Spiritualized?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QQeh7Txpu0

New interview with The Quietus: http://thequietus.com/articles/22946-jason-pierce-spiritualized-spacemen-3-interview
Oh J, always the perfectionist <3

“I feel like there aren’t going to be many more; I said a while back it may very well be my last record. I wanted to make something that was really worthy of that, a kind of glorious ‘this is what it’s all about’ kind of thing. And it reaches far – it covers a lot of ground. It’s not just another collection of songs – it’s a big record. It’s also [taken] years of work…I don’t want it to be a light undertaking. I want it to say something and be a big deal.”

Pierce tells me that making the record has been an all-consuming experience. I ask if he ever manages to unwind. “No, no. I just go crazy. I just get crazier and crazier and it’s not healthy which is kind of why I was saying I can’t see me doing this again. It’s like…it’s the only thing that matters and it shouldn’t be really. There’s so much else going on out there but it just consumes me. I can’t wait to get it down.” Does the album have a title yet? “No, not one,” Pierce tells me. “It’s just about there. It seemed for a while it wasn’t going to make sense and now it’s kind of coming together. It feels like it’s not far off. A couple of months and then I’ve got a finished record.”

That sounds very promising. Thanks for the link. Made me think of the Cormac McCarthy quote... "Anything that doesn't take years of your life and drive you to suicide hardly seems worth doing."

his music seems best served by a lot of studio time, given past albums. I do miss the analog warmth and studio tricks of the older records to the post-LICD albums, which all seem somehow crisper and more straightforward, there's a brittleness to them for some reason.

well they're playing at the Fillmore in SF on my bday so I guess I have to go

... and I went!

weird show, but mostly in a good way. a fair amount of "deep cuts", and the set mostly went chronologically through the catalog, from opening with "If I Were With Her Now"(!) through "Born Never Asked" and "Electric Mainline", "Please Stay/Don't Go", "Let it Flow". Nothing from "Let it Come Down", and only one song apiece from the more recent albums, ending with "So Long You Pretty Thing", which makes a great closer. Some rough edges and occasional sound issues, and I have no idea who is in the band now (besides Dogon, who is generally a great foil for Jason).

I was there too, for a while. Didn't love it, so we left about half way in. Just not a lot of energy. J was sitting down, facing sideways, and the rest of the band was just standing still. I really loved the set they did at the Boston MFA with the choir and J on acoustic guitar, but this one just didn't work for me...

I can't remember the last time I saw him stand for a show!

Don't think I'd personally mind the static stage appearance but I can see why others would. He did a show standing, statuesque and eyes closed the whole show, in 2001 or so that I saw. Worked for me.

He's been sitting through whole shows since the mid-80s!

have never seen him standing thru a show

I wasn't trying to say that it was unusual, just that it contributed to the lack of energy of the whole show. Like even when they were audibly rocking, everyone was standing dead still, the drummer was tapping away lightly, and the backup singers weren't even swaying with the music.

Must've gotten lucky seeing the Spaceman stand up then! (it was this one) Idk I was comfortable (sitting myself) to close my eyes for a lot of the time too, immersed myself. It was a great show.

hm, I went and had a totally different feel; I def didn't think it lacked energy (any more than you'd expect Spiritualized to lack energy); band sounded great; band lineup has been pretty consistent for many years now I guess, pretty much after Lupine Howl went off, I think most of them now have been there since then. I've seen this lineup three times now I suppose, this was as good as any; and markedly better than the original spacemen spiritulized lineup which was the first one I saw, who I thought (at the time) were boring.

that was def a different drummer than he had immediately post-Lupine Howl but idk what Kid Millions looks like, maybe it was him

and that was def also not Thighpaulsandra

Kid Millions is no longer drumming with them. I saw a couple of shows with him and they were awesome. Kid Millions is not really a light tapper. This wild show at Secret Project Robot in 2013 was very memorable:

https://youtu.be/5WacFq6cVaA

http://https%3A//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/0918049c8dc21dd947032eea23d95847.png

fairly consistent since 2009 or so.

fucking whatever bbcode

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/0918049c8dc21dd947032eea23d95847.png

ah so the other guitarist was still Coxon (I couldn't see him v well)

the drummer did not at all match my expectations for Kid Millions so I kinda assumed it was somebody else tbh

also tbh I don't think I've seen his touring band since 2009, last time I saw them it was just J and Doggen and a choir + string quartet

that's too bad about the show. the london 'follakzoid' sessions from earlier this year slay, especially "earth", and i'm stoked for an album proper

2 out of 3 attendees thought it was a good show! It just wasn't earth-shattering and there was no new material. still a bunch of surprises at least.

Weird, I've seen the band a bunch and can't remember ever seeing Jason sitting for a show. You'd think that would leave an impression.

Relieved to hear that he hasn't died, which is what I thought when I saw the thread had been bumped.

he seems to be in fine health these days

shakey have you read Will's book?

Is it worth the while?

Saw Spaceman 3 back around 1990 and all the (smallish) crowd were sat down for the entire set. Everyone just passed spliffs around all night.

My memory is a little bit foggy but I think it was more of a Sitar Music type vibe than Revolution/Suicide. Can't remember if the band themselves were sitting.

I haven't read Will's book. I've read that other Spacemen 3 bio, forget who the author was.

xp

I would read it given the opportunity but I don't have the $$ to spend on that kind of thing

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/515TgnsEoIL._SX328_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

This one, Shakey? It's fucking great. And also makes me think Will C's book has little to add to (but I could be wrong)

yeah that one

Great book.

I'm reading it now, about 2/3 of the way through, just getting to the formation of Spiritualized, thoroughly enjoying it. I really didn't know much of S3's history, despite being a fan for going on 30 years now, so I don't know how much is really new or revelatory here for someone more familiar, but he's a very good writer and storyteller. The chapters don't necessarily flow naturally from one to the next which gives me the sense that they were written at least to some extent as separate pieces over time and assembled into book form later, but I don't find that that detracts from it at all.

So I can't say if it's worth the while if you're looking for new insights into the band and its other members (it is for me), but definitely worth the while as a document of one person's experience in that scene at that time.

I've got both books but not read the Morse one in years. Will's book is great though. A lot of fun to read. It can be funny and harrowing at times

I feel like the Morse book is as good as can be expected, what w Jason not cooperating at all

(My post above was in ref. to Will's book if that wasn't clear.) xxp

it's funny how Sonic has turned out to be the one much more concerned about their legacy/rep. Jason doesn't seem to give a shit at all. That joint statement that came out last year about that reissue dispute was the first time I can recall him ever being involved w/anything Spacemen 3 related.

shakey did you see spectrum and sonic do that Spacemen 2 show in SF like....dunno, 15 years ago or something? I didn't, always kind of regretted it.

no but my bandmate did and he has a signed poster from it framed in our practice space

official Fucked Up Inside on CD: https://www.discogs.com/Spiritualized-Fucked-Up-Inside/release/11198690

The Glass Redux CD marks the first commercially distributed UK release on Compact Disc; faithfully re-creating the original sleeve design, the guitar effects pedals embossed and silver foil blocked it is now presented for the first time in a fold out gatefold card wallet.

er, reissue i mean

you know what i mean, you can read

pic.twitter.com/FpacqVtBl5

— Spiritualized® (@officialSpzd) June 2, 2018

A Perfect Miracle

New album (finally)?

ha

came to post this

there's another one

pic.twitter.com/qIt7hh7jUw

— Spiritualized® (@officialSpzd) June 3, 2018

The second one says "I'm Your Man" apparently. I wonder if we're getting a whole tracklist this way?

i hope it's a Wham! cover

george michael and andrew ridgeley were very much the j spaceman and sonic boom of the pop charts so it would be a fitting tribute