13. Dead MeadowDead Meadow
The name alone does it for me. It’s so evocative. The first thing I heard off this record was via the Super Furries. I think they’d supported the Furries in the States early on. Gruff told me, "You’ve got to hear this song, it’s called ‘Indian Bones’." The title was heavy enough – what the hell was the record going to sound like? This record is transcendental guitar music; super heavy, properly blistering. Maybe a record like this stretches the definition of psychedelia for some people, but I don’t think so. I think of Black Sabbath as an acid-folk band. Ozzy has one of the best folk voices ever. If that’s what you believe and it works for you, then that’s fine; it’s how I’ve experienced this music and it is why this list works for me. Psychedelia is otherly music, whatever the instrumentation, however heavy, however soft. This Dead Meadow record just happens to be super, super heavy.
