Forever Amber - The Love Cycle (1969)

Forever Amber was a young, British six piece pop band that lacked the money and resources to make it big. Apparently, only 99 copies of their sole album The Love Cycle were manufactured to avoid tax. Originally known as the Country Cousins, they changed their name to Forever Amber in response to the rise of psychedelia in 1967. Although The Love Cycle is meant to be a cohesive story about the stages of a blossoming relationship that ultimately goes sour, the sound of the record is largely inconsistent. Throughout the album, there are five different lead vocalists and the band flounders between stereotypical love songs and far out psychedelic pop. While I heavily favor the more psychedelic cuts like "The Dreamer Flies Back" and "Better Things Are Bound To Come," I still appreciate many of the poppy songs that dominate the album. They're full of nice harmonies, tinkering harpsichord, and catchy organ. Unfortunately, most of the drumming sounds like someone who started playing a week before the recordings. Despite The Love Cycle's flaws, it still remains an important pop album from the psychedelic era, especially considering the circumstances it was made under.

Here's the themes of the stages of the album:

The Meeting:
1. Me oh My
2. Silly Sunshine

The Talking:
3. Bits of Your Life, Bits of My Life
4. For a Very Special Person
5. The Dreamer Flies Back
6. Misunderstood
7. Better Things Are Bound To Come

The Walk Home:
8. On a Night In Winter

The Joy:
9. On Top of My Own Special Mountain
10. Mary (the Painter)
11. All the Colours of My Book

The Doubt:
12. Going Away Again

The Sorrow:
13. A Chance to Be Free

The Scorn:
14. I See You As You Used to Be

The Grief:
15. Letters From Her
16. My Friend

Download The Love Cycle

The End - Introspection (1969)

The End were a band that epitomized British psychedelia but never gained the attention they deserved. Formed in 1965 by Dave Brown and Colin Giffin of the defunct beat group the Innocents, the End managed to tour with the Rolling Stones through their friend and Stones' bassist, Bill Wyman. Wyman would later produce their first and only record, Introspection. The band survived several lineup changes throughout their existence, but in 1968 when Colin Giffin and drummer Hugh Attwooll left, they eventually became a more progressive band called Tucky Buzzard. What the fuck type of band name is that? The release of Introspection was delayed for over a year because of an ugly fall out between the Stones and record executive, Allen Klein. Instrospection is a favorite of mine, although I've always thought it's production was a bit too sleek. I recently came across some of their earlier material, which shows a bit of their R&B roots and has a satisfyingly rougher sound. I'll post it sometime or another.


"Cardboard Watch" from the Spanish film, Un, Dos, Tres, Al Escondite Ingle's

Download Introspection

Pink Floyd - "Astronomy Domine" Live on Look of the Week in 1967

Nice beatboxing by Syd Barret.
That dude Hans Keller is a dick.

Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense and Peppermints (1967)

Strawberry Alarm Clock is one of the most underrated American bands from the psychedelic era, largely due to the hippie image created by their self-consciously trippy name and hit song, "Incense and Peppermints." Granted that many of the songs from Incense and Peppermints contain stereotypical hippie lyrics, the arrangements, instrumentation, and vocals are so impressive that it's endearing rather than annoying. Incense and Peppermints has a wide array of instrumentation including excellent psychedelic lead guitar, harpsichord, flute, keyboards, organs, and other exotic instruments. The vocal harmonies also add to the rich sound of the album. They began as a group called Sixpence from Glendale, California in the mid-60s and would endure numerous line-up changes throughout this time and during the recording of Incense and Peppermints as well. Around the time that they released their first single, "The Birdman of Alkatrash" with "Incense and Peppermints" as the B-Side, they changed their name to Strawberry Alarm Clock. "The Birdman of Alkatrash" failed as a single while "Incense and Peppermints" took off on the radio and became a #1 hit in November of '67. Although Strawberry Alarm Clock enjoyed some success with the release of Incense and Peppermints, from that point on they would be plagued by negligent management and pressure to compromise their sound.


"Incense and Peppermints" from the film Psych-Out with Jack Nicholson pretending to play guitar


"Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow" from Psych-Out

Download Incense and Peppermints

Vince Collins' Psychedelic Animations

Animation funded by the United States Information Agency for America's Bicentennial from 1975


"Malice in Wonderland"
This is definitely the scariest, trippiest shit I've ever seen.


Animated film for the song "Life is Flashing Before Your Eyes"
I can't figure out who did this song, but it's pretty sweet.


"It Depends On Your Perspective" from Sesame Street

This is some of the most amazing animation I've ever seen. He has new videos on his myspace page that I've yet to watch, but apparently they're digital and not as sweet. His "About Me" is pretty hilarious, though.

Vince Collins' Myspace Page

Peter Max's Psychedelic Television Commercials

Movie refreshment ad


American Cancer Society ad


7-Up ad from 1968


7-Up ad from 1970

I accidentally came across these psychedelic animated television ads by artist Peter Max, and I must say it's some of the sweetest shit I've ever seen in my life. I only know a little about Peter Max so I'm gonna spare the effort of writing anything about him and just throw up a wikipedia link instead.

Peter Max wikipedia entry

More Psychedelic Sampling

The Electric Prunes - Holy Are You


The Electric Prunes were a psychedelic garage band from Los Angeles, CA, but by 1968 they had been completely transformed into a project run by composer David Axelrod (pictured above) and producer Dave Hassinger. Their two albums from 1968, Mass in F Minor and Release of an Oath, combined rock and classical music with heavy religious content. This song is from Release of an Oath.



Quasimoto - Return of the Loop Digga


Quasimoto is a project by producer/DJ/MC, Madlib. The music is heavily sampled, tripped-out hip hop with rapping by Madlib and his alter-ego Quasimoto, which is Madlib rapping with an altered, high-pitched voice. This song is from The Unseen, which is the first of the two Quasimoto albums.

Madlib's sample from "Holy Are You" occurs at about the 1:06 mark. In "Return of the Loop Digga," the sample appears at about the 2:02 mark after Quasimoto says, "Yo Madlib! Yo! I know you comin' with all this other shit man, but I want you to hit 'em with that raw shit right about now. You know whatcha gotta do." This is a great example of the potential to recontextualize music through sampling. Madlib takes a loop of David Axelrod's religious, orchestral production and turns into a raw, hip hop beat...and a peculiar one at that.