Watch Moon Duo Combine Art, Drugs, Books, and Psych Rock

Moon Duo “Slow Down Low” (Official Music Video) from Sacred Bones Records on Vimeo.

Our editorial office has spent the last few days freaking out over Sacred Bones’ forthcoming re-release of Funeral Parade’s anarcho-punk EP of the same name, which means that two of our current obsessions come from the Sacred Bones camp; the other is Moon Duo, one of the label’s psych-rock outfits. Last month they released Shadow of the Sun, their third full-length album for Sacred Bones. Guitarist Ripley Johnson and keyboard player Sanae Yamada composed the LP in a Portland basement during a period of unease, and the circumstances yielded a new suite of hypnotic, fuzzed-out psychedelia. The trio’s tour of Europe and the UK begins tonight, and they’ve unveiled the video for album cut “Slow Down Low” to kick it off.

Shot in low-contrast black and white with digital cameras and then filtered through an analog VHS system, “Slow Down Low” was directed by (and features) Sacred Bones labelmate Domingo Garcia Huidobro of Chilean band Föllakzoid.  His combination of up-close intimacy with psychotropic patterns of dark and light is a perfect accompaniment to Moon Duo’s droning, cyclical guitar riffs. The video can be streamed via the player above, and a complete listing of the group’s upcoming tour dates is on view below.

Apr 15th – Barcelona @ Bikini
Apr 16th – Lyon @ Le Marché Gare
Apr 17th – Torino @ Spazio 211
Apr 18th – Zurich @ Bogen
Apr 20th – Munich @ Kranhalle
Apr 21st – Berlin @ SO36
Apr 22nd – Copenhagen @ Stengade
Apr 23rd – Hamburg @ Molotow
Apr 24th – Amsterdam @ Paradiso
Apr 25th – Brussels @ Botanique
Apr 27th – Birmingham – The Hare & Hound
Apr 28th – Bristol @ The Exchange
Apr 29th – Leeds @ Left Bank
Apr 30th – London @ Village Underground
May 1st – Dublin @ Workmans Club
May 2nd – Letterkenny @ Distorted Perspective Festival
May 3rd – Glasgow @ Live at Glasgow
May 4th – Liverpool @ The Kazimer
May 27th – Metz, FR @ Trinitaire
May 28th – Rouen, FR @ Le 106
May 29th – Nantes, FR @ Stereolux
May 30th – Limonges, FR @ CCM
May 31st – Toulouse, FR @ Les Abattoirs Museum
June 1st – Marseilles, FR @ B-Sides
June 2nd – Milan, IT @ Magnolia
June 3rd – Ravenna, IT @ Beaches Brew
June 4th – Geneva, CH @ La Graviere
June 5th – Eindhoven, NL @ Eindhoven Psych Fest
July 15th – Athens, GR @ Eject Festival
July 17th – Budapest, HR @ A38
July 18th – Dour, BE @ Dour Festival
July 25th – Helsinki, FIN @ Hori Smoku

Published April 15, 2015.