|
|
viewing 1 To 16 of 16 items
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LP
|
|
ORBIT 057LP
|
180 gram transparent yellow vinyl. A reissue of Spacemen 3's third and penultimate studio album Playing With Fire, originally released in 1989 and out of print on vinyl for nearly 20 years. Spacemen 3 is Sonic Boom aka Peter Kember and Jason Pierce (Spiritualized). Featuring the brilliant singles "Revolution" and "Lord Can You Hear Me". This record is an unrelenting psychedelic experience, with razor-blade riffs and drones that lead you into a sonic underworld of alienation, desolation and raw power. The artwork stays true to the original, looking beautiful and smooth in 300gsm card. Whilst the new heavyweight transparent yellow vinyl sounds crisp, complementing everything about the aesthetic of this record.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
ORBIT 055LP
|
2024 limited restock. Solid green, 180 gram vinyl. Due to continued demand, the fourth and final Spacemen 3 studio album Recurring; the much-anticipated follow-up to their seminal Playing with Fire album, is being repressed. By the time the album was recorded, relations between the band had soured to the extent that the record is essentially in two parts; the first five tracks on side A written and performed by Pete Kember aka Sonic Boom, Spectrum, and E.A.R., and the last five tracks on side B written and performed by Jason Pierce (Spiritualized). The lead track "Big City" recently featured on HBO's hugely successful show Succession, as well as being used on an episode of The Simpsons. The track "I Love You" has also enjoyed success on the screen having been used in a recent episode of Reservation Dogs, a successful US TV drama. The artwork looks as good now as it did over 30 years ago, the solid green vinyl only complimenting the overall design. An essential album for any old or new fans of Spacemen 3. Printed card inner sleeve.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
ORBIT 062CD
|
Recorded over four nights in Germany during what turned out to be Spacemen 3's final tour, Live in Europe 1989 is far better than the more ragged earlier Spacemen 3 live album, 1988's Performance. The album's also notable for documenting the group's short-lived quartet line-up, with bassist Willie Carruthers and drummer Jon Mattock. Despite the change in rhythm sections, the focus is, as always, on guitarists Pete Kember and Jason Pierce, who by this point in the group's career aren't even pretending to be interested in standard verse-chorus-verse structure. Rather surprisingly, only one of the 13 tracks; a 16-minute take on Playing With Fire's center-piece track "Suicide" breaks the ten-minute barrier that was so often smashed through on the group's studio recordings, but there's still an epic, expansive feel to these loose, perfectly ragged performances. Although newcomers are advised to start with 1988's Playing With Fire or 1990's Recurring (ORBIT 055CD), Live in Europe 1989 is essential for fans. Originally released in 1995. "Rollercoaster" was the opening song for most of 1989 after coming on stage to the sounds of "Ecstasy Symphony" (or on one occasion, "Mr. Spaceman" by The Byrds. "Bo Diddley Jam" is an instrumental jam occasionally included as part of the regular set. "2:35" was a regular part of the Spacemen set since the band's first recordings in 1984. The original lyrics for "Walkin' With Jesus" included the line "Listen Sweet Lord, forgive me my sins. Cause I can't stand this life without sweet heroin". Deleted for the studio recordings, Jason would occasionally sing them live as recorded here in 1989. Spacemen 3 only regularly performed "Suicide", "Revolution", and "How Does It Feel?" from Playing With Fire while ignoring other tracks. Every so often one of them would turn up like "I Believe It" and "Lord Can You Hear Me?" "Things'll Never Be The Same" was a part of the Spacemen 3 live set since 1984. Both "Revolution" and "Suicide" had been part of the band's live set for almost a year before the studio versions were officially released. This incendiary version comes from a 1989 show in which "Revolution" was often played twice. "Suicide" was typically the last song of the set and could last anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes. "Take Me To The Other Side" was one of the band's most intense workouts, always a strong crowd pleaser, and rarely out of the set
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2CD
|
|
ORBIT 060CD
|
Forged Prescriptions is a double album by Spacemen 3, containing alternative takes and demo versions of songs from their album The Perfect Prescription (1987), plus some previously unreleased tracks. In his liner notes, Spacemen 3's Sonic Boom says this release presents the album's songs in their "full guitar-laden versions with all the layers of beautifully streamlined guitar, considered by us to be too hard to replicate live and therefore reduced for the original release. For me, this is where Spacemen 3's songwriting came to a head; many of these songs pre-dated Sound Of Confusion (1986), some were even recorded at both sessions, but I am still impressed mightily by Jason Pierce's lyrical genius on originals like "Walking With Jesus" and re-writes like "Come Down Easy" and his fluid guitar playing across the whole sessions."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
SV 155LP
|
"In 1984, Spacemen 3 made their first-ever recording session and sold a few cassettes at now-legendary, incendiary gigs. Growing out of the dual guitar attack of Jason Pierce and Pete Kember, the band's three-piece line up with Natty Brooker on drums offered a liturgical take on '60s psychedelia, bare-knuckle blues and stunning feedback. This early glimpse into the Spacemen 3 cosmos -- crafted by and for all the fucked-up children of this world -- captures the band's unorthodox approach to rock 'n' roll with nuance and power. While the raw atavism of 'Things'll Never Be The Same' and 'Walkin' With Jesus' would be scaled back considerably on later recordings, the one-chord propulsion of 'T.V. Catastrophe' and hardwired stomping of 'Fixing To Die' draw from a primitive force that served as the impetus for the group's formation. For All The Fucked-Up Children remains the perfect introduction to Spacemen 3. Not only do these demos reveal the auspicious beginnings of two teenagers born on the same day in Rugby, England, but also compelling clues that point toward the exploration and eventual refining of their signature sound."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
SV 154LP
|
2022 repress. Housed in a gatefold sleeve with download code; includes the "legendary Northampton demos from 1986". "Amidst the swirl that is Spacemen 3's discography, Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To occupies a pivotal position -- one right at the nexus between their garage beginnings and their expansionist future. While much of this material is expanded upon via Sound Of Confusion and The Perfect Prescription, many devotees consider these urgent, minimally treated recordings as the prime document of Spacemen 3 at this stage. Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To casts Spacemen 3 alongside the mid-80s cadre of UK front-line rockers, contributing a distinct variation of high pop shining through layered noisy guitars. Ultimately, this collection serves to exalt the strength of Spacemen 3's songwriting over the atmospherics and production assemblage that would permeate their later efforts. Be it the rave-up rendering of 'The Sound Of Confusion' or the churning take on 'Losing Touch With My Mind', these full band recordings capture the excited and inspirational spark of psychedelia rather than deep-dive ruminations on sonics and space."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
SV 151LP
|
2024 repress. "Spacemen 3 began assembling their third album, 1988's Playing With Fire, at perhaps the freest, most confident point in their career. Recording began with the band road-tested and rugged, even amidst the functional volatility that famously motivated their course. The sessions' first offering came in the form of 'Revolution,' a single of heroic Stooges-devotion and the most commercially successful release the group had to date. High expectations for the album were soon exceeded, as Playing With Fire would become Spacemen 3's crowning studio achievement and cement their rightful place on the vanguard of otherworldly rock 'n' roll. An exquisite mix of stuttering tremolo guitars and wistful melodies, Playing With Fire sheds any trappings of revisionism and furnishes a nuanced grade of psychedelia. Epic entries like 'Suicide' (named after the notorious NYC band) and the mesmeric 'How Does It Feel?' catch Spacemen 3 at their celestial apex, the very point where their collective writing, performance and production would crest and wondrously splinter. Includes download card and new insert with liner notes by Marc Masters."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
SV 152LP
|
2024 repress. "1990's Recurring, the fourth and final studio album by Spacemen 3, is often considered the introduction of two brilliant solo projects (Spectrum and Spiritualized) rather than the work of a functioning band. While Spacemen 3's departing statement surely reveals a deep divide within the S3 camp -- each side of the LP was written by Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce separately and, unlike previous releases, the two do not play on each other's songs -- Recurring maintains a cohesive, dreamy feel with its chief sonic officers backed by fellow travelers Will Carruthers, Mark Refoy and Jon Mattock. Opening saga 'Big City (Everybody I Know Can Be Found Here)' marries ambient haze with narcotized indie rock, while 'I Love You' manages to arrange a beautiful flute alongside a defiantly throbbing bass track. 'Hypnotized,' a reimagined fuzz-pop hymn, would become the group's first entry in the UK Singles Charts. Recurring lays bare the essence of Spacemen 3's persistent sound, rooted in both aural expansion and phenomenal songwriting. Includes download card and new insert with liner notes by Marc Masters."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
ORBIT 056CD
|
Space Age present a reissue of Spacemen 3's Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To, originally released in 1990. Re-release, digitally re-mastered featuring Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce. The original appearance of Taking Drugs was a bootleg on the legendary/notorious Father Yod imprint in 1990, later supplemented with contemporary outtakes and cuts for the Bomp reissue in 1994 and one further song for the Space Age version in 2000. The original seven tracks, dated January 1986 and the first recordings to feature Pete Bain on bass, are collectively known as the Northampton Demos. Both Sonic and Pierce have been on record as long preferring these takes to the eventual versions that surfaced for the most part on "Sound Of Confusion". Certainly it's a fine set of performances, showing a definite step toward the more familiar sound of the group and away from the rougher takes on 1995's For All The Fucked Up Children Of The World (ORBIT 039CD). "The Sound Of Confusion", aka "Walkin' With Jesus", rips along with fierce energy, Pierce's singing and the rampaging, primitive wail and rumble of the band just wonderful. "Losing Touch With My Mind" takes things to an even higher level, a huge wallop of feedback and beat (Natty Brooker's drumming in particular delivers just what the doctor ordered), Pierce delivering the lines with a flat, cutting drawl. On the slightly lighter tip, "Come Down Easy" is more or less fully in place (aside from singing about it being 1986!), possessing a more upfront but less vocally distinct feel than The Perfect Prescription (1987) take. The tracks that surfaced on the later reissues come from a variety of different sessions, including the original take on "Feel So Good" and a good live version of "Things'll Never Be The Same", one of several cuts featuring Brooker's drumming replacement Rosco.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
SV 153LP
|
2022 repress. "August 1988, Spacemen 3 embark on one of the strangest events in the band's already strange history. Billed as 'An Evening Of Contemporary Sitar Music' (although consciously omitting the sitar), the group would play in the foyer of Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford, Middlesex to a largely unsuspecting and unsympathetic audience waiting to take their seats for Wim Wenders' film Wings Of Desire. Spacemen 3's proceeding set, forty-five minutes of repetitive drone-like guitar riffs, could be seen as the 'Sweet Sister Ray' of '80s Britain. Their signature sound is at once recognizable and disorienting -- pointing as much to the hypnotic minimalism of La Monte Young as to a future shoegaze constituency. On this double LP reissue, Dreamweapon is augmented by studio sessions and rehearsal tapes from 1987 that would lead up to the recording of Spacemen 3's classic Playing With Fire album. 'Spacemen Jam,' featuring Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce on dual guitar, is a side-long mediation on delicate textures and psychedelic effects. Includes download card and new insert with liner notes by Will Carruthers."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
ORBIT 058CD
|
Space Age present a reissue of Spacemen 3's Dreamweapon, originally released in 1990. August 1988, Spacemen 3 embarks on one of the strangest events in the band's already strange history. Billed as "An Evening Of Contemporary Sitar Music" -- although consciously omitting the sitar -- the group would play in the foyer of Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford, Middlesex to a largely unsuspecting and unsympathetic audience waiting to take their seats for Wim Wenders's film Wings of Desire (1987). Spacemen 3's proceeding set, forty-five minutes of repetitive drone-like guitar riffs, could be seen as the "Sweet Sister Ray" of '80s Britain. Digitally re-mastered by John Rivers at Woodbine Studios, November 2017. Six-panel foldout card wallet.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
ORBIT 039CD
|
First official CD release Spacemen 3's For All The Fucked-Up Children Of This World, first released as a bootleg record in 1995. The record consists of Spacemen 3's first ever recording session from 1984. The music itself sounds like a primitive version of what the group was to become; the dominating sound of the record is a slow, droning psychedelic blues performed with sparse instrumentation. A drum set is matched with a pair of distorted electric guitars, all of which provide a swirling foundation for Jason Pierce's vocals. The album's liner notes replicated here are actually an early review of the band by Gary Boldie, where he contemplates the city of Rugby and finds it an odd source for this new sound, and he declares Spacemen 3 as the "all singing, all dancing answer to the problems of a grey 1985." Comes in six-panel fold-out card wallet.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
ORBIT 055CD
|
2021 restock. Space Age present a limited edition reissue of the fourth and final Spacemen 3 studio album, Recurring, originally released in 1990. By the time the album was recorded, relations between the band had soured to the extent that the record is essentially in two parts. The first seven tracks were written and performed by Sonic Boom, aka Pete Kember, and the last seven tracks were written and performed by Jason Pierce punctuated by the cover version of Mudhoney's "When Tomorrow Hits", the only track on which both Kember and Pierce appear together. Comes in a six panel fold out card wallet featuring the original vibrant cover artwork used on the original US release.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
ORBIT 054CD
|
First CD edition of Live at the New Morning, Geneva, Switzerland, 18.05.1989 by Spacemen 3, originally released in 2014 as a limited-edition vinyl-only release on Swiss label Mental Groove Records. Fold-out card wallet featuring liner notes by Sonic Boom and previously unseen photographs. Digitally remastered by John A. Rivers at Woodbine Street studio in 2015. Recorded in Geneva, Switzerland, during Spacemen 3's 1989 European tour, while the band was in sublime form, this release further cements their reputation as one of the most influential and seminal bands of the space rock and drone rock worlds. As Sonic Boom recalls, "I seem to remember this show more distinctly than most, and always did. Spacemen 3 was a band not overly loved in their day. It was tough, or at least uneasy. Musically people thought we were some sort of twisted joke. Which in some ways we were. You needed to be bloody-minded to make this music at that time. The set presented here, is as it was . . . except the show was twice this length. We tuned and smoked for almost as long as we played. And then our disenfranchise moment, installed to filter the wheat from the chaff in our audiences -- the sprawling 'Suicide' wheeled out here in a long mischievous version. We slipped away mid-song amongst much fog and dry ice. With taped down keys and feeding back guitars propped against our speaker cabs keeping the song pulsating and screaming. Disappearing back down to the already too familiar dressing room. We rolled large smokes and cracked fresh drinks. And finally after an extended 'break' re-appeared on stage. Not to wind down as normal at that juncture, but to re-fire up the piece for a further onslaught. Extending the maelstrom as bloody mindedly as we could. We always 'sensed' when we were unwanted . . . which was most of the time we left the cosy confines of our white 'sprinter' van. Never get out of the van . . . fucking tigers! But then again . . . maybe . . . just maybe . . . and it's only a maybe . . . maybe l don't remember a thing."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
ORBIT 028CD
|
"Spacemen 3 have a limited edition (2000 copies) five track mini-album released by Space Age Recordings in cardboard sleeve wallet which features two previously-unreleased Spacemen 3 tracks, a radically different mix of the classic Spacemen 3 cover of the Red Krayola's 'Transparent Radiation' and appearing for the first time on CD, the ultra rare remix of 'I Love You' (originally only 50 promo white label vinyl copies were ever pressed). Rounding off this mini-album is a studio version of 'Ecstasy Symphony.' Track listing: 'These Blues, 'Transparent Radiation (violin mix),' 'Modulated Tones,' 'I Love You (remix),' 'Ecstasy Symphony.' Spacemen 3 consisted of the core duo of Jason Pierce (Spiritualized) and Somic Boom aka Peter Kember (Spectrum & E.A.R.) who formed the group in Rugby, Warwickshire, having met at art college. Other members of what would become a fluid line-up over the years included Pete Bain (Bassman, also of The Darkside), Natty Brooker, Sterling Roswell (Rosco), Will Carruthers, Jonny Mattock (Slipstream), and for the final few shows, Mark Refoy (also of Slipstream). From the outset, Spacemen 3 had a very defined set of aesthetic principles. They based almost their entire sound on their own concept of minimalism -- droning guitars, feedback, as few chords as possible, pounding drums -- with their motto 'Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to.' Their minimalism bled into their stage show as well. Sitting down to play their guitars and covered in the spinning colors of a cheap psychedelic light show, their stage 'act' was very anti-performance. Another striking aspect of Spacemen 3 was their willingness to cover and share their influences. Song titles, lyrics and interviews were peppered with references to bands and artists they believed shared their 'minimal is maximal' aesthetic. The Velvet Underground, the Rolling Stones, the Stooges, the MC5, early Captain Beefheart, free jazz musician Sun Ra, the Silver Apples, 1960s garage punk such as the 13th Floor Elevators, Red Krayola, the Electric Prunes, the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean and other surf bands, 1980s rockabilly groups the Cramps, the Gun Club, Tav Falco, blues and gospel acts like Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, the Staple Singers and John Lee Hooker, and the production techniques of Joe Meek, Brian Wilson and Delia Derbyshire were just some of the names mentioned by the band."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
ORBIT 020CD
|
1999 release, still available. "In conjunction with Space Age Recordings's re-mastered and reissued double CD album of Playing With Fire, there is a strictly limited (1000 copies only) reissue of the long deleted vinyl only issue of Threebie 3 on CD for the first time. Featuring five live tracks from a show at the Melkweg in Amsterdam in Feb. 1988 that did not subsequently appear on the Performance album. All copies are packaged in a cardboard slip case."
|
viewing 1 To 16 of 16 items
|
|