There’s drug music and then there’s drug music. One of them is a transcendent thing with incense and the waning and waxing of the moon and candles, and the other is some dude smoking a joint and noodling on his guitar. Herbcraft makes the former. It’s sacred music, but it doesn’t overdo the vibe that generally comes with that tag. It’s not precious or overly obsessed with itself, instead “Fleet Guru” is a dark opening to a pretty dark record, but it’s not going to bring you to a depressing place so much as just suck you in and make you weirdly exhausted—in a good way! Ashram to the Stars comes out June 14th on Hello Sunshine, which is a newish, awesome branch of Jeremy Earl’s Woodsist label.
Download: Herbcraft, “Fleet Guru”
This is just good because it’s mentioned by the Woodsists. Nothing against that stoned-guy-noodeling-on-his-guitar, but is it really that special? For me it’s boring and I know there is some better ‘drug music’ out there. But it’s not on Woodsist, so no one will care about it.
The way I judge music like this is how I respond to it when I’m listening. Sometimes I get bored with this stuff and have to switch it off, that hasn’t happened yet with this record, which, for me, makes it special. That said, leave some recommendations in the comments. I’d love to get deeper than I already am into weird guitar noodling.