Driven by the force of nature, The Black Angels singer’s solo journey takes an hypnotic detour along the wild trails of his indigenous homestead with songs of love, hope, human connection whilst navigating perils of modern society and tentatively facing the darkness.
The music of Alex Maas has always mesmerised. Now, on his soul-baring solo debut Luca, the Texan and The Black Angel’s singer journey is taking an equally hypnotic detour along the wild trails of his indigenous homestead. Driven by the force of nature, each phase of life is celebrated through songs of love, hope, human connection whilst navigating perils of modern society and tentatively facing the darkness.
It’s a record fuelled by memories of an upbringing in the strange, unique paradise of his father’s plant nursery in Seabrook, Texas by the waterfront of the Gulf of Mexico, and the Native American sounds that would drift through the garden’s hidden speakers, ricocheting off multi-coloured pottery mazes of curiosities from across the world.
Casting shades of deeply personal wide-eyed innocence and the darker realms of paranoia, “Luca” has its sights set on the near and distant future. Subtle psychedelic flourishes and instrumentation come from a cast of expert players in Austin but this is a deeply personal endeavour.
Recorded over the history of the world renowned psychedlica event, professionally mixed and mastered, this series represents a valuable moment in time for live music in Austin, Tx.
The bands showcased here are performing at their strongest and with something to prove. this series captures key moments in modern rock and roll history, and live music in Austin, Texas. The artists and sets showcased here are the best of the best, with key artists performing for a crowd of their peers and fans who gather at “Levitation” annually from all over the world. this specific album captures a slice of the early days of the festival, and the band as a psychedelic rock powerhouse with tracks from the Black Angels 1st two lps – with 6 tracks recorded at Austin Psych Fest 2010, 2011 and 2012.
The artists and sets showcased on Live at Levitation have been chosen from over a decade of recordings at the world-renowned event, and documents key artists in the scene performing for a crowd of their peers and fans who gather at Levitation annually from all over the world. The Black Angels’ Christian Bland explains, “Since the beginning… The Black Angels were meant to be heard live. This record captures the rumble of the drums and amps, and the very essence of the way it should sound. Now future generations and new listeners can now hear how these songs were meant to be heard.”
The Black Angels – “Live at Levitation” sees its release March 26th via The Reverberation Society on vinyl and digital formats. The LP has been given deluxe treatment, with three mind melting vinyl options available exclusively through the Levitation webstore, plus two Indie Store exclusive versions: one available at your favourite record stores in the USA and Canada, and one for the UK and Europe.
For an incoming ‘Live At Levitation’ album from the mighty The Black Angels.The Reverberation Appreciation Society has recently launched the “Live At Levitation” series. Recorded over the history of the world-renowned event, professionally mixed and mastered, this series represents a valuable moment in time for live music in Austin, TX. The bands showcased here are performing at their strongest and with something to prove. This series captures key moments in modern rock and roll history, and live music in Austin, Texas. Get a taste of the LP with a live cut of “Manipulation”, filmed at Austin’s Seaholm Powerplant and captures a hypnotic performance and collaboration with sitarist Rishi Dhir.
Levitation (formerly known as Austin Psych Fest) began as a simple idea in a Black Angels tour van in 2007 — let’s invite all our favourite bands and all our friends, for our version of a music festival. The first Austin Psych Fest was held in March 2008, and expanded to a 3 day event the following year. From there, the festival quickly developed into an international destination for psychedelic rock fans, with line-ups spanning the fringes of indie rock, from up-and-comers to vintage legends, and capped off with headlining performances from The Black Angels each year. The Black Angels and Levitation helped spark a movement, inspiring the creation of similar events across the globe and a burgeoning psych scene that would soon ignite.
“Austin’s importance as the breeding ground for psych is finally on people’s radars thanks to Levitation.” – The Guardian “The lineup is adventurous and well-curated… one of the best boutique festivals in the country” – Austin Statesman “Austin Psych Fest has developed from a 10 band bill of like-minded acts in a small venue, to a 3-day celebration of the finest mind-expanding sounds currently being made.” – Consequence of Sound “The annual Austin Psych Fest is becoming the All Tomorrow’s Parties of the South… with a lineup that traces a new psychedelic era.” – The Austin Chronicle
“Each year we get to see our friends and music community from around the world gathered in Austin, and we’ve been able to share the stage with many of our music heroes. Playing at Levitation is like playing at the psychedelic Olympics, and everyone walks away with a gold medal.” – The Black Angels’ Alex Maas
Due for release March 26th, this specific LP captures a slice of the early days of the festival, and the band as a psychedelic rock powerhouse with tracks from The Black Angels 1st two LPs – with 6 tracks recorded at Austin Psych Fest 2010, 2011 and 2012.
The music of Alex Maas has always mesmerised. Now, on his soul-baring solo debut “Luca”, the Texan and The Black Angel’s singer journey is taking an equally hypnotic detour along the wild trails of his indigenous homestead. Driven by the force of nature, each phase of life is celebrated through songs of love, hope, human connection whilst navigating perils of modern society and tentatively facing the darkness. As the shamanic vocalist and bass player of The Black Angels, Alex Maas knows neo-psych-rock well; yet its menace is barely noticeable across his masterfully crafted soul-baring debut solo album. Named for Maas’ firstborn, whose name means “bringer of light,” Luca was a long time coming, with some of its songs dating back almost a decade, put together piece-by-piece over the course of a couple years. The record began its transformation from loner folk leanings to a worldlier embrace of gentle psychedelia.
It’s a record fuelled by memories of an upbringing in the strange, unique paradise of his father’s plant nursery in Seabrook, Texas by the waterfront of the Gulf of Mexico, and the Native American sounds that would drift through the garden’s hidden speakers, ricocheting off multi-coloured pottery mazes of curiosities from across the world.
Casting shades of deeply personal wide-eyed innocence and the darker realms of paranoia, Luca has its sights set on the near and distant future. Subtle psychedelic flourishes and instrumentation come from a cast of expert players in Austin but this is a deeply personal endeavour.
It’s been a while since the Black Angels released an album and I’m happy to hear Alex’ Voice again, Driven by the force of nature, The Black Angels singer’s solo journey takes an hypnotic detour along the wild trails of hisindigenous homestead with songs of love, hope, human connection whilst navigating perils of modern society and tentatively facing the darkness.
Rocket Recordings are pleased to reveal the self-titled debut album by MIEN, the exciting new four piece band comprised of The Black Angels’ Alex Maas, The Horrors’ Tom Furse, Elephant Stone’s Rishi Dhir and The Earlies’ John-Mark Lapham.
The seeds were sown for this collaboration as long ago as 2004, when Rishi Dhir (Elephant Stone) found himself in a chance encounter with Black Angels frontman Alex Maas whilst performing sitar with his former band on a bill at SXSW in Austin with The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Not long afterwards, he would also stumble across electronics guru and producer John Mark Lapham from Anglo-American band The Earlies, via a shared love for one song – the ‘classic sitar banger’ by The Association, ‘Wantin’ Ain’t Gettin’.
Some years later, another piece of the puzzle came into place, when Dhir was now playing bass with The BlackAngels in 2012, and found the band sharing several bills with The Horrors. Thus he made the acquaintance of Tom Furse, and yet another pact was made to work together.
Several traversals of the globe by both plane and audio- le later, the result is an album that sees this quartet transcending their origins whilst maintaining a cohesive unity borne of a desire for outward exploration. JohnMark’s vision, as he puts it, was “imagine the Black Angels as Nico in her 80’s industrial phase mixed with George Harrison and Conny Plank.” – true to form,it’s an album that nds equal room for radiant groove-based propulsion and ambient dreamscapes alike – as comfortable with the murky hallucinogenic voyage of ‘You Dreamt’ as the powerful widescreen sweep of ‘(I’m Tired Of) Western Shouting’, yet with songwriting acumen as potent as the production values are expansive and exploratory.
This may have been a record put together at a distance – yet the chemistry between these four gures is manifest amidst a kaleidoscopic series of atmospheres and excursions whereby the fertile songwriting of the golden age of ‘60s psychedelia is transmitted into a transcendental realm above and beyond the second decade of the 21st century.
Newly formed psych project Mien is a supergroup as meeting of the minds. It brings together the talents of Elephant Stone sitar player Rishi Dhir, Black Angels vocalist Alex Maas, The Horrors keyboardist Tom Furse, and electronic manipulator John-Mark Lapham of The Earlies. The members are separated by geography and much of the album was written and recorded long distance, but they’re united by a love of classic psychedelia and cutting-edge studio voodoo.
“Earth Moon,” the second single off their forthcoming self-titled debut, is a baroque testimony to what can happen when heads like these get together. Cascading sitar and billowing layers of Krauty keyboards ride a driving, motorik beat to a peak of eerie elation. The hyperreal production is made possible by technology, not to say drugs, that they just didn’t have in the ’60s. Listen close and you can hear a bit of each musician’s signature in the song’s psilocybin swirl – and plenty of what the future holds for mind-expanding music.
Mienincarnates on this plane April 6th via Rocket Recordings. The band makes their live debut in April at Levitation Festival.
As reported before Rocket Recordings are extremely excited to be releasing the self-titled debut album by MIEN, the new four piece band comprised of The Black Angels’ Alex Maas, The Horrors’ Tom Furse, Elephant Stone’s Rishi Dhir and The Earlies’ John-Mark Lapham.
After revealing the video for their debut track Black Habit we are pleased to share with you the second track from the album which is called ‘Earth Moon’.
The single will be released on 6th March and will feature a killer remix of MIEN’s first single Black Habit by the ever great $hit and $hine. We will reveal this mighty slab of industrial psych shortly!
The press reactions to the band’s first single “Black Habit” has been overwhelming: “Apocalyptic psych rock.” Pitchfork– “MIEN is the line-up of your dreams.” Clash–
“Kaleidoscopic series of atmospheres and excursions.” Self Titled Mag
“If you’re going to sing something, it might as well be something important,” says The Black Angels’Alex Maas. That ethos is the pulsing heartbeat of Death Song. Written well before the vitriolic election cycle, Death Song is part protest, part emotional catharsis, this is a troubled record for troubled times, and in that sense, it’s classic Black Angels. Album opener “Currency” sets the stage in an explosive way, with ground-shaking low end and searing guitar riffs wrap around lyrics dealing with the desires that draw us to the brink of ruin. As the album unfolds, subsequent tracks reveal similar self-perpetuating cycles. Romance, violence, religion, health; for The Black Angels, everything is connected. On “I’d Kill for Her,’ Maas steps inside of the mind of a man driven by the twisted belief that there’s beauty in brutality, while “Half Believing” tackles modern apathy, and “Grab As Much As You Can” is a musing on the nature of greed. The surreal, Krautrock-influenced “I Dreamt” envisions a reality in which our true selves can be shared through artistic expression, and in that sharing, a new, more harmonious way forward is revealed. If there’s a way out of the mess, Death Song suggests that it’s not through consumption, but rather through creation. And fuzz… Lots of fuzz.
“Medicine” is an awesome song from the new album “Death Song” (2017).
Alex Maas from The Black Angels guest stars in , a song that oozes the remnant psychedelic vibes of Strawberry Alarm Clock, still haunting a ruined cathedral in the infamous Hashbury heights. The new album will come out in 2016, so this is just a small tease for what’s coming ahead.
Elephant Stone, who covered a nifty Tom Petty cover last year, are back with a new song, ‘The Devil’s Shelter’.
The Fat Angel Sings 