Over the past few years Eskimo Recordings have invited some of the best crate diggers around to curate compilations that don’t just reveal the hidden contents of their record bags but something about themselves too. Now, following in the footsteps of the likes of Bill Brewster and Psychemagik, producer, musician, DJ, writer and more, Richard Norris, takes us on a globetrotting psychedelic journey with the epic 42 track compilation, Mr Norris Changes Brains released on 23 May 2025.
A Psychedelic Odyssey: Richard Norris Curates Global Gems
For over forty years Richard has played a part in many of the UK’s most important music subcultures. Whether sharing stages with the likes of Tracey Thorn as a pubescent punk in St. Albans, or running freakbeat nights in Liverpool and working at the pioneering psychedelic label Bam Caruso, co-producing the UK’s first acid house inspired LP with Throbbing Gristle’s Genesis P. Orridge or riding the wave of creativity that the second summer of love unleashed all the way to the Top of the Pop studios as The Grid, Richard’s career has continually seen him work to expand his own musical horizons. He also strives to broaden the public’s musical perspectives. Most recently, he explored his diverse career as a musical tastemaker in his critically acclaimed autobiography Strange Things are Happening (White Rabbit).
Beyond the Wizards Sleeve Influence Runs Deep
Mr Norris Changes Brains is the most recent part of his mercurial career, drawing inspiration from his post 2006 adventures as one half of Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve, alongside Trash’s Erol Alkan. This compilation shows how a more connected world has blown the dust off a paradoxically sometimes straightjacketed scene. The result is a dizzyingly wide-ranging collection that explores the further out there reaches of worldwide psychedelia and dancefloor mayhem.
“A lot of these tracks are fairly recent discoveries, things that I’ve discovered from around the time I started working with Erol and going right up to today. Whether that’s from going out to play and finding new records in places like Istanbul or just connecting with people online from all around the world. Psych can sometimes be a sort of narrow-minded field, with everything having to sit in its specific niche, but more and more people are open to new sounds and that’s allowed for a much broader selection.”
Richard Norris
That freedom sees Mr Norris Changes Brains take us on a trip around the world and through time, with tracks from the 1960s rubbing up against recent releases. We journey through the US accompanied by heady fuzz monsters like Evolmia by Boston’s Banchee and the lysergic rhythms of Forest of Black by Oakland’s The Dirty Filthy Mud. Elsewhere we encounter mind-expanding sounds that have emerged everywhere from the valleys of Wales to sweaty Parisian basements, from underground Turkish clubs to Italian film scores and beyond.
Compilation Bridges Generations of Psych Fans
There’s obscurities aplenty, of course. Many of these recordings have never been officially available outside of their original, often hard to find, releases with some, like Thumbquake and Earthscrew by A to Austr and DAVE’s In My Mind, culled from punishingly rare private press albums. These rarities are accompanied by hidden gems, often overlooked B-sides to otherwise big hits with the likes of Rare Bird’s Hammond Organ stomper Devils High Concern or Iron Butterfly’s Iron Butterfly Theme duly making an appearance.
Despite their disparate origins, what unites these tracks is their infectious danceability. Mr Norris may change your brains but he will also move your feet. Whether it’s killer guitar riffs, oscillating synths, floor shaking drums or soulful Hammond organs, these are all cuts that get people dancing everywhere from festival tents to underground clubs
“With a lot of these tracks there’s a kind of fun element in them. It’s still psychedelia, but they’ve also got these solid, funky grooves. They sound phenomenal on the dancefloor and as much as these records might excite old psych heads, this compilation is also for a new generation out there who might have never heard anything like this before and, just like when I was 18 and heard The 13th Floor Elevators for the first time, think ‘Oh, my God, what on earth is this and more importantly what else is out there?’”
PRE-ORDER HERE
RELEASE DETAILS
Label: Eskimo Recordings
Format: 3x 2LP // 3CD // Digital
Cat no: 541416668181
Release date: May 23rd 2025
SOCIAL MEDIA
Website of Eskimo Recordings
Eskimo Recordings on Instagram
Eskimo Recordings on Bandcamp
TRACKLIST
- Chapter 1
- 1. Banchee – Evolmia
2. The Dirty Filthy Mud – Forest Of Black
3. Wool – Love, Love, Love, Love, Love
4. Spencer Mac – Ka-Ka Baya Mow-Mow (Sing A Little Love Song)
5. Trifle – One Way Glass
6. Brainticket – Black Sand
7. Emma De Angelis – Trip
8. Blonde On Blonde – Castles In The Sky
9. The Braen’s Machine – Fall Out
10. Eddie Warner & Roger Roger – Shut Up
11. Köy Kardeşler – Shürük
12. The Children – Beautiful
13. Moebius & Beerbohm – Doppelschnitt (Richard Norris Edit)
14. Demon Fuzz – Past, Present & Future - Chapter 2
- 1. Iron Butterfly – Iron Butterfly Theme
2. Rare Bird – Devil’s High Concern
3. Paul St. John – Flying Saucers Have Landed
4. Chris Hodge – We’re On Our Way (2010 Remaster)
5. Juantrip – Shadows
6. 62 Miles From Space – Time Shifts
7. White Trash – Road To Nowhere
8. Blue Phantom – Diodo
9. The Mannheim Rock Ensemble – Hungarian Dances
10. Limousine – Barriers
11. Ugo Busoni – Rullio
12. Bernard Estardy – Cha Tatch Ka
13. Kate – Shout It
14. Dyna-Might – Need You
15. La Metamorfosi – Scusa, Eh! - Chapter 3
- 1. André Brasseur – Saturnus
2. Contessa Vittoria – Can We Stay Together
3. Klaus Weiss – Time Signals
4. Brainstorm – You Are Whats Gonna Make It Last
5. Paladin – The Fakir
6. A To Austr – Thumbquake & Earthscrew
7. DAVE – In My Mind
8. Relatively Clean Rivers – Journey Through The Valley Of O
9. The Advancement – Stone Folk
10. The Pretty Things – The Sun
11. Poll – Psachno Na Vro To Filo Mou
12. Higamos Hogamos – Moto Neurono
13. The Invisible Girls – Huddersfield Wastes
LIVE DATES
- 24.4.25 – Richard Norris presents Oracle Sound live AV set, The Old Market, Hove, as special guest of Carbon Based Lifeforms
- 26.4.25 – Beyond The Wizards Sleeve DJ set, The Golden Lion, Todmorden
- 23.6.25 – Richard Norris live AV set, special guest of The The, Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
- 12.7.25 – Oracle Sound live AV set, Labyrinth Festival, Tofte Manor Bedford, w/Sasha and Digweed
- 23.8.25 – DJ set, The Wake Festival, Loxwood, West Sussex
- 24.8.25 – DJ set, Barley Mow, nr Wilmington, East Sussex
- 12.9.25 – DJ set, All Things Fungi Festival, East Grinstead, West Sussex
- 4.10.25 – Richard Norris presents Oracle Sound live AV set with Plaid, Castle and Falcon, Birmingham
ABOUT RICHARD NORRIS
Richard Norris has been pushing the envelope sonically for many years. From co-producing the seminal ‘Jack the Tab’ album, via his work with Soft Cell’s Dave Ball in The Grid and Erol Alkan in Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, alongside his many collaborations, solo albums, productions and remixes, Richard has been deeply connected with the spirit of psychedelia and dance since before Acid House.
After publishing his music memoir ‘Strange Things Are Happening’ (White Rabbit) in 2024, Richard is currently working on a host of new projects. These include Oracle Sound, his dub series of releases, Music For Healing, his monthly deep listening ambient work, Hypno, his new electronic dance label, a collaborative project with Mark Barrott for Anjuna Chill and DJ sets as Beyond The Wizards Sleeve. A live Oracle Sound AV show is currently touring, and The Grid return shortly, via a new deal with BMG that will see a ‘Best Of’ compilation, a brand new album and live shows.
Written by: Kasimiira Kontio
Instagram: @kontiocomms
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