Ten Of The Best: Simon Smith - Psych Insight/Backseat Mafia
Ten Of The Best this time around comes courtesy of fellow blogger, avid psych-head and all round top fella Simon Smith. Simon writes, under the name Simon Delic, the 'Psych Insight' column on the veritable 'Backseat Mafia' culture blog. When I'm not listening to or writing about music, I'm usually found reading about it and there are a few blogs that I consider 'must reads' on the scene....'Heathenmofo', 'Chromaticism Revolutions' and 'Psych Insight'. Simon's enthusiasm for all things fuzzy matches my own and I thoroughly recommend give him a read if you haven't already. Thanks for the list Simon....some cracking choices...
"It’s always tricky to narrow decades of listening to music to just a handful of choices. There have been many albums that have inspired me, wowed me, cajoled me and simply slapped me across the face…again and again. In the end I decided to choose five albums from my past that have had a profound influence on the way that I listen to music, and five fantastic albums from the current ‘psych’ scene where I feel as much at home musically as I ever have.
Black and White - The Stranglers
The Stranglers third album is, I believe, hugely underrated. It is dark, moody and complex, and marks for me the moment that both me and punk began to grow up. Black and White is an album I’ve come back to again and again as a touchstone; it is certainly one of the points where punk and psychedelia touched.
Killing Joke - Killing Joke
If you held a gun to my head and insisted I name my favourite band, then Killing Joke would probably get the nod. A band that started gloriously then lost its way a few times, but who have come back time and again with some amazing albums (not least the last three under the original line-up). However, the debut remains my favourite because of its sheer impact on me. An album on the edge of chaos it tore a completely new hole in my musical firmament, one that has never healed…and frequently weeps.
Low - New Order
My album of the 80s without doubt. I played this is my freezing student attic at least once a day for several years. I love it for the melodies and mix of analogue, even acoustic, and digital instrumentation. I could still listen to the riff on ‘Sunrise’ all day.
Leftism - Leftfield
Many memories of hazy late nights in the 90s, an album as much for a club, pub, chill out or 'all back to my place'. This is such a perfect mix of styles all brought together in a beautifully coherent way. ‘Release The Pressure’ would without question be one of my Desert Island Discs.
Good Morning Spider - Sparklehorse
In a sense this album represents that talented generation of singer songwriters who took me over the millennium with a sense of intelligent introversion. Many are no longer with us, such as Jason Molina, Elliott Smith and Mark Linkous, while others have gone on to do interesting things; notably Will Oldham’s Bonny ‘Prince’ Billy’s recent collaboration with Bitchin’ Bajas. Good Morning Spider is in turn an angry and melancholic album through which you can almost experience Linkous’s pain first hand.
Pearl Mystic - Hookworms
I first saw Hookworms through a chance visit to the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, and they we a significant factor in my getting into contemporary psych music. A ferocious live band which is thrillingly transferred into the studio on this album, the first that I reviewed on backseatmafia.com, on what became my 'Psych Insight’ column. ‘Away/Towards’ remains one of my absolute favourite live tracks.
Pan - White Manna
Cardinal Fuzz has become one of my favourite labels in recent years, and this album from White Manna is for me its finest release. A magnificent mix of psych, krautrock and full on garage this is an exciting and uncompromising ride that grabs you at the start and doesn’t let go until it drops you in a heap at the end. Brilliant!
Jet Black Hallucinations - Blown Out
Fuck me this is good!
Negative Feedback Resistor - Destruction Unit
I saw Destruction Unit at last year’s Liverpool PsychFest and was utterly blown away by them. The mix of politics, psych and punk that I have been waiting for: these guys are on it and they mean it. I’ve been playing this album on a weekly basis since September.
Magnetic Seasons - Mugstar
Mutgstar are one of my favourite bands, having behind them a series of stunning albums that combine all that is good about psych, kraut and prog and various elements of rock. However, this latest album has elevated the band to a new level both in terms of their playing and the quality of the material; and even though its still relatively new to me I can already tell that its going to be a real ‘keeper’."
Cheers Simon!
"It’s always tricky to narrow decades of listening to music to just a handful of choices. There have been many albums that have inspired me, wowed me, cajoled me and simply slapped me across the face…again and again. In the end I decided to choose five albums from my past that have had a profound influence on the way that I listen to music, and five fantastic albums from the current ‘psych’ scene where I feel as much at home musically as I ever have.
Black and White - The Stranglers
The Stranglers third album is, I believe, hugely underrated. It is dark, moody and complex, and marks for me the moment that both me and punk began to grow up. Black and White is an album I’ve come back to again and again as a touchstone; it is certainly one of the points where punk and psychedelia touched.
Killing Joke - Killing Joke
If you held a gun to my head and insisted I name my favourite band, then Killing Joke would probably get the nod. A band that started gloriously then lost its way a few times, but who have come back time and again with some amazing albums (not least the last three under the original line-up). However, the debut remains my favourite because of its sheer impact on me. An album on the edge of chaos it tore a completely new hole in my musical firmament, one that has never healed…and frequently weeps.
Low - New Order
My album of the 80s without doubt. I played this is my freezing student attic at least once a day for several years. I love it for the melodies and mix of analogue, even acoustic, and digital instrumentation. I could still listen to the riff on ‘Sunrise’ all day.
Leftism - Leftfield
Many memories of hazy late nights in the 90s, an album as much for a club, pub, chill out or 'all back to my place'. This is such a perfect mix of styles all brought together in a beautifully coherent way. ‘Release The Pressure’ would without question be one of my Desert Island Discs.
Good Morning Spider - Sparklehorse
In a sense this album represents that talented generation of singer songwriters who took me over the millennium with a sense of intelligent introversion. Many are no longer with us, such as Jason Molina, Elliott Smith and Mark Linkous, while others have gone on to do interesting things; notably Will Oldham’s Bonny ‘Prince’ Billy’s recent collaboration with Bitchin’ Bajas. Good Morning Spider is in turn an angry and melancholic album through which you can almost experience Linkous’s pain first hand.
Pearl Mystic - Hookworms
I first saw Hookworms through a chance visit to the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, and they we a significant factor in my getting into contemporary psych music. A ferocious live band which is thrillingly transferred into the studio on this album, the first that I reviewed on backseatmafia.com, on what became my 'Psych Insight’ column. ‘Away/Towards’ remains one of my absolute favourite live tracks.
Pan - White Manna
Cardinal Fuzz has become one of my favourite labels in recent years, and this album from White Manna is for me its finest release. A magnificent mix of psych, krautrock and full on garage this is an exciting and uncompromising ride that grabs you at the start and doesn’t let go until it drops you in a heap at the end. Brilliant!
Jet Black Hallucinations - Blown Out
Fuck me this is good!
Negative Feedback Resistor - Destruction Unit
I saw Destruction Unit at last year’s Liverpool PsychFest and was utterly blown away by them. The mix of politics, psych and punk that I have been waiting for: these guys are on it and they mean it. I’ve been playing this album on a weekly basis since September.
Magnetic Seasons - Mugstar
Mutgstar are one of my favourite bands, having behind them a series of stunning albums that combine all that is good about psych, kraut and prog and various elements of rock. However, this latest album has elevated the band to a new level both in terms of their playing and the quality of the material; and even though its still relatively new to me I can already tell that its going to be a real ‘keeper’."
Cheers Simon!
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