Psychedelia
Psychedelic music is music which replicates or enhances the altered state of consciousness brought on by the use of psychedelic drugs. It is identified by being whimsical or surreal, featuring "trippy" sounds often achieved through electronic distortion such as phasing, fuzz, or tape echo. Occasionally, it is related to the exotic, drawing musically or lyrically from non-Western sources. Over the last few decades, psychedelia has mutated into various established genres, largely due to the influence of popular trends and the advancement of recording techniques.
The first wave of psychedelia-infused music occurred in the mid 1960s as Psychedelic Rock, Psychedelic Pop, Psychedelic Folk, and Psychedelic Soul. Together, they include a wide range of artists such as The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Beach Boys, The Incredible String Band, and Sly & The Family Stone. Soon after the early 1970s, psychedelic music faded in popularity.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, a revival of psychedelic music took place. The first product was Neo-Psychedelia, which amalgamated the earlier forms of psychedelic music with modern styles, rising to prominence in the 1990s with bands like The Flaming Lips and Spiritualized. In the mid 1980s and early 1990s, psychedelia influenced Electronic Dance Music, starting with Acid House, a subgenre partially credited to Phuture's "Acid Tracks / Phuture Jacks / Your Only Friend" in addition to Genesis P-Orridge's aspiration to create a psychedelic brand of House. The continued influence of psychedelic culture in electronic music subsequently gave rise to Acid Trance, Goa Trance, Psytrance, and Psybient. Due to their sonic disparities, it is arguable whether these genres are truly derived from the original sound of '60s psychedelia.
Acid Rock
Acid rock, so named for being a supposed background music for acid (LSD) trips, grew out of the Psychedelic Rock scene of the mid-to-late 1960s in the United States. Its experimentation was further removed from the Rock and Blues base of earlier psychedelic music, yet not quite as heavy as its close companion Heavy Psych. Acid rock still features the extended instrumental jamming and improvisation of the psychedelic era, with more emphasis on 'wah' effects than the distorted 'fuzz' of hard psych, and a willingness to employ more subdued textures. The term has largely fallen out of favor since the mid-1970s, as bands of the style either disbanded or adopted the traits of what is now known as heavy psych.
Dream Pop
Dream Pop is a genre characterized by an overall subdued atmosphere - from the vocals to the melodies - producing a dream-like, sleepy, or spacious feel. As the name suggests, songs are structured around traditionally Pop-sounding progressions, often with a steady though de-emphasized beat and vocals that are lower in the mix and possibly run through effects so as to offer a more ethereal feel.
Band structures are usually pretty straightforward sporting a guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. Vocals are a distinguishing element of Dream Pop and can often be viewed predominantly as an instrument, with importance being placed moreso on providing melody and less on the actual lyrics. In addition, it is not uncommon for there to be more than one vocalist, either working in unison or switching off. Women have a very prominent role in this genre in this respect, with acts such as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Mazzy Star - among others - having female vocalists.
It is also not uncommon for Dream Pop to be fused with other genres like Shoegaze or Noise Pop. The main distinguishing factors though are that while they all offer a similar, "blanketing" feel, Dream Pop does not rely on "walls of sound" (as in Shoegaze) or heavily distorted, very driving guitars (as in Noise Pop).
Freak Folk
Inspired by such artists as Limbus, Third Ear Band, and The Trees Community, Freak Folk is a sub-genre of Psychedelic Folk which emerged in the late 1990's out of the New Weird America underground folk scene. Spearheaded by bands like early Animal Collective and Danielson, it delves deeper into the realms of psychedelia, often incorporating unconventional sounds or instruments into the mix. The genre has since been used to describe artists like Comus and Exuma that predate the movement which have the same strange style of later artists.
Freak folk can range from a calm and/or playful sound to it, to a dark and/or aggressive one. The genre is also known well for its vocal styles, often being very intense, abstract and expressive in nature. It's also not uncommon for freak folk bands to incorporate tribal percussive instruments into the mix, such as bongos, congas, or taos drums.
Free Folk
Free folk is a form of Psychedelic Folk originating in the 1970s with few albums considered so, such as Third Ear Band. It later gained recognition as part of the "New Weird America" movement beginning in the 1990s, in which the genre's name was also coined.
The term refers to artists whose music was psychedelic, often unstructured, made frequent use of repetition, improvisation, and long songs. Free folk was notably influenced by other genres, including American Primitivism, Drone and Free Improvisation. To a lesser extent, free folk may incorporate elements of rāga, the modal system of South Asian Classical Music.
Heavy Psych
(also known as Hard Psych)
Developing in the late 1960s, heavy psych was a product of the nebulous Psychedelic Rock era, taking trends from the flourishing Blues Rock scene such as heavy dependence on riffs and willingness to improvise, adding crushing levels of heaviness with thick fuzzy guitars, creating a more doomy and morose atmosphere. Songs tend to be long, are often instrumental or have little vocals, tempos are often slow or mid-paced, and may have improvised sections with long solos drawing influence from the blues rock style.
The most direct origins of heavy psych can be traced to Cream and especially The Jimi Hendrix Experience's first album Are You Experienced with heavy emphasis on riffs with thick guitar and bass sound, sound effects and manipulation, and long solos. The first heavy psych bands like Blue Cheer and Vanilla Fudge went on to use these traits extensively, with Blue Cheer especially known for their sheer heaviness. Developing in the late 60s, there was a large deal of overlap with other rock styles developing at the same time, particularly it's sister genre Hard Rock, which many of the more bluesy bands most resembled. At the same time many groups took on Progressive Rock tendencies which makes sense considering both genres came from similar origins and thus the willingness of both to escape basic song structures, the most known of this type of heavy psych would be T2, Captain Beyond, and High Tide.
Heavy psych is considered by some to be the bridge between blues and psychedelic rock to Heavy Metal, and there is definite merit to the idea, with both having emphasis on heaviness and loudness and a more depressive atmosphere, and several bands would be not just an influence to heavy metal but also Traditional Doom Metal, such as Randy Holden and Flower Travellin' Band with some of the heaviest guitars yet and slow, non-groovy riffs ushering in a new era in heavy rock.
Heavy psych was never a concrete scene, but a specific sound created by multiple different bands across the world. It was almost completely an underground sound with many bands being "one-and-dones", and mostly all having relatively short careers known mostly by only enthusiasts of the time period. This style was most prevalent in the early 1970s, and was nearly completely dead by the time of the Punk Rock explosion. That isn't the end of heavy psych's story though, as the Stoner Rock and Stoner Metal scene was very much influenced by a lot of the psych groups, particularly the heaviest bands of the bunch, such as the aforementioned Blue Cheer along with Buffalo, and Sir Lord Baltimore, these bands themselves being a part of the original heavy metal sound. With the stoner rock scene becoming ever more popular since the early 90s, a number of bands have emerged with a sound that is consistent to the original heavy psych canon, with different groups taking different influences, such as stoner rock cyclically influencing psych (Colour Haze, Witch), Space Rock (Monster Magnet), traditional doom metal (Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats), and Garage Rock (Fuzz).
Hypnagogic Pop
Coined by David Keenan in the August 2009 issue of the Wire magazine, hypnagogic pop is a broad term covering a constellation of artists that, while having many different "styles", have a similar music making approach: (sometimes extremely) low fidelity production (that is intentional in a different way than that of Lo-Fi Indie) filtering, more often than not, reminiscences of pop culture in various degrees (ranging from transparent, blatant pastiches to nearly abstract filtering, reverbing, often also including Plunderphonics technique) and in different forms (from free-form, even cassette-side-long jams to almost complete copies of pop format, like in the case of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti).
Most often, hypnagogic pop use as starting point 1970s/1980s Pop/Rock, but genres as diverse as Exotica, House, Trip Hop etc. have been used as source. Many of the early artists associated with hypnagogic pop (including James Ferraro) actually belong to a specific American Neo-Psychedelia underground scene, centered around cassette labels such as Not Not Fun Records or New Age Tapes, that can be more often than not simply described with other terms, such as Drone, Noise or Progressive Electronic. However, even these artists have become a lot more transparent and the usage of the term hypnagogic pop has become increasingly relevant.
Even so, it is often confused with Chillwave. Some early chillwave artists, such as Nite Jewel, are borderline cases indeed, but, in time, chillwave has established itself as a full-blown niche with a specific sound, using lo-fi to a much smaller degree than hypnagogic pop, more conventional and accessible song formats (followed with more acclaim, as hypnagogic pop artists are often discarded as being too abrasive), as well as having its own themes and stereotypical sounds. Same notes apply almost entirely to other arguable offshoots, such as Witch House.
Neo-Psychedelia
Neo-psychedelia is a broad term referring to developments in Psychedelia since the early 1980s, building on the drug-inspired styles developed in the 1960s. The term initially referred to Post-Punk and Jangle Pop artists like The Soft Boys and The Church who brought in influence from Psychedelic Pop and Psychedelic Rock, combining clean electric guitars and pop songwriting with the use of reverb, distortion, or other effects. Through the decade, neo-psychedelia would parallel developments in Alternative Rock, including a mid-1980s scene in California known as the Paisley Underground, and a Space Rock revival led by groups like Spacemen 3 and Loop. In the late 1980s, it would also contribute to the psychedelic sound of the Baggy / Madchester scenes, which combined a surreal sonic environment with the upbeat rhythms of Alternative Dance and a drug-fueled rave culture, and was a major influence on Primal Scream's landmark 1991 album Screamadelica.
The 1990s featured several strains of neo-psychedelia, though all still remained fairly rooted in its Rock beginnings. In the UK, Shoegaze built on neo-psychedelic techniques and the similarly reverbed Dream Pop, along with the guitar distortion of Noise Pop, to become its own fully fledged genre, but there were also artists like Spiritualized and The Verve with a more purely neo-psychedelic sound that focused on studio effects and grandiose arrangements. Neo-psychedelia would also become a major factor in the American underground with a variety of interrelated styles, from the Elephant 6 collective and The Brian Jonestown Massacre's 1960s pop worship to Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips, whose psychedelic sound was initially noisier and less refined, before shifting to more orchestrated and experimental styles in line with their British counterparts.
The focus of neo-psychedelia would shift in the 2000s, with greater use of Electronic instruments, synthesizers, and effects by artists like Broadcast and, later in the decade, Fuck Buttons. At the same time, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and James Ferraro defined an offshoot of neo-psychedelia that would come to be known as Hypnagogic Pop, whose grimy, lo-fi sound hearkened back to the 1980s. Another key figure in 2000s and later 2010s neo-psychedelia would be Animal Collective, whose eclectic sound drew from Psychedelic Folk before shifting in a more experimental, electronic-inflected direction which often pushed the boundaries of the genre beyond its Pop and rock roots.
In the 2010s, neo-psychedelia continued to be a force in alternative and even popular music, as artists like MGMT and Tame Impala found major success. The more electronic side of the genre would also be a major influence on the rise of Chillwave, which in turn was an influence on the dreamy, reverb-laden sound of Cloud Rap. At present, neo-psychedelia encompasses a wide variety of styles of music and influences, but these are unified by their common origin and similar usage of instruments and effects to create their psychedelic sound.
Paisley Underground
Paisley underground was a phenomenon centered in the mid-1980s, which saw a small group of Los Angeles based bands turn to the sounds of the 1960s filtered through more modern musical styles. With Psychedelia as its base, degrees of Jangle Pop and Folk Rock were used by originators such as The Dream Syndicate, Game Theory and Rain Parade to create a short-lived but critically popular bridge between psychedelia and the more lasting alternative pop styles of today.
Psychedelic Folk
(also known as Acid Folk)
Psychedelic folk is a wide category of acoustic song forms that capture an aesthetic similar to that of other Psychedelia-based genres, with an atmosphere that is at turns dream-like, 'spaced-out', whimsical, haunting, mystical and melancholy. This is achieved using a variety of different methods and approaches, such as studio effects, tunings (including detuned instruments), affected vocal styles and discordant melodies. Inspiration is also sometimes drawn from various Regional Music traditions from around the world such as Hindustani Classical Music and medieval music, as well as light avant-garde influences from Drone and American Primitivism.
Initially emerging in the mid-1960s alongside Psychedelic Rock, Psychedelic Pop and Folk Rock, the genre developed from the British and American folk revival of the 1960s, with artists presenting a warped version of the acoustic 'folk troubadour' Singer/Songwriter boom of the time. This is exemplified on releases such as The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion and Sunshine Superman; early pioneers The Incredible String Band, Donovan, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Tim Buckley and Pearls Before Swine saw the style reach its peak of popularity between 1967 and 1970. The earliest recorded use of the term 'psychedelic' in the context of music is thought to be on The Holy Modal Rounders' version of Hesitation Blues from their 1964 debut, a group who began as Old-Time-revivalists and would later go on to produce music in the psychedelic folk mould. As part of the 1960s psychedelic subculture, psych folk was heavily associated with providing a 'mind-altering' experience and the recreational use of hallucinatory drugs, most prominently LSD, which gave rise to the alternate term 'acid folk'. Lyrical matter during this era of 'flower power' and hippie subculture often put an emphasis on topics such as the natural world, love, peace, mysticism and spirituality.
Aside from acoustic guitar, stringed instruments commonly used include banjo, violin, dulcimer, harp, mandolin and bouzouki, as well as instruments associated with South Asian Music, sitar, tabla and sarod. Whilst acoustic instrumentation is the primary focus and at the forefront of psychedelic folk music, electric lead guitar and bass guitar as background accompaniment are also not uncommon. Guitar, vocal or production effects such as echo, delay, phaser, reverb and reversing are often utilised, whilst vocals are sometimes slightly off key, whispery, use high-pitched ethereal harmonies, Choral-esque backing or a chanting effect.
Whilst hardly a huge commercial success during its heyday in the late 1960s, psychedelic folk went further underground in the ensuing decades, with the approach often being utilised by independent musicians using lo-fidelity recording values. Psych folk acts still cropped up all over the world during the 1970s, however, including the rest of Europe and Japan. The term has been applied to a diverse range of artists who all share an 'out there' psychedelic approach to acoustic music, from The Trees Community to Dorothy Carter to Natural Snow Buildings. Many psych folk acts were associated with the New Weird America scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s, such as Akron/Family, Espers, Devendra Banhart and Charalambides.
Psychedelic Pop
Psychedelic pop is a genre that bridges the musical elements of Psychedelic Rock, Psychedelic Folk, and Pop to bring them together. The sound produced is often intended to emulate the way music sounds while under the effects of psychedelic drugs. It differs from other psychedelia-related genres by emphasizing catchy pop hooks and vocal harmonies similar to Sunshine Pop. However, unlike sunshine pop, psychedelic pop always retains a quality of surrealism, usually achieved with abstract lyricism and/or the liberal use of tape effects like slapback echo, reverb, or flanging. The instrumentation itself somewhat follows that of Pop Rock, but in most cases, is supplemented by instruments considered unorthodox for pop recordings in the early-to-mid 1960s, such as theremin, zither, or tack piano.
The genre was largely a studio creation. The Beach Boys and The Beatles heralded the approach early on, particularly with the albums Pet Sounds and Revolver. Other examples which soon followed include The Zombies' Odessey and Oracle, The Millennium's Begin, and Billy Nicholls' Would You Believe.
After the early 1970s, the genre ran into a steep decline. In the 1990s, psychedelic pop saw some revival with bands such as The Flaming Lips, The Olivia Tremor Control, and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. It also formed some of the basis of the Neo-Psychedelia movement which emerged in the same era as a more modern style of psychedelic music.
Psychedelic Rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of Rock music which emerged in the mid-1960s that often attempts to emulate or enhance the way music sounds while under the influence of psychedelic drugs. Songs typically include heavily distorted and reverbed electric guitars, extended instrumental segments (especially guitar solos), augmented vocals, and drug-influenced lyrics. Other common characteristics include use of keyboards and elaborate studio effects like backwards recording. It is also not uncommon for psychedelic rock groups to incorporate prominent elements of other genres including Folk, Blues, Jazz, and South Asian Music.
The beginning of psychedelic rock is generally considered to be 1966, which saw the release of The Byrds' Fifth Dimension, notably their single "Eight Miles High", The Beatles' B-side "Rain", and The Psychedelic Sounds of The 13th Floor Elevators. In many respects, psychedelic rock emerged alongside Psychedelic Pop. Especially in the UK, many of the early psychedelic records incorporated elements of both genres, most notably with The Beatles' Revolver.
In 1967 the popularity of psychedelic rock exploded and, especially in the US, psychedelic rock was being more clearly distinguished from psychedelic pop by moving away from pop-oriented song structures and incorporating elements of Garage Rock and Blues Rock, as well as the emergence of the 'wah'-heavy Acid Rock sub-style. The most notable artists which showcased these fusions are Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Cream and Jefferson Airplane.
Although psychedelic rock experienced a substantial decline in popularity transitioning into the 1970s, the genre played a big role in influencing other genres like Progressive Rock and Hard Rock.
Psychedelic Soul
Psychedelic soul came about when Sly & The Family Stone took the effects heard in Psychedelic Rock and brought them into Soul. Psychedelic soul often uses keyboards and electric guitars to create a psychedelic sound accompanying soul vocals. Psychedelic soul is closely related to the Funk of the late 1960s and early 1970s (psychedelic soul's heyday), as many musical acts played music incorporating both styles, such as Stevie Wonder or The Temptations.
Raga Rock
Raga rock is a style of Psychedelic Rock influenced by South Asian Music. Sitars and tablas are often used in addition to standard Rock instrumentation.
Shoegaze
Shoegaze, so named for the motionless and downward-looking performance style of its practitioners, was popularized in the UK between the mid-80s and early 90s. Taking cues mainly from both Dream Pop and Noise Pop, as well as from Neo-Psychedelia and Noise Rock, the typical Shoegaze sound is a wash of instruments blending together. Guitars are typically distorted into droning or feedback drenched textures, and the group itself strives to create a 'wall-of-sound' atmosphere that takes a noisy, distorted approach and/or a lusher, more 'dreamscape' sensation. While vocals and melodies do exist, they are subordinate to the overriding sensation of the song, and melt into the background.
Space Rock
Space rock is a genre derived from Psychedelic Rock. It was pioneered by Pink Floyd in the late 1960s and gained popularity in the early 1970s with bands like Hawkwind and, to a lesser extent, bands from the English Progressive Rock and German Krautrock scenes such as Gong and Ash Ra Tempel. Space rock bands make heavy use of synthesizers and guitar effects to create dense atmospheric soundscapes intended to evoke images of outer space and science fiction scenarios. The songs are highly repetitive and usually involve Jam Band-style improvisation, especially when performed live.
Space rock experienced a revival of sorts in the late 1980s, when Neo-Psychedelia bands such as Spacemen 3 and Loop created a new sound using elements from space rock. Additionally, Japanese bands like Boredoms and Acid Mothers Temple popularized a new, more experimental form of space rock. This new generation of space rock is partially influenced by Drone music, and tends to be less concerned with astronomy and sci-fi compared to the old bands.
Some genres that may be referred to as "psychedelic" for their dissociative elements:
Avant-garde/Experimental (especially sound collages)
Cloud Rap
Drone (for the meditative quality)
Dub (especially Ambient Dub; for the delay effects, and the soundscapes those effects create)
Indie Rock (among the other genres incorporated in Indie music)
Jam Band (the improvisation aspects can be read as "abstract" enough to be dissociative or meditative)
Jazz Fusion (for similar reasons to Jam Band, but with Jazzier leanings; see Miles Davis's Bitches Brew)
Krautrock
Progressive
Vaporwave
Defintions courtesy of rateyourmusic.com