Thanks to Don for this suggestion. I’m sad to say I don’t have any proper records by The 13th Floor Elevators, by I do have some of their cuts on compilations. They are definitely psychedelic rock, but they have a lot in common with the protopunk and garage rock bands of the 1960s. I’ve always loved “You’re Gonna Miss Me.”

More about The 13th Floor Elevators

“Tiger Phone Card” is the prettiest and groovinest song I’ve heard in a long time. And the band Dengue Fever is, loosely speaking, consistent with this week’s theme of psychedelic music. Fresh and familiar strikes again, and I can’t get enough of it. This video is of a live performance at The Viper Room. They are playing at The Black Cat in DC tonight y’all! Oh, please, please come to The Orange Peel in Asheville, NC!

Hear the album version of “Tiger Phone Card” and many other great songs at Dengue Fever’s MySpace.

• Artist: Plasticland
• Title: Wonder Wonderful Wonderland
• Year: 1985
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 5
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1985 – Mother’s Records?
• Keeper: No

I think the pic I took of this record is a little out of focus. Or, maybe it’s just the psychedelic hangover I have from Wonder Wonderful Wonderland by Plasticland. I never have played this record much, but I thought I would like it more than I did. And I gave it at least a couple spins all the way through on both sides. Wonder Wonderful Wonderland has its moments, but I just can’t get into it, again. There are other “neo-psychedelic” records in our collection that I think have held up better.

• Artist: The Music Machine
• Title: Best Of The Music Machine (Featuring Sean Bonniwell)
• Year: 1984
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1984 – Probably mail order from some place like Midnight Records in NYC.
• Keeper: Yes

Since I mentioned The Music Machine in my last post I thought I would post this Best Of The Music Machine (Featuring Sean Bonniwell) record next. It’s been a while since I’ve heard it and it’s more rocking than I remembered.

This album was released by Rhino in 1984. That’s like some label today re-releasing music that was popular, or at least existed, in the late 1980s, for a new audience. I was in high school when I bought this re-issue, so it’s not like I was being nostalgic. I suppose there may be some teenagers out there who would be excited to discover music from 1988, but it seems weird to me.

Most people think the seeds of heavy metal were sewn in the late 1960s, but I think The Music Machine got there a few years earlier. They have some heavy riffs, tricky song structures, dark lyrics, and –best of all– they wore all black clothing, dyed their hair black, and wore a black glove on one hand only. The notes on the back cover describe them as being “in the vanguard of the punk rock boom.” Maybe, but after another round of listening I’m convinced The Music Machine was proto-metal. And that’s what I’m talking about.

More about The Music Machine at Wikipedia.

• Artist: Klaxons
• Title: Myths of the Near Future
• Year: 2007
• Format: CD
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2007 – Christmas gift from Mary
• Keeper: Yes

Psychedelic? Well, that’s what I read about these guys, Klaxons. But it’s a modern psychedelic, not like The Music Machine (original) or Plasticland (neo-psych), or even like the current stoner rock bands. This is more original, although there are moments that remind me of Gaye Bykers on Acid. There are lots of strange sounds and trippy lyrics but absolutely no self-indulgent protracted freak out jam sessions. In fact, most of the songs are pretty rhythmic, even “sing-along” and dance-able. My favorite is “Gravity’s Rainbow.”

I mentioned Klaxons a good while back. And it’s taken me a good while to get into Myths of the Near Future, but now that I’m tuned in and turned on, I’m digging it… man. Just kidding! Nothing retro about Klaxons. Maybe they’re future-psychedelic.

Check ‘em out.