Sleepwalker

 

A couple of weeks ago I featured the new release by Psychic Ill at this place. It was not really a new album because it was the start of a new series of releases featuring bands playing on live at Austin Psych Fest (or Levitation as it was named later). This event started as a one day festival back in 2008 and expanded to a tree day event the following year. This series captures key moments in psychedelic rock history and live music in Austin. New latest release of this series features live appearances by the beautiful Moon Duo from 2012/2014. Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada were on a high level at this time and show how great psychedelic music could be played by a small band. There are live highlights from their early recordings on it and I feel sad that I never had a chance to see them live.

Moon Duo - Sleepwalker

Moon Duo - Goners

In The Sun

 

Yesterday I posted a long song by Psychic Ill and I remembered them when I read the news of a new series of albums released as Live At Leviation. It is a series about live recordings of the annual Austin Psych Fest. It seems like a series of live albums bringing back the best of American psychedelic music to our ears. Psychic Ill released a live album as well as Moon Duo from their appearance in 2012. Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada formed their band in San Francisco in 2009 to make a dusty, dirty and psychedelic guitar sound, minimalist rhythms and melodies, deliberately broken sounds and constant repetitions make up the sound. On stage Moon Duo make noise for five bands. Ripley nuzzles into the mic, playing down his fuzzy riffs, while Yamada feeds in flirty synthies and keyboard tunes. The drum computer works continuously without a break. You might think the two live in a different world. Or on the moon. This live recording seems to show them at a high leverl.

Monday's Long Song

I think it is time for another trip into space because I didn't featured this kind of music for a longer time. Psychic Ill are an American experimental/psychedelic band from NYC formed by Tres Warren and Elisabeth Hart in Austin at the beginning of the century and released a couple of albums and EP's. Psychic Ill play a guitar based psychedelic sound and on their longer songs they take you to a journey into space. Mantis is the first track from their second album and show their abilities at the best. Psychedelic mantras over a bass led ground with cymbals that wasn't even used in the days of flower power. A song you should watch the video by. Sadly Warren died a few years ago at the age of 42 and this is his legacy to the world.