Moon Duo

Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada
(worldwide tour poster photo 2015)

Moon Duo playlist

Contributor: Ann Sequinworld

Moon Duo formed in San Francisco in 2009 by Ripley Johnson (Wooden Shjips) and Sanae Yamada (Vive la Void). Their debut Escape was released in 2010 by Woodsist, the indie label founded by Jeremy Earl of Woods. Their subsequent albums have been released by Sacred Bones Records.

John Jeffrey (Oscilloclast) joined the band in 2014. Relocated to Portland, Oregon, their latest and seventh album Stars Are The Light was released in 2019. Their spectacular stage show, The Lightship, has delighted and amazed audiences over the last couple of years before touring was halted in February 2020.

I hope you enjoy these ten tracks and go on to explore Moon Duo’s back catalogue

White Rose – Occult Architecture Vol.1 (2017)
“Awash in lush sonic textures and psychedelic grooves that make the perfect backdrop for hypnotic guitar styling.”

Motorcycle, I Love You – Escape (2010)
“Corroded guitars, loopy keyboard lines, krautrock rhythms and psychedelic strain conjuring both the whirling cosmos and the droning abyss.”

Lost Heads – Stars Are The Light (2019)
“The combination of sweetness and substance is blissed-out and pillowy, soft-core shoegaze.”

Creepin’ – Occult Architecture Vol.1 (2017)
“Groovy, danceable bass lines, spiralling sound effects and syrupy synths are mixed in the right proportion and the results are dazzling.”

Night Beat – Shadow Of The Sun (2015)
“Taking tried and true pop song templates and blasting them to smithereens with looping doses of gleefully woolly droning and guitar noise.”

Sleepwalker – Circles (2012)
“Heart-palpitating rhythms and lacerating keyboard lines to build blown-out, end times epics littered with subtle twists.”

Sevens – Occult Architecture Vo1.2 (2017)
“If you have a taste for German motorik drive, Velvet Underground chug, Spacemen 3 hypnotism and blissful psych, they hit an irresistible sweet spot.”

Animal – Shadow Of The Sun (2015)
“Dense sonic textures and rambling experimentalism.”

Goners – Mazes (2011)
“Elements of slinky disco, shimmering Madchester and electronic trippery.”

I Been Gone – Circles (2012)
“Churning distorted guitars, shared vocals and pulsing keyboards over machine-driven motorik rhythms.”

Moon Duo at the Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, November 2019 (Part 1)
– from our contributor’s collection

Moon Duo official website

Moon Duo on Sacred Bones Records

Moon Duo biography (Apple Music)

Ann loves the psychedelic music of the 80s/90s. In between gigs, she runs her own business, Sequin World and Bead Monster. This is her eighth post for the site, following Loop, The Heads, Thee Hypnotics, Mudhoney, Wooden Shjips, The Lucid Dream, The BellRays. You can follow her on twitter @ann_sequinworld and other social media sites.

The quotes above are from reviews at the time of each record’s release, paraphrased here and there and attached to a song. This was a cut-up process and the quote may not originally have been about that particular song but … you know what … it doesn’t matter because it works.

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