Turn Me On, Dead Man presents some of the highlights of psychedelic music from the past year. As the world has become more chaotic, the quality of the psychedelic music has seemed to only increase. It occurred to me that these things are related–psychedelic music seems to flourish amid the chaos, offering a vibrant counterpoint. Initially I was trying to keep the playlist to under two hours but I gave up on that pretty quickly. Instead, the playlist for this retrospective is nearly five hours long! It features some of the most unforgettable tracks from the past year, spanning a wide range of styles, focusing particularly on interesting collaborations between artists.
| time | artist | title |
|---|---|---|
| 1:17 | Goat | One More Death |
| 6:56 | Fin del Mundo | Vivimos lejos |
| 11:24 | The Albinos | Bet You Don't |
| 14:16 | The Soundcarriers | The City Was |
| 18:05 | Honey Radar | English Costume |
| 20:41 | psychedelic source records | Turbulance |
| 36:55 | Kaliyuga Express | The Living Dream |
| 48:32 | DDT | Dawn Man |
| 52:41 | The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol & Dead Sea Apes | The Deed |
| 1:05:20 | Motherfuckers JMB & Co | Breakers Beat |
| 1:13:38 | GROOP | House Special |
| 1:21:33 | Solar Temple & Dead Neanderthals | III |
| 1:33:57 | The Royal Family | Morning Song |
| 1:38:32 | The Man from Atlantis | Which Way's East |
| 1:49:13 | Zamboa | Daun |
| 1:54:13 | Las Cobras | Obsessio |
| 1:59:31 | Causa Sui | Sorcerer’s Disciple |
| 2:07:25 | The Holy Family | Inward Turning Suns |
| 2:13:41 | SML | Three Over Steel |
| 2:19:13 | Clear Mirror | Soul Calls Home |
| 2:22:55 | Cannabus | Desert Trip |
| 2:28:07 | SOMA | Someshwaraya |
| 2:36:14 | Bhajan Bhoy | The Guiding Light |
| 2:43:47 | Empty House | Tamerlane |
| 2:48:33 | White Canyon & The 5th Dimension | Golden Key |
| 2:52:18 | White Hills | Throw It Up In The Air |
| 2:57:60 | SHEM | Enter |
| 3:07:10 | Upupayama | Fil Dagi |
| 3:12:04 | Gnod | Peace at Home |
| 3:19:20 | Special Cases | Imposible (Despertar Remix) |
| 3:27:15 | Retep Folo & Dorothy Moskowitz | The Afterlife |
| 3:33:40 | Moonseeds | sun |
| 3:40:48 | Minerall | Bügeln/Unerforscht |
| 4:02:37 | Pascere Lamia | Et Strygom Anima Mea |
| 4:23:12 | Seedy Jeezus with Isaiah Mitchell and Tony Reed | Ground Control |
| 4:40:05 | :nepaal | Ineffaible Minor States |
The opening set contains a few of my favorite tracks from the past year, starting off with “One More Death” by Goat from their self-titled album. This set also features Fin del Mundo, Sound Carriers, The Albinos, and Honey Radar. The second set celebrates the power of collaboration with tracks from Psychedelic Source Records, Kaliyuga Express (a collaboration between Mike Vest and Finnish space rock band Nolla), DDT (members of Carlton Melton and White Manna), and Dead Sea Apes with The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol. From there we delve further into collaborations, with tracks from GROOP (members of Hooveriii and Frankie and the Witch Fingers, Solar Temple and Dead Neanderthals, The Royal Family (members of Possum, ROY, Hieronymus Harry, The John Denver Airport Conspiracy, and Wine Lips).
I wanted to spotlight some of the labels that release consistently good psychedelic music, including the Man from Atlantis and the Ramble Records label, and Zamboa, who run the Jolt! label, Las Cobras on Fuzz Club, Causa Sui on El Paraiso, The Holy Family on Rocket Recordings, SML on International Anthem, and Clear Mirror, which is the a project of Adam Upton of Sundog Sound Records. Each label brings its own unique flavor to the scene.
From there I revisit some of the tracks that I played on repeat throughout 2024. The set starts with the stoner anthem “Desert Trip” by Cannabus, and also tracks by Soma, Bhajan Bhoy, Empty House, White Canyon and the 5th Dimension, White Hills, Shem, Upuayama, Gnod and Special Cases. The final set returns to collorations. Retep Folo is a Swedish artist / musician Peter Olof Fransson (The Owl Report / Reportage / Exhadley) with Dorothy Moskowitz, who, among other things, was a member of the influential 1960s psychedelic band The United States of America. The final set continues with two collaborative efforts from Sula Bassana, Moonseeds and Minerall, then Seedy Jeezus with Isaiah Mitchell and Tony Reed, and another Mike Vest collaboration Pascere Lamia. The set concludes with Nepaal’s “Ineffaible Minor States,” which was originally released on Psychedelic Source Records in 2023 but rereleased on Echodelick Records in 2024.
Even though this playlist contains 36 tracks and runs almost five hours I still feel like I’ve left out deserving material. Still, the playlist highlights the depth and breadth of psychedelic music in 2024, and this “best of 2024” episode is a testament to the resilience and creativity of psychedelic music. Despite the challenges of the past year, these artists continue to push boundaries and create music that inspires and uplifts.
Notable Albums from 2024 (in order of release date)
Bhajan Bhoy – To Love Is To Love (Vols 1+2) + Shanti Shanti Shanti [originally on Cardinal Fuzz, Feeding Tube]
Minerall – Bügeln [Sulatron]
Empty House – The Golden Hour [Echodelick, Worst Bassist, We Here and Now!]
The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol & Dead Sea Apes – Eine Nacht [Cardinal Fuzz]
Retep Folo & Dorothy Moskowitz – The Afterlife [Buried Treasure]
SOMA – Burning is Learning [Centripetal Force]
The Albinos – The Montana [Fatal Blast]
The Holy Family – Live Burning, Burning Live [Rocket Recordings]
DDT – Sweat of the Sun [Drone Rock Records]
Clear Mirror – EP1 [Sundog Sound]
Cannabus – Other Side [self-release]
Special Cases – 6 [BYM Records]
Honey Radar – Ribbon Factory [self-release]
Gnod – Spot Land [Rocket Recordings]
SHEM – SHEOL [Weird Beard, Echodelick]
Solar Temple & Dead Neanderthals – Embers Beget the Divine [Consouling Sounds]
White Canyon & The 5th Dimension – The Golden Key To The Kingdom Of No Return [self-release]
SML – Small Medium Large [International Anthem]
Moonseeds – Moonseeds [Sulatron]
Pascere Lamia – Pascere Lamia [Echodelick, Worst Bassist]
Causa Sui – From the Source [El Paraiso]
Seedy Jeezus with Isaiah Mitchell and Tony Reed – Tranquonauts 2 [Blown Music, Lay Bare Recordings]
The Royal Family – Live at The Ministers Vestry [We, Here and Now!]
The Soundcarriers – Through Other Reflections [Phosphonic]
Kaliyuga Express – Occult Future [Riot Season]
White Hills – Beyond This Fiction [Heads On Fire]
GROOP – This Place Is The Space [Six Tonnes de Chair]
Upupayāma – Mount Elephant [Fuzz Club]
The Man from Atlantis – Spirits Align [Ramble Records]
psychedelic source records – Sunset Sessions I, II [Psychedelic Source Records]
Las Cobras – Cárcavas [Up In her Room]
Goat – Goat [Rocket Recordings]
Fin del Mundo – Hicimos crecer un bosque [Spinda Records]
:nepaal – Protoaeolianism [Psychedelic Source Records, Echodelick]
Zamboa – 未来 [Jolt! Recordings]