'Psychedelic' Bands // p 1 of 7

Ancient River

Ancient River is a psychedelic rock band formed in 2008. The band was created by singer/songwriter James Barreto, and features Barreto (vocals/guitar/songwriter) and Alexis Cordova, Jr. (drums/vocals).

Formed in 2008, with friends and now past members Zachary Veltheim on bass (from Barreto's previous band The Ohm) and Chad Voight on drums.

The band name was taken from the Neil Young song "Thrasher": “Where the eagle glides ascending/There’s an ancient river bending/Down the timeless gorge of changes/Where sleeplessness awaits.”

In reviewing 2011's Songs from North America, the Knoxville Mercury described Ancient River’s music as reminiscent of "the sun-baked desert twang of the Meat Puppets and Crazy Horse."

Cordova and Barreto met when Cordova moved to Gainesville to join another band. In the Mercury interview, Cordova is quoted as saying, "when I found out about [Ancient River], if I hadn’t joined, they probably would have been my favorite band in Gainesville. I kind of feel like it was the right time, right place." Cordova now plays drums in the band, which was his first instrument growing up.

The band's origins can be traced back the music scene in Gainesville, Florida and its thriving home grown DIY scene. Barreto, who had trained as an audio engineer, had a home studio and was busy recording local musicians.

Ancient River made their debut at Austin Psych Festival on April 24, 2010. Cordova joined the line up in 2011 and the band began regularly playing the live circuit, playing Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia and Austin Psych Festival for a second time in 2012. Appearances at Los Angeles’ Psycho De Mayo and Desert Stars Festival Pre-Party followed in 2014 along with Milwaukee Psych Fest in 2015.

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BALTHVS

Hailing from Bogotá, Colombia. BALTHVS can be seen as spearheading a musical psychedelic revolution in their home country, where it's conservative roots have historically shunned counterculture. But their sound is not about freaking out, rather it's about flowing and grooving gently amidst the general anger and chaos of 21st century society. After all, the band doesn't know anything else, it was formed 2 months before the rise of the COVID pandemic, making them one of the first pandemic bands out there. They are not strangers to the digital realm, embracing it fully, while retaining time tested values such as live musicianship, steady songwriting and journeying into different musical traditions from all over the world. The trio composed by Balthazar Aguirre (Guitar) Johanna Mercuriana (Bass) and Santiago Lizcano (Drums) explore the limits of funk, disco, dream pop, vaporwave, soul, r&B and world music while enveloping everything with their innate psychedelic essence.

So sit back, relax, and melt down the cosmic grooves

MACROCOSM is BALTHVS' first LP. The name implies the diverse nature of the music, the substantial genre blending throughout the record and the general psychedelic vibe of the songs. It's a cross continental trip across time, styles, languages and rhythms.

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Boogarins

Boogarins is a brazilian psychedelic rock e Neo-psychedelia band formed in 2012, in Goiânia, by members Fernando "Dinho" Almeida (vocals and rhythm guitar) and Benke Ferraz (lead guitar). To complete the quartet, later joined Hans Castro (drums) and Raphael Vaz (contrabass). In 2014, Ynaiã Benthroldo replaced Hans in the drums. The band played in a variety of international festivals, such as Rock in Rio Lisboa, Primavera Sound, Porão do Rock, Coquetel molotov, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Lollapalooza and South by Southwest.

History

Boogarins was formed by Benke and Dinho, two childhood friends who got together and recorded an EP at home (As Plantas Que Curam) while they were still at school. After the release of the EP, Boogarins signed a contract with Other Music, the debut album As Plantas Que Curam was released in 2013.

After the LP's release, the band toured and performed more than 70 shows across Europe, the United States, and in Latin America, plating in festivals such as South by Southwest, in Texas, and the Primavera Sound, in Barcelona. In 2015, the band played in the festival Lollapalooza, in São Paulo

After the long tour, the band recorded their new album, Manual, ou Guia Livre de Dissolução dos Sonhos, in Spain. The album had its release by the end of October in CD, vinil and all streaming platforms.

In 2016, the band participated in Rock in Rio Lisboa, played in Seattle's influential alternative radio [KEXP]] and also in the famous festival Levitation. In the same year, their album Manual was nominated in the Latin Grammy Award for Best Portuguese Language Rock or Alternative Album category.

In 2017, the band released a live album, called Desvio Onírico,. The album is composed by 4 tracks with more or less 10 minutes each, with jams, improvs on material recorded during their USA and Europe tour. In June of the same year, the band shared their new studio album, Lá Vem a Morte, by surprise in YouTube. The work was considered by the magazine Rolling Stone Brasil to be the 9th best Brazilian LP of 2017.

In 2019, they released Sombrou Dúvida, which was considered one of the 25 best Brazilian albums of the first half of 2019 by the São Paulo Association of Art Critics.

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Carl Broemel

Carl Broemel is an American rock musician. He currently plays guitar, pedal steel guitar, saxophone and sings back-up vocals for the Louisville, Kentucky band My Morning Jacket. He played guitar in the pop/rock band Old Pike and in the alternative pop/rock band Silvercrush.

Carl grew up on the northside of Indianapolis, Indiana. The son of a symphony musician, he attended school and graduated from Pike High School. During High School, Carl was one of the stand-out musicians among his peers. He played lead guitar for the band Planet Earth and regularly amazed party goers with their sound.

In 2007 Broemel was listed among Rolling Stone's "20 New Guitar Gods" along with My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James. He has also released two solo albums. On October 11, 2010, Broemel played as a sit in guitarist with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In December 2010 Broemel contributed to Wanda Jackson's album The Party Ain't Over.

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Cass McCombs

Cass McCombs (born 1977 in Concord, California) is an American musician, best known for releasing a number of albums since 2002.

Blending genres such as rock, folk, psychedelic, punk, and alt country, he has played in numerous bands in the Bay Area and Pacific Northwest during the 1990s, often in DIY spaces, before relocating to New York City. He moved to San Francisco in 2001, where he recorded his debut E.P., entitled Not the Way E.P., released on Monitor Records in Baltimore. McCombs then recorded a Peel Session for John Peel in 2003, and that year released his first LP A, also touring with Baltimore’s OXES as his backing band. McCombs and his band spent much of 2003 and 2004 touring, performing everywhere from the All Tomorrow's Parties festival to house shows. McCombs otherwise divided his time amongst the Pacific Northwest, England and Baltimore.

In spring 2005 he released PREfection on Monitor Records and 4AD, and in support of the album he toured with Modest Mouse. Later that year, he moved to Southern California to begin work on his third full-length, Dropping the Writ, which was released on October 9, 2007, by Domino Records. It was named one of Amazon.com’s Best Albums of 2007. Also in 2007 he toured with Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. He signed a multiple-album deal with Domino Records, who released his following four records including Catacombs (2009), which was voted one of the “50 Top Albums on the Year” by Pitchfork. It was followed by Wit's End (2011), Humor Risk (2011), and Big Wheel and Others (2013).

He toured with John Cale in 2012, and also performed at the benefit concert Occupy Sandy. Other bands he has performed or toured with include Ariel Pink, Cat Power, Band of Horses, Andrew Bird, The Decemberists, Arcade Fire, Peter Bjorn and John, Papercuts, The Shins, Iron and Wine, Deerhoof, The Walkmen, Jana Hunter, Thurston Moore, Joe Russo and The War On Drugs.

His single "Bradley Manning" premiered on the Democracy Now News Hour in 2012. His songs have been featured in films including the surf film The Present (2009), and Ralph Arlyck documentary Following Sean, as well as notable skate videos featuring Jason Dill, Jerry Hsu Chima Ferguson and Dylan Rieder. His song "Bobby, King of Boys Town" appeared in HBO show Girls (Season 2, Episode 9 - "On All Fours").

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Chicano Batman

Chicano Batman is a four-piece American band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2008, the band is composed of Eduardo Arenas (bass, guitar, vocals), Carlos Arévalo (guitars), Bardo Martinez (lead vocals, keyboards, guitar) and Gabriel Villa (drums). The group's sound draws from a mix of genres ranging from psychedelic soul, funk, indie, tropicalia, and rock.

Chicano Batman was formed in 2008. NPR's Alt.Latino referred to the band's music as one of the show's and listener's favorites of 2014. Chicano Batman provided support for select dates on the January–February leg of Jack White's Lazaretto Tour 2015. In April 2015, the band performed on Day 3 (April 12 & 19) for both weekends of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. In July 2015, Chicano Batman performed at Ruido Fest. As of 2017, the band has played at Bonnaroo (2016) and LouFest (2016), as well as both weekends of Coachella (2017), Sasquatch! Music Festival (2017), the Forecastle Festival (2017), FYF (2017), Beer X (2017).

Chicano Batman made their late night television debut on Conan in 2017.

They star in a 2018 commercial for Johnnie Walker Scotch whiskey, singing This Land is Your Land.

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Cotton Jones

Cotton Jones (formerly The Cotton Jones Basket Ride) is an indie folk band, with elements of psychedelic folk, dream pop, baroque pop, and Americana, based in Cumberland, Maryland and currently signed to Suicide Squeeze Records.

Michael Nau (born October 31, 1984) is the lead singer-songwriter and plays guitar, Whitney McGraw (born July 20, 1986) is on keyboards, organ, and electronic autoharp, Todd Gowans (born February 4, 1986) is on lead electric guitar, and Greg Bender is on bass.

The signature sound of the band is Michael Nau and his wife Whitney McGraw's ethereal vocals.

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Crumb

Crumb is an American indie rock band, founded in Boston. The group is a collaboration of Brooklyn-based musicians Lila Ramani (guitar, vocals), Jesse Brotter (bass, backing vocals), Brian Aronow (synthesizers, keyboard, saxophone), and Jonathan Gilad (drums), who met while attending Tufts University.

History

Ramani, Brotter, Aronow, and Gilad, met at Tufts University and, prior to the formation of Crumb, had collaborated on Boston-based projects, including Bad and Blue, JG and The Funky Bunch, and The American Symphony of Soul. In 2016 they came together to develop and record a collection of songs Ramani had started writing in high school and college, ultimately resulting in the band’s first two EPs, Crumb (2016) and Locket (2017). Both EPs were independently released, with physical cassettes released by DIY label Citrus City Records.

Crumb went on to release their debut full-length album, Jinx, on June 14, 2019. The album received positive reviews from music critics.

Music style

Indie Current described Crumb's sound on 'Locket' as psychedelic slacker-rock. Paste Magazine called their sound a meld of "60s psych, loose jazz, and freeform indie rock into a soothing pop amalgamation." Their sound has been compared to Melody's Echo Chamber, BadBadNotGood, Quilt, Tame Impala, and Broadcast.

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Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music. He first achieved success and recognition with The Impressions during the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s, and later worked as a solo artist.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Mayfield started his musical career in a gospel choir. Moving to the North Side, he met Jerry Butler in 1956 at the age of 14, and joined the vocal group The Impressions. As a songwriter, Mayfield became noted as one of the first musicians to bring more prevalent themes of social awareness into soul music. In 1965, he wrote "People Get Ready" for the Impressions, which displayed his more politically charged songwriting. Ranked at no. 24 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the song received numerous other awards, and was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, as well as being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.

After leaving the Impressions in 1970 in the pursuit of a solo career, Mayfield released several albums, including the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Super Fly in 1972. The soundtrack was noted for its socially conscious themes, mostly addressing problems surrounding inner city minorities such as crime, poverty and drug abuse. The album was ranked at no. 72 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down after lighting equipment fell on him during a live performance at Wingate Field in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, on August 13, 1990. Despite this, he continued his career as a recording artist, releasing his final album New World Order in 1996. Mayfield won a Grammy Legend Award in 1994 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995, and was a double inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of the Impressions in 1991, and again in 1999 as a solo artist. He was also a two-time Grammy Hall of Fame inductee. He died from complications of type 2 diabetes in 1999 at the age of 57.

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