Spacemen 3 - classic or unutterably shite?

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Recurring is great!!

'Why Couldn't I See?' is the jam.

Blazes Boyband (Pillbox), Friday, 14 January 2011 08:31 (thirteen years ago) link

this chord........is for you DA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

Blazes Boyband (Pillbox), Friday, 14 January 2011 08:33 (thirteen years ago) link

buncha other stuff ... Thee Hypnotics .. couldn't quite believe how much i liked their American label CD .. pretty dang OK .. Jesus and Mary Chain 'Stoned and Dethroned' .. on American

all these albums seemed like total shit to me .. at the time

was that just a product of some sorta mid-90s style shift, why do I think these things sound decent now (incl. like I say, the Bassman stuff as Spacemen 3 aping Darkside) ?

now I need to listen to that American-label Love and Rockets CD again. If I can find it.

Stormy Davis, Friday, 14 January 2011 08:36 (thirteen years ago) link

Ok so first up was actually Darkness, 'Melomania' -- LOVED it on relisten, but boy was Pete Bassman going for that SP3 sound

I didn't like this album outside of about two tracks ... I should listen again though, it's been ages.

Pierce okay sure, but Spectrum is basically Kember re-making the first half of the record over and over (to great effect mind you, but still!)

I agree, but the remakes were usually a lot better than the stuff on "Recurring". The roots of what would become SPZ are obvious on Jason's half, but I've never been able to get into any of it. I seriously would have never guessed that SPZ would become so good based on Jason's contributions to "Recurring".

So since the two halves are basically poor facsimiles of the much better music they'd make later on, I almost never feel the need to hear this album.

NoTimeBeforeTime, Friday, 14 January 2011 10:30 (thirteen years ago) link

Recurring is great!! albeit a pretty big anomaly in their catalog. it doesn't really sound too much like anything before or since by either Kember or Pierce.

― assorted curses (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, January 13, 2011 11:50 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

well, apart from 'feel so sad' which became a spiritualized release iirc

and then there's the huge troggs rip anticipating spz's first single

moholy-nagl (history mayne), Friday, 14 January 2011 10:37 (thirteen years ago) link

there was also a huge troggs rip on Milli Vanilli's second single .. i swear

Stormy Davis, Friday, 14 January 2011 10:50 (thirteen years ago) link

"I agree, but the remakes were usually a lot better than the stuff on "Recurring". "

I like all of Kember's stuff so I still pull out Recurring to listen to his half.

"I seriously would have never guessed that SPZ would become so good based on Jason's contributions to "Recurring"."

I'm not sure anyone would have! Consensus at the time was that he was the far less talented bandmember!

Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Friday, 14 January 2011 13:14 (thirteen years ago) link

I dunno of Pierce's half "Hypnotized" and "Feel So Sad" are both breathtaking imho

assorted curses (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 14 January 2011 16:34 (thirteen years ago) link

those Darkside records do NOT hold up. the vibe is there but the songwriting definitely isn't

assorted curses (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 14 January 2011 16:35 (thirteen years ago) link

I'm not sure anyone would have! Consensus at the time was that he was the far less talented bandmember!

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Friday, January 14, 2011 5:14 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

was this so? if so, i didn't notice. seemed to me that there was a great deal of anticipation about and positive response to that first spirtualized 12". or maybe that was just in my living room, i dunno. was floored by the great leap forward on lazer guided melodies tho.

normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Friday, 14 January 2011 16:40 (thirteen years ago) link

iirc at the time Playing With Fire was seen as the high point and Pierce's involvement on that album is like, what, two songs? Kember definitely seemed like the dominant force around the time.

assorted curses (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 14 January 2011 16:45 (thirteen years ago) link

"Feeling Just Fine (Head Full of Shit)" sounds reeeeeally good under the right circumstances.

Trip Maker, Friday, 14 January 2011 16:49 (thirteen years ago) link

Plus Kember had released the first Spectrum album by that point and the Angel 12". He looked like the together/productive member of the group lol!

Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Friday, 14 January 2011 16:51 (thirteen years ago) link

the LP sleeve for those first couple Spectrum albums are some of my all-time favorite psychedelic gimmick-style designs

assorted curses (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 14 January 2011 16:54 (thirteen years ago) link

They are great records too!

Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Friday, 14 January 2011 16:56 (thirteen years ago) link

"Big City" is my favorite S3 song ever and "Why Couldn't I See" is always the song I send to ppl who have never heard/heard of S3 before. Recurring is amazing.

lamey g. curtis (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, 14 January 2011 17:02 (thirteen years ago) link

but yeah, 1st sonic boom LP and those early spectrum 12"s looked great

normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Friday, 14 January 2011 17:04 (thirteen years ago) link

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51esl5TFMXL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

^^ underrated

am0n, Friday, 14 January 2011 17:05 (thirteen years ago) link

Thomas Koner is underrated!

Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Friday, 14 January 2011 17:07 (thirteen years ago) link

might be heresy, but i like that e.a.r. album more than actual thomas koner stuff i've heard

ilxor, Friday, 14 January 2011 17:40 (thirteen years ago) link

Out.

Ned Raggett, Friday, 14 January 2011 17:42 (thirteen years ago) link

;_;

ilxor, Friday, 14 January 2011 17:48 (thirteen years ago) link

two years pass...

so these lyrics are all about drugs.

Chuck E was a hero to most (s.clover), Thursday, 18 April 2013 20:33 (eleven years ago) link

also Jesus

four Marxes plus four Obamas plus four Bin Ladens (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 18 April 2013 20:39 (eleven years ago) link

you are sensitive to details

nostormo, Thursday, 18 April 2013 20:48 (eleven years ago) link

also bubblegum and rollercoasters

the late great, Thursday, 18 April 2013 20:52 (eleven years ago) link

and politics (revolution)

nostormo, Thursday, 18 April 2013 20:53 (eleven years ago) link

band that seems awesome in theory but is actually pretty boring. dud.

Poliopolice, Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:21 (eleven years ago) link

Opened me up to the world of underground psych. Classic.

Trip Maker, Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:27 (eleven years ago) link

90% classic, 10% boring

nostormo, Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:32 (eleven years ago) link

best rock band of all time

the late great, Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:35 (eleven years ago) link

rock and roll

nostormo, Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:36 (eleven years ago) link

My favorite band.

That's it. No more to add.

Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:38 (eleven years ago) link

No surprise re: people who are very wrong itt

easily one of the best rock bands of the 80's.

my mental killfile seems to be working (sleeve), Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:44 (eleven years ago) link

oh my god, it's made of drugs

I have many lovely lacy nightgowns (contenderizer), Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:46 (eleven years ago) link

elvis great sleeve otm

I have many lovely lacy nightgowns (contenderizer), Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:47 (eleven years ago) link

what about me?

nostormo, Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:49 (eleven years ago) link

i guess i'm 90% otm, 10% wrong

nostormo, Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:51 (eleven years ago) link

Recurring, probaby their most accessible record, is also very underrated

nostormo, Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:54 (eleven years ago) link

Recurring, probaby their most accessible record, is also very underrated

Especially the super-long UK CD version!

Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:55 (eleven years ago) link

I'm all about forged prescriptions

the late great, Thursday, 18 April 2013 21:55 (eleven years ago) link

those are the best kind

I have many lovely lacy nightgowns (contenderizer), Thursday, 18 April 2013 22:00 (eleven years ago) link

forged prescriptions 2XCD is amazing

four Marxes plus four Obamas plus four Bin Ladens (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 18 April 2013 22:01 (eleven years ago) link

Playing With Fire >> Recurring. Could never be arsed with the rest. These always sounded fantastic on the walkman while still e'd or phetted up from the night before and some of Pierce's best ever songs on these.

Jason Dowd, Thursday, 18 April 2013 22:11 (eleven years ago) link

bubblegum and rollercoasters and jesus lyrics are secretly about drugs too. this is my theory, and mine alone. you may disagree, but it is true i tell you.

Chuck E was a hero to most (s.clover), Friday, 19 April 2013 02:15 (eleven years ago) link

music itself is a drug because it is a thing that has a chemical effect on your brain that causes you to feel things. drugs, my high school english teacher told me, just unlock the doors -- the doors of PERCEPTION -- that have always been there, only they've been locked. all lyrics are about drugs, because EVERYTHING is drugs.

drugs.

authentically inauthentic (Pat Finn), Friday, 19 April 2013 02:40 (eleven years ago) link

no that is a bad theory. most things are not drugs. the things spacemen 3 sing about, on the other hand, are drugs. this is how u can tell the difference.

Chuck E was a hero to most (s.clover), Friday, 19 April 2013 02:43 (eleven years ago) link

i mean, i learned this in school though there were grades

authentically inauthentic (Pat Finn), Friday, 19 April 2013 02:44 (eleven years ago) link

the answer to the thread though is classic i don't understand why people wouldn't like droney psychadelic lazily-sung music like this. it's like drugs.

authentically inauthentic (Pat Finn), Friday, 19 April 2013 02:56 (eleven years ago) link

there is nothing lazy about this music.

Chuck E was a hero to most (s.clover), Friday, 19 April 2013 03:08 (eleven years ago) link


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