Spiritualized - Songs in A&E

May 28, 2008 at 12:20 AM
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05/28/2008 00:16:42 ♥ written by vu (

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Spiritualized - Soul On Fire

Spiritualized

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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

[May 1992] Lazer Guided Melodies	[Mar 1995] Pure Phase	[Jun 1997] Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
[Nov 1998] Royal Albert Hall October 10, 1997	[Sep 2001] Let It Come Down	[Apr 2001] Complete Works Vol. 1
[Sep 2003] Amazing Grace	[Sep 2004] Complete Works Volume 2	[May 2008] Songs in A&E

Read More

Spiritualized to Release Sixth Studio Album

http://weheartmus...

It is now over five years since the release of the last studio album, Amazing Grace. Serious ill...

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 27^th.

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.

Spiritualized - Come Together

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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