Directions To See A Ghost

The Black Angels

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 13, 2008)
• Original Release Date: May 13, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Light In The Attic
• ASIN: B0015N0786
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,357 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Alternative Rock > Alternative Styles > Rock > Neo-Psychedelia

Editorial Reviews

Review

''This is evil blues rock, the sexiest soundtrack to selling your soul you could ever imagine'' --New Music Express

Product Description

Last time we met The Black Angels, they were staring into the desert sun somewhere outside of Austin, Texas. Two years later, night has fallen and the spirits have come out. It's time for The Black Angels to provide Directions On How To See A Ghost. If you're familiar with Passover, the band's 2006 debut, you'll know that The Black Angels's music alone is enough to invoke spirits. There's a name for the band's sound; they call it 'hypno-drone 'n roll'. It's the sound of long nights on peyote, of dreams of a new world order, and of half-invented memories of the seamy side of '60s psychedelia. While the Iraq war is still a major influence on the band's lyrics, there are new forces at work here, including Eugene Zamyatin's dystopian novel We and in Christian Bland's words "psychic information from the past and future." See, The Black Angels really are in contact with ghosts.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deep Chugging Bluesy Neo-Psych Genius!, June 20, 2008

By	J. E. Billings "DoublePorter" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

'18 Years' might be the best song they've ever written, for one thing. But that aside, this album is an absolute, unadulterated masterpiece. I loved 'Passover'. This blows it out of the water. Deep chugging blues washed in some of the most profoundly cosmic feedback I have ever heard. I could sit here and go on and on and on... but just buy the album. Exalting, thrilling, and incredibly sexy...

RIYL: Dead Meadow, Black Mountain, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Spacemen 3, The Warlocks (with whom I get to see them in a week!!!), Blood on the Wall (as in Mary Susan), The Verve

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing and Trippy, May 20, 2008

By	S. W. Dorn "desert dreamer" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really liked The Black Angels first album Passover. This album is even better. It is much more far out then their fist album and the sound quality is great. The last song on the album is over 16 minutes long which is pretty cool and their use of feedback in You In Color works nicely. As I write this its at number 16 in the psychedelic category of music here on Amazon putting it above several classics (even if it is just for a few days its still a bragging right isnt it?). Its a classic of my generation and I hope they will continue what they are doing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More luscious psychedelia, January 2, 2009

By	Tom Chase (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Directions to See a Ghost (Audio CD)

The Black Angels' debut "Passover" was an exciting surge back to 60s psychedelia, full of mind-bending drones, trippy guitars and a truly inspired vocalist in Alex Maas. "Direction To See A Ghost" continues things in the same vein. Granted there isn't much new to TBA's sound, but this doesn't bother me. They have such a distinguished sound already that varying it too much after just two releases was never necessary.

As with the debut, the songs tend to flow and groove endlessly. The `drone machine' saturates everything, the drums are powerful and locked, the guitar tone is perfectly fuzzy and Maas' piercing, nasally delivery is wonderfully fitting. Some songs have the tendency to drift on, but there are some real gems here. The one-two punch of "You On The Run" and "Doves" is a grand opening, with the former setting up a brooding, melancholy Velvet Underground atmosphere, only for the latter to cut through with some feel-good, sunshine pop psychedelia. Other highlights include the sombre "18 Years" and the sitar-laden "Deer-Ree-Shee". Generally, there isn't a bad song to be found here. "Directions" is another great album from The Black Angels that firmly cements them at the forefront of modern psychedelic rock.