Tonight I’ll be listening to Aske Skat and his Psychedelic Country Band’s album, Riding Silver Mind (2020). I saw this album on The Sonic Dawn’s Instagram story earlier today, and wanted to listen right away. I’ve been listening to The Sonic Dawn daily since listening to their album, Enter the Mirage (2020), a few days ago. One of the most fun parts about listening to this album is that I cannot a lick of information about the band, save for this album on YouTube and what seems to be a blurb about the band from a Danish blog that doesn’t seem to translate well with Google Translate. Needless to say, I’m pretty excited to give this album a listen. With that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Doctor Morphine” begins with some super earthy acoustic guitar that seems to walk on the folksy side of the line between country and folk at first. Oh wow, I really dig the distant, sort of tinny electric guitar, which seems to signal a new movement in the soundscape. Holy smokes, the instrumentation gets kind of spacey for a moment, and then the harmonica comes in and amplifies the psychedelia to a whole new level. Oh wow, the tune seems to return to the beginning movement of the song, and gradually moves back into the far-out spacey sound with a very natural ease. Holy smokes, the harmonica combined with the reversed guitar effects is awesome, like if Bob Dylan and John Lennon made a song together or something. Holy smokes, the outro guitar licks are awesome, especially when backed by the swirling organs in the background. Wow, great track, and I’m excited to hear more.
“Country Home” starts out with such an earthy, folksy, homely acoustic guitar part, you can’t help but be put at ease. Holy smokes, some twangy acoustic slide guitar comes in and adds some super groovy acoustic country sounds. Oh wow, the guitar parts seem to gradually get more intricate as they seemingly intertwine in a super flavorful and natural, earthy manner. This tune almost reminds me of the Grateful Dead from the year 1970 with the mixture of acoustic, folk, country, and psychedelic flavors, though with a bit of a mixture of someone like Gram Parsons thrown in. Awesome tune.
Holy smokes, “Picked Up Gold” begins with some super earthy folk acoustic guitar flavors, and is soon joined by what almost seems to be a melodic breeze that comes from what seems to be a mellotron in the background, or something similar. Oh wow, the combination of the banjo and acoustic guitars is awesome. Holy smokes, it sounds like there’s some bass notes from a piano in the track as well. Holy smokes, there’s so much flavor in the gentle movements of the instrumentation. Oh wow, there seems to be a fiddle of sorts that comes in as the piano starts grooving. Holy smokes, this tune has changed to something a lot more overtly psychedelic with a raga-inflected percussion and some droning swirls of an organ in the background. Holy smokes, this is sweet. Awesome track.
“So Sad (feat. Sonny Adler)” starts out with what sounds to be an ominous breeze for a moment, before a somewhat solemn-sounding acoustic guitar part enters the soundscape, which is joined soon thereafter by a piano that seems to echo that same sentiment. Holy smokes, I’m digging this track. I found the band’s Bandcamp, which only gives the information that the band is from Copenhagen, Denmark, and the album was released December 21st, 2020. Holy smokes, a deep, folksy voice has entered the soundscape, with what might be an American accent of sorts. Oh wow, the music has evolved to a sort of serene state of sorts as a melty electric guitar comes into the soundscape just as things begin to intensify a bit. Wow, great tune.
“Same Town” starts out with a sort of bluesy, folksy harmonica that might remind you of Bob Dylan, and is eventually joined by a super flavorful folksy acoustic guitar line. Oh wow, this track reminds me a lot of The Brian Jonestown Massacre at the moment. Holy smokes, the acoustic guitar parts on the side of the soundscape seem to gently pluck a ghostly melody into the soundscape, which matches the flavor of the vocals quite nicely. Holy smokes, the electric guitar comes in with a bit of distortion and seems to have a bit of John Mayer slow bluesy flavor to it that I’m really digging. Holy smokes, this track is sweet. Oh wow, the music has gradually evolved into a flowing jam of sorts, with different electric guitar parts coming in and out of the soundscape and a harmonica that seems to fade in as the jam intensifies. Holy smokes, this tune is super flavorful. Oh wow, the electric organs starts swirling around in the background. I wish this band offered the album on vinyl, because I definitely would like to get this album on vinyl. Wow, awesome track.
“Moonboy” begins with a sort of grooving acoustic guitar line that feels a bit uptempo from the previous track, and almost reminds me a bit of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the intro. Holy smokes, the electric guitar comes into the soundscape and brings the mood of the tune into more overtly psychedelic territory, as the vocal performance reminds me of the tenor vocals of Fred Neil with the delivery. Holy smokes, there are some super interesting reverberations of different keyboard and electric guitar sounds that seem to take the tune into spacey territory, while the steady acoustic guitar progression seems to ground the tune to some semblance of reality. Holy smokes, the bass guitar comes in for a solo that has a jazz-like sound mixed with a groovy easy-going psychedelic soft rock sound of sorts. Wow, great tune.
Oh wow, “Pray up to the Sky” begins with some sort of eerie effects and guitar as though you’re hearing a cosmic wind as you walk through the southern countryside and stare at the horizon of the stars and a mountaintop in the distance. Oh wow, the harmonica comes in with some super groovy folksy flavor that seems to signal the coming of the vocals and other instrumentation. Holy smokes, it sounds like there’s some pedal steel guitar with a flavor distortion and mixing that paints a psychedelic sky of sorts into the soundscape. Wow, I’m really digging the tune. The soundscape almost reminds me of a mixture of Bob Dylan from 1969-1970 and the Grateful Dead from about 1970-1971, with a bit of the darkness of The Doors mixed in. Oh wow, I’m also reminded of The Brian Jonestown Massacre as well with the acoustic guitar chord progression in the background that seems to keep the tune grounded. Oh wow, the track ends with a sort of eerie, spacey, psychedelic note that I really dig. Wow, great track and a great way to end the album.
Holy smokes, this album is awesome. I’d buy it on vinyl right now if it were available. The mixture of country, folk, and psychedelic flavors reminded me a lot of my favorite artists, with a strange combination of Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead being something I kept returning to as I listened. Plus there were plenty of other flavors from groups like The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and even The Doors at times. I really enjoyed this album. If you’re into psychedelic country and psychedelic folk, I would recommend checking out this album. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I sincerely hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A