21st century psychedelia

What does it mean to be psychedelic in the 21st century?  Or maybe a better question is, what does it mean to be 21st century psychedelic?

via disenfranchisedfm.com

It's hard to say exactly what’s happening with Tame Impala -- something like really smooth, introspective melodies that I’m willing to bet closely mimic brain-wave activity. I’m actually hesitant to classify them under psychedelic rock, what with all the baggage (historical and otherwise) that term carries. I think a more appropriate term is cerebral. They produce cerebral music, both in lyrical content and instrumental effect.

However you’d like to think about their sound, you’ll certainly feel tripped out, even if you’re not sure how or why. It’s great lazy/chill music, but you’ll also find in it a type of vibrancy that is so outrageously beautiful, you’ll want to listen to them over and over again. Tune in on a summer evening, drink beer, let it play, fall asleep. Tame Impala.

via genius.com

So they only have two full studio albums out -- which is both kinda bad and also not such a big deal. Bad because they’re original and great and we all want more; not such a big deal because their music really doesn't ever get boring -- go through an album once and just replay it. That’s the beauty about music that has the potential to inspire other-worldly experiences. It just does not get old.

Why I really like one of Iron and Wine's songs

Because it’s so illuminating when I generalize over whole artists and/or albums, I thought I might treat everybody and use this post to focus on a specific track off a specific 2007 album that I think is particularly noteworthy. The track is “Carousel,” off of Iron and Wine’s The Shepherd’s Dog, and it is both just enough Iron and Wine to tolerate (while still maintaining that neo-folk rusticity that all the folkheads love)  and almost entirely unlike other tracks so as to be surprisingly refreshing.

Right about now, you might be objecting, “Hey! Iron and Wine is great!” And to that objection I say I will respectfully bite my tongue. Don’t mistake my ambivalence for ignorance -- I do recognize that there’s top-tier musicianship at work here. And while I can be swooned into heavenly twilight by some of these melodies as easily as the next, I feel that Beam recycles imagery so much (innocence, naked people, pastoral settings, rusticy things, etc.) that it just simply isn't effective anymore.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, we can get right down to it. Carousel is just an all-around fantastic song, start to finish. Here’s why: it’s nearly the perfect distribution of light and shade, both in terms of lyrical content and progression (and that always adds a level of texture to the song otherwise missing); back to its lyrical content -- the profundity of the themes explored in the song is understated enough to be both relatable and abstract (recipe for cerebral elation); and finally, it’s just one of those songs that has the potential to give you the “aha moment,” as only music, literature, and (perhaps) religion can do -- a moment of total euphoria and clarity, which is simultaneously transcendent and grounded in reality. Probably a feeling you’ll never forget if you’re lucky enough to experience it. And the beauty about music is that it’s the perfect trigger for nostalgia. Now, this may be good or bad, depending on your perspective, but my personal opinion is that it’s one of the most mysterious and powerfully overwhelming experiences an individual can have; a brief glimpse at the heart of life through the superficiality of the mundane.

So here’s to your “aha moment,” whenever and whyever that may be.

via albumoftheyear.org

Listen to White Denim. Now.

keyword: Austin, TX; 4-piece; denim, dungarees, sans color (i.e white)

It was only less than a year ago that I read White Denim’s name on a silly nonsensical list of bands that “probably wouldn't exist if not for Led Zeppelin" floating around the Internet (see link at bottom of page). No doubt Zeppelin influenced them all in one way or another, but why not “bands that independently are worthy of your investigation?” But hey, it got my attention. So maybe not such a bad editorial technique after all.

Ah, the staggeringly sweet, sweet sounds of White Denim. It isn’t very often one encounters a group of musicians who can trade off between each other rapid, seamless changes inflected at moments with furious intensity, and keep it lighthearted, graceful, and seemingly “easy.” But these guys do it so well. God damn, are they good. There’s so much happening in one song, it has the potential to come off as an absolute frenzy. Yet somehow it feels like one, unified statement; each part has its place. And when it’s finished, your instinct is to release a long, satisfied sigh.

 (via www.austinchronicle.com)

And if part of you wants to attribute this to “studio syndrome” (only good by virtue of studio clean-up and decoration -- I made up the term, bear with me), I can tell you that their live shows are bone-rattling. They are shockingly exhilarating, and be forewarned that you may at some point weep. I had the opportunity to see them in Ann Arbor, MI during one of their tours, and the hours spent listening to their discography paid off. Tremendously. Adding to my glowing review of the evening, James Petralli (lead singer/guitar) was an absolute delight, humoring me by answering my probing questions about mysterious song titles, lyrics etc., which, by the way, is probably never a good idea to ask about. But I had three beers in me and I was feeling cocky and confident.

Their latest, Corsicana Lemonade, is just as good an introduction as any. And by the end of the track of the same name, if you don’t already know the local geography and nomenclature of Texas, that giant fucking state, you will -- and what’s more, you’ll feel homesick for it. Sadly, I’m not sure what else to expect from White Denim at the moment -- James was *strategically* terse when I questioned about a follow-up album.

www.buzzfeed.com/spotify/bands-that-wouldnt-exist-without-led-zeppelin