A Brief Photo Summary of APF 4

As promised... a few photos I took at Austin Psych Fest. All shot on 35mm with a Canon AE-1 Program.

Forget Coachella... Doesn't this look so much better?

Although I had an incredible time at Coachella last spring, I sadly won't be attending this year. However, I am going to be attending Austin Psych Fest, a three-day celebration of psychedelic rock (and experimental visual art) in one of its birthplaces-- Austin, Texas. There's something to be said about smaller music festivals, as they're exponentially less hectic, less expensive and much more intimate. In the summer of 2009, I took a road trip up to Lake Tahoe with one of my best friends to attend Wanderlust, a four-day music and yoga festival that took place against the gorgeous backdrop of Squaw Valley-- we took two yoga classes a day, rode the gondola up to the summit of a mountain where the main stage was set up, listened to Broken Social Scene, Jenny Lewis, Rogue Wave, Spoon and Andrew Bird live (I was actually close enough to touch his adorably awkward Chaco sandals) while bathing in natural lakes, and danced to GirlTalk under the stars. It was the first year that Wanderlust took place, so there were only about a thousand attendees, which was actually amazing-- no pushing past sweaty E-tards while trying to find your friends, meanwhile having no cell service because of the massive amount of people trying to use their phones in such a condensed space, no $2 water bottles being sold by manipulative people in ugly visors who actually tell you to tip them (yes, this happens at Coachella), etc.

The Black Angels

Needless to say, I'm more than excited for this year's Austin Psych Fest, which will feature both established and newly emerging psych-rock bands such as Atlas Sound, Crystal Stilts, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Dirty Beaches, Crocodiles, Tobacco, The Growlers, Black Ryder, Beach Fossils, The Soft Moon, Pete International Airport and ZaZa, as well as established psych-rock cult favorites such as The Black Angels, Spectrum and Roky Erickson (of 1960's psychedelic band 13th Floor Elevators), among many others. And the best part is that I've been generously given a press pass and assigned to take pictures/report on the festival by Oliver Kupper, founder of Pas Un Autre! My follow-up article will appear on his wonderful arts & culture journal/blog.

Alta Real Pictures recently released Oswald James’ documentary of last year’s Psych Fest, which features performances from The Raveonettes, Spindrift, Pink Mountaintops, Warpaint, Spectrum and others. Watch the trailer below (and tell me if Psych Fest doesn't look amazing!!):

AUSTIN PSYCH FEST 3 TRAILER from oswald james on Vimeo.

Curated by The Reverberation Appreciation Society and Austin-based band The Black Angels, the fourth annual Psych Fest will take place at the Seaholm Power Plant in downtown Austin from April 29th-May 1st, 2011.

Coachella 2010 in pictures

I was lucky enough to attend the Coachella music festival in Indio, CA this year for the first time ever-- yes, I know, as a born-and-raised Angeleno, I'm a late bloomer. Though having been on the east coast for the past 4 years has put a bit of a damper on the springtime music festival front. Needless to say, it somehow worked out this year, and while I had an incredible time there; rather than give you a summary of the three glorious (actually, make that one stressful and ridiculous, two glorious...) days I spent in the desert listening to amazing music with even more amazing friends and no cell service, I thought I'd share a few of the photos I took, mainly of the sensational art objects and decorations at the festival(the ones I took of the bands are mostly blurry and unrecognizable). If you're really interested in a (rather harsh, in my opinion!) critique of each band, read this Pitchfork article:

http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7795-coachella-2010/

Pavement's epic reunion was one of the most talked-about acts at Coachella, and they arguably had some of the best visual effects... I loved the string lighting, reminded me of the album artwork on Terror Twilight

the giant paper crane, which changed colors at night.. on Sunday it was rainbow!

the crowd in the Sahara tent on Saturday night, I believe during David Guetta's set

a seemingly never-ending trail of balloons in the sky...

..and the balloons at night (you can't see it here, or maybe they hadn't turned on yet, but each one had a tiny blue LED light attached to it, creating a glowing effect)

the Ferris wheel that made me miss Deerhunter... according to Pitchfork they weren't all that good, so I guess it doesn't matter

Coachella from above. Notice how many people there are in the audience at De La Soul!!

Indian headdresses were a popular fashion statement this year (I credit this in part to MGMT)... a few at Hot Chip

view from below the paper crane

sunset during Spoon on the last day

art being made

a broken mirror sculpture

FIN