Best Psychedelic albums of 2024
disclaimer: The genre distinctions of these year end lists are arbitrary. We could argue whether some of these albums are "psychedelic" or not but these are bands that I group together aesthetically in a way that I identify them as such.
Over the last few years, Utech Records has set the gold standard in Japanese psychedelic rock. compilations with the Subliminal Skull Palace series. The series feels very much in the spirit of the old PSF Tokyo Flashback compilations, which were my original dowsing rods for exploring this scene. With inclusion of members of Bo Ningen, Overhang Party, Acid Mothers Temple, Boredoms, and Zeni Geva contributing, this is the place to discover the best in new distorted guitar explorations coming out of Japan.
17 Party Dozen, Crime in Australia
(Sidney, Australia) Grupo/Temporary Residence Limited
Hearing music that feels so completely "rock n' roll" yet composed mostly on saxophone and drums is strange only in how unnoticeable the unlikely combination is. The Party Dozen incorporates elements of post-rock, metal, noise, and punk into their brand of psychedelic rock. RIYL The Stooges, MC5, The Black Angels, Swans, and The Velvet Underground.
16 White Hills, Beyond This Fiction
(New York City, USA) Heads On Fire
White Hills are bringing a strong Electric Wizard vibe on the first track of this new album and I am not complaining. This is some psychedelic hard-rock with catchy hooks and a strong grunge sensibility. Through the course of the album they pull in elements of post-punk, noise-rock, and industrial music into their already finely-honed sound.
15 Tomoyuki Trio, Shitsuren 失恋
(Japan/Newcastle upon Tyne, UK) Riot Season Records
17 Party Dozen, Crime in Australia
(Sidney, Australia) Grupo/Temporary Residence Limited
Hearing music that feels so completely "rock n' roll" yet composed mostly on saxophone and drums is strange only in how unnoticeable the unlikely combination is. The Party Dozen incorporates elements of post-rock, metal, noise, and punk into their brand of psychedelic rock. RIYL The Stooges, MC5, The Black Angels, Swans, and The Velvet Underground.
16 White Hills, Beyond This Fiction
(New York City, USA) Heads On Fire
White Hills are bringing a strong Electric Wizard vibe on the first track of this new album and I am not complaining. This is some psychedelic hard-rock with catchy hooks and a strong grunge sensibility. Through the course of the album they pull in elements of post-punk, noise-rock, and industrial music into their already finely-honed sound.
15 Tomoyuki Trio, Shitsuren 失恋
(Japan/Newcastle upon Tyne, UK) Riot Season Records
Dave Sheddon, Mike Vest (who is in Kaliyuga Express, also featured in this list), and Tomoyuki Aoki (who you may know from the legendary band Up-Tight). If you worship the Subliminal Skull Palace or Tokyo Flashback compilations, this is most likely the brand of psychedelic space-rock that you crave.
14 Khruangbin A LA SALA (Houston, Texas) Dead Oceans
There is not much to say. Everyone loves Khruangbin.
13 Gnod, Spotland (Salford, UK) Rocket Recordings
This album was slow to grow on me but I'm glad I gave it the time it deserved. I came to discover Gnod through a side project called Temple Ov BVV who released an incredible album in 2020. The association had me expecting some loud, angular, noise-rock. This album is decidedly more meditative and subtle, deep and infectious. It is kraut-rock with an almost religious quality that reminds me of the venerable Popul Vuh. This one is staying in the rotation.
12 Kungens Män, För samtida djur 1 (Stockholm, Sweden) Majestic Mountain Records
Spaced out rock that feels both improvised and immaculately mapped out at the same time. This may be a funny comparison, but the way the tracks develop remind me a bit of the Lindstrøm album Where you Go I Go Too in the way that they unfold, despite being a totally different genre of music.
11 Shackleton & Six Organs of Admittance, Jinxed by Being (Berlin, Germany/California, USA) Drag City
This might be the most truly psychedelic album on this list. The combination of Shackleton and Six Organs of Admittance is exactly the sort of dubbed-out, ritualistic, freak-folk dronescape fever dream that you would hope it would be. I think this is a signal from the Holy Mountain.
10 Kaliyuga Express, Occult Future (Finland/Newcastle upon Tyne, UK) Riot Season Records
This is the kind of music that makes me want to put on sunglasses, hop on my motorcycle, and ride off into the flames of hell seeking transcendence from the material world. Heavy psychedelic rock at it's best. Mike Vest from the aforementioned Tomoyuki Trio is also part of this project.
9 Hypnodrone Ensemble, The Problem Is In The Sender — Do Not Tamper With The Receiver (Berlin, Germany) WV Sorcerer Productions
8 Dope Purple & Berserk, This is the Harsh Trip for New Psyche (Japan/Taiwan) WV Sorcerer Productions/Riot Season Records
A collaborative project between Dope Purple (Japan) and Berserk (Taiwan) seamlessly integrates heavy psychedelic rock with harsh noise as if their lives depended on living up to the album title. This one has been in constant rotation since it came out in March.
7 Beak>, >>>> (Bristol, UK) Invada Records
My main association with Beak> is as a Portishead side-project and that is probably unfair - especially now that Geof Darrow (Portishead) has announced his departure, leaving this as his last document with the band. There is definitely a trip-hop backbone to this album of slow building earworms that is layered with 70s soft rock, prog, and komische influnces, Hungry Are We is one of my top tracks of the year - sounding like some sort of lost collaboration between Amon-Duul and Nick Drake.
6 Terry Gross, Huge Improvement (San Francisco, CA) Thrill Jockey
Terry Gross rocks hard and fast and uses that rollicking, pummeling energy become the droning canvas for texture, noise, and melody. This is a brand of rock n' roll forged by the indie underground. If you like The Fucking Champs, Breadwinner, Trans-Am (who share a member with Terry Gross), and Motorhead, then you will love this modernized take on the genre.
4 Aluk Todolo, Lux (Paris, France) The Ajna Offensive/Norma Evangelium Diaboli
Aluk Todolo aptly self describe themselves as "Occult Rock." And while there is clearly a very strong black metal influence and aesthetic, this has a lot more in common with The Psychic Paramount or Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Les Rallizes Denudes, or Switchblade than it does with Darkthrone. This is driving and intense, angular post rock with a haunting and occult atmosphere. I strongly recommend their whole catalog as well as the members' previous band Diamatregon. Definitely one of the best albums of the year.
1 Slift, Ilion (Toulouse, France) Sub Pop
Releasing an album in January is a risky proposition. You run the risk of people forgetting about it by the end of the year when the ballots are being tallied. Ilion came out on January 19, 2024 and it held my attention for the entire year. Their previous album, Ummon, was also great but they have managed to up the ante on almost every front. The intensity is either at a 10 or at a whisper, those dynamics keeping a constant sense of tension and movement throughout the album's run time. The production is a great combination of clear, with each element holding it's own space while also sounding raw or almost live. Anyone who thinks rock is dead have not heard Slift.
14 Khruangbin A LA SALA (Houston, Texas) Dead Oceans
There is not much to say. Everyone loves Khruangbin.
13 Gnod, Spotland (Salford, UK) Rocket Recordings
This album was slow to grow on me but I'm glad I gave it the time it deserved. I came to discover Gnod through a side project called Temple Ov BVV who released an incredible album in 2020. The association had me expecting some loud, angular, noise-rock. This album is decidedly more meditative and subtle, deep and infectious. It is kraut-rock with an almost religious quality that reminds me of the venerable Popul Vuh. This one is staying in the rotation.
12 Kungens Män, För samtida djur 1 (Stockholm, Sweden) Majestic Mountain Records
Spaced out rock that feels both improvised and immaculately mapped out at the same time. This may be a funny comparison, but the way the tracks develop remind me a bit of the Lindstrøm album Where you Go I Go Too in the way that they unfold, despite being a totally different genre of music.
11 Shackleton & Six Organs of Admittance, Jinxed by Being (Berlin, Germany/California, USA) Drag City
This might be the most truly psychedelic album on this list. The combination of Shackleton and Six Organs of Admittance is exactly the sort of dubbed-out, ritualistic, freak-folk dronescape fever dream that you would hope it would be. I think this is a signal from the Holy Mountain.
10 Kaliyuga Express, Occult Future (Finland/Newcastle upon Tyne, UK) Riot Season Records
This is the kind of music that makes me want to put on sunglasses, hop on my motorcycle, and ride off into the flames of hell seeking transcendence from the material world. Heavy psychedelic rock at it's best. Mike Vest from the aforementioned Tomoyuki Trio is also part of this project.
9 Hypnodrone Ensemble, The Problem Is In The Sender — Do Not Tamper With The Receiver (Berlin, Germany) WV Sorcerer Productions
Hypnodron Ensemble's bandcamp page states: "Aidan Baker & thisquietarmy's polyrhythmic avant rock collective," I couldn't have said it better myself. Aidan Baker is most well known for his band Nadja who helped form the doom drone or drone metal "genre", as well as his endless collaborations with artists like Dead Neanderthals, Thor Harris, Tim Hecker, Andrea Belfi and many others. thisquietarmy is one of the more prolific ambient/drone solo artists around and has also racked up almost as many collaborative releases as Aidan. Get ready to hypnotoad-out to these massive tracks of psychedelic drone rock.
8 Dope Purple & Berserk, This is the Harsh Trip for New Psyche (Japan/Taiwan) WV Sorcerer Productions/Riot Season Records
A collaborative project between Dope Purple (Japan) and Berserk (Taiwan) seamlessly integrates heavy psychedelic rock with harsh noise as if their lives depended on living up to the album title. This one has been in constant rotation since it came out in March.
7 Beak>, >>>> (Bristol, UK) Invada Records
My main association with Beak> is as a Portishead side-project and that is probably unfair - especially now that Geof Darrow (Portishead) has announced his departure, leaving this as his last document with the band. There is definitely a trip-hop backbone to this album of slow building earworms that is layered with 70s soft rock, prog, and komische influnces, Hungry Are We is one of my top tracks of the year - sounding like some sort of lost collaboration between Amon-Duul and Nick Drake.
6 Terry Gross, Huge Improvement (San Francisco, CA) Thrill Jockey
Terry Gross rocks hard and fast and uses that rollicking, pummeling energy become the droning canvas for texture, noise, and melody. This is a brand of rock n' roll forged by the indie underground. If you like The Fucking Champs, Breadwinner, Trans-Am (who share a member with Terry Gross), and Motorhead, then you will love this modernized take on the genre.
This album is going to be in multiple genres for my year-end pics as Oranssi Pazuzu defy categorization. To get it out of the way, we are looking at a fusion of black metal, kraut, psych, doom, noise, electronic, jazz, trip-hop, and pure avant-garde experimentation. Combining this many elements could end up sounding forced or disjointed but OP manages to turn it into a cohesive, intricate, and textural whole. I was lucky enough to see them live in NYC and they were tight and powerful. One of the must-see bands of today.
4 Aluk Todolo, Lux (Paris, France) The Ajna Offensive/Norma Evangelium Diaboli
Aluk Todolo aptly self describe themselves as "Occult Rock." And while there is clearly a very strong black metal influence and aesthetic, this has a lot more in common with The Psychic Paramount or Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Les Rallizes Denudes, or Switchblade than it does with Darkthrone. This is driving and intense, angular post rock with a haunting and occult atmosphere. I strongly recommend their whole catalog as well as the members' previous band Diamatregon. Definitely one of the best albums of the year.
Looks like these guys have been around for a while now but this is my first introduction to the band. From The Heights of Our Pastureland is pretty devastating from start to finish. There is a very clear influence/similarity/kinship with their fellow Montreal natives, Godspeed You Black Emperor!. The divert from GYBE!'s epic post-rock shimmer at times to bring some absolutely crushing and frenetic doom n' roll ala Swans. The vocals remind me a bit of Wilderness/Vulture feathers with an impassioned sing-speak style. RIYL Kinski, GYBE!, Swans, Slift
This album feels like some sort of unholy concoction of Lungfish, Big Black, and Neurosis. Purely instrumental. This album does not let up with sharp and angular guitars, feedback, string scrapes, layered and layered into a pummeling and textural melodious whole. There is something here that has a lot of reverence for devotional music, moreso than kraut-rock, in how they handle repetition. There are ten members here, some of whom have done time in Black Eyes, Shit and Shine, and Swans, which might explain for the absolute maximalism on display here.
1 Slift, Ilion (Toulouse, France) Sub Pop
Releasing an album in January is a risky proposition. You run the risk of people forgetting about it by the end of the year when the ballots are being tallied. Ilion came out on January 19, 2024 and it held my attention for the entire year. Their previous album, Ummon, was also great but they have managed to up the ante on almost every front. The intensity is either at a 10 or at a whisper, those dynamics keeping a constant sense of tension and movement throughout the album's run time. The production is a great combination of clear, with each element holding it's own space while also sounding raw or almost live. Anyone who thinks rock is dead have not heard Slift.
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