PSYCHEDELIC DREAM (Columbia):: No, it’s not the eagerly-awaited Hooked On Drugs V. 2, but it’ll do for a cosmic chuckle or two. Unearthed from under a mound of moldy mushrooms in Columbia’s vaults, this ’60s compilation unfortunately makes no distinction whatsoever between the bands with original styles (like the Byrds or Spirit) and those who just day-glowed along for the magic carpet ride (Kak, July, the Peanut Butter Conspiracy). Of course if you’re buying this album mostly for the yuks, you’ll be coming back to the hilarious hokum of Aorta more often than the “good stuff’ as most of this does sound pretty dated anyway. One' notable exception, though, is “Keep Your Mind Open” by David Lindley’s old band, Kaleidoscope^ whose use of Middle Eastern scales and war noises could just as well have been inspired by today’s headlines as those of 15 years ago (or tomorrow’s). M.D.

NOVEMBER GROUP (Modern Method):: Fast, electronic keyboards and electric guitar rhythms, quick female vocals colored with quasi-East European distancing, and lyrics parody-heavy with socialist-chic concepts like “Popular Front” and “Homeland.” In short, you’ve heard many of these elements in various other new performers over the past five years, but the November Group’s rushed amalgam of all those factory-outlet hipnesses is more spirited than most. “Really rocks out!”—like we useta say when art was still another country. (Modern Method, 268 Newbury St., Boston, MA 02116.) R.R.