Alphabetical Order - Daily Music Recommendations #17 (S) - Spiritualized (Space Rock/Psychedelic)

in norway •  7 years ago  (edited)

~| So please put your sweet hand in mine
And float in space and drift in time
All the time until I die
We'll float in space, just you and I |~


Hey everyone! It's time for another dive into some sonic treats. This time we will taking a dose of medicine served in the form of discs, the active substance is "Spiritualized".

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Spiritualized is a psychedelic rock band headed by Jason Pierce. Their music is a heavy dose of sedatives for the soul, and for me, it has been a good medicine to have ready when you need it most.
Their style is composed of heavy almost punk guitar riffs combined with gospel elements. It makes for a cool dichotomy of life, with good and bad elements working together. The lyrics are often heavily influenced by metaphores, and seem to invoke a deep sense of grief or loss. To start us off we'll check out their 3rd release "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space", a name that gives me that sense of weightlessness you get as you hear something that hits you hard on an emotional level.

Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

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Their third release, it came out in 1997 as Jason ended a long term relationship with the keyboardplayer of the group, and this record was in many ways meant as a way to process and heal that feeling of loss for him. I feel it conveys this in a very honest way, and for me personally I feel it ended up doing the same for me as I hope it did for him. The album title is inspired by a quote from the Jostein Gaarder book "Sophies World"

Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others cling on desperately and yell at the people nestling deep in the snug softness, stuffing themselves with delicious food and drink. 'Ladies and Gentlemen,' they yell, 'we are floating in space!' But none of the people down there care.

The opening track on this album, the title track, was a song I first heard subconsciously long before I knew of the band. It was featured in Vanilla Sky, and it really fits with the scene. The protagonist discovers his reality is not what he believed it to be, and the movie takes an almost psychedelic turn. It is a track that combines several different movements, like the Elvis track "Can't Help Falling In Love" as well as "Canon in D" by J. Pachelbel.

Other tracks like "All Of My Thoughts" and "Stay With Me", are cathartic songs going through the thought patterns of a person lost in their own head on a downward spiral. Lyrically this album is like the final note written next to a noose, but musically it's actually kind of beautiful in it's melancholic anguish. The band breaks out in these massive jams with distorted guitars screaming and horns blaring, with a massive gospel choir covering the back line. It's got moments of pure sadness and somehow manages to also bring out these ecstatic emotional states, possibly a way to also symbolize the almost manic mood swings you can have in severe emotional trauma.

I could probably write an entire blog post about this album as it is easily one of my favorite musical experiences. And if you do want the full experience I would recommend you check out the entire album, preferrably in one sitting. But here is the opening track, "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space"

Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

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Sweet Heart Sweet Light

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Coming out in 2012, their 10th release "Sweet Heart Sweet Light" has a remarkably less somber vibe than "LAGWAFIS", suggesting that Jay's got some of his lust for living back. I was lucky enough to catch them twice while they were here. An acoustic minimalistic set up in a record store, and a full band show later in the evening. They were both amazing shows, and he didn't seem to lack any fuel while he was performing, and his voice was still surprisingly well maintained. His vocals have a very fragile quality to it, and I really like how it makes the songs feel that much more from the soul.
The track has a definitive space rock feel to them, while still keeping the orchestral instrumentation we hear on their earlier records. The album opens with a hopeful orchestral intro, before going into the rock track "Hey Jane", a song about struggles in life, with keeping your shit together in a hurricane of horrible events. Other tracks like "Life Is A Problem" is a more solemn prayer to anyone listening. It has a very nice melancholic vibe, whilst still having a very warm hopeful tone.
My favorite track on this album has to be this one, a song to someone lost to this world. Like a wave of emotion this track swells up inside the listener, sucking you into a cathartic experience of grief with an incredible climax. When the chorus finally kicks in on this track it feels to me like I can conquer anything that happens in life. This is "So Long You Pretty Thing"

So Long You Pretty Thing

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Amazing Grace

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Amazing Grace came out in 2003, and is the 8th release from the band. It has a very coarse raw sound at times, seeming a bit more fueled by misanthropy and rage, rather than the depressive elements we heard on the earlier record. It has a lot more distorted guitars in shambles, giving the record a bit more of a grunge feel. "She Kissed Me(It Felt Like A Hit)", keeps the record going with a punk tempo with huge guitars.
Other tracks like "Lord Let It Rain On Me" go back to this more melancholic ballad style, with a gospel choir joining in to lift us up from the ground. It has this feeling of a rallying cry from a fallen warrior.

The track I want to show you from this record is another fairly mellow track, because that's the element from spiritualized I enjoy the most. It starts off with just vocals and an electric organ, building us up, slowly fixing our ache. Enjoy!

Lay It Down Slow

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All right, that's all folks! I hope you enjoyed todays edition of Alphabetical Order, a blog series where I write my opinions on parts of an artists discography. If you liked it or if you hate it, let me know! And if you wanna keep up to date, you can follow me. Until next time, peace out!

You can get more info or support the artist by checking out these links:

https://www.discogs.com/artist/3551-Spiritualized
https://twitter.com/officialSpzd

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wow the experiences i have had to spiritualized. Floating in space in particular.!!

Yeah man, that album is insanely good!

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