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Various Artists - A Heavy Dose of Lyte Psych (1969)

Track listing:
  1. [Untitled Track] 0:25
  2. It's Love Misty Wizards 2:09
  3. Lady Margaret Capes Of Good Hopes 2:39
  4. Land of Diana Freeborne 2:58
  5. The Rake ID 2:02
  6. Flowers Tea Company 3:18
  7. P.S. (Prognosis Stegnoisis) Truth 3:11
  8. Baby Please Don't Go Ballroom 3:07
  9. Haight Ashbury Teddy & His Patches 2:52
  10. Evolution Picture 4:23
  11. It Just Won't Be That Way The Gurus 2:21
  12. Good Good Man Mongrels 2:19
  13. More Than Me The Wild Flowers 2:58
  14. This World (Is Closing in on Me) Chris Carpenter 2:50
  15. Brink of Death Childe Harold 3:30
  16. Fly J.K. & Co. 4:40
  17. A Hundred Days & Nights Masada 4:37
  18. And Then Crescent Six 2:44
  19. Look Straight Through You Attic Sound 2:21
  20. Thoughts of Yesterday White Room 2:06
  21. Fifth Class Mail The Chimps 4:26
  22. Waterfalls Chris Carpenter 2:11
  23. The Far Side of Your Mind The Fourth Way 2:51
  24. [Untitled Track] 7:46
  25. Venus 2038 Rock Revival 2:30

Notes

US 1965-69

"Lyte" begins with a 25 second "bonus track" that is basically silence slowly building into a very faint tone that empties off into the second track. I don't get it. Oh well. You know what I DO get? A lot of great little psych tunes with strong pop sensibilities that don't skimp on the trip-factor. Misty Wizards' "It's Love" rides on wonderful sitars and jangly clean electric guitars for an eastern meditational sound. Stretch the range-measure from there to the nearly structureless acid trip imagery of The Chimps' "Fifth Class Mail," which echoes off the walls like the sounds of medication time at the asylum, and you'll have a fair idea of what to expect from "Lyte." There are some strays here, too, mostly strange tracks attributed to no one in particular and presumably used as backing for other projects. Again, this is some of the trippiest stuff.

This is quality product for those interested in obscure late 60's psychedelic music -- great packaging, informative liner notes, and (most importantly) uniformly good material from the various groups. Some highlights: a proto-techno rethinking of the blues classic "Baby please don't go" by Ballroom, Chris Carpenter's insane "This world is closing in on me," JK & Co.'s achingly beautiful "Fly," wanna-Beatles Wildflowers' "More than me," and The Fourth Way's "The far side of your mind," which was described by someone as sounding like soundtrack music from Barbarella. Cool.