The ten best Psych albums of 2013 – so far… Sufis, Hidden Masters, Foxygen
If you like a Beatley melody, some twangy guitar, a smidgen of sitar and the odd bonkers middle eight 2013 has been a vintage year so far. The rush of new psych bands that emerged in 2012 has blossomed into a worldwide movement. And it isn’t all about 60 re-treads. Some of the new bands are clearly inspired by this mob and at the same time borrow as much from 80s bands like these and these as they are from the 60s originals.
Here then are my ten favourite psych albums of the year so far. The superb Bed Rugs and Morgan Delt don’t make the cut as their offerings are more EPs than albums. I also have thing for the new albums from Suede, Bill Ryder Jones, Still Corners and Jagwar Ma, but none are really psych enough to make the cut. And as for the new Darren Hayman album - well that is something else…
There’s loads to come too with The Soundcarriers, Len Price 3, Morgan Delt, Balduin and others all promising new albums by the end of the year. You lucky people!
10 Maston - Shadows
Bonkers debut album from one Frank Maston who attempts to re-create the kind of quirkiness that Van Dyke Parks and Brian Wilson were cooking up in the late 60s, except that it takes the odd Transatlantic detour too and on tracks like Strange Rituals ends up sounding like the kind of wonderful instrumentals that Blur ended up knocking out after listening to too many Specials albums. A genius pop record.
From:ALOHA!: Ten almost-tasteful Hawaiian print shirts