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Captain Beefheart, aka Don Van Vliet – musician, artist, visionary.
Song of the Day: With the recent passing of The Fall's Mark E Smith, and all the songs, tributes and stories that have followed, it now seems only appropriate to follow up with music Smith loved by one of his major influences
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Big Demis and friends: Aphrodite's Child back in the day
Song of the Day: Why the hell not? Let's delve deep into darkest psychedelia and prog-rock, do deep in fact, that we go Greek, in the company of Demis Roussos before be became a tent-wearing behemoth solo artist, and Vangelis Papathanassiou before his film score fame
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Frank Zappa: masterful, mischievous invention
Song of the Day: How could there a more joyful, eccentric, evocative and infinitely inventive opener than this, on album described by Zappa as "a movie for the ears" – 1969's Hot Rats?
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Few people do Christmas like Sufjan Stevens
Song of the Day: Christmas is a time of tradition and cliches, but if there's one artist who manages to address the festive season with full enthusiasm but in a altogether alternative manner, it is the Detroit-born, Brooklyn-based singer
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Unstoppable … !!! work up a sweat on stage
Song of the Day: It is hard to find any material more energising than the music of the New York dance-postpunk band originally from Sacramento, California, who have been delivering blistering live performances for more than 20 years
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Grace Slick with Jefferson Airplane
Song of the Day: After yesterday's Frightened Rabbit, it was simply too tempting to follow down this particular hole in this wondrous psychedelic number written and sung by Grace Slick
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Deerhoof
Song of the Day: Our continuing theme certainly behooves a song or two from this wonderfully quirky band hailing from San Francisco
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Chrome Hoof. From another time, another place …
Song of the Day: Another selection made on the hoof, and today we're really pushing to the outer reaches of experimentation with the strange fusion of dance, psychedelia, prog-rock, jazz and electronica provided by London group from their second album, 2007's Pre-Emptive False Rapture
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Look out, it's the Hare and Hoofe …
Song of the Day: Scampering on from yesterday's Beth Jean Houghton and her Hooves, let's indulge in a bit of Sunday silliness in the beautiful shape of more fast moving animal feet, this Folkestone-formed five-piece
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Sweden's Goat. They'll take you somewhere new …
Song of the Day: From yesterday's The Mountain Goat's to plain old Goat today, except there's nothing plain about this extraordinary psychedelic band from Sweden, who are taking music forward, back and to another place altogether
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Shuggie Otis in his days as teenage prodigy. He is now 63 and still going strong
Song of the Day: A psychedelic soul classic from Shuggie, aka Johnny Alexander Veliotes Jr, the California singer-songwriter from his 1971 album Freedom Flight, which 1977 became a funk hit produced by Quincy Jones
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Multi-dimensional life: from Unknown Mortal Orchestra's Multi-Love video
Song of the Day: From yesterday's Unknown by Clem Snide to the title track to the third 2015 album by New Zealand-US band started and fronted by Ruban Nielson. Multi-layered and uncategorisable, this prog-rock, pop and psychedelia work concerns a tricky love triangle which turns into a polyamorous situation
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Carla dal Forno
Song of the Day: Sculptured, sparse, dark and melancholic, this title track is from a new four-song EP by the London-based Australian artist who has also worked in Berlin. The title is nod to Einstürzende Neubauten, but here day becomes night, a place of refuge, glissando bass and brittle effects, but also fear and fragile emotion, and echoes of Massive Attack's Protection
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Foxygen
Song of the Day: Particularly known for their theatrical, extravagant performances, the Californian duo of Jonathan Rado and Sam France can sound, as on these tracks, like a throwback to early-70s hippy psychedelia or stage musicals, but these are some of many styles they can play with
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Nadine Shah
Song of the Day: With a rich, full voice and truly original sound, from one of the best albums of 2017, two powerful songs from the intelligent South Tyneside singer-songwriter with a Norwegian/Pakistani heritage. This cuts deep into one of the burning issues of modern times, the plight and treatment of war-torn immigrants in the UK, and the divisions in our state. Think PJ Harvey and Anna Calvi with a new, contemporary, edgy twist
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Little Barrie, featuring Virgil Howe, left, on drums
Song of the Day: A tribute after the shock passing of the extremely likeable and vivacious drummer Virgil Howe, son of Steve Howe from Yes. His band is best known for the theme tune to the TV series Better Call Saul, but let's hear some examples of Virgil's skills and also the surf-style psychedelia rock of this great band – from their 2011 album King of the Waves
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Can with bass player and co-founder Holger Czukay (seated).
Song of the Day: As a tribute to krautrock pioneer, bass player and brilliant eccentric band co-founder Holger Czukay, who has died aged 79, two of band's best known songs that exemplifies that highly influential style of repetition and momentum, from 1972's Ege Bamyasi and 1971's Tago Mago
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He's Beck.
Song of the Day: A bittersweet, but upbeat return from the evergreen American singer-songwriter. From the upcoming album Colors, this first single comes across like a psychedelic pop cry for help – how can society retain its highs between lows?
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