Psych folk or Psychedelic folk is a music genre which began through the blending of folk music and psychedelic music in the 1960s. It is generally acoustic or mixes acoustic instrumentation with other influences, usually something weird or atmospheric. Often chanting or world music influences are used.
Early examples of psych folk bands were Syd Barrett, The Incredible String Band, and Tyrannosaurus Rex .
It has continued to be performed up to the present day. Other notable psych folk artists are Robyn Hitchcock and Current 93.
The latest generation of psych folk artists in the early 2000s include Animal Collective , Faun Fables, Sun City Girls, Moldy Peaches, Dame Darcy, and Devandra Banhart.
Other types of folk that incorporate world music, strange sounds and trippy lyrics include psych folk's scarier cousins, apocalyptic folk and pagan folk . While these genres are similar, the latter two appeal more to followers of gothic music, while psych folk is more favoured by hippies and psychedelic music followers in general. This relationship could be considered very analogous to the similar subject matter but different treatments of fantastical elements in fantasy fiction (psych folk) and horror fiction (apocalyptic folk).
However, the two clearly overlap -- prominent apocalyptic folk artist Michael Gira named his newest project Angels of Light after San Francisco hippy Hibiscus's transcendental theatre group of the same name, and is responsible for guiding the career of new psych folk rising star, Devendra Banhart.
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