Psychedelic Basslines

i know less can than i should

Has it been done?

Can basslines in this vein are Vitamic C, Mother Sky, and You Doo Right.

Tony Conrad: The Death of the Composer was in 1962
Faust - Ein Neuer Tag

The bassline for this song is basically the bassline from Gil Scott Heron's - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. What's the other song that Metronomic Underground is based on? I can't think of it right now.

I don't know if I'd call the bassline "psychedelic", but it's a foundation psychedelic song, and my friend and I were recently commenting on how great the bassline is...

Yes! That's the one I was trying to think of. Thank you.

also--who can tell me all i need to know about gong?

Gong's trilogy is pretty cool. When the French guy led them later, they sound like Tortoise precursors.

Lots of Brokeback songs. Lots of Weather Report songs. Jaco is certainly more psychedelic than the BJM.

Mingus.

What about The Count Five's "Pyschotic Reaction"? Or is that a "psychotic bassline"?

A couple more: "Cherub" (Butthole Surfers) and "Sweet Emotion" (Aerosmith). I'm open to disagreements. (Hairsplitting is fun!)

What exactly is psychedelic about this? And 99% of the other basslines on this thread?

Pink Floyd. "Money."

Oh go get some ears, for crying out loud!

Japan's "Sons of Pioneers"
No-Man's "Sweetheart Raw"
Ride - "Leave Them All Behind"

"Leave Them All Behind" is another one of those.

"a "psychedelic" bassline would be characterized by single-minded repetition, modal playing and regular full-octave leaps for variety."

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This is exactly what I meant!!!! I'm quite glad someone knew exactly what I meant cuz it seems like there was some confusion.

I love the dirt bassline, the money bassline, the under pressure bassline, transmission etc though i guess they weren't exactly the style which I was trying to get at. I apoligize for the confusion and perhaps the ill described sound (I guess "psychedelic" was the word that made most sense).

By the way, how does one italicize text so as to give credit to a previous post?

Along the same lines of modal, repetitive basslines that ascend/descend melodically: the bass player on Curtis Mayfield's 70s albums. "Beautiful Brother of Mine", "Freddie's Dead" are in this vien (sometimes more pentatonic than modal, however).

Outrage at relating Floyd to psychedelia is somewhat psychedelic in its own hypocrite hipster way.

However, many of the bassists from the psychedelic era did not use a whole hell of alot of repetition. Many were heavily into fusing folk, rock and free jazz. Someone mentioned the Jefferson Airplane; Jack Casady might have played "modally" but he did not repeat lines like Hawkwind or Can or PIL. And, I find his bass playing incredibly psychedelic because it's all about movement and flow, which to me are more fundamental to psychedelia than repetition. In fact, I think repetition is somewhat antithetical to psychedelia because repetition hypnotizes the mind or puts it to sleep. Hypnotization is the exact oppotsite of "mind-expanding". Repetition, in my mind, speaks more to the body than the mind. In dance music, you don't want the mind interfering with the movement of the body so you create repetition which puts the mind to sleep and awakens the body, which then takes over.

But please note, I am not saying psychedelia is smarter than dance music or anything like that. I believe the mind and body are total equals but different musics speak to different parts of the human. And both psychedelia-for-the-mind and dance-music-for-the-body can be used as tools for consciousness expansion, which to me is someting beyond "mind-expanding" because it incorporates both mind and body. I'll shut up now.

As mentioned upthread, Butthole Surfers' "Cherub" is a top contender, "Mark Says Alright" is another favorite as well as:

Liars' "This Dust Makes That Mud"
Skullflower's "Elephant's Graveyard"
Monster Magnet's "Tab" (Forget About Life I'm High On Dope version)
Amon Duul II's "Archangels Thunderbird" (from Live In London, natch)
Spacemen 3's "Things'll Never Be The Same"

1. Radiohead - All I Need (that is bass right?)

justin farrar's post is kinda interesting

i always have this wider confusion about 'psychedelic' music — like in theory i think it seems like a good idea and then i try and think musically what i might like about it and come up o_o

Forgive me.

"Tomorrow Never Knows"... the Phil Collins version.

Do Make Say Think's "Fredericia"

Simply Saucer - "Illegal Bodies"

wait, Phil Collins did a cover version of Tomorrow Never Knows? I should check this out

'How to Dissapear completely' by Radiohead has a very immersive bass figure. It always sends me floating away when I try to focus on it.

Where trying to come up with hypnotic basslines, no? I also support the Can mention, all of the musicians on that band were psychedelic magicians.

Most of Ken Forssi's basslines for love are pretty great.
As are most of Jack Casady's for the airplane
Phil Lesh is very leftfield most of the time
as is Chris Kirkwood

But would second mentions of Czukay above cos he normally hits the nail right on the head
& that reminds me of Boris Sjudovic of the Scientists

Plus one should always remember Bootsy

Steveolende, yep yep! Chris Kirkwood is on the mark, his lovely meandering basslines are great.

Nuge - Stranglehold

Gong got mentioned a couple times upthread, and I concur. Always thought Mike Howlett kept things motoring along nicely through the whooshing synths and space whispers.