Another week, more great music out there in the Bandcamp universe. I’ve been busy writing Third Eye posts like a madman lately – I’ve got the fever! And I’ve been listening to some good stuff I think you may like.

This week’s shorter installment features hypnotic folk and desert blues from a mysterious French duo of musicians, a cosmic country epic from Nashville, and instrumental psychedelic jams from Croatia. Drop a comment with some psychedelic listening recommendations, and enjoy!

Psych Jams of the Week

Intersection by An Eagle in Your Mind

Ready for some hypnotic, psychedelic folk? Good, me, too. That’s what An Eagle in Your Mind is serving up. The French duo of musicians composes and records their music while on the roads of Europe and Africa, and I’ve found their new record, Intersection, to be a moody mix of songs good for late nights.

Intersection is their third full-length LP since 2017, distilling a magical blend of heavy percussion, hypnotic delays, synthesizer, and exotic drone. The music falls between the liminal spaces of desert blues, psych-rock, electronic music, and sacred music. It’s music for shamans, sorcerers, healers, witches, or just your average wanderlust or nomadic soul.

This folk duo is known for its exotic instrumentation, with sounds on their records coming from a guembri (an acoustic bass used by African healers), Indian harmonium, dreadnought guitar, Brazilian percussion, and more.

Overall, I enjoyed the Intersection album. The first track, Desert Land, sets the tone for the dark, mysterious atmospherics that carries it throughout. I especially like the smoky lead female vocals and the spiritual feel of the entire record. I recommend this one to fans of world music who also enjoy folk and roots music.

Hainin by Daliborovo Granje

Daliborovo Granje is a four-piece psychedelic/experimental/post-rock group from Međimurje county in Croatia that formed in 2014. Their name translates in English to The Branches of Dalibor, and they play instrumental rock influenced by “various world music melodies” combined into the psych rock genre.

I dug back in time (2020) for Hainin, the band’s second studio album, recorded in the winter of 2019. The album combines elements of Balkan folk music with twin guitars and even some trumpet playing over nine tracks and a little over 47 minutes of music.

Daliborovo Granje released a live album in January 2023 that’s nearly an hour and a half long if you’re interested in more from these Croatian rockers. The music reminds me of another European instrumental psych-rock act I love called Causa Sui. 

The jams are hard-rocking but add just enough softer textures and atmospherics to make it good to chill out to. And while the songs have the free-flowing feel of improvised jams, they also seemed tight and methodical enough to me to feel like there were plenty of progressive rock influences, too.

Mariposa Gold by Tommy and the Ohs

Anyone who reads this blog with any regularity knows that I am fond of roots music and “cosmic country.” I also live in the Nashville area of Tennessee, so that interest has been pushed into hyperdrive lately. Tommy and the Ohs are an alt-country/cosmic country band from my nearby Music City of Nashville.

Mariposa Gold was released in 2022, though I recently stumbled upon it. Thomas Oliverio is the “Tommy” of the band, the mastermind behind this record, and has worked in the music industry for a while, apparently. The label Perpetual Doom says this album was highly anticipated and seems to have had a good reception since it was released.

The record “takes a sharp turn into the psychedelic reaches of American roots music and the avant-garde,” and the result is a “wild trip through a lavish soundscape, a California of fantasy and heartbreak, where genres and traditions bleed together in the ‘big surreal.’” That’s a hell of a description!

If you like roots and country music that digs deep into psychedelia and experimentation, you will like Mariposa Gold. If you look at the Bandcamp notes, it’s evident that many people got together to make this record, with plenty of talented session musicians. 

All sorts of instruments are being used to create the soundscapes of the album – everything from mandolin to theremin to saxophone to the violin. It’s a pretty epic and ambitious record, and I hope to see more from Tommy and the Ohs soon. And being that I live near Nashville now, maybe I’ll get to see this wild act live.

It’s Bandcamp Friday, so you know what that means – head to the site, support some of these hard-working artists, and spread the news!