Michael Draine's Twisted Vista
A Heavy Dose of Lyte Psych
An Overdose of Heavy Psych
(Arf!Arf!)
These two ‘60s compilations assembled
by Birdsongs of the Mesozoic leader
Erik Lindgren hew closer to the foun-
dations of progressive rock than the
garage punk Pebbles series or Rhino’s
Nuggets box sets. An exceptional
achievement in pop archeology, A
Heavy Dose of Lyte Psych conjures
a delirious, incense-tinged atmosphere
with a program of misterioso ballads
and raga rock. While most of Lyte Psych
predates the advent of the Mellotron,
proto-progressive elements manifest		Music Review Index
themselves in JK & Company’s stately,
Procol Harum-like “Fly,” Walter Carlos’
orchestration and studio manipulation
on Childe Harold’s apocalyptic “Brink
of Death.” Erik’s excavation of exploitation
music (studio projects thrown together
to cash in on musical fads) yields "Venus
2038," a lilting electronic instrumental
putatively by the Rock Revival. The
earthy, Farfisa-driven rock’n’roll on
An Overdose of Heavy Psych only
intermittently lives up to the psychodysleptic
promise of its title. Heavy Psych ultimately
hits its stride with a climactic 23-
minute set of speaker-blowing acid
rock recorded in 1969 for a pair of
chainstore-exclusive psych exploitation
LPs. Considering that most tracks are
mastered from rare 45s (and in the
case of “Venus 2038,” 8-track cassette),
sound quality is quite good.
published in Expose #14, Winter 1998
www.arfarfrecords.com