It’s the last day of this eventful year. New Atlas calls 2021 a “landmark year” in psychedelic science. The Wall Street Journal‘s podcast The Future of Everything looks at “How Psychedelic Drugs Are Making A Comeback To Treat Depression.” Under consideration in these studies is how much to ascribe to the placebo effect. Another question recently raised is “How Should Psychedelic Medicine Handle ‘Flashbacks’?” And what about “Animals That Eat Psychedelics And Enjoy The Trip: From Reindeer On Mushrooms To Jaguars On Yagé“? Several studies of therapeutic applications of psychedelics for mental health care are ongoing, as barriers to this kind of research are being removed. Johns Hopkins was a awarded a $4 million grant by the Nation Institutes of Health to see if psilocybin can be used to treat tobacco addiction. Centers to study psychedelics have been established at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and NYU. Psychedelics are being tested to assess their effectiveness in a variety of conditions, from treatment-resistant depression to addiction, PTSD to chronic pain.
The potential for therapeutic psychedelic treatments appears to be great, and so the commercial potential for psychedelic drugs is great, as well. Natan Ponieman points out, “If 2020 was the year psychedelics companies were placed on the map, 2021 was when they began expanding their territory and entering the realms of big finance and mainstream capital.” The title of the article asks, “2021 Was The Year Psychedelics Conquered Capitalism…Or Is It The Other Way Around?” In an article in Leafie, Bethan Finighan makes the point that, “Drug policy should be based on scientific evidence, not politics. We’ve already let half a century of research slip through our fingers, so we must now put our trust in modern science to end the war on drugs.” A number of celebrities have revealed their use of psychedelics. The most recent was comedian Bill Burr.
I’ve already posted my “best of 2021” lists and podcasts. As 2021 comes to an end, I’m including a couple of recordings that made on my “best of” list.
00:00 Turn Me On Dead Man – Intro
00:25 White Manna – Light Cones
06:04 The Myrrs – Buggy Chawnker
08:03 Dislocated Flowers – Renaissance Three Two Zero
14:00 Magoodin – Prisma
16:20 Melt Plastic Group – The Birdman Explodes
21:33 StarBath – StarBath Jam 1
27:54 ST 37 – Over and Over Again
33:08 Den Osynliga Manteln – Vortexlöpare
39:17 Moshi Moshi and the Moist Boys – Fluorescent Eye Part 1
43:03 Sonic Delays – Coast
46:44 Frozen Planet…. 1969 – Diamond Dust
| White Manna – Light Cones [from First Welcome, released December 10, 2021] |
| The Myrrs – Buggy Chawnker [from Dead Zone, released October 22, 2021] |
TMODM: What’s Buggy Chawnker about?
Myrrs: Buggy Chawnker, was lyrically about my bandmate Oliver’s cat Cheyenne.
She is by far the fluffiest, bug-eyed ball of kitty i’ve ever known
And of course she’s been a fan of MYRRS since its inception.
Always commenting about our progress and giving us positive feedback… in exchange for belly rubs that is.
But Buggy Chawnker was given a second meaning after it was released when receiving news back in October
about the sudden passing away of Gray Griggs from the Psychedelic Rock Project “Generous Gods”
Gray was a very close supporter of MYRRS much like yourself from very early on in our existence
always giving us uplifting and motivating comments, chatting about playing shows together soon and supporting in any way he could.
the last time i talked with Gray was the same day Buggy Chawnker was released in September
He told us he thought Buggy was amazing and bought it on Bandcamp.
That was the last time i heard from him before receiving the news less than two weeks later.
More or less Buggy Chawnker is about not letting life pass you by i guess.
And being happy and thankful for the few good folks we all have in our lives.
Because things can change tomorrow and after that there’s nothing but bittersweet memories.
TMODM: You mentioned plans you have for next year. What’s coming up?
Myrrs: On a much less somber note for next year we have a new EP being worked on as we speak!
it’s working title is “The Creation Of Atanami” and this album ties into the lore of the MYRRS story that some of these albums we have created almost subconsciously
over the years like “The Adventures of Canvas” and “Salvation (4 Miles)”
The Creation Of Atanami is following our character Canvas’s journey through a various series of dimensional landscapes on his quest for answers,
this one being “The Autonomous City” named Atanami, built and “abandoned” by scientist and engineer alike in
a cyber intelligent, self substantial, autonomous city that is charming at first glance but grows darker as it lures the protagonist deeper into its clutches.
the rest will have to be discovered by the album’s release sometime in late winter/early spring, needless to say we’re bored over here on the Coast of Mississippi.
| Dislocated Flowers – Renaissance Three Two Zero [from Broken Hummingbird Repair Garage, released November 11, 2021] |
| Magoodin – Prisma [from Prisma, released November 03, 2021] |
| Melt Plastic Group – The Birdman Explodes [single released November 30, 2021] |
| StarBath – StarBath Jam 1 [from StarBath Jams, released September 16, 2021] |
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
SB: Our general area isn’t really an influence to us, however where we are not, is. Fantasy, space empires… etc. The places in our minds we suppose.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
SB: Among the four of us: Bassman Kerrick loves Primus, Lead Guitar man Gabe digs Elder, Drummer man loves Led Zeppelin and rhythm guitar man Autumn loves King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. We all have eclectic tastes in music, which makes it hard to pinpoint just one album.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
SB: In the near future, along with playing more shows and gaining more live experience, we have plans to record our first full length official album. It’s gonna be groovadelic.
| ST 37 – Over and Over Again [from Over and Over and Over Again, released November 12, 2021] |
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
SLT (Scott Telles, bass, vox, etc): Though we are an Austin band, in some respects I feel like Houston has been a little bit more influential for us. I went to high school in Houston (Joel and Carlton were nearby, in Friendswood) and was profoundly influenced by the punk rock scene there. Legionaire’s Disease, Really Red, Bevatron, the Hates, AK 47, Culturcide… all had a profound influence on my musical development and helped me to turn away from King Crimson, Genesis, Van der Graaf, etc. to the Sex Pistols, the Stranglers and the Damned. Not to take away from the importance of the Austin music scene… I feel like we probably would have quit a long time ago if we did not have such a supportive audience here in the live music capital of the world, heh heh. Not to mention the tremendous presence of the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Scratch Acid and the Butthole Surfers in the groundwater here in tha ATX. Still, later Houston bands and colleagues like Rusted Shut, Rotten Piece, Indian Jewelry and the Linus Pauling Quartet continue to have a towering presence in our lives and work.
JC (Joel Crutcher, guitar, voice): place landscape scene? It’s always now. Similar to spore drive time travel. Take a trip and never leave the farm.
BB (Bobby Baker, gtr, vox): Most of the people I play music with, I’ve been playing w for close to 20 years or more. So the music feeds me. Like a family dinner. In my brain.
BBT (Bob Bechtol, kybds/electronics): Place: somewhere past sincerity
MT (Matt Turner, gtr): Austin is a ghost
TMODM: What record changed your life?
SLT: Well, there have been several, but here I am gonna go with my discovery one pleasant afternoon at Cactus Records in Houston of “The Saga Of Doremi Fasol Latido” by Hawkwind. I had read about Hawkwind in “The Time Of The Hawklords” by Michaels Moorcock and Butterworth. Moorcock was and is one of my favorite writers, but you must understand that up until this moment I thought they were a purely fictional band! Instead, I took this monster home, fired up the turntable, and lo and behold…Lemmy. Lord of Light. Brainstorm. Time We Left. Holy shit. It’s still one of my favorite records, and certainly influenced my musical development for all time.
JC: Record? Freddy Fender Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
BB: Dinosaur Jr “You’re Living All Over Me”
BBT: Album: Yeti – Amon Duul II
MT: Negativland-Negativland
TMODM: What’s next for you?
SLT: We have been immersed for some time now in preparing our new, and perhaps final, studio LP “Ballardesque”, inspired by the works of JG Ballard. He has always been one of my favorite writers, and as far back as 1990 we were featuring “Ghosts of Tempera Nymphs”, derived from his 1987 novel The Day Of Creation, in our live sets. This new record is almost completely written and arranged and about halfway recorded. “Over and Over and Over Again” was a pandemic-derived stopgap to help us get our ya-ya’s out and release some new material, but the focus has remained on Ballardesque. We have new pieces based on Billennium, Running Wild, the Singing Statues, the Drought and several other Ballard pieces.
JC: What’s next? Connie…how’n the fuck would I know the answer to that.
BB: Well… ST has the Ballardesque stuff we’ve been working on. My other band Baby Robots are recording an EP of oldies and newbies. And my other other band Austi! just finished our second album, “Fuck a Hurricane”. Stay Tuned!
BBT: Next: somewhere past sincerity
MT: Next: Chased through the streets by a pack of dogs.
| Den Osynliga Manteln – Vortexlöpare [from Insektsfolk, released August 27, 2021] |
TMODM: How does the place you live feed into the music you make?
DOM: We live in Malmö, southern Sweden, 30 minutes from Copenhagen. It’s a multicultural city where riding the bus is likely to be a linguistic adventure. Our studio is located in an industrial neighbourhood that recently was dubbed a ”sound zone” which protects the buildings from being turned into apartments. So there’s a lot going on here — secret (and non secret) nightclubs, a gospel church, a cinema and the list goes on and on with who knows what. There’s a certain amount of mystery to this place and this is the setting in which we create and record our music.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
DOM: We both agreed on that this could be turned into a long list but if restricted to one record each these are the ones:
Ola: Charlemagne Palestine – Strumming Music
Fredrik: Bo Hansson – Lord of the Rings
TMODM: What’s next for you?
DOM: We’re in the middle of the process of making and recording our second album right now and we’re very excited about how it is turning out so far.
| Moshi Moshi and the Moist Boys – Fluoresent Eye Part 1 [from Apply The Moist, released November 10, 2021] |
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
MM&TMB: Most of the music is inspired by the depressing part of your mid 20s living alone in the city on low wage without a clear way forward. Surrounded by temptensions on every corner, living free, being a social outcast with all of you musical underground buddys. Trying to find a better way in life. The same bohemian bullshit every ”cool” artist lives by I guess.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
MM&TMB: I’m in your mind fuzz – King gizzard and the lizard wizard. It was the album that made me realize it was time to quit playing metal music and create a garage band. a solid album all the way.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
MM&TMB: Right now we are in the writing and pre prod phase of next one or two albums that we are planning for 2022. And also a there’s a Mexico tour in the works but more info on that will come out later
| Sonic Delays – Coast [single released October 15, 2021] |
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, landscape, music scene — feed into the music you make?
SD: Sonic delays has had two very distinct and contrasting parts to our story, the early part of the bands history was in the UK living on the outskirts of Birmingham. I am very interested in big cities, particularly at night and the scenery of the empty city in the dark backed with neon lights definitely influenced the expansive sound of songs like Are We Here? and ‘Evil’. I was basically trying to create sonically the feel of a city at night. Aimee is great at mixing and her mix of the single version of ‘Are We Here?’ for me captures the sonic scape I was trying create with the guitars.
Moving to Perth and living by the ocean influenced the recording of ‘coast’ even though I actually wrote the song in the UK. The droned tremolo guitar sound that forms the sound-bed of the song reminded me of waves and so informed the title of the song. When we came to record the song the laid back nature of Perth fed into the recording, not intentionally but probably subconsciously.
In the UK we were more actively involved in the Birmingham music scene and ran our own band night called ‘I Love Noise Pop’ in the city centre. At the time the NuGaze sound was making waves in the UK indie scene and we supported touring bands like Asobi Seksu and It Hugs Back. We knew lots of other local bands, sometimes borrowing other bands drummers, sharing bills with mates’ bands as well as getting to know local promoters and music press etc.
Moving to Perth we have had to start again and we are very seperate from the music scene here, which we don’t mind. We are outsiders looking in which is very interesting and actually gives us a sense of freedom to make music not tied to a scene.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
SD: It’s probably an obvious choice but ‘Loveless’ by My Bloody Valentine is a defining album for the band. In the early years as The Plenaries before evolving to a more experimental guitar sound we were basically playing Jangle Pop, nothing wrong with that, but we weren’t covering much ground sonically. A friend of mine came to see us perform and afterwards said ‘couldn’t you do something more interesting with the sound of the guitars’.
That was all I needed to make a change so I invested in some guitar pedals and started experimenting with some sounds and adding parts to our current sound. Initially I was thinking of early Blur or the Boo Radleys as a new sound but after revisiting My Bloody Valentine’s albums I just went pedal crazy. I became obsessed with ‘Loveless’ and spent hours and hours trying to figure out what on earth was going on with their sound. Trying to take influence from it but at the same time without directly copying it. Their albums are so rich with so much going on there’s lots to take away from it. Interestingly no one seemed to pick up on the influences as everyone who came to see us live the next time said we sounded like Pink Floyd. We went from being a 1966 band to being to a 1967 band!
TMODM: What’s next for you?
SD: We are releasing a new EP titled ‘Zoomer’ in January it’s already available to pre- order from our Bandcamp and one track from it ‘The City’ is available to buy early. It’s a bit harder edged sound compared to ‘Coast’ and a little but punky in places.
| Frozen Planet…. 1969 – Diamond Dust [from Not From 1969, releases January 11, 2022] |
TMODM: What was the inspiration for “Diamond Dust”?
FP1969: The Inspiration for ‘Diamond Dust’ came from Paul our guitarist. As our music is mostly improvised, Paul kicked this off in that sort of
Middle Eastern mode and just set the mood for everyone else to join in and the rest just really happened. This was the first and only take!
TMODM: Why the title Not From 1969?
FP1969: The title ‘Not From 1969’ was first suggested as a bit of a joke. Often because we have the numbers 1969 in our band title,
some people believe our albums were released in 1969. This mostly came about when our music started getting uploaded to Youtube.
So, we’re kind of hoping this helps to clear things up!
TMODM: What’s next for you?
FP1969: Next we have a 7-inch Vinyl single ready to be released once it’s manufactured. It’s actually something a little different for us as
the A side is a loosely structured song and the B side is an actual rehearsed structured song (which we have never done until this point)
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