'Psyche' Music @ the SXSW Fest

Upon returning from Austin, Tx. I thought I'd talk a little about what I heard and saw ...

     ... and now for a word about our sponsor , 'Psyche' Music ; not that psyche stuff was bank-rolling
the events ; that would be all the corporations , bussiness' and record co.s' that dumped buckets of money on this liberal , south-western college , scenic 'American' stage but it was everywhere .
   It seems that the wagon many have hitched their hopes to is a throw-back to the late '60's/ early '70's,
that was characterized by the blarring electric guitars , fully amped to express the hightened sense of
the psychedelic experience . Wah-wahs , feedback , reverb , distortion and perhaps a slight disreguard
for proper tuning are back in vougue only with a little less reckless abandon , a little more tastefully
presented .  Not that the 'psyche' scene has been ignored by the burgeoning rock world only now it
seems to have expanded to include nearly all musical genres .  African-beat , Country-rock, Folk,Funk,
Rap , Reggae , even Pop , which to my mind is no longer pop when the guitar solos play too loudly or
too long over the smooth vocals of innocuous love songs . But there it was , pop styled songs from
Brazil , Japan, New York and beyond , all wrapped up with the sustain and wild ramblings of brash ,
lead guitars .  As I said before though , it's a designed release , as if the various musicians know where
the line is for their particular style and whether it be to compliment the tobacco-chewen' twang of
lonely cowboys or the dangerous , urban machine-gun word smithing of rappers most seem only will-
ing to wade in the shallows , never to fully submerge themselves else they'd lose their particular claim
to idetity .   Perhaps Tim Leary was right after all , about psychedelics being      the great equalizers .
    Of course some are more equal than others and I felt that the psyche influence works better with some
sounds than others . I liked the Afro-rythmn stuff  as it seems to be open enough to the seeming improv
of screaming guitars , perhaps also affording a sturdier framework for the looser guitar sounds to
bounce off of . Also , the direction of Country-rock seems headed towards a successful marriage of
acid-soaked slide guitar fused with dusty, working class , toe-tappen' tunes . This can be seen as a
continuation of the early Hawaiian lap steel or later Les Paul stylings that revolutionized the tradional
ballads and waltzes of early country music. Although this current psyche influence stems more from
the Roger Mcguinn school or Johnny Winter than any debt owed to Chet Atkins.
   I don't want to give the impression that all heard at SXSW was 'psyche' music , in fact there is much
experimntation going on of which this is only a part . I was particularly interested in the quality of
plain ol' folky type singer song writers , but it has to be said that the greater music world is entering
a much more complex phase where hyphens are the norm as people absorb and try to comunicate
with an audience that is expanding while the globe shrinks .
    I wonder about the people running these record companies and if they're standing there scratchen'
their well coifed heads, 'cause I doubt most of them would know a hit sound unless it reached up and
bit them in the wallet . And what are the various musicians thinking ?  Do they feel the 'psyche' thing
is a real part of what they're doing or merely another tool in their kit bag to reach a hipper audience?
    I suppose it is an evolution of sorts , much of it tied to the hopeful sounds of youth , living for the
moment ; and the hope of the industry that these retro-hybrids will be seen as 'cool' and sell .
As I recall , not many had the prescience vision to hear Dylan at Newport in '64 and know what was
gonna happen next.
    All in all I'd say it's a rich, curious and creative time in the larger music world . And who knew ?
That 'psyche' music would come back so pervasively and carry the day ?