Phosphene Dream, the third album from MAGNET faves the Black Angels, marks a big step forward for the Austin, Texas, psych quintet. The band signed to the Blue Horizon label (run by industry bigwigs Richard Gottehrer and Seymour Stein) and worked in L.A. with veteran producer Dave Sardy (Oasis, Rolling Stones), marking the first time the group recorded an LP outside of its home base. The Black Angels also recently upped their profile with a collaborative appearance with UNKLE on the soundtrack to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. (We hear the track, “With You In My Head,” is played at a pivotal scene in the film, but when it comes to movies, we are more Black Swan than Bella Swan.) The band also backed Austin legend Roky Erickson (though the fruit of that labor is still up in the air, release-wise) and is still working hard on its annual Austin Psych Fest. And if that wasn’t enough, the Black Angels will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Alex Maas.
Maas: World peace through dialogue—can you imagine that?! I met Lejla Mavris, a member of Global Majority, at a Black Angels show several years ago, and we discussed her line of work and compelling background. She filled me in on something I wish I had known about years before. Their mission is to be a peace organization that promotes nonviolent conflict resolution, education, meditation and advocacy. They focus on education and training, research and analysis, translations, advocacy, meditation and negotiation. I truly believe that organizations like this are a huge step forward in helping people understand each other and helping people realize that our similarities with one another are way greater than our differences. We fight and kill and hate so much in this world over our own personal abstract ideas that we turn them into concrete reasons to act out toward one another. Global Majority will lead the world in the decades to come in progressive thinking and peacemaking. Please, please check them out.
Video after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTf4OzgXtOQ
