Ghost Ride

Psychedelic, genre-blending art pop (aka a happy mind fuck). Velvety male vocals either solo or in odd harmonies and sometimes complex arrangements. Mostly acoustic instrumentation that keeps morphing in bizarre ways. Highly original, each song fascinating, but not at the expense of heart. Local (SF) band led by Tim Cohen. Home-recored onto analog 8 track. Play with Lone Pigeon, The Vells, Animal Collective, Ariel Pink, Akron/Family, Brian Wilson, Fiery Furnaces, Eels. Whole album kills! Start with 4, 7, 9. FCC clean.

1. Hip-hop vibe with prog jazz instrumentation. Deliciously off-kilter mix. Insistently rhythic. Octave harmony vocals, slow fade at end.
2. Slightly demented psych lullaby turns into surreal euro-folk with heavy breathing. Weird glitchy start. Some ominous, unison harmony vocals. Fades.
3. Folk song morphed into trippy filmic ballad. Starts with guitar arpeggio, then heavily echoed vocals. Ends with a bit of percussion.
==> 4. Happy dark pop, a la Eels. A theme song of sorts (includes the phrase “black fiction). Angst-filled, drugged out vocals. Starts with synthetic percussion.
5. Psychedelic folk with lost-love theme. “Gonna throw myself into the sea.” Starts with acoustic guitar, finger snaps, and electronic whine. Gets weird and dark at end. Ends cold.
6. Retro ’60s melody, but insistently percussive. Nasal male vocals. Morphs into weird Indian/trip-hop chimera. Starts cold. Slow fade at end, then a few secs of silence.
==> 7. Falsetto, R&B vocals plus hip-hop percussion... and synthetic steel drums and fluttery electronics. Starts with heavy, solo bass guitar for first 20 secs. Slow fade, then a few secs of silence.
8. Trip-Appalachian. Synthetic jaw harp, real harmonica, and banjo (real or synthetic... I can’t tell). Octave vocal harmony. “Listen to the poor man sing/Music is a terrible thing.” Starts cold. Slow fade with about 7 secs of silence at end.
==> 9. Mid-fast & romantic, with percussion mixed low. Falsetto vocals and dense instrumentation like Ariel Pink. Starts cold. Gets very echoey at end... and stops cold, mid-echo.
10. Ariel Pink cum Beach Boys. Falsetto vocals. Dense & lush & romantic. “I believe in miracles.” Starts quietly. Instrumental at end, then slow fade.
11. Singer/songwriter ballad. Poignant denouement. “Dead people are all the same. They think that life was only a game.” Starts with acoustic guitar. Full (acoustic) band comes in with a minute to go. Guitar note fades at end, then singer stands up.