The distilling of olden psychedelia through other countries and cultures is a study in modern ethnomusicology. What is often credited as the genre born of Haight and Ashbury has been found out as a movement of music with roots 100 years deep, stretching across multiple genres and generations. French trio Odessey and Oracle, on the surface, seem to pay homage to one of psychedelia’s most prized releases from The Zombies, but the LP version of their latest only does so in its vintage production and packaging. Otherwise, the music within — while taking its cues from the technicolor genre — is far more orchestral and less trippy. Conforming more to Baroque pop or chanson, …And the Casiotone Orchestra is a deeper delve into how France has combined its musical roots with those of a darker time in the United States and Britain. Ultimately, the end result is too bright to be considered psychedelic on the surface. But keep listening and the layered electronics and playful vocals begin to bend and warp, and with them so do the pop melodies. It never ventures toward Manson, but it does go half-Dennis Wilson.
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