Ride The Psychedelic Wave

It's strange that it's taken the world between 40 to 50 years for there to be a generally good revival of 60's psychedelia. I know that the nineties had such bands as Happy Mondays, Primal Scream and Ocean Colour Scene who were all trying to reinstate psychedelic back onto the scene and as much as these bands did manage a lot and have a cult like status now, I feel as though their influence has been fairly limited.

The 21st century however has been more prolific and efficient in reviving the genre. Look at artists such as Tame Impala, Devendra Banhart or MGMT. They are in statuses where they have garnered enough of a following to truly influence the current music scene and what will follow it. These artists are all able to not only incorporate the psychedelic sound but also take it further.

Tame Impala's Kevin Parker not only sounds like John Lennon stuck in a jar of reverb but his synth sounding guitars and production techniques are a sonic revolution. Devendra Banhart sounds like a funnier version of Donovan, whose lyrics often intertwine humour with surrealism, especially when he speaks of sexy looking pigs ("Little Yellow Spider").

However, even though these bands are very innovative, musically wise there are those who've creating a separate strain of psychedelia where even though implanting in the past, it sounds like it's from the future. Bands such as Animal Collective, Yeasayer or The Horrors epitomise this movement.

Their sounds are so different and strange yet so welcoming to the listener at the same time. Much of it is synth/sampler based yet they all retain original band formats (guitar/bass/drums). It's music that's trying to escape from reality yet while retaining it's own humanity. Take the lyrics of "My Girls" by Animal Collective: "There isn't much there if I'd need
A solid soul and the blood I bleedWith a little girl and by my spouseI only want a proper house".
All these bands are worth checking but they do take a few listeners in order to be fully appreciable. I'm leaving a list of links that will direct towards a number of bands I've mentioned in this post:-Tame Impala - Elephant-Animal Collective-My Girls-Devendra Banhart - Little Yellow Spider