all in the golden afternoon

via google translate:
Last year this band I discovered by accident and immediately stole my heart. In my head is already on its long psychedelic festival in the woods, where they will play a major exclusive in time. Indeed, there are days when you listen to nothing else than All In The Golden Afternoon. Their music is like lamp in a dark room and I am a moth who blindly throws a light and nothing stops her. And during those winter get my dose of light needed a really awful lot.

All In The Golden Afternoon is from Texas and playing music for the last place you would of just said, Texas. They are survivors Syd Barrett, who passed her sound like a puzzle from the remnants of the echoes Yo La Tengo, My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. But it’s not shoegaze. All In The Golden Afternoon write songs like the Velvet Underground - very simple and beautifully primitive - and then wrap sweet buzzing sound, rather than riffs reminiscent of the special sound rubbish. Who knows what’s in it and what chorus verse - and if not All In The Golden Afternoon moving coordinates. One is that it works very addictive and hypnotic. It’s all too strange lit (yes, afternoon sun), while the number of albums people automatically think of black, this is dominated by all shades of gold, which you can imagine.

All In The Golden Afternoon just have an indescribable charm because it pays them to follow their trips. This band is small treasure. - Silver Rocket

"It's been a busy year for Rachel Staggs. Back in February, she released Third Transmission: Meet Me on Echo Echo Terrace with Experimental Aircraft, and the group is reportedly back in the studio recording a new EP. As a member of The Static Silence, she released Found in May. She has a solo project under the name of Rachel Goldstar, which she claims will have some sort of release by the end of the year, as is psychedelic rock band, The Tunnels, whom she plays bass guitar for. And, finally Staggs also has All in the Golden Afternoon. A collaboration with husband Carlos Jackson (also a member of The Tunnels), the duo released a self-titled EP in February and has a full-length LP planned for later in the year.

Given that each of these projects all follow the same droning, spacey sound, Rachel's works are all the more impressive. Though the quality level differs between each project, they all have their own merits, and Staggs shows no signs of fatigue or redundancy. All in the Golden Afternoon, yes a reference to the Lewis Caroll poem of the same name, perhaps best exemplifies the range of Staggs' works blurring the lines between the shoegaze of Experimental Aircraft and The Static Silence with the psychedelic rock of The Tunnels.

A mere twelve minutes in length, All in the Golden Afternoon is a very breezy, delicate record. Opener "Garden of Live Flowers" and closer "The Lion and the Unicorn" are testament enough to this. Neither track exceeds a minute in length, and seems more interludes than structured songs. Regardless, both pieces are decidedly content, and establish the EP's warm atmosphere rather well. The downcast title track darkens the mood slightly, with ominous guitar jangles and spacey reverb making up the centrepiece of the song. Staggs' breathy, almost nonchalant vocal style contrasts nicely with the instrumentation, producing All in the Golden Afternoon's most foreboding, yet strangely appealing moment. But from "Anymore Anyway" on, All in the Golden Afternoon brightens tremendously. A light buzz resonates through the track in conjunction with loud guitars and subtle organ-work. Again, the intimacy of Staggs' vocal work is the most endearing aspect of the song, but the way Staggs and Jackson play off each other's performance is especially impressive. "Sunshine is Fine" takes the duo off on a different tangent; the song is a delightful journey through guitar/organ-centric dream-pop. Even without the Staggs' stellar vocal work, the song retains the serene qualities that make All in the Golden Afternoon such a treat to listen to.

Though All in the Golden Afternoon has its similarities to some of the duo's other projects, that isn't to say that it's a carbon copy. The EP isn't nearly as dense as that of Experimental Aircraft, The Tunnels, or even The Black Angels (whom Staggs played with in 2004), but at the same time, it doesn't quite have the same pop sensibilities as Rachel Goldstar. More or less, it's a simple, relaxing little composition that flows seamlessly from start to finish. In a way, you could consider it a bit of a summer record I suppose (ignoring the fact that it was released in February), but really, All in the Golden Afternoon is more or less just a great album to sit back and chill out to." - sputnik.com
- Sputnik

All in the Golden Afternoon is the brainchild of husband and wife duo Carlos Jackson and Rachel Staggs. Their first release, 2008’s self-titled EP, is an intimate collection of six songs; characterized by dreamy, psychedelic tendencies and vibrant instrumentation, it has since become one of my favourite EPs.

“In the Box” isn’t quite as upbeat as the material from All in the Golden Afternoon, but the reverb soaked piece maintains the breezy atmosphere that the duo does so well. And you gotta love the vocal interplay between Rachel and Carlos. “In the Box” will be featured on All in the Golden Afternoon’s full length album, Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea. -Mike Stagno - Sputnik

It’s a rainy afternoon here in Austin today, so why not see if All in the Golden Afternoon can brighten things up a bit. The dreamy psych duo has been trying their damnedest to get their debut LP and follow up to their 2008 EP out for a while now, but have unfortunately run into the typical label frustrations. So for now, Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea is available for digital download, or you can pre-order the vinyl and still get the download on January 15. In the meantime, you can get a taste for the duo’s (actually a trio for this song, thanks to some keyboards from Chad Merritt) new music with a download of “Gulf Coast Highway”. The album also apparently features some additional help from the Octopus Project’s Yvonne Lambert, which we assume means some hot theremin action! Unfortunately it doesn’t look like All in the Golden Afternoon have any local gigs coming up, though if you happen to find yourself in Croatia at the end of March - well, then you probably have bigger problems to worry about than catching AitGA. - Austin Sound

Someday, someone will describe with great precision how the music of ALL IN THE GOLDEN AFTERNOON so perfectly and strangely casts in sound those emotions related to love, longing, wonder and wandering. Today is not that day, and this is not written by that someone.

We wish that weren’t the case. We wish it were easy. We wish detailing how space can be stretched so sublimely by synth-stabbing spouses from Austin, Texas, were effortless. It’s not.

Nor is the music of All in the Golden Afternoon, though it certainly feels effortless. Not in the sense of being easy, or void of deep consideration, or that the sounds are unexamined. Not at all. Rather, that effortless sensation – perhaps best illustrated on the band’s recent album, “Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea” – stems from a collection of songs that sound natural in the broadest sense: songs that were not assembled, but born, songs free from artificiality, affectation or inhibitions.

And where there is the danger that ascribing notions of the “natural” in music can result in an exclusion of the “supernatural” … it’s not a concern when discussing All in the Golden Afternoon. Maybe you missed that part about their latest album being called “Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea.” Maybe you long to drift effortlessly, naturally on an infinite sea. Maybe …

Listen: I wasn’t kidding around when I started this by saying I cannot describe what it is about the music of All in the Golden Afternoon that is so magical to me, what it is that has compelled me to keep an All in the Golden Afternoon pin on the lapel of my black jacket for nearly a year now (since seeing them at Austin Psych Fest 3), and whether this will translate in any way to you and your personal musical enjoyment. But I’m also not kidding when I say: you should give them a listen.

You can preview and buy the music of All in the Golden Afternoon at their Bandcamp page.

And after you do that, you may find yourself driven to have your eyes rolling into the back of your head, approaching a mental state of utter anticipatory, wordless, electro-psych glee at the prospect of their collaboration with that brilliant, kooky, kosmiche kraut, Ulrich Schnauss. - Revolt of the Apes

“All in the golden afternoon

Full leisurely we glide”

In a wonderous colorful universe

Filled with siren chants, eerie spirits and beyond forces

For both our troubadours with much skill

By great soundscapes are magnified


Ah delightful thee!

While Magic Lighthouse On The Infinite Sea shimmers

Our wanderings are picturesque

Advice From A Caterpillar is a lavish rainbow

Of mellow colors and sensations

Symphonies and spirits whisper and caress


30th and Sanchez will have you under a fairylike incurable spell

And Gulf Coast Highway brings back The Elevators’ Roller Coaster gimmick

Before Up All Night lets its electronic demons run

For A kaleidoscope of technicolor visions and hallucinations

The lordly Goldstars flash forth

In Space and Twilight Zones


With chiaroscuros, climaxes and unexpected twists

In gentle tones and starry nights

There shall not be a dull moment

Throughout this tale of white magic

Whilst the lighthouse magnetizes ships filled with lost souls

Which were endlessly roaming the sea


In fancy Poseidon and sea creatures pursue

The dream vessel moving through the ocean

And pirates’ ghosts howl on the infinite sea

Until they seek shelter in the Goldstars’ hazy melodies and mellifluous vocals

Thus grows the enchanting tale of the magic lighthouse on the infinite sea

Beneath the setting sun, ad vitam aeternam

Hail to All In The Golden Afternoon!

- Reverberation

Austin-based married couple All In The Golden Afternoon named its upcoming second release, Magic Lighthouse On The Infinite Sea, after its recording studio: the top of a lighthouse in Johnson Bayou, LA. Album track “Gulf Coast Highway” features hushed vocals drowning in guitar-laden noise rock that’s (almost) as heavy as the waves crashing below. The effect is a little unsettling—more like frontwoman Rachel Staggs' cry for help than a folk ballad, with her repeating “She cries all the time,” her voice trailing from the candlelit practice space into the deepest corners of the night. - Magnet Magazine

Named after a poem from the trippiest of children’s books, Lewis Carroll’s “Alice In Wonderland”, husband and wife duo Carlos Jackson and Rachel Staggs specialise in lo-fi, deceptively innocent sounding dream pop but which on this outing at least displays both an edge and a creative maturity which ensures it never sounds twee.

Ranging from instrumental like “Advice From A Caterpillar” and “The Pool of Tears”, the woozy acid pop of “In A Box” - which sounds like a slowed down and deconstructed outtake from Hawkwind’s “Hall of Mountain Grill” - delightful, semi-sweet shoegaze vignettes and the hypno-tronic, download–only closer “Up All Night – Western Arms Remix”, Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea is bound to draw at least superficial comparison with the likes of Mazzy Star, Damon and Naomi, even latter day Broadcast. However, make no mistake, this has both an instant and enduring charm of its own and stands favourable in comparison with any of the “peer group”.

Other than the quality of the music, the reason why this works well is pacing. Aside from the deliciously ethereal eight minute, “30th and Sanchez” (featuring some serious Theramin action courtesy of Octopus Project’s Yvonne Lambert) only the aforementioned “Up All Night...” clocks in at more than 5 minutes. In fact, most of the rest barely touches half of that. Whilst those who consider the world to have started and ended with side-long slow burners may be tempted to feel short changed at this point, bear in mind that this sort of format doesn’t allow for much latitude as a result of which it would be easy for this to quickly become a boring retread of itself. In this case, less really is more and it is to Jackson and Staggs’ credit that that they are able to keep proceedings so fresh and interesting throughout.

The verdict? Well, Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea is pleasingly poptastic in a way that goes straight to your psychedelic psunspot (and in a way that shouts “silly grin alert”). Great cover from the inimitable Iker Spozio, too.

(Ian Fraser) - Terrascope UK

The name comes from a hallucinogenic Lewis Carroll poem, but the newly married Rachel Staggs (Experimental Aircraft) and Carlos Jackson (the Shells) have infused their local debut as All in the Golden Afternoon with more looking glass, less rabbit hole. The title track is a reverb cruise through shoegaze's heyday and Ex Air's waves of sound, while the drum-free drone of "Anymore Anyway" echoes the Spacemen 3's "Ecstasy Symphony," both marbled down by Staggs' breathy purr. "Sunshine Is Fine" is instrumental dream-pop bliss, organ and guitar mirroring each other's feedback, and "Future Faster Now" revels in a Stereolab-ish space-pop polish. Bookended by a short intro and outro, "Garden of Live Flowers" and "The Lion and the Unicorn," All in the Golden Afternoon's six short songs never quite get to ask Alice, but they're nice aural Xanax in the meantime. - The Austin Chonicle

Combining their impressive credentials in some of the most unique and talented bands in town, the husband and wife duo of All in the Golden Afternoon produce a hauntingly beautiful tapestry of dreamy psychedelic moods. Rachel Staggs and Carlos Jackson take their group’s name from a poem in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, and their music could well soundtrack a trip into the subconscious, mellow tones dripping behind Mazzy Star-like vocals and powerful blocks of distortion and fuzz. They released their fantastic debut EP this past winter, and are preparing their first full length for later this year. - Austin Sound

Trends come and go, but much like the blues, Austin will always have a special place in its heart for space rock. Fitting, since groups like Spacemen 3 and The Jesus And Mary Chain might never have existed without our own 13th Floor Elevators. These days, plenty of Austin bands have kept the delay pedals burning for the shoegaze movement, though probably none as prolifically (or sweetly) as the ethereal Rachel Goldstar, whose latest project, All In The Golden Afternoon, is as sunny and breezy as the name suggests.
- The Onion AV Club