Messiahs - Psychsploitation Today! (Lolipop Records/Burger Records). "All the cool stuff you are going to need for a right proper rave up is here………….sounding in parts like the best tracks that never made it onto Nuggets (and then again sounding like lost gems from the Neo-Psychedelic 80s), The Prefab Messiahs are back with a new record of fuzzy Freakbeat, kaleidoscopic Psychedelia and Garage Rock swagger that knowingly channels bands such as the Oh Sees, The Kinks, The Flamin’ Groovies, Electric Prunes, Night Beats, Soft Boys and The Dukes of Stratosphear with a sly wink."
Herself (Gioele Valenti) - Rigel Playground (Urtovox Records).
Wooden Shjips - V (Thrill Jockey). “It’s been a while…………….Wooden Shjips are back with a surprisingly mellow record that is destined to be the Psychedelic sound of the summer. 50 years on from the Summer Of Love, the new record channels hazy West Coast vibes with the bite of contemporary Psychedelia."
Three Dimensional Tanx - A Compulsion For Propulsion (self release). “The Stooges in space, Astral travel with the Buzzcocks, The Doors and The Damned jamming on one of the moons of Jupiter and The Ramones on acid”
Sherpa - Tigris & Euphrates (Sulatron Records). "new LP sees Sherpa dive deeper into the narcotic netherworld channelling everything from Popol Vuh to Spiritualized , slowly unfolding through six tracks summoning ancient magic. It’s a dark album, slow and sometimes menacing, but at the same time letting brilliant white shafts of light and hope break through the haze. Much like the first LP, the band’s second album blends together the trippy Krautrock of bands such as Bröselmaschine, Gila and the more mellow moments of Amon Düül II,near transcendental Middle Eastern flavoured drone outs with the foggy vibes of late 80s/early 90s bands like Spaceman 3, Loop etc. but this time Sherpa ramp up the atmospherics and they texturally almost come across like Slowcore Post-Rock in the quietest sections."
The Sunflowers - Castle Spell (Stolen Body Records).
COMPILATIONS
Various Artists - Reverb Conspiracy Vol 5 (Fuzz Club). ”peerless 16 track collection of some of the best fuzzed up and freaked out tunes released in the last 12 months from all around the world and other planets. Featuring a mix of Fuzz Club signings and tracks from bands on other cool, psychedelically inclined Indie labels, these compilations have been likened to a modern-day Nuggets series and hailed by The Vinyl Factory as a time-capsule-like documentation of modern Psych”
Various Artists - Running The Voodoo Down Vol 2 (TAD Republic of Music).
ANTHOLOGY
Bert Jansch - Just A Simple Soul (BMG).
EPs/SINGLES
Heligoland - Coriallo EP (Commission 45). "Working at the margins of Dreampop/Shoegaze and Post Rock, Heligoland’s music is characterised by expansive, layered arrangements and the soaring vocals of Karen Vogt and has been described as a combination of “the emotive ethereality of The Cocteau Twins with the stark balladry of Low” which perfectly encapsulates the glacial beauty of the Coriallo EP."
The Chemistry Set - Firefly (Fruits de Mer Records).
The Thinglers - The Thinglers EP (Area Pirata Records).
THEE PSYCHEDELICATESSEN DECEMBER 2018
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