Search - Various Artists :: Beyond the Calico

Beyond the Calico Wall

Robert Schell | Townsville, Texas | 04/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The good people who put together this compilation set out to accomplish no less daunting a task than collecting the most bizarre and extreme underground psychedelic music recorded in the 1960's, and, for the most part, the choices seem to be right on the money. The collection starts off with "The Trip" by Park Avenue Playground, a song that bursts out of the gate with an explosion of fuzz guitar, organ, and mad siren-like oscillating effects, coming at you from all directions, seemingly. Next up is "Suzie's gone" by Afterglow, definitely one of the weirdest singles ever. The singer moans "so...my...world...is...messed...up!" in the most detached voice possible over a staccato organ and drum part, leading to a guitar solo that soon collapses into no recognizable conventional song structure. No less amazing is "Mt. Olympus" by The Flower Power, which starts off as an innocuous and somewhat introspective sounding piece until a wild heavily chorused guitar break, which only slightly warns you of the totally anarchic feedback and free-form noise ending -- which goes on for over a minute in a 3:40 single! Then you get a bizarre sci-fi/horror tale in "The pulse" by Burritt Bradley, and an incredible reading of The Electric Prunes' "I had too much to dream last night" by Rasputin and the Mad Monks, with weird proto-techno sound effects, backwards vocals, and production effects making the backing track fade in and out, creating a disturbing sensory assault. Other highlights include "An experiment in terror" by The Greek Fountains, which is a strange polyrhythmic instrumental, and "Up in my mind" by The Spontaneous Generation, which surely has to rank as one of the most aggressive 60's psych records ever made, with waves of vibrato guitar and insistent wah wah riffing. Also worthwhile is "The electronic insides and metal complexion that make up Herr Dr. Krieg," by The Riders of the Mark, which musically isn't quite as strange as its title, but comes close! The weirdness factor decreases somewhat as the c.d. progresses, and a sloppy but straightforward cover of "In a gadda da vida" by Six Feet Under makes for a pretty uninteresting closer, but the good material here makes this an essential purchase. Buy it if you like psychedelia, experimental or Incredibly Strange Music."

Itll blow your mind

dave krienke | bronx | 02/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this cd starts off with an insane piece of demtia PARK AVENUE PLAYGROUND- the trip. the lyrics are psyched out "you say theres no begining, i say your wrong" "this trip is never ending, it wont be long" "youll feel the lights is shading into your mind, youll feel the sound pulsating" "colors will blind" and so on, lots of fuzz guitar, wild sound effects etc,this is one of the best pieces of 60's crazed punk ever. if your on acid or mushrooms Afterglow will freak you out, it happened to my friend. The flower power-Mt. Olumpus ends in chaos. the pulse sucks. rasputin and the mad monks cover the electric prunes well by adding a freak out twist. Clock on the wall has pounding drums.spontaneus generation is filled with amazing fuzz and heavy lyrics with some wah wah thrown in. "it seems no use in talking to me, i can see most minds will never change they only care about what you look like and they only live for their grandfathers name". psiship is about taking a psychedelic spaceship to the moon haha great. the greek fountains-an experimental terror explains itself, itll eat away at your mind, one of the best instrumentals ever. Duffy- come back come back is a fast slice of punk "come back come back come back come back come back im losing track" psyched out. tripsy's instru mental. Paradox city goes back and forth between a nightmare and sleeping in a garden of painted grass. Demons of negativity isnt from the 60's its a band the guy who compiled the cds in, the instrumental version on buzz buzz buzzzzzz vol 2. is better. the rest are all decent pieces of pysch. riders of the mark has a really good song with lots of sound effects and weird lyrics. Six feet under cover in a gadda da vida really well. buy this cd and youll understand how music can blow your mind."