Spiritualized is a band that has really flown under the radar, at least in the U.S. But this is a band that hits on a lot of the classic elements that a lot of us stoner suburban kids were raised on. They take the psychedelia of Floyd and combine it with the dark urban rock of the Velvet Underground. Or maybe it just sounds like that because the band is really into pscyhedelics and opioids? The ultimate chicken or the egg question.
I first stumbled on Spiritualized while I was touring around Europe in the summer of '98. My last stop was in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Edinburg Arts Festival was going on. The city was packed, but I was lucky enough to be crashing at a friends place, who happened to get us tickets to see the band that night at some sort of opera house. Nice place. Didn't listen to the band before the show, but saw the cover to their newly released album, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. I bought into that right away, a great image.
Musically, it was for the most part the Floyd/Velvets marriage I described. For parts of the show, they did have an English choir, and that fell flat, didn't quite match up with the rest of the music. White English choir is not the same as black gospel choir, and luckily Jason Pierce, leader of the band figured that out at some point since then. But utlimately, what hooked me on the band was the song I think I'm in Love, which I'd say is their masterpiece:
In particular, what caught my attention was this lyric:
Free as the warmth in the air that I breathe
Even freer than dmt
I had never heard DMT referenced in pop culture before, and certainly never rhymed in a song. This band was onto something, that was clear. And while I like the band, they never fully hooked me in for whatever reason. I enjoyed their most recent album, and saw them live a few months ago, but it's still pretty much the dark druggy rock meets gospel ground they've been covering all these years. How many songs about Jesus and heroin can one band have in them? But some people eat them up, and a friend who is a big fan told me this is his Grateful Dead, the band he obsesses over and needs to see multiple shows each tour. Maybe you'll feel the same way, but for me they're good to check out once in a while at least.
5/10/12
9:30 Club
Washington DC
NPR podcast @ 128k tracked out with MP3DirectCut
01. NPR Intro 01:44
02. Hey Jane 10:25
03. Let It Rain On Me 04:15
04. Headin' For the Top Now 07:40
05. Walkin' with Jesus 06:26
06. Oh Baby 05:11
07. Rated X 06:15
08. Born Never Asked 02:41 >
09. Electric Mainline 06:33
10. Soul on Fire 04:01
11. I Am What I Am 05:32
12. Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space 06:13
13. Mary 06:51
14. Stay With Me 07:30
15. She Kissed Me (And It Felt Like a Hit) 05:00
16. Come Together 13:23
17. Encore Break w/NPR
18. So Long You Pretty Thing 09:12
19. Cop Shoot Cop 17:24
GRAND TOTAL- 126:18
7/25/08
9:30 Club
Washington DC
SBD NPR Podcast
You Lie You Cheat
Shine a Light
Cheapster
Electricity
Soul On Fire
Sweet Talk
Sitting On Fire
Walkin' with Jesus
(Spacemen 3 cover)
Oh Baby
Rated X
Lay Back in the Sun
Death Take Your Fiddle
She Kissed Me (It Felt Like a Hit)
Come Together
Take Me to the Other Side
J Spaceman interview
Acoustic Mainlines Tour
7/1/11
Bimbo's
SF, CA
track listing:
1 (entrance)
2 sitting on fire
3 Lord let it rain on me
4 true love will find you
5 cool waves
6 Amen
7 going down slow
8 feel so sad
9 soul on fire
10 walking with jesus
11 stop your crying
12 all of my tears
13 baby im just a fool
14 anything more> ladies and gentlemen we are floating in
space
15 broken heart
16 think im in love
17 (audience)
18 lord can you hear me
19 oh happy day
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