Randomness Can Be Trippy

My friend Ronnie was feeling psychedelic over the weekend, and posted this, along with several other, songs on Facebook. It got me thinking about the wonderful sound experiments that center on altered states of consciousness.

Sometimes, it's just the way being stoned or tripping alters the perception of time, freeing us from the constraints and limits we impose on ourselves. Thus, some of the best psychedelia tends to last quite a while. Ten minutes seems long, but when your brain chemistry has been changed, you might not think so. Or, you might not care.



Contemporary psychedelia ranges from the traditional - Ozric Tentacles - to contemporary styles that owe a lot while forging new paths. Among my favorites is a variant of techno called Dark Psy. Techno, really, is a combination of dance music, enhanced by the understanding that those attending raves will be out of their minds, usually on ecstasy. I am not an advocate of any drug use, and ecstasy has a whole lot of nasty side-effects. Furthermore, sitting and listening - or going to a club, legal or otherwise - makes it clear the music itself is often enough to transport you outside yourself, get lost in the beat, the noise, and simply be in the moment the music takes you.



Ten minutes of this, in the proper context, will trip anyone out.

State of Independence - Vangelis
A Child of the King - Mahalia Jackson
Du Riechts So Gut (Live) - Rammstein
Sage & Spirit (Live Acoustic) - Grateful Dead
Red House - Jimi Hendrix
It Ain't Me, Babe (Live) - Bob Dylan
Improv, Live, Pittsburgh, 1974 - King Crimson
Loch Lomond (Live, Carnegie Hall, 1938) - Benny Goodman Orchestra
Just Like Lightning (Live) - Joe Satriani
The Clap - Yes



Because it's loud, that's why.