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The Black Angels (band)
Encyclopedia
History
Formed in May 2004, the band's name derives from the Velvet UndergroundThe Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
song "The Black Angel's Death Song
The Black Angel's Death Song
"The Black Angel's Death Song" is a song by The Velvet Underground, from their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. It was written by Lou Reed and John Cale...
".
In 2005, the Black Angels were featured on a dual-disc compilation album of psychedelic music called Psychedelica Vol.1 from Northern Star Records
Northern Star Records
Northern Star Records is a UK based record label founded by Scott Causer and Andy Oliver in 2005. The label launched in March 2006 with their first release, the double CD compilation Psychedelica Vol. 1...
. This, along with the growing popularity of their MySpace page, gave the band a big jump in popularity in the underground scene.
On Friday, August 5, 2007, they played at Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
in Chicago. Among other venues, they have also played at SXSW 2006 & 2008 and All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties
"All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by The Velvet UndergroundAll Tomorrow's Parties may also refer to:* All Tomorrow's Parties , an annual festival in England...
2008. Touring partners have included the blues rock band The Black Keys
The Black Keys
The Black Keys are an American rock duo consisting of vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. The band was formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. As of October 2011, the band has sold over 2 million albums in the U.S....
, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, now based in Los Angeles. BRMC is known for their garage rock, blues, folk revival, neo-psychedelia sound. They are influenced by bands such as: The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Verve, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, T...
, The Warlocks
The Warlocks
The Warlocks are an American rock band based out of Los Angeles. Their music has been defined as neo-psychedelia, but much of it spans multiple genres.-Music:...
, Roky Erickson
Roky Erickson
Roky Erickson is an American singer, songwriter, harmonica player and guitarist from Texas. He was a founding member of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre.-Biography:...
, The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American eclectic musical group led by Anton Newcombe, whose music spans multiple genres including psychedelia, electronica, folk music, blues, experimental music, and many others....
, Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...
, The Raveonettes
The Raveonettes
The Raveonettes are a Danish indie rock duo, consisting of Sune Rose Wagner on guitar, instruments, and vocals, and Sharin Foo on bass, guitar and vocals...
and Wolfmother
Wolfmother
Wolfmother is an Australian rock band from Erskineville, Sydney. Formed in 2000, the group was originally a trio composed of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett. Wolfmother released their self-titled debut album in October 2005,...
.
The group's debut LP Passover
Passover (album)
Passover is the debut album from Texas psychedelic rock band The Black Angels, released in 2006.- Track listing :#"Young Men Dead" – 5:32#"The First Vietnamese War" – 3:30#"The Sniper at the Gates of Heaven" – 4:16#"The Prodigal Sun" – 4:23...
was generally well received in the underground independent rock community and was noted for its dark tones and lyrical content. A review of Passover described them as "Walking in the shadows cast by Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3 were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce. Their music was "colorfully mind-altering, but not in the sense of the acid rock of the '60s; instead, the band developed its own minimalistic psychedelia"...
and Spiritualized
Spiritualized
Spiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...
mastermind Jason Pierce
Jason Pierce
Jason Pierce , also known as J. Spaceman or Spaceman, is an English musician. He was formerly the joint leader – with Peter Kember – of the alternative rock band Spacemen 3, and is now the leader and sole permanent member of the band Spiritualized.In between his work with Spiritualized...
" and compared them to The Warlocks
The Warlocks
The Warlocks are an American rock band based out of Los Angeles. Their music has been defined as neo-psychedelia, but much of it spans multiple genres.-Music:...
and Black Mountain
Black Mountain (band)
Black Mountain is a Canadian rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. The band is composed of Stephen McBean, Amber Webber, Matt Camirand, Jeremy Schmidt and Joshua Wells.-Overview:...
, also invoking "dirges" reminiscent of both The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
and the 13th Floor Elevators
13th Floor Elevators
The 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band from Austin, Texas formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, which existed from 1965 to 1969...
. Passover
Passover (album)
Passover is the debut album from Texas psychedelic rock band The Black Angels, released in 2006.- Track listing :#"Young Men Dead" – 5:32#"The First Vietnamese War" – 3:30#"The Sniper at the Gates of Heaven" – 4:16#"The Prodigal Sun" – 4:23...
included a quote in the liner notes from Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...
; "Illness, insanity, and death are the black angels that kept watch over my cradle and accompanied me all my life."
The band was featured on the soundtrack of the 2007 Kevin Bacon
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....
movie, Death Sentence, on the second episode of FOX's "Fringe
Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
" and in the ninth episode of Californication. Songs from "Directions to See a Ghost" were also featured in The History Channel's 2009 documentary, Manson. More recently, their song "Young Men Dead" was featured on the March 17, 2010 episode of UFC Primetime, "St. Pierre vs. Hardy", on Spike.
Between October 28, 2008 and November 2, 2008, the band performed as Roky Erickson
Roky Erickson
Roky Erickson is an American singer, songwriter, harmonica player and guitarist from Texas. He was a founding member of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre.-Biography:...
's backing band on the West Coast; future plans between Roky and The Black Angels are in the works. The band featured on Unkle's
UNKLE
Unkle are a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip-hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a variety of guest artists and producers.-First incarnation :Lavelle and Goldsworthy were joined...
May 2010 release, Where Did the Night Fall
Where Did the Night Fall
Where Did the Night Fall is the fifth regular studio album from British electronic music act UNKLE, released on .-Background:As a documentation of the work on the album, on April 13, 2009, James Lavelle, UNKLE's mastermind, started an official "UNKLE Blog"...
, collaborating on a song called "Natural Selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
".
On April 23-25th, 2010, The Reverberation Appreciation Society and The Black Angels presented their third annual music-and-arts festival, Austin Psych Fest 3. Bands topping the 43-band bill included The Raveonettes
The Raveonettes
The Raveonettes are a Danish indie rock duo, consisting of Sune Rose Wagner on guitar, instruments, and vocals, and Sharin Foo on bass, guitar and vocals...
, Pink Mountaintops
Pink Mountaintops
Pink Mountaintops is a shoegaze psychedelic rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. The band consists of many of the same musicians who participate in the Black Mountain collective.-Band members:*Stephen McBean*Amber Webber*CC Rose*Lyndsay Sung...
, The Warlocks
The Warlocks
The Warlocks are an American rock band based out of Los Angeles. Their music has been defined as neo-psychedelia, but much of it spans multiple genres.-Music:...
, The Gaslamp Killer
The Gaslamp Killer
The Gaslamp Killer is a Los Angeles-based DJ who releases material through Brainfeeder, the record label of Flying Lotus. Bensussen grew up in San Diego, California, where he began listening to Too Short, Jimi Hendrix, and Dr. Dre...
, Warpaint
Warpaint (band)
Warpaint is an American art rock group from Los Angeles, formed in 2004. The band's members are Emily Kokal , Theresa Wayman , Jenny Lee Lindberg , and Stella Mozgawa . The band's membership has also included actress Shannyn Sossamon and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer...
, Night Beats
Night Beats
The Night Beats are an American Psychedelic, Garage and Soul group based out of Seattle, Washington. The group consists of Lee Blackwell , James Traeger and Tarek Wegner...
and vintage psych legends Silver Apples.
The band's third album, titled Phosphene Dream, was released on September 14, 2010. The group played the ATP New York 2010
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
Music Festival in Monticello, New York in September, 2010.
On Record Store Day a 12" LP 'Another Nice Pair' was released, a limited edition red pressing on vinyl LP collecting the first two EP's.
The 4th annual Austin Psych Fest ran April 29 - May 1, 2011 and was held at The Seaholm Powerplant (the last event to be held inside the building) and featured Roky Erickson
Roky Erickson
Roky Erickson is an American singer, songwriter, harmonica player and guitarist from Texas. He was a founding member of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre.-Biography:...
, Spectrum
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
, Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group, Atlas Sound
Atlas Sound
Bradford James Cox is an American musician best known as the lead singer and guitarist of Atlanta, Georgia-based psychedelic and ambient band Deerhunter. He also pursues a solo career under the moniker Atlas Sound. Cox formed Deerhunter with drummer Moses Archuleta in 2001. The band has released...
, Black Moth Super Rainbow
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Black Moth Super Rainbow is an American experimental band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their music contains elements of psychedelia, folk, electronica, and pop...
, Prefuse 73 and A Place To Bury Strangers
A Place to Bury Strangers
A Place to Bury Strangers are a New York–based noise rock band composed of Oliver Ackermann , Dion Lunadon and Jay Space . The band plays a heavy, atmospheric wall of sound-influenced blend of psychedelic rock, shoegaze and space rock...
topping a 55 band lineup.
Logo
Nico
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
.
Current
- Stephanie Bailey — drumsDrummerA drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
, percussion, bass - Christian Bland — guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bass, drums - Kyle Hunt — keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, percussion, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, and guitar - Alex Maas — vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards,
- Nate Ryan — bass, guitar, occasional drums
Former
- Jennifer Raines — drone machine, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
and percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Side projects
- The Viet Minh
- Christian Bland & The Revelators
- The Shine Brothers
- Ghost Songs
- The UFO Club (Christian Bland, Lee Blackwell of Night BeatsNight BeatsThe Night Beats are an American Psychedelic, Garage and Soul group based out of Seattle, Washington. The group consists of Lee Blackwell , James Traeger and Tarek Wegner...
& others). - Sweet Tea
Albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
FR Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
||
| 2006 | Passover Passover (album) Passover is the debut album from Texas psychedelic rock band The Black Angels, released in 2006.- Track listing :#"Young Men Dead" – 5:32#"The First Vietnamese War" – 3:30#"The Sniper at the Gates of Heaven" – 4:16#"The Prodigal Sun" – 4:23...
|
- | - |
| 2008 | Directions to See a Ghost Directions to See a Ghost Directions to See a Ghost is the second album from Texas rock band The Black Angels. It was released digitally on April 15, 2008 by Light in the Attic Records. However, it was not until May 13th that the CD and 3xLP were released. Those who purchased the album digitally were given a code to... |
- | 108 |
| 2010 | Phosphene Dream Phosphene Dream Phosphene Dream is the third album from Texas rock band The Black Angels. It was released on September 13, 2010 in the UK and September 14, 2010 in the United States by Blue Horizon. This is the first album the Black Angels have released with their new label, Blue Horizon Records, having... |
52 | 52 |
| 2011 | Another Nice Pair
(collecting the first two EP's)
|
- | - |
EPs
- The Black AngelsThe Black Angels (EP)- Track listing :# "Black Grease" - 4:35# "The First Vietnamese War" - 3:33# "Winter '68" - 2:41# "Manipulation" - 5:57...
(Light in the Attic RecordsLight In The Attic RecordsLight In The Attic Records is an independent record label established in 2002 in Seattle, Washington by Matt Sullivan, known for its roster of reissue projects, and for its distribution catalog. . As reissue label, Light In The Attic has re-released works by artists such as Betty Davis, Serge...
, 2005 EP) - Black Angel Exit (Light in the Attic RecordsLight In The Attic RecordsLight In The Attic Records is an independent record label established in 2002 in Seattle, Washington by Matt Sullivan, known for its roster of reissue projects, and for its distribution catalog. . As reissue label, Light In The Attic has re-released works by artists such as Betty Davis, Serge...
, 2008 EP) - Black Angel Dead (Light in the Attic RecordsLight In The Attic RecordsLight In The Attic Records is an independent record label established in 2002 in Seattle, Washington by Matt Sullivan, known for its roster of reissue projects, and for its distribution catalog. . As reissue label, Light In The Attic has re-released works by artists such as Betty Davis, Serge...
, 2010 EP) - Phosgene Nightmare (Blue HorizonBlue HorizonBlue Horizon was a British blues record label founded by Mike Vernon in the mid 1960s.Its roots lay in Vernon's mail order label Purdah Records, which released just four 7" singles; including "Flapjacks" by Stone's Masonry ; and another by John Mayall and Eric Clapton "Bernard Jenkins", and...
, 2011 EP)
Singles
- "The First Vietnamese War" b/w "Nine Years" (released August 21, 2006)
- "Better Off Alone" b/w "Yesterday Always Knows" (released May 28, 2007)
- "Doves" b/w "Drone in G# Major" (released May 20, 2008)
- "Telephone" (released August 3, 2010)
Soundtracks
- Alan WakeAlan WakeAlan Wake is a story-driven action game in the psychological thriller genre, developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft Game Studios, released for the Xbox 360 video game console in 2010...
(Video Game) (Track 2, Limited Edition Soundtrack)
- Trailer for Fable III (Young Men Dead)
- Trailer for Darkness II (You on the Run)
Guest Appearances
- "Natural Selection" from Where Did the Night FallWhere Did the Night FallWhere Did the Night Fall is the fifth regular studio album from British electronic music act UNKLE, released on .-Background:As a documentation of the work on the album, on April 13, 2009, James Lavelle, UNKLE's mastermind, started an official "UNKLE Blog"...
- UNKLEUNKLEUnkle are a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip-hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a variety of guest artists and producers.-First incarnation :Lavelle and Goldsworthy were joined...
(2010) - "With You In My Head" from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (soundtrack)The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (soundtrack)The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is the soundtrack album to the film The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. It is the third soundtrack in the film's chronology, and was released on June 8, 2010. The soundtrack was once again co-produced by Alexandra Patsavas, the music supervisor for the previous two films...
- UNKLEUNKLEUnkle are a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip-hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a variety of guest artists and producers.-First incarnation :Lavelle and Goldsworthy were joined...
(2010)
TV/Film Appearances
- Manson (TV Movie Soundtrack)
- Beautiful NoiseBeautiful Noise (TV series)Beautiful Noise is an HD television music profile and performance series produced in Canada by Original Spin Media. The series premiered on Rave HD in the United States in the summer of 2006. The programs debuted in Canada on Sun TV in January 2008 and CBC Bold in March of 2009. The series is...
- Fuel TV's The Daily Habit
- Numb3rsNUMB3RSNumb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...
- FringeFringe (TV series)Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
- HouseHouse (TV series)House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
- Californication (TV series)Californication (TV series)Californication is an American comedy-drama that premiered on Showtime on August 13, 2007. The show was created by Tom Kapinos. The protagonist, Hank Moody , is a troubled novelist whose move to California, coupled with his writer's block, complicates his relationships with his longtime girlfriend...
- The Limits of ControlThe Limits of Control-Cultural references mentioned in the dialogue:* Suspicion by Alfred Hitchcock* Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky* The Lady from Shanghai by Orson Welles* La Vie de Bohème by Aki Kaurismäki* La vida no vale nada by Rogelio A...
- Death Sentence (2007 film)
- Dirt (TV series)Dirt (TV series)Dirt is an American television serial broadcast on the FX network. It premiered on January 2, 2007 and starred Courteney Cox as Lucy Spiller, the editor-in-chief of the first-of-its-kind "glossy tabloid" magazine DirtNow, which was previously two separate publications: drrt and Now Dirt (styled...
- No Country for Old MenNo Country for Old MenNo Country for Old Men is a 2005 novel by U.S. author Cormac McCarthy. Set along the United States–Mexico border in 1980, the story concerns an illicit drug deal gone wrong in a remote desert location. The title comes from the poem "Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats...
(Trailer) - While She Was Out (Movie Soundtrack)
- True BloodTrue BloodTrue Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...
- Fable IIIFable IIIFable III is the third video game in the Fable series of action role-playing games . The game was developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. The story focuses on the player character's struggle to overthrow the King of Albion by...
(Trailer) - Darkness II (Trailer)
- Mountainbike movie ROAM
- Bones (Background music for a house of horror)
- Nice Try (2010 Snowboard Movie)
External links
- Official site
- Austin Psych Fest - official site
- The Black Angels collection at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music archive (Download full concert audio recordings) - The Interface with The Black Angels - interview & performance podcast on Spinner.com
- Live Vidéos from Intimepop.com