“Playing Austin Psych Fest / Levitation was always a goal from our earliest days of the band – to join the psychedelic community for a weekend of music and present our live performance. This show in 2014 was a landmark for us. To return years later in 2019 and find the same welcome, the dream was still very much alive and well.”
The front half – Austin Psych Fest 2014 – is a raucous exhibition from these Japanese hyper-psych heavyweights, four songs of energetic and experimental psych with jazzy bursts and splashes of sitar. The back half – Levitation (formerly ASF) 2019 – is a noticeably more mature affair, both in musicianship and in structure. Still progressive and dynamic, there’s a pleasant folkiness with flowing vocals woven into the harmonious tones. An intriguing ‘then & now’ document. Standout tracks: Side A: Smoke and Mirrors, Side B: Dripping Sun
As earthless has pointed out, these guys might be brilliant in the studio, but they absolutely outshine the Sun itself live.
If this damned virus ever lets up and I can see Kikagaku Moyo perform, just after the concert’s over I’ll ask the gods to take me now, I’ve accomplished everything I meant to do!