The Sound of Japanese Psychedelic Rock

“The Sound of Japanese Psychedelic Rock” explores the vast and varied terrain of Japan’s psychedelic underground, tracing sounds from fuzz-drenched garage freakouts to dense, experimental drone. It all kicks off with High Rise’s aggressive, speed-driven “Monster A Go Go,” tearing through the fuzz-fronted chaos that helped define Tokyo's acid-drenched sound of the '80s. From there, the playlist winds through the ethereal dreamscapes of Nagisa Ni Te and Suishou no Fune, then dives headlong into the deep noise meditations of Keiji Haino’s Fushitsusha and the relentless freak-outs of Acid Mothers Temple in both original and Cosmic Inferno form.

Breaks in the intensity come via the more melodic terrain of artists like Sundays & Cybele and Meikyu’s cinematic touch from TEKE::TEKE. OOIOO’s offbeat, polyrhythmic grooves and Afrirampo’s anarchic energy offer experimental takes that stretch the boundaries of psych. The playlist taps into everything from surf-influenced licks (The Surf Coasters) to pulsing krautrock echoes (Minami Deutsch), noise-laced jam sessions (Dhidalah, DMBQ), and moments of serene psychedelia via Hisato Higuchi and Ché-SHIZU. It’s a longform dive into a scene that’s as expansive as it is unpredictable.