I've recently taken an interest in psychedelic rock and pop, but in particular, the melodic, fluffy, lighthearted pop sound that's intrigued me the most seems almost exclusive to psychedelic era Prince and the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour. Are/were there any other bands out there with that kind of sound?

Tell me you have listened to The Family?

For me it's all about adding strings to the mix.

Same reason I enjoy Bjork's Homogenic.

Maybe Stereolab? Maybe a reach...

http://www.youtube.com/wa...eature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/wa...re=related

I agree, I like that psychedelic pop sound, and it's hard to come by.

I would also strongly recommend Pet Sounds, but colour me surprised if you don't already own that ultimate masterpiece. Maybe you're looking for something newer as well.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...re=related
http://www.youtube.com/wa...scr_tDRsMs

Apples in Stereo also very Wilsonesque and a bit more recent.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...9T7NY_W3lQ
[Edited 3/28/10 11:17am]

savoirfaire said:

I can see that. Especially "Dots & Loops".

Piper at the gates of dawn

Their satanic majesties request

Dream Factory

paintsprayer said:

Piper at the Gates of Dawn is Sid Barrett at his craziest ...

But it seems a little "heavy" for this guy's tastes.

XTC's Skylarking and Oranges and Lemons

The Dukes Of Strathosphere (XTC in disguise) 25 O'clock or Psonic Psunspot.

Romeoblu said:

I want to buy XTC's "Oranges and Lemons". Just ordered a collection of their songs that features the two "hits" from there ("King For a Day"...a song I loved for years but wasn't sure who sang and "Mayor Of Simpleton", which I used to hear on Sirius 1st Wave).

World Party

various release (some more than others) by the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev. there's an entire alt psychedelic rock scene out there.

Dream Academy-Life In A Northern Town

errant said:

I don't have any Flaming Lips, but I have a lot of Mercury Rev. Some oddball stuff, certainly not what I would call light and fluffy.

I would also second the above posters suggestion on XTC.

savoirfaire said:

some of the lighter stuff on their later albums, especially the last 3 (All Is Dream, The Secret Migration and Snowflake Midnight) gives off an ATWIAD/Parade vibe. at least to me.

and when I heard Deserter's Songs the first time (in 1998, when Prince was in the middle of his New Plastic Soul years), I couldn't help but be a little sad. I could imagine a through-line in a parallel universe that could have taken him from Parde and the weirder '86-'88 experimental stuff (Crystal Ball, Dorothy Parker, Anna Stesia) to that album.