I took a road trip recently and my GPS was behaving strangely. It happened a few times where my GPS was slow to identify roads I was traveling on–and I don’t mean back roads, I mean Interstate 95. I thought that was a little odd and then I noticed the street sign a short distance away from my destination: Black Swan Lane. There’s been some chatter recently about “black swan events” and it just seemed to fit somehow. A black swan event is one the is unpredictable, has far-reaching consequences, and somehow after the fact we create an explanation for it that makes it seem like it was inevitable all along. It strikes me that our world is defined increasingly by black swan events. Even though this episode isn’t geographically defined in the way that Beyond and On The Line (in fact, most of the episodes this year) were, I’ve broken up the playlist into sets defined by geography. The first set is music from Europe, followed by a set from Latin America/Caribbean, and concluding with some tracks from the US and Canada. The drops in this episode come from Panic in Year Zero, very much a black swan movie.
00:39 Luminous Rift – Bugs In The Module 04:31 Boar God – Birthplace 07:40 The Dharmas – 1000Miles Europe set 14:39 Misleading – Whirlwinded 16:49 La Casa al Mare – Otherwise 23:50 SWCC Community – Dreams of Space 28:28 Vomit Heat – Dematerialize 33:05 The Moondig – gasvoor 37:20 Bity Booker – Dreaming in the Morning 40:40 Bookhouse – Eferwad y Tonnau Gwyn Latin America/Caribbean set 43:55 The Kadeem Ward Project – Kaleidoscope (Demo) 52:12 Dorotheo – Alba Rosa 53:33 Mint Field – Contingencia 57:07 Hoja Madre – Hoja Madre III EP 1:00:20 Reverb Chamber – Let Her Burn 1:04:13 Venado Records – Jones Poison 1:08:20 Fulgor – Song 1:10:10 Skintaker – Face of Stone 1:13:32 Giant Jellyfish – Marvelous City Northern America set 1:16:15 Su Evets – the Deering 1:44:30 The Frozen Heads – Whatever, Sky 1:54:17 Ogua – Play 1:34:35 The Sadies – Stop and Start
This episode focuses on recent Garage rock and psychedelic music from the US and Canada. I’ve recently done a show on psychedelia in the UK and another show focusing on Australia and New Zealand. So with this episode I’ve covered all of the founding member states of the Five Eyes alliance.
I’m not exactly sure of when I became aware of the Five Eyes but it just reinforced this fear I’ve had that we’re spiraling into an Orwellian future. I read 1984 many years ago, but I’ve started to wonder if the Five Eyes alliance is Oceania–and that we’ve always been at war with Eastasia. 1984 was certainly dystopian with a steady flow of disinformation, but even so I don’t think even Orwell imagined how people would be such willing participants in the spread of disinformation.
The music in this episode is divided roughly evenly between the US and Canada. This episode is longer than usual because I got sidetracked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That got me to put together an overdue episode devoted to Psychedelic Source Records. I thought they hit exactly the right tone with Mantras For Peace. Then I put together an episode of garage/psych and stoner bands from Ukraine. All the while I kept adding tracks to the playlist for this episode. Rather than break it up I thought I’d go with the episode I had originally sketched out with a set devoted to music from the US and a set of Canadian music. The styles run the range from garage punk to minimalist/ambient psychedelia.
00:39 The Living Sky – Cylinder 04:31 Slow Dawn – See-Through 07:40 Night Collectors – One Thousand Years 14:39 Shimmer Bed – Signs 16:49 Supplemental Pills – Run On 23:50 Myrrs – When You’re Here 28:28 thefamilystoned – Deaf Church Choir 33:05 Skloss – Upper Attic 37:20 Fantastic Purple Spots – Blasting Into The Sun 40:40 Magic Shoppe – I Feel High 43:55 Daemones – Refractor 49:39 Fuguers Cove – Gust 52:12 Babe Ruthless – Dog Days 53:33 Lightning – Vallejo 57:07 Deadlights – Paralyzed 1:00:20 Groop – Belly II 1:04:13 Shimmer Bed – Fine 1:10:10 John Denver Airport Conspiracy – The Big Classic 1:13:32 Omissam – Hide 1:16:15 Cosmic Drifter – Chasing Shadows 1:20:57 The Gateless Gate – Helcaraxë One 1:31:02 Lammping – Everlasting Moor 1:34:35 Blume – It’s You 1:44:30 Spheroid – Transparent Radiation
This episode features garage rock, stoner and psychedelic bands from Ukraine. The Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 24th and it looks to have stalled without taking any major cities in Ukraine. But even so, the Russian invasion has led to a horrific amount of death and destruction as well as profound upheaval in the lives of Ukrainians. As of today some 4 million Ukrainians have left the country and millions more have been displaced.
Most of the bands in this episode are based in Kyiv, but the music map below shows that the playlist also draws on artists from Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Luhansk. As I usually do, I contacted the bands on the playlist and I was surprised how many replied. Given the circumstances I could understand how other things might now have taken a higher priority. The stories they tell show clearly how the war has had a direct impact on their lives. In my email I mentioned that I normally ask about influences and future plans but given what’s happening in Ukraine I was more concerned about how they were doing, and I asked them how the war has affected them and their communities. I went to say that if they just wanted to talk about the music, that was fine, too. I asked my standard questions of what had the biggest influence on the music, what record had changed their lives, and asked what’s next for them. Everyone who responded answered all of my questions. You can see their responses below.
The drops in this episode are mainly quotes from historian Timothy Snyder, author of such books as On Tyranny and The Road to Unfreedom. The book that had the biggest impact on me was Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Ukraine had the misfortune of being in the sights of two of history’s most murderous dictators and the population suffered greatly during World War II. The current Russian invasion reveals that Ukraine has never fully escaped this vulnerability. Vladimir Putin has gone so far as to say that Ukraine is a Soviet-era construct and questioned their right to exist. In defending itself against the Russian onslaught, however, Ukraine has clearly demonstrated a strong identity, not to mention a fierce national pride. No doubt Putin has plans of conquest beyond Ukraine and for that reason, Ukraine is defending not only itself, but the West and the liberal international order.
00:26 Headachee – Forever 03:49 Somali Yacht Club – Silver 08:43 Vasily Richter – Тебя придумала моя голова 10:51 Reflector – Take II 14:38 Reflector – Take III 22:42 Straytones – Oh Sweet Seeds 28:30 Лунар – О тебе, О мне, О нас 31:02 Ocean Bloom – Na oblake 34:24 PTMP – We U No U 35:37 Don Buzz – Mashrooms 44:14 Jesus Christ Gay Club – It Feels Like Summer 46:46 Электроптицы – Навстречу ветру 51:31 my mother hates me – Всё равно 55:25 Super Pink Moon – Disconnection Mantra 58:43 Ethereal Riffian – Dreamgazer 62:19 Twin Quasar – Over The Sun 67:32 Your Inner God – Plateau 73:35 Stoned Jesus – I’m The Mountain 86:12 Gooos – Night
The title of this episode comes from the most recent release from Psychedelic Source Records, a remarkable artistic collective based in Hungary playing mainly improvised music. They’re incredibly prolific, with more than 50 releases since they started putting out albums around 2017. A number of different bands play under the Psychedelic Source banner, and I’ve put together a playlist for this episode made up of tracks they’ve put out in the last year or so.
At the center of all this is Bence Ambrus, a multi-instrumentalist who plays in several of the Psychedelic Source bands and also does his own acoustic sets. The playlist includes a solo track of his, as well as tracks by Slight Layers, Pilot Voyager, Liquidacid, nepaal and Highbay, among others. Many of the bands share members and they often release their jams under the general Psychedelic Source Records name. What makes this output even more extraordinary is that they make it all available with the “Name Your Price” option. That’s right, they’re effectively giving it all away for free.
00:19 psychedelic source records – Opressions 15:14 Highbay – Dark Day 18:42 nepaal – Black Batik 29:24 Liquidacid – Beech Bums 30:35 Pilot Voyager – Dark Flood 44:18 Bence Ambrus – Levitating over Fields and Pine Forests 51:30 Come and See – Prayer of Death (desert song) 57:09 Ju – Ash (uses melodies from the traditional song ‘Kedah Kasaha’) 64:17 Slight Layers – Subconscious tales 69:44 psychedelic source records – Sparkling Melody (Golden Sights)
I devoted an episode of Turn Me On, Dead Man to psychedelic source records at the end of 2020 and I had been thinking about catching up with them again. They released Mantras For Peace on February 27, 2022, just three days after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Upon listening to the extended psychedelic jams on this album, my thought was that this is exactly what I needed to hear right now. It’s a fitting counter to the horrific destruction and loss of life resulting from Putin’s senseless invasion. I did a short interview with Bence Ambrus about the crisis unfolding in eastern Europe. I asked him about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how it was affecting their community. Hungary has had its own political difficulties in recent years as their politics have shifted to the right. Opposition parties and the independence of the judiciary have been undermined in Hungary, and freedom of the press has been curbed. To make matters worse, it looks like the United Opposition is struggling to stay united for the upcoming election on April 3rd, and Viktor Orban may well win another term in office. Here is what Bence had to say:
TMODM: I’d be curious to hear what you have to say about the conflict in eastern Europe. Hungary has had its own experience with an aspiring authoritarian ruler, and now it has a refugee crisis from the mass displacement from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. How has this affected you and your community? Bence Ambrus: First of all, calling it “crisis” or “war” or “conflict” is just euphemism. Because crisis means the potato is little more expensive in the supermarket, and war is a traditional, balanced territorial conflict between for example: native tribes. This is scriptural massacre now, an exact example of the blown up bubble by the devil. When the evil insanity drives millions of young men into death and murder and suicide. Slaughtering children and families for nothing, only for black, remorsing fun and to get down the collective spiritual statement to the bottom, prediction the end as a proof: we, humanity lost this all. For us here by the border is scary yes, but i don’t see too much changes except the prices and Ukrainian car signs. Hungary stands before political elections now, this why our demagogic leader tries to please the blockhouse dweller/factoryworker/TVgazer Hungarians in all way, to get himself and his corrupt unbalanced BMW-Christian pseudo-democratic party re-elected. So his heart is “big” now, he let the refugees in. He is not a good man at all, and he will fell this country for sure, because the opposition parties are so week and dumb in front of this mean corrupt mafia, there is no happy end to Hungary. Only happy ending to the manifested evil what will destroy this mistake we call “humanity”.
Alright, so then I switched gears and asked about the music. I got some interesting responses from various members of Psychedelic Source Records when I asked them about records that changed their lives. TMODM: One of my standard questions that I’ve been asking artists is “what is a record that changed your life?” and I’ve gotten a wide range of responses. I’d be interested to hear from as many people who have participated in psychedelic source records recordings as would care to answer this. Krisztián (drummer in Satorinaut, PSR, Pilot Voyager): The Offspring – Americana, Pantera – Cowboys From Hell Ákos Karancz (guitars in Pilot Voyager, PSR): King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King István Baumgartner (drummer in Lemurian Folk Songs, PSR): Manfred Mann – Chapter Three Gergely Szabó (guitar and bass in PSR, ex bass in Lemurian Folk Songs): Pink Floyd – Animals Bence Ambrus (bass and guitar in PSR, bass in Slight Layers and Pilot Voyager, guitar in Lemurian Folk Songs, Satorinaut): Pearl Jam – Lost Dogs, Kispál és a Borz – Ágy Asztal Tévé Dávid Nagy (guitar in Slight Layers and PSR): Led Zeppelin – II, Queen – The Game Krisztina Benus (vocal and keys in Lemurian Folk Songs and PSR): Black Sabbath – Vol 4 Csaba Kocsis (drums in Liquidacid): Hatesphere – The Sickness Within Ákos Debreczi (bass in Liquidacid): Across the River – Across the River
In the last few episodes I’ve been exploring psychedelia from various parts of the world. The playlist in this episode is made up of new psychedelic music from Australia and New Zealand. I’ve noticed over the last couple of years that Australia, in particular, has a thriving psychedelic scene and this episode really bears that out. Not to take anything away from New Zealand or anywhere else for that matter, it’s just that so much good music is coming out of Australia and it’s really been enjoyable corresponding with the artists.
The drops in this episode come from the 1959 movie On The Beach. In that movie a nuclear war breaks out and the only life left in the world is in Australia, but even they’re not safe from the cloud of radiation that will eventually arrive. It’s a bleak movie, and with the end of the Cold War a lot of people (myself included) thought that we had left this behind and that the risk of nuclear war was remote. The situation has certainly changed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Things don’t seem to be going well for Putin and he’s made noises about putting Russia’s nuclear arsenal on high alert. Even before that the doomsday clock was already set at 100 seconds to midnight–the closest that its ever been–and the UN secretary general recently said “The prospect of nuclear war is now back within the realm of possibility.”
So anyway, having said that, enjoy the great music in this hour of Turn Me On, Dead Man and just think of the message in the closing frame of On The Beach that said “There is still time, brother.”
00:34 Human Rites – The Serpent and the Rainbow 05:15 Flower Children of the Apocalypse – Return To The Sun 08:00 Golden Sunbird – Voyage, Pt. 2 16:20 Frozen Planet….1969 – Glassblaster (Alternate Take) 20:14 Black Sand – Salutations To The Sun 22:57 Trigona – Petra 30:35 Sons Of Zöku – Yang Yin (Radio Edit) 34:45 Fuzz Meadows – Orange Sunshine 39:13 The Dharma Chain – Shoot Up Love 42:42 Legal Noise – Flashback 45:35 Fortress Europe & Moonflower – Organ Grinder 48:54 Robot God – Valleys of Primordia
When I started making maps of the playlists for each episode I noticed that it was fairly predictable which places would be represented in the playlist. Given the history of psychedelia and the fact that I live in the US, the anglosphere has always been well represented in the playlists for Turn Me On, Dead Man. The US, the UK, Canada and Australia have vibrant psychedelic scenes. So do many European countries, and in addition to that, I’ve had no trouble finding great garage rock and psychedelia from Latin America.
For this episode I made an effort to establish an entire playlist of bands from Asia, and in the process I discovered a lot of great music that I would have otherwise missed. In addition to the wealthier countries of the pacific rim, active scenes exist in Thailand, Indonesia, and India. When you look at the music map for this episode it makes a great arc of port cities on the oceans bordering Asia. The major exception is Solar Zero, who close out the playlist with a 17-minute jam. Solar Zero is based in Tyumen, Russia, a city east of the Ural Mountains, which historically has been considered the dividing line between Europe and Asia. Given the shit that’s happening in Ukraine right now I wanted to include these guys. I corresponded with them a little and they’re very cool. When I asked them about what’s next for them and they said “Don’t know. If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” I corresponded with them before the invasion of Ukraine which makes that answer all the more poignant.
00:19 Pale Blue Sound – Just Like a Dream 03:58 ZeitGeistS – Juvenile 08:00 The Dude of Stratosphear – Dharma Wheel 13:32 Hebi Katana – Running in My Vein 17:11 Spacedays – Lucy’s Space Garden 22:13 Solid Liqui – Combo Miss 25:19 Kinder Bloomen – Brainless The Third, On A Cloudy Mission 29:51 落差草原 WWWW / Prairie WWWW – 轉來 Tńg-Lâi 35:48 Candydrain – Temptations 39:27 Jash Jhaveri – They Might Have Killed Me Back In Egypt 42:30 Bardia Haddad – Chaos as the Storm Tears it into Shreds 50:52 Solar Zero – Transcontinental Bus
This episode focuses on psychedelia coming out of the various parts of the United Kingdom. The UK has long been at the forefront of psychedelic music with several key British bands among its originators. The musical styles in this episode run the range from pop to drones to soundscapes.
00:26 The Lee Rudes – Insignificant Man 06:16 The Lunar Fog Occult – Seaglass 09:09 The Web of Lies – Best Friend 12:33 Artifacts & Uranium – Dive Bomber 17:42 Melodrome Man – The Dead Planet 20:55 Permanent Rain – Street Song 24:27 The Galileo 7 – The man who wasn’t there 27:26 Necessary Animals – In The Twilight 31:19 My Opal Garden – Mind Wandering 35:19 Deep Hum – Thoughts of Cats 44:05 Organs – Furious Return 53:50 Empty House – Zanshin
Since the start of the year I’ve been making music maps to go along with these podcasts. Since the maps show where the artists in the playlist are from, I decided to go with a geographical theme for the next couple of episodes. The playlist for this episode features bands from all over Europe. One of the most interesting tracks is from Turas Naofa, who made a holy journey from Berlin back to Ireland to record what I’d describe as a shamanistic track that really gets to the essence of psychedelia.
00:25 Juárez – Nébula 03:57 The Lost Noise Figure – Wake Me Up (When It’s Over) 08:46 Decasia – Hrosshveli’s Ode 14:33 Turas Naofa – I Mo Bholg 18:54 Bad Bed – No One Can Hear You 23:26 Syndrom Samasvanca – Alimpijada-20 30:41 Lunar Funeral – Burn The Shadow 36:10 Courge, MatttKonture, Alice ElRakun – Arthfuzz 38:31 The LSD Zapata – Organik 41:40 Küllä Küllä – Aural Surf 50:11 black (w)hole – unwind 55:24 Apex Ten – The Fourth Passenger
Trainspotting has taken on a narcotic connotation because of the 1996 film directed by Danny Boyle, based on the novel by Irvine Welsh. Although that story was not about psychedelics, the film has its share of hallucinatory moments, the sequel less so. About the music in this episode, the playlist features psychedelia that starts out more in the hallucinatory vein but then becomes more meditative. Check out the music map below. A good illustration of how psychedelia has become a worldwide phenomenon. This episode features artists from the US, Canada, the UK, Norway, Israel, Guatemala, and closes out with a soundscape from Peruvian artist Chino Burga.
The title of this episode is from something my two-year-old and I have been doing recently. We’ve been going to an overpass nearby and wait for trains to pass. I’d never thought of myself as a trainspotter but I guess I’ve had a fascination since my childhood days staying at my grandparents’ home. Their house was about 100 yards from train tracks and I vividly recall the booming sound of the freight trains on summer nights when all the windows were open. So anyway, where my son and I go there are two sets of tracks, one for the DC metro trains, which comes above ground where we are, and one for the intercity trains. It’s always a jolt when we get the metro drivers to honk the horn.
00:19 Self-Immolation Music – Anhedonia 03:30 Helicon – Freakquency 07:46 The Orange Dots – Lost A Dream 12:29 A Crone’s Orchard – Worms 19:23 Solipsisme – Chimiosynthèse 23:31 The Midnight Vein – The Link 29:05 Carlton Melton – Hazel Heat 34:29 Ouzo Bazooka – Monsters 40:25 The Soundcarriers – Falling Back 44:02 The Groovy Nobody – Elevated 47:39 Baghdad Battery – Days Gone By 53:11 Chino Burga – Quien Como Dios
The movie Soylent Green was released in 1973 and offers a dystopian view of the future, set in our current year, 2022. (Spoilers ahead) In Soylent Green’s vision of 2022, the world is overpopulated with a permanent heat wave from greenhouse gases. The Soylent company controls the food supply and they start producing a “miracle food” that they claim is made from plankton but as Charlton Heston discovers, it’s really made from human beings. In other words things get so bad by 2022 that cannibalism becomes the order of the day. As Tony Sokol points out in Den of Geek, Soylent Green did anticipate some of the darker features of our current world: face coverings, meat substitutes, climate change. Cannibalism, though? I don’t know, we’re not quite there yet but who knows? Anyway, in our timeline 2022 is already starting off with great psychedelia. All of the tracks in this episode have been released in the last month.
00:00 Turn Me On Dead Man – Intro 00:19 Solilians – Old Schmeckled Hen 06:13 Lamp of the Universe – Return as Light 10:49 Clyde Von Klaus – Concede 13:40 Turn Me On Dead Man – Break 15:12 Ogua – Waves 24:03 Waylon Thornton – Blown Princes 26:11 Barbican Estate – The Divine Image 31:01 Elephant Stone – La fusée du chagrin 34:40 Los Árboles – Bebe Jesús 38:55 Thee Tabs – Carrier Pigeons 41:27 Parker Sprout – Milk in the Sun 44:02 Monte Meteoro – Contra 50:41 Aeon – Five 53:23 io audio recordings – Awaiting The Elliptical Drift
