Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Shameful Confession #2




For anyone who doesn't understand how some bands go unheard, never mind the issues of mainstream and media saturation...it was so much harder before the internet.

Thus, while yesterday I 'fessed up to the fact that I hadn't got dance music for many years, today it is time to admit that Spacemen 3, those masters of Gospel-drone-psychedelia (or whatever) were a band I hadn't heard 'til pretty recently.

Sure, I knew the name, I have quite a bit of Spiritualized's stuff, and kept meaning to. But it didn't happen until...uh, last week I could finally say I had heard more than one or two tracks. Jason Pierce (now of Spiritualized) and Sonic Boom clearly paved the way for some amazing stuff, as well as being damn important themselves.

So, in order that you don't make the same mistake, here are two excellent tracks:

Spacemen 3 -'Lord Can You Hear Me.' mp3

Spacemen 3 -'Hypnotised.' mp3

There is a really great fan site here

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

You'll be glad to know Sonic Boom is still out and about, and just remixed a song by Insect Guide:
http://www.myspace.com/insectguide


(sorry for the shameless plug, but a) it's really good and b)I did send you the Sister's version of "he's got the whole world..." a while back!)

Ed said...

Nah, this kinda shameless plug is totally fine. And the Sisters' cover had been long desired!

Ed

Jim said...

I saw Sonic Boom a month or so back in Glasgow. Good Lord, it was awful. I think it's the first time I've ever left a gig early, I thought my ears were bleeding.

Ed said...

eeeugh...!

Jim said...

Having said that of course, Spacemen 3 were fab :) The Tribute To Spacemn 3 album from a while back has Mogwai & Arab Strap on it too, can't argue with that.
I way prefer J, Spaceman's stuff afterwards to Sonic Boom's though. No ear bleeding, for one thing!

Ed said...

Gotta be honest, I am not that familiar with Sonic Boom's solo stuff, though I love Spiritualized, who totally rule!

Ed

Anonymous said...

he went under name of spectrum, for a wee while, just to confuse the tits off you.

The best gig I have ever attended was a month before Lazer Guided Melodies dropped & it was in The Square Club in Cardiff (a 3 storey nightclub, with questionable licensing practices, wet walls, lots of eager indie girls & the smallest stage - i.e. the floor - crammed into the far seating corner of a very, very small room).

I spent the entire gig right at the front (somewhat, erm, 'spiritualized' with infusions & whatnot), in front of the 'security', (I knew him so he let me step under his outs-stretched arm rather than get clothes-lined by them every time there was a crowd surge), hanging onto Jason's guitar neck & mic stand while far, far too many people jammed themselves behind me, swaying, singing & dancing to the fucking astounding symphonic drones coming from the band. Marvelous times.

Will be with me until I die, that one.

To be fair, Sonic Boom (under whatever guise) has never matched that or the S3 stuff. Period.

Ed said...

The only time I have ever seen Spiritualized was in Edinburgh at the Corn Exchange, in 2002. Jason Pierce stood side on to the crowd for three hours and never interacted with us once. Good, but odd behaviour...