- The Beatles… I think it’s safe to say this one goes without description.
2. The Grateful Dead : Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, jazz, psychedelic rock, and gospel—and for live performances of long musical improvisation. Members of Grateful Dead are regarded as the grandfathers of the jam band music style.
3. The Doors : With an intoxicating, genre-blending sound, provocative and uncompromising songs, and the mesmerizing power of singer Jim Morrison’s poetry and presence, The Doors had a transformative impact not only on popular music but on popular culture.
“In the beginning we were creating our music, ourselves, every night . . . starting with a few outlines, maybe a few words for a song. Sometimes we worked out in Venice, looking at the surf. We were together a lot and it was good times for all of us. Acid, sun, friends, the ocean, and poetry and music.” Jim Morrison
4. Pink Floyd : Pink Floyd were the architects of two major music movements—psychedelic space-rock and blues-based progressive rock—and became known for their biting political, social and emotional commentary.
5. Jimi Hendrix : Widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix pioneered the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. Hendrix’s innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion created a new musical form. Because he was unable to read or write music, it is nothing short of remarkable that Jimi Hendrix’s meteoric rise in the music took place in just four short years. His musical language continues to influence a host of modern musicians, from George Clinton to Miles Davis, and Steve Vai to Jonny Lang.
6. Tame Impala : Tame Impala make psychedelic hypno-groove melodic rock music. It’s intended for moving one’s body to, and it’s intended for keeping still and observing other forms of movement. It’s bombastic but it’s swirling, think of the shoulder bones of a giant striding feline creature through some kind of tunnel. If Tame Impala’s music reminds you of what you’d want to put on when you next visit your mind’s engine room then they’re happy. If not, whatever, it’s just music.
7. Shpongle : Shpongle is a psychedelic electronic music project from England that formed in 1996. The group includes Simon Posford (a.k.a. Hallucinogen) and Raja Ram (one of three in The Infinity Project). The duo are considered to be one of the progenitors of the psybient genre – a genre combining world music with psychedelic trance and ambient. Their musical style combines traditional music from all over the globe and vocals with contemporary western synthesizer-based psychedelic music. When asked to describe Shpongle’s music, Posford has responded that it is “like nothing you’ve ever heard before.”
8. Tipper : Tipper’s output includes strong hints of electro and idm. He is known for his interest in extreme bass frequencies, with his releases often including lengthy subbass test tones at the end. His ambient organic sounds blended with technologically borne beats and noises makes his music extremely psychedelic, this combined with exquisitely timed and cut scratching makes him one of the most complete electronic artists today, creating structures and textures that in some other contexts might be contrary and confusing, but fuse instead into a complex, harmonious and sometimes dark structure that continues to push the envelope of modern composition.
8. Glass Animals : The skilled genre-mashers in Oxford, England’s Glass Animals bring synth pop, indie, R&B, and hip-hop together in innovative and inviting ways. On 2014’s ZABA, Dave Bayley’s androgynous falsetto and surreal lyrics fit perfectly with the album’s hypnotic beats, rippling guitars, and aquatic synths, resulting in slightly alien yet alluring tracks like the certified platinum single “Gooey.” Glass Animals expanded their perspective on 2016’s Mercury Prize-nominated How to Be a Human Being, a set of artful character sketches that revealed new dimensions to their music as well as Bayley’s songwriting.
9. MGMT : MGMT is an American indie rock band co-founded in 2002 by two people, Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, in Middletown, Connecticut, US. The band’s musical style is characterized by a variety of pop and rock genres, including indie pop, psychedelic pop, neo-psychedelia, synth-pop, and electronic rock.