Spiritualized?

playing Royal Albert Hall in october: http://www.atpfestival.com/events/spiritualizedroyalalberthall.php

well they did do that Junior Kimbrough tribute album track, so it's not like this is completely out of the blue

xp

(track is amazing btw - one of their best of recent years)

Hmmmm....

http://www.thecreatorsproject.com/blog/a-look-at-the-new-installation-from-j-spaceman-and-jonathan-glazer

is this guy retired now or what

nah, he just did those LAGWAFIS shows recently & is working on a new LP. I thought Songs in A&E was is best in a decade or so, so who knows?

There were whispers that at least one of the two Sydney Opera House LAG orchestral shows last month was recorded. Hope so, the night I went to was 100% amazeballs.

(Though even better than a recording would be for them to come back every nine months or so and do it again.)

they are down as headlining one of the minor festivals here in the uk this summer

You might think that but you could be wrong. From the latest Spiritualized twitter post

Spiritualized have moved three of their forthcoming UK and Ireland shows back to February 2012 to co-incide with their new album, which is now set to be released early next year on the Double Six label.

London’s Royal Albert Hall remains the same whilst Edinburgh and Leamington Spa have moved back by a few days in October. New tracks will be previewed at the October shows.

Original tickets purchased remain valid for new dates or refunds can be made at point of purchase.

Standon Calling will be their only UK festival appearance of 2011.

October 2011
Sun 9 UK, Edinburgh, Queen’s Hall
Mon 10 UK, Leamington Spa Assembly Hall
Tue 11 UK, London, Royal Albert Hall

February 2012
Thur 23 Ireland, Dublin, Vicar Street
Fri 24 UK ,Manchester Academy
Sat 25 UK, Bristol Academy

so... you're saying that Standon Calling is one of the major festivals?

lol. isn't it invite-only or something?

The Spaceman's Story
Lazer Guided Melodies = I Love Drugs and I Love My Girlfriend

Pure Phase = I Love Drugs More Than My Girlfriend

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space = I Lost My Girlfriend and I’m Left With Drugs

Let It Come Down = Withdrawal via Massive Orchestration

Amazing Grace = Withdrawal via “Back to Basics”

Songs in A & E = I Almost Died

Sweet Heart Sweet Light = I’m Still Alive

Are you doing a PhD?

Although, vg

'pure phase' is the only one i actually care about any more.

Top 10 Spiritualized Songs

(I am biased towards Jason Pierce's earlier experimental space rock phase rather than his later symphonic/garage rock phase.)

(In Chronological Order)

~ "Feel So Sad (Rhapsodies)"
~ "Take Your Time"
~ "Angel Sigh"
~ "Take Good Care Of It"
~ "Lay Back In The Sun"
~ "Spread Your Wings"
~ "Feel Like Goin' Home"
~ "Stay With Me"
~ "Shine A Light" (Live at Royal Albert Hall version)
~ "I Think I'm In Love" (Live at Royal Albert Hall version)

What are your Top 10 Spiritualized songs?

Roughly in order,

Broken Heart
Shine a Light
Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
The Ballad of Richie Lee
Do it All Over Again
Out of Sight
Cool Waves
Hey Jane
Feel Like Goin' Home
200 Bars

Oh shit, I forgot Stay With Me.

Feel So Sad (the rockier version)
Medication (EP version)
Cop Shoot Cop
Ladies and Gentlemen
I Think I'm In Love
Run
Say With Me
Feel Like Going Home
Electricity
No God Only Religion

I dig every version I've heard of "Feel So Sad". The Peel Session version is my favorite, alongside the original Rhapsodies version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_fYvWhANtY

I'll do my top 10 in order

1 - Won't Get To Heaven (The State I'm In)
2 - Shine A Light (either versh)
3 - Let It Flow
4 - I Think I'm In Love (Albert Hall versh onnnnnly)
5 - Medication
6 - Feel Like Goin' Home
7 - Don't Just Do Something
8 - Feel So Sad (Rhapsodies)
9 - Lay Back In The Sun
10 - If I Were With Her Now

Let It Flow is really, really amazing, deserves way more props, buried deep in the midst of their most difficult (albeit best) album tho

^^^turns out it was a single as well, silly me

Lazer Guided Melodies has always been my favorite because it has more clarity and flows better, in my humble opinion, however Pure Phase definitely gets props from me. It contains their most ghostly bliss-out "Take Good Care Of It", most uplifting climax "Lay Back In The Sun", and greatest closer "Feel Like Goin' Home".

I dig LGM more because I always felt the three instrumentals weighed Pure Phase down, plus "Good Times" is just a re-hash of "Lay Back In The Sun".

For years, I've listened to Pure Phase without those four tracks (10 tracks, 48 minutes) and in this incarnation Pure Phase is their best album.

Lazer Guided has only become my favourite album of theirs in the last year. I bought it over ten years ago and played it only a couple of times. I finally went back to it in the last two years and I loved it more and more each time I played it, it's the ultimate grower. I don't think they've made a bad record. Amazing Grace is probably my least favourite but it still has some beautiful moments.

I can't believe it took me this long to listen to Sweet Heart Sweet Light. It's Jason Pierce's best album since Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space.

Especially dig "Freedom" and "I Am What I Am."

This might sound heretical but I feel "I Am What I Am" is superior to
"Cop Shoot Cop".

After blasting Sweet Heart, Sweet Light in my headphones while wandering around outside, I've decided this is my favorite Spiritualized album since Lazer Guided Melodies.

In my mind, of course, it's impossible to top Lazer Guided Melodies, however, Sweet Heart, Sweet Light is superior to his previous three albums and (here's where I really upset the apple cart) it's even better than Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, to my ears.

"So Long, You Pretty Thing" is heartbreakingly beautiful. Brings tears to my eyes and, simultaneously, a smile to my face.

It is a great album but I prefer Ladies & Gentlemen and Let it Come Down. Pretty Thing is indeed beautiful, probably my second favourite after Hey Jane.

I even prefer Songs In A&E, it seemed like he was trying quite hard to refresh his sound on that record. Interludes, odder arrangements, Daniel Johnston, and all that. Sweet Heart seems a bit unfinished in the mixing stage or something, like he should have waited to get better before delivering the master.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W46GBFH1AmQ

Spiritualized are playing in Bushwick tonite at the ~200 cap. venue Secret Project Robot. Doors 8:00/Show 9:00/Ends at 11:00. $10.

That show was fucking awesome.

I have to assume Elvis Telecom ended up at that as well...

I have to assume Elvis Telecom ended up at that as well...

Actually I didn't. I didn't hear about the show until we were already on the Airtrain at JFK. Would have been annoyed, but already have tickets to see them at Pappy & Harriets out in Joshua Tree (which has quickly become my favorite place to see anyone these days).

BTW, Jason replaced most of the band again. New Spiritualized drummer is Kid Millions from Oneida.

they're playing Pappy and Harriets?!? say what's up to my bro for me lol

Kid Millions from Oneida.

also !!!!! love this dude

say whaaaat? That is crazy.

Pictures from the show: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2013/04/spiritualized_p_5.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ8YqKT05Zw

Has anyone seen J. Spaceman solo? Worthwhile? He's doing a show in Champaign-Urbana in a couple of weeks.

Acoustic Mainlines show I saw 3 or 4 Christmases ago was near-solo (some of it was choir+orchestration, but not all) - one of my favourite gigs. So I'd say yes!

Where's he playing in C-U?

He's also doing in show @LPR in Sept.

http://www.lepoissonrouge.com/lpr_events/j-spaceman-and-kid-millions-september-11th-2013/

man sometimes I could listen to the various versions of Feel So Sad forever

> Where's he playing in C-U?

At the Krannert Center during the Ellnora Festival.

I've been listening to the whole discography (and I mean the WHOLE discography) the last few days and it's weird, sometime around Amazing Grace there's a real sonic shift, the low end tends to evaporate. incidentally that's the one album that feels like a real misstep. prior to that, through all the various incarnations of the band there's a real panoramic, wide-screen sort of sound that's very well fleshed out. things sound thinner now and I'm not sure why that is. I do like the last couple records but it feels like after Let It Come Down there was a kind of exhaustion that set in sonically, a retreat to this kind of more straightforward, washed-out sound.

that being said, So Long You Pretty Thing possibly the most elegiac thing he's ever written, god what a tune

Ended up going to the J Spaceman show last night. The stage set up was cool -- it's a huge, deeeep stage and sitting he was way up front under a wide spotlight with a Marshall half stack and to his left and a bunch of pedals in front of him. We missed the first couple minutes so not sure how he built it up, but he spent about 75 minutes layering loops. It took about 20-30 minutes to really start bringing it together...gotta admit I was a bit skeptical he was going to pull it off, actually. But the last 30 minutes were super cool -- like at least 5 or 6 different loops going with him playing over it all. Suuuper loud. Very cool.

There's a proper Spiritualized gig tomorrow in Philly that I think I'm going to though idk why they're touring since they played here less than a year ago and they have nothing new to promote. It makes me hope he does something like loop stuff for 75 minutes.

I love Spiritualized, but the band's innately conservative. I've not seen a lot of variety from show to show, which makes sense, because there's not a ton of variety from album to album, either. Arrangements tend to stick to the albums, too, no matter how many people on stage, the lyrics stay in sad gospel mode, and for all its free-jazz squonk I've never seen the band do a set that did not emphasize its songs. I've seen the band live maybe 8 times and I'd describe the most recent pretty much the same as I'd describe the first maybe 15 years ago. So basically, no, you're likely not going to get 75 minutes of loops.

That Spiritualized remains a great band is a minor miracle in and of itself. Maybe it's all that talking to Jesus about the deep hole in his soul.