The uncanny, cybernetic, psychedelic, anime world of Magdalena Bay

Eric Webb, Austin American-Statesman
·1 min read
Mica Tenenbaum performs during Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, TX on October 9, 2022. Magdalena Bay performs on the Tito’s Stage during ACL Fest at Zilker Park.
Mica Tenenbaum performs during Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, TX on October 9, 2022. Magdalena Bay performs on the Tito’s Stage during ACL Fest at Zilker Park.

Low-res-high-tech is the aesthetic of the now. You've got your Sophie-and-Charli hyperpop universe, your ironic meme pages ripe with remixed clip art, your resurgence of 1990s fashions and 1990s media. We got a "Matrix" sequel that was kinda sorta about making a "Matrix" sequel, for Oracle's sake.

This is where to find Magdalena Bay, the electro-pop duo of Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin. On Sunday, the band sucked the Tito's Handmade Vodka stage at Austin City Limits Music Festival into its ethernet port and didn't let go, translating buzz band rep into sun-sapped festival release.

Mica Tenenbaum performs during Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, TX on October 9, 2022. Magdalena Bay performs on the Tito’s Stage during ACL Fest at Zilker Park.
Mica Tenenbaum performs during Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, TX on October 9, 2022. Magdalena Bay performs on the Tito’s Stage during ACL Fest at Zilker Park.

More:Every time Lil Nas X did something that made us scream or cry at ACL Fest

Tent sets always seems a little transportive. You've got what passes for an enclosed space, and rooms make for good imagination. Magdalena Bay's show was just as visual as it was audio -- frenetic digital collages fritzed out on the video screen behind the band, displaying computer error messages, freaky not-Pokemon animations, anime clips and warpy A.I. facsimiles of the musicians.

Ah, and of course, the computer-generated face that talked to Tenenbaum throughout the show. That gal (fella? being) was a gas.

More:What it's like to watch P!nk fly over ACL Fest

Sonically, Magdalena Bay finds good harbor in a mélange of weirdo influences: There's the bit of hyperpop, but also '70s A.M. radio sunshine and a not-small tincture of Japanese city pop in this shiny psychedelic stew.

Testimony: I was so tired and realized that I had started dancing without realizing it.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Magdalena Bay at ACL Fest is uncanny, cybernetic, psychedelic