Reverberation Appreciation Society
By Themis (Instagram: @spinningendlessly)
In the spring of 2004, one of the most influential modern psychedelic rock bands in the world formed in Austin, Texas. Led by Alex Maas and Christian Bland, The Black Angels were soon playing shows worldwide, taking advantage of the hype on MySpace, as well as raving reviews from fans on music forums. Although that was great, the band members, especially Alex and Chistian, wanted to do more.
As early as 2008, the band and several friends, including Rob Fitzpatrick, created The Reverberation Appreciation Society, which was the collective that created the Austin Psych Fest, a psychedelic rock festival which was designed to not only continue their own movement, but to also invite some of their favorite bands to play in Austin.
In the ensuring years, the festival evolved into Levitation, which takes place across several cities across the world. It has grown into one of the most important Psych Rock festival in the world, combining music and art, in different venues in Austin.
In 2010, the Reverberation Appreciation Society started their own record label, by releasing the solo album of The Black Angels’ guitarist: "Christian Bland (& The Revelators)". Following numerous releases on vinyl over the years, including The UFO Club, Elephant Stone, Holy Wave, Night Beats, Joel Gion (of the Brian Jonestown Massacre) among many others, the label was reenergized and revitalized when Harry Portnof, the head of Brooklyn’s Greenway Records joined them in the summer of 2020. The main goal was to get the label back to releasing new music, but to also provide new ways for fans to enjoy live music at a time of uncertainty.
While the pandemic meant that live shows were halted throughout the world, The Reverberation Appreciation managed to not only release multiple new records by Holy Wave, Ring Deathstarr, Frankie & The Witch Fingers, Acid Dad and many more on vinyl, but started two new series. This includes Live at Levitation, which included the releases of Levitation sets over the years by Kikagaku Moyo, The Black Angels, Primal Scream and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard; also, the Levitation Sessions.
The Levitation Sessions are live performance films that are streamed through Reverberation Appreciation, with a vinyl release taking places a few months after the show airs. These sessions were an incredible opportunity for music fans to witness their favorite bands play live, especially at a time where it wasn’t possible to do it in person.
Most of the performances occurred in stunning locations, with a large emphasis on the entire audio-visual package. The Levitation Sessions included full length performances by Holy Wave, Ringo Deathstarr, Osees (twice!), Dead Meadow, Acid Mothers Temple, Alex Maas, Ty Segall, Slift, Frankie & The Witch Fingers and more.
At this time when music labels and bands were truly hit hard, Reverberation Appreciation has truly delivered. Psychedelic Rock music has found a new home, and you can expect the label to continue releasing killer vinyl pressings of great bands in the years to come, as well as continue hosting the greatest Psychedelic Rock festival in the world, Levitation, in Austin, Texas.
Article by Themis (Instagram: @spinningendlessly)
