Altered Zones

The music world converges on Austin, Texas in March for an exaltation of all things music in the form of SXSW. But since 2008, Austin has also been the base for the tight-knit psych community's annual celebration of drone, fuzz, organs and tambourines. From April 29-May 1st, Psych Fest 4, curated by Austin natives The Black Angels will take off again, boasting a line-up with Zoned In darkwavers The Soft Moon, alongside Young Prisms, Woodsman, and Austin local Roky Erickson of the seminal 13th Floor Elevators. Plus some of our 2010 favorites like Cloudland Canyon, Tjutjuna, and Vacant Lots. --Daniel Gottlieb

And today, as if to start the countdown to April, prefix magazine premiered a track from Psych Fest-bound psych-rockers Lumerians' forthcoming record Transmalinnia. "Burning Mirrors" opens with driving bass and drums before haunting vocals call out over fuzzed guitars and a slimey organ line. The effect is both wonderfully heavy and trance inducing.

MP3: Lumerians: "Burning Mirrors"

MP3: The Soft Moon: "Breathe The Fire"