The Black Angels spread their wings in Vail
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20081017/AE/810179930/1068
The Austin-based psychedelic rock band creates a new reality in Vail on Tuesday
October 17, 2008
Charlie Owen
VAIL When you get to track six on The Black Angel's newest album,
"Directions To See A Ghost," it's easy to imagine lead singer Alex
Maas as a reincarnation of Jim Morrison a kind of modern-day
musical prophet/shaman.
"Bang, bang your magic is here, white men and God are one? Make us
feel like foreigners, devils under our own sun," Maas drones in the
song "Deer-Ree-Shee" as pounding drums, fuzzy guitars and Rhishi
Dhir's cosmic-sounding sitar steamroll the listener into a trance.
Maas never breaks out into the self-aggrandizing vocal tantrums that
Morrison did, but lyrically it's easy to see the link.
"We freely admit to wearing our influences on our sleeves," Maas said
during a recent phone interview.
Which is why the cautious listener can hear traces of other
psychedelic rock pioneers such as The Velvet Underground, 13th Floor
Elevators and Jefferson Airplane in the music of The Black Angels.
"I don't think it would be fair to say that we're completely, 100
percent derivative of all those bands ... but it's fair to say that
we're inspired by these people," Maas said.
The Austin, Texas rockers will perform Tuesday night in Vail a town
that's likely not accustomed to the level of intensity the Black Angels bring.
"I recognize the fact that it's probably a big curve ball for the
valley at this point," said Dick Dime, manager of the Sandbar. "But,
you know, it's also a show that (when) most people see this band,
they're going to talk about it for days."
Finding true meaning
To Maas, America's current situation is much like the volatile times
that psychedelic rock emerged from in the '60s government
corruption, social confusion, war so in essence The Black Angels'
neo-psychedelic music is a reflection of the times.
When writing a song, Maas prefers to be vague and intangible,
trusting that his audience is capable of forming their own thoughts
and opinions about the music.
"It's better to have the listeners think for themselves, you know,
and to kind of put that 'I don't know' question out there and let
people think for themselves and come up with their own meaning for
everything. Obviously the true meaning will stand out to the majority
of people," Maas said.
The songs take shape through many different channels and almost no
song is written the same way twice, Maas said.
"There's no right way to eat a Reese's," Maas said in reference to
the many paths to songwriting the band takes.
But the lyrics usually come a lot easier than the melody and tone of
the songs, according to Maas.
"You can always write about something that's important and needs to
be said," he said.
The peak of higher consciousness
But try composing the elaborate soundscapes found on "Directions To
See A Ghost" and their previous albums and you have a bit of a
challenge. Like those bands of the mid '60s when drug-fueled
psychedelic rock was the height of cool in America and Britain The
Black Angels bring an essence of higher consciousness and soul
searching to modern music. It's music meant to take the listener
inside the freedom associated with tripping and evoke images in the
listener's mind. Much like the previous era of psychedelic rock, The
Black Angels incorporate heavy metal, Southern blues and Eastern
music into their potion as well as onstage visuals to create
something vicious and urgent, emotional and groovy.
A typical Black Angels song will build slowly with layers of
instrumentation, peak much like an acid trip, then slowly let the
listener out of its grasp.
Like any other form of rock, the guitars, bass, organ and other
instruments are important, but it's Stephanie Bailey's drums that
drive most of their songs.
"You have this primitive, tribal drumbeat behind a song that just
keeps the song moving like a train," Maas said.
The days of free love and the social acceptance of psychedelic drugs
may be gone for good, but the music that era spawned is obviously
still relevant in these PC times.
And good music is good music in any generation. Just like the classic
songwriters in his genre, Maas knows that music is one of the best
doorways into other realities.
"As an artist you're trying to connect with this mysterious thing
that's happening to your world, and to yourself and life and
everything's so crazy and confusing and weird ... a lot of stuff I
write about and that we draw feelings on is fear of the now and
what's to come," Maas said.
--
High Life writer Charlie Owen can be reached at 970-748-2939 or
cowen@vaildaily.com.
--
A rockin' family tree
The Black Angels are hardly the first psychedelic rock band in
history. In fact their roots can be traced back to some of the most
influential bands in rock history.
The Beatles: Although they started out as a clean-cut pop group from
England, The Beatles eventually became known for their songwriting
prowess and experimental sound with such psychedelic wonders as
"Tomorrow Never Knows" off 1966's "Revolver" and "Within You, Without
You" from their follow up "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Jefferson Airplane: Released in 1967, "Surrealistic Pillow"
introduced the world to Grace Slick, who's soaring vocals helped make
"The White Rabbit" a song about the relation between psychedelic
drugs and Lewis Carroll's book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
and "Somebody to Love," two of the most memorable songs in rock history.
The Velvet Underground: Lou Reed and his band of leather-clad
hipsters brought the sleazy side of rock and roll into the mainstream
with their 1967 psychedelic breakthrough album "The Velvet
Underground & Nico." This trippy album featured songs about drug
deals ("Waiting for the Man"), drug addiction ("Heroin") and the song
from which The Black Angels pulled their name ("The Black Angel's Death Song").
Brian Jonestown Massacre and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: These
bands, two of the biggest names in the neo-psychedelic school of
rock, paved the way for the Black Angels from the early '90s to the present.
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Psychedelic returns to Cain's
http://www.tulsatoday.com/newsdesk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1754&Itemid=2
By Luke Harrington
Saturday, 18 October 2008
Sunday evening "The Black Angels" take the stage with their
interpretation on psychedelic rock. Yes you read that right, 40
years later, all that was old is new again.
The Austin-based Black Angels take their name from a Velvet
Underground song ("The Black Angel's Death Song"). Their bass drum is
adorned with the band's logo, which depicts Nico of the Velvet
Underground. Clearly, this is a band fascinated by the 1960's; and
indeed, their music has as much to do with the droning psychedelia of
Iron Butterfly, the Byrds, and the Grateful Dead as it does with Nico
and company.
When I say "droning," I do, of course, mean droningthis is a band
that refers to their organist as a "drone machine" in the liner notes
of their first album. A quick listen to their sophomore effort,
Directions to See a Ghost, reveals a band that has no trouble
conjuring up images of endless drug tripsall backed by steady B3 chords.
To say that they're stuck in the sixties, though, would be to sell
them short. As Joshua Ragusa of Under the Radar magazine points out,
"the band face up to an examine today's political climate on their
own terms, pulling larger sociopolitical question into an abstract
musical realm." In other words, they're socially conscious, but
they're introspective as wellthey know they're operating in a
post-punk world. Indeed, the lyrics and song arrangements on their
latest album occasionally tip their hat to nineties alt-industrial
paranoia as much as anything.
When the group takes the stage at Cain's Ballroom with
similarly-minded groups The Strange Boys and Rainbows are Free, it
should be an evening of droning, more droning andyesperformance
art. Blogger Mairead Case reports that band often performs "awash in
old film clips…Black Angels projectionist Richard Whymark splices
zombie flicks and talking heads."
Zombie flicks and psychedelic rock. What more could anyone possibly want?
.
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