Spiritualized – Songs in A&E
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Tour Dates 05/28/08 Tripod Dublin, Dublin
05/29/08 Mandela Hall Belfast 05/30/08 Bologna Estragon-Rocker Festival 06/29/08 Glastonbury- John Peel Stage 07/04/08 Transmission Festival Kufstein 07/10/08 Alive Festival Lisbon 07/12/08 Les Ardentes Festival 07/18/08 Benicassim Festival- Spain 07/20/08 Pitchfork Music Festival 07/21/08 The Vogue Indianapolis 07/22/08 City Hall Nashville, TN 07/23/08 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA 07/25/08 9:30 Club Washington DC 07/27/08 Terminal 5 New York 08/01/08 House Of Blues Cleveland, OH 08/02/08 Town Ballroom Buffalo, NY 08/03/08 Jean Drapeau Montreal, PQ 08/06/08 Toronto Islands Park Toronto, ON 08/09/08 Tokyo Summersonic Festival 08/10/08 Osaka Summersonic Festival 08/15/08 Green Man Festival , Wales 08/30/08 Inveraray Castle Inveraray 09/06/08 Virgin Festival – Toronto 09/17/08 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles 09/21/08 Treasure Island Festival 09/27/08 Austin City Limits 10/09/08 Carling Academy Newcastle 10/10/08 Leeds University Union 10/11/08 Manchester Academy 10/13/08 Oxford Academy 10/14/08 Portsmouth Pyramid Centre 10/15/08 Birmingham Academy 10/16/08 London Roundhouse Discography
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There’s no need to introduce you to Spiritualized, but in case you have no idea who they are, they are a “space rock”/stargazing band from the early 90s in Rugby, Warwickshire, that formed from the ashes of Spacemen 3. Jason Pierce is the man behind Spiritualized, with his constant band members (currently with keyboardist Thighpaulsandra, ercussionist Tom Edwards, drummer Kevin Bales, bassist Martin Schellard, and guitarist Doggen).
By 1997, the band’s become famous with their NME’s Album of the Year, Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. At this time, they were so well-known that the other band members wanted more money for public appearances. These monetary disputes resulted in having the entire band sacked, which kind of resulted in somewhat erratic output, with their last few studio albums, Let It Come Down (2001) and Amazing Grace (2003).
In 2005, it would seem that main man and founder Pierce became seriously ill (can I speculate drug abuse?, see comment) and spent the better part of his time at The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, London.
What came out of it was an inspired medical hospital album called Songs in A&E, an album that took nearly two years to write and eventually released yesterday, May 27th.
I am looking at the CD’s booklet, and there are an assortment of needles and tubes, done as artwork. Having said that, it looks like Pierce have had an obsession with medications, as Ladies & Gentlemen was originally conceived as a medicine bottle, that was ten years ago… the same direction with the minimalist art and text also appears on this latest album.
Besides from the hospital theme, the album seems to be revolves around fire (“I Gotta Fire”, “Soul on Fire”, “Sitting on Fire”) and death (“Death Take Your Fiddle”, “Borrowed Your Gun”), all held together by transitional pieces of music called “Harmony” (each harmony was done with different instruments, such as piano, accordion, mellotron, violins, etc.)
I liked the Dylanesque song “Yeah Yeah”, the heavy breathing on “Death Take Your Fiddle”, the soft and sweet “Goodnight Goodnight”. I also generally liked all the “fire” songs, “I Gotta Fire” sounds a southern rock number, the orchestra on “Sitting on Fire”, while “Soul on Fire” is a soulful pop song – it’s also the band’s lead single for Songs in A&E, so I thought this would be a great song to represent this album with.
So, since back to full health, Spiritualized will be touring throughout Europe and the US to promote Songs in A&E, including massive festival appearances. You can find Songs in A&E on Sanctuary Records, but the last I check their store, it doesn’t have any information on the latest album. For hardcore collectors, Songs in A&E is also available as a medical book with bonus DVD, which looks absolutely fantastic. It’s currently out of stock on amazon, but the price is pretty steep: $43.
Special bonus: “Come Together” from Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space.
Links: www.spiritualized.com myspace.com/spiritualized sanctuaryrecords.com
| invisiblesparks wrote:
Wed, May 28, 2008 at 10:16 AM
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Not drug abuse but…pneumonia! Check it here: