h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Pink Floyd? Really? Pink Floyd?

Now, Pink Floyd I can cope with. It's just that in my experience, stoners (understandably) tend to favour music in which nothing urgent or exciting happens, and as I'm a superannuated punk, that doesn't impress me much. The stoners of my generation (I'm 41) tended to go for what was, as far as I was concerned, deeply tedious prog-rock stuff such as Gong, Yes or Steve Hillage. I blamed the dope for convincing them that endless noodling solos and cosmic-nonsense lyrics were actually fascinating and profound.

Interestingly, Hillage has since moved into ambient-dance electronica with his band System 7, and I suspect that a lot of the hippies may have followed him. Ambient or trance music is obviously an ideal stoner soundtrack. Nothing happens that might jolt a thoroughly-mellowed out listener from their stupor.

Of course, in choosing any kind of electronica, the young stoners are probably more fashionable than me, with my Radiohead, PJ Harvey, REM and Pulp records. But at least I'm alert enough to notice when the CD ends!

I too was part of the stoner generation. But I didn't smoke dope till college in 1978. Discovered old jazz and gave up the weed in 1980. Now I listen to those CD's they advertise on TV like Box Car Willy and Anne Murry Christmas music.