Kikagaku Moyo Bring Masana Temples to La Sala Rossa!

By: Sun Noor

It has been quite a busy year for Kikagaku Moyo. The psych lords made their return to Montreal last night in support of their fourth full-length record Masana Temples, which was released earlier this month under the label Guruguru Brain. After playing a handful of North American shows and supporting Earthless for a short run earlier this year, the band embarked on another headlining tour hitting most cities and also made an appearance at this years edition of Desert Daze festival.

Kikagaku Moyo never fail to amaze me with their releases. What I enjoy most about their material is how it varies, the band is known for incorporating multiple layers and having melody changes in between songs without making the track sound different.For instance, in one of my favourite songs off Masana Temples, “Gatherings” starts off very slow but builds up to a fast paced outro halfway through it. “Dripping Sun” also appears as two or three different songs put together in such cohesive manner, given its transition from a slower number while building up to become rather funkier with the upbeat melody towards the end of the song before coming back to its original slow pace.Evidently, the record flows quite well as it contains perfect transitions between most tracks, making them appear as different songs, which is quite impressive.

The band’s set resembled a straightforwardly hour and forty-five minute long jam session that was very inviting. They thanked the crowd for sticking around at the start of their set and proceeded to play a collection of songs from their discography, including various tracks from Masana Temples. Interestingly, their set was quite straightforward in the sense that they played non stop, as they transitioned each song together, leaving no time for pauses which the crowd enjoyed.

Download or stream Masana Temples here!

Kikagaku Moyo are due to wrap up their North American tour in Toronto tonight before heading to Europe to finish off their current run. Click here to purchase tickets or view tour dates.

Here are more photos from the show: