This is the dawning of the age of Aus Aquarius.Velvet Trip a couple of spaced out looking Australian dudes in long hair and even longer smocks. Songs that seem to start from the same branches of the tree as The Byrds did and fly to a place that is blissed out. Far out. Stoned. Immaculate.
This New Hippie thing can be a bit variable. Apart from the immediate fact that some of these people don't actually look that great. .It offers a lot of scope for chancers who've watched Easy Riders one too many times and not recognised that the words coming out of the mouths of the Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper characters don't actually sound all that great now. Even if they still look ok. Collectives taking their cue from photos or promos of Sly & The Family Stone and drawing the conclusion that 'We could be like that.' I'm not sure how to tell you this guys. That's Sly & The Family Stone.
. When approached with genuine inventive wit and most importantly the realisation that this needs to take us somewhere new, taking a Retro approach can result in thrilling achievement. Tame Impala are possibly the most immediate 'recent' examples of this. Even they've come across as slightly tired and lacking in inspiration of late.
Elsewhere, things can get pretty dire. I was rather taken aback by Brittany Howard's startling, but not in a good way, What Now last week. Sometimes New Hippie translates better as New Lazy. All gestures and third hand attitudes. No actual tunes. Just a bunch of afros and thai dai. and slightly oddly whiffy incense sticks.
This relentless Retroism almost a longing for Sixties experience has been going on for decades now.'Stone Roses. Lenny Kravitz. Primal Scream. I've listened to Velvet Trip's Harmony Blooms a couple of times, I'd say it's better as a background piece after a proper walk in sunshine, arriving home as the sun starts its descent while you make a cup of tea and enjoy a hot cross bun.. It's slightly soft and insubstantial on headphones.The jury remained out. Eventually I lost patience and put an old Air album on.
The phrase 'new hippie' was enough to put me off, I'm afraid. I have got a couple of retro suggestions, though, in David Nance & Mowed Sound (a bit Southern rock) and Guitar (a bit angular, 90s slacker rock). The latter's album is called Casting Spells on Turtlehead, in case the band name makes them hard to track down!
ReplyDeleteNice to have you back Darren, Will follow those leads. Hope things go OK your end. I was kind of intrigued by this Velvet Trip record. Then in the end decided it was a bit crap.
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