Tireless crate digger Egon Alapatt of Stones Throw reissue imprint Now Again is damn near peerless when it comes to shining a spotlight on obscure and misplaced funk, but for Forge Your Own Chains: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads And Dirges 1968-1974, he turns his ears to psych for the first time, unearthing 15 acid-damaged gems that span continents and cross genres. Egon's concept of psych comes from the "anything goes" attitude of a DJ looking for the perfect beat, which means this comp makes room for everything from flute-soaked sunrise folk (Connecticut's D.R. Hooker), to the resolutely funky (American army band East Of Underground), to reverb-y love ballads (Thailand's T. Zchiew & the Johnny), to blown out, hyperkinetic garage rock (Colombian dervishes Ana Y Jaime). Cutting a much wider swath than his regional funk comps, Egon manages to find common, trippy ground between Korean pop stars, Swedish acid-jammers and mysterious American bands like Top Drawer who simply vanished into oblivion. However, the album's highlights both come from Nigeria: The pretzel-like grooves of The Strangers steering the droning "Two Make A Pair"; and Ofege, whose warm 1973 ballad "It's Not Easy" is an irresistible swirl of "Hey Jude" and "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'."