Shamanarchy in the UK

Released

This 1992 collection is the sine qua non of hippie rave culture. Its messy collage artwork, its Terrence McKenna quotes, its aristocratic voiceovers about cosmic consciousness, its scrappy rapping about being “a savage,” its ambient drift and clunky techno pumping, its digeridoos: every single part of it captures the hippie-punk-tribal-techno-optimist weirdness of the squats and free raves of the early nineties. There are big names like Mixmaster Morris, Eat Static, Spiral Tribe, Psychic TV and plenty of mysterious oddballs who disappeared back into the ether. It is by turns gorgeous, ecstatic, shambolic and preposterous — but there is absolutely no doubting its total commitment to all-out psychedelic tomfoolery.

Joe Muggs