Kikagaku Moyo – “Smoke And Mirrors (Live At Levitation)” [Video]

The Reverberation Appreciation Society is proud to launch a brand new live series, Live at LEVITATION. Recorded over the history of the world-renowned event, the series captures key moments in psychedelic rock history, and live music in Austin, Texas. The artists and sets showcased here have been chosen from over a decade of recordings, and captures 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 first LP in this series features Japanese psych heavyweights Kikagaku Moyo. This particular record is as strong sonically as it is meaningful in the band’s history. It showcases one of the band’s very first US shows in 2014 on the A-side, and their triumphant return in 2019 on the B-side with them firing on all cylinders amid a sold out US tour.

“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.”

Kikagaku Moyo have come a long way – both literally and metaphorically– since their humble beginnings busking on the streets of Tokyo back in 2012. A tight-knit group of five friends who bonded over the desire to play freely, and explore psychedelic music. The band’s progressive, folk-influenced take on psychedelia marked them out from their peers, helped revive Japan’s psych rock scene, and soon brought them international acclaim. Fast forward a few years, and you find the band crushing headline sets at festivals, embarking on sprawling international tours, and with a dedicated fanbase for their music and record label Guruguru Brain – all while steadfastly maintaining their creative freedom and DIY ethos.

Kikagaku Moyo are the real deal: masterful musicians, a powerful creative force, and one of key bands in the psychedelic rock movement. The Reverberation Appreciation Society is thrilled to have them kick off the Live at Levitation Series with this incredible record.

Kikagaku Moyo Live at Levitation has been given deluxe treatment, with vinyl options available exclusively through the Levitation webstore + an Indie Store exclusive audiophile version, available at your favorite record store. A t-shirt and tie dye t-shirt is also available, featuring the artwork from their 2019 appearance at Levitation by South African artist Simon Berndt.

The record will be released on January 15, 2021, and initial pressings at The Reverberation Appreciation Society sold out quickly. RAS is putting up a new pressing this Friday, at 11am ET in their online store HERE.