From the Black Mountain Hills of Dakota: Rocky's Log

[RockyRaccoon]

[RockyRaccoon]

Couldn't Stand The Weather by Stevie Ra...le Trouble

Stevie Ray Vaughan is one of my favorite guitarists, he's one of those guys that makes young guitarists just wanna quit, he's unbelievably talented and this album showcases that exceptionally well. All you have to do is listen to "Scuttle Buttin'" or "Tin Pan Alley" and you'll hear just how ridiculous of a guitarist he is. And the beauty of it is, it's not all just mindless shredding or something, he plays fast, sure, but he plays with a ton of soul. I've always loved his stuff and I always will, it just blows my mind every time.
_________________
2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

November 13th, 2015

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Agitations by Lotic

I saw a couple people mentioning this album and how much they liked it so I thought I'd give it a shot. It was actually great. This album sounds frustrated, it sounds disturbed (even the album title is), but as the album goes on, it moves forward from this disturbance to a brief serene beauty on "Rewound", which was my favorite track. It then closes with the suspenseful "Surrender", a song that, like much of the album, keeps you on edge, it keeps you paying attention, and that's what makes this album cool.
_________________
2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

All Summer Long by The Beach Boys

As far as early Beach Boys albums are concerned, this is pretty typical. Short, catchy tunes with excellent harmonies (the harmonies on "I Get Around" are some of my favorites they ever did) all about the California surf culture, though this was their last one that was so wrapped up in that. After this, they did the Party album which was just a bunch of goofy covers and then Today! came out, and then we got Pet Sounds. So this is kind of the beginning of the end for early surfer Beach Boys, which is kind of cool to know listening to it. As for the music, you've got some of their best songs, "I Get Around", "Little Honda", "Wendy", all great tunes, the rest are fun, if relatively unremarkable. The one exception is "Drive-In" which is exceptionally cringey in just about every way lyrically. Fun stuff though, always is with them.
_________________
2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

6- And 12-String Guitar by Leo Kottke

Damn, I got tired just listening to that. Leo Kottke is one incredible guitarist. He's not an electric shredder or anything, he's closer to John Fahey, an acoustic fingerpicker who picks so fast and so intricately it's mind-numbing, and somehow at the same time, very soothing. It's impressive from a technical perspective, obviously, but musically it's great too, especially his version of "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring", one of the most beautiful pieces in classical music, and Kottke does a version that might be one of the best I've ever heard. This album is all instrumental guitar stuff and as a guitarist, this is the kind of stuff I live for.
_________________
2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

November 16th, 2015

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Zamknęły Się Oczy Ziemi by Stara Rzeka

Most of my morning has been dedicated to this (a combination of this is a long album and also it's been a busy morning) and it's fantastic so far. So ethereal and spacey, just completely enveloping and beautiful, I don't know, it's hard to describe. It's like this album is an experience more than it's a collection of songs. It's awesome, I'm really enjoying it.
_________________
2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Romances by Kaada/Patton

Well that was odd. But odd in the most hauntingly beautiful way. This is that album that you listen to in a dark room all by yourself, it's an album that speaks to you through the silence. It's frightening, it's calming, it's unnerving, and it's beautiful, all at the same time. I don't know how, but it is. It's an album that rewards, and I would say requires, multiple listens, it's something that, if you're in the right mood, could hit you really hard. I'm impressed.
_________________
2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

November 17th, 2015

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Garden Of Delete by Oneohtrix Point Never

Daniel Lopatin is just so good, he really is. I really enjoyed R Plus Seven, but I loved this. It's equal parts beautiful and frightening. You hear this album grow as it goes on, it gets crazier and crazier, more and more unnerving. He even adds in a clip from the documentary "Child of Rage" in which a child is asked "Why is your brother afraid of you?" and the child answers "Because I hurt him so much" and it just cuts like a knife. It slices through everything, what do you even do with that? How do you handle a child who says something like that? There's a lot to dive into on this, I especially appreciate his use of electric guitar. This is about as aggressive as I've heard from Lopatin, and it's powerful because of that.
_________________
2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Condition Hüman by Queensrÿche

Good for Queensrÿche, I'm happy to hear this. It would be so easy for a band like them to just fade into obscurity, or for them to just pump out cheap versions of their earlier music, but they didn't. They made something of good quality. Now, it sounds very Queensrÿche-like, it's nothing groundbreaking or anything, but I'm not expecting that from them. I'm expecting a good quality prog(ish) metal album and that's what I got. And big props to Todd La Torre, his performance is excellent on this album (and it's amazing how much he sounds like Geoff Tate). And of course, Michael Wilton kills it on guitar cause that's what he does.
_________________
2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart

[RockyRaccoon]

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Komara by Komara

Oh man, wow, this is nuts. Just pure insanity. And what's especially strange is that, for as "odd" as this album is, it's pretty accessible, which you wouldn't expect. It ranges across multiple genres, it's like electronic music with a bit of ambient and metal along with some jazz-like improvisation. If that just sounds confusing then you'll just have to listen to the album, because it makes sense ultimately. It's filthy and guttural and flooring. I don't know how to accurately describe it, but that's just what it is and you just need to listen to it, that's all.
_________________
2023 Chart

Early Psychedelic Rock

Electronic Chart