Psychedelic States: Illinois In The '60S Vol. 1 CD

27 track collection contains many songs that have never been released before. Features a load of Illinois psychedelic groups including Poother, Ultd., Children Of Darkness, Nervous System, The Untamed, The Todds, Mourning Daze, Intruders, Lord & The Flie

Gear Fab Records has continued to unearth some of the most obscure '60s psychedelic sides for their massive undertaking of issuing these records region by region, in this case, Illinois. It's a remarkable task, especially since so many relics from the psychedelic era have already been mined for the immensely popular Nuggets box sets, the Pebbles collections, and myriad other small-label collections, but even more of a feat is that the Psychedelic States: Illinois in the '60s, Vol. 1 collection is a truly enjoyable set of quality songs, not just the bottom of the barrel. Based on Gear Fab releasing three volumes of psych from Florida and two each from New York and Alabama, as well as sets from Texas and Georgia, it is clear that the label takes this massive undertaking very seriously, and with "Vol. 1" tagged onto this set, the implication that more will soon be available is not only astonishing but a call for celebration. Just the amount of material made available by the label alone is daunting, but Gear Fab makes these collections even more worthwhile by extensively researching the obscure artists, often tracking down the artists and conducting interviews for facts to include in the excellent liners. Psychedelic States: Illinois in the '60s, Vol. 1 is an essential addition for collectors of the psychedelic genre, and moreover draws a parallel from the underground music scenes scattered across the country in the '60s to the much more obtainable underground music scene of the '90s and 2000s, when the cost of making and pressing a record dropped dramatically, affording any neighborhood band a chance at documentation. How wonderfully unexpected that these complex and inspired sides were ever unearthed, let alone collected and once again made available to the public. ~ Gregory McIntosh