fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Movie Night Gift Subscription
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

O+ Spotlight: Spiritualized

by John Burdick
April 1, 2016
in Art & Music, Entertainment
8
Jason Pierce a/k/a J. Spaceman of Spiritualized
Jason Pierce a/k/a J. Spaceman of Spiritualized

Last year’s O+ Festival headliners, the Felice Brothers and Richard Buckner, were right at home in the mid-Hudson Valley milieu, literally and figuratively. The Felice Brothers, of course, are blood and soil natives, with a formidable Big Pink obsession apparent in their ramshackle grooves and the ratty surrealism of their poetry. Buckner, I have heard, is a recent transplant to the area, but his dark and tender, country-tinged acoustic balladry is a kind of music that has always played well in these parts.

This year the fine folks at O+ reeled in a big fish of an entirely different stripe. British space-rockers Spiritualized are essentially the alias of Jason Pierce, a/k/a J. Spaceman. Pierce was previously one-half of Spaceman 3, a prolific, noisy cult band made famous by an album title that was interpreted as a mission statement, a modus operandi and a motto fit for a coat of arms: “Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To.” That famous tagline has dogged Pierce long after he split from Spaceman 3 to form Spiritualized. Why, look: I am repeating it even now! But, while hard drugs seem very much a part of Spiritualized’s story as well, the music of Jason Pierce – the reams and reams of meticulous, maximalist space-rock that he has released in a career that is creeping up on 30 years – is very serious business and no mere hedonistic indulgence.

The standard critical line is that Spiritualized has produced one indisputable genre classic, 1997’s Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space. In truth, Spiritualized’s output is quite consistent, both in character and in quality. But Ladies and Gentlemen… is the one, if you had to pick one. Pierce’s talent for almost laughably excessive layering and sonic augmentation is in full effect throughout. The miracle is that it never seems like too much, even though it clearly is too much. Somehow, Pierce maintains lucidity, an effective counterpoint and a separation of elements, even as the number of elements in a single mix approaches or exceeds three digits.

All bands of this ilk revere the monochromatic melodicism and the two-chord staple progressions of the Velvet Underground (as well as the VU’s realism and candor), and Spiritualized is no different. Where Pierce departs from the party line is the undercurrent of blues that can be detected within the maelstrom of droning, reverberant guitars, the borrowed gospel vocal arrangements and a touch of riffing rock that is (dare I say it?) downright Stonesy.

In recent years, Spiritualized has done a number of live performances of Ladies and Gentlemen… in its entirety. Pierce has characterized these shows as deeply satisfying and unsustainably expensive, requiring as many as 50 performers to produce a credible recreation of this legendary piece of studio art. One wonders what Pierce will bring to the Old Dutch Church in Kingston when Spiritualized headlines O+ on October 13.

Spiritualized, O+ Festival, Sunday, October 13, 9:30 p.m., Old Dutch Church, 727 Wall Street, Kingston; https://www.opositivefestival.org.

Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Kids’ Almanac (October 10-17)

Next Post

O+ Spotlight: And the Kids

John Burdick

Related Posts

Every live music event in Ulster County this week
Art & Music

Every live music event in Ulster County this week

June 6, 2023
Woodstock gallery celebrates the life and art of Carol Zaloom
Art & Music

Woodstock gallery celebrates the life and art of Carol Zaloom

June 1, 2023
Legendary NYC avant-punk polymath performs live in Woodstock this Saturday
Art & Music

Legendary NYC avant-punk polymath performs live in Woodstock this Saturday

June 1, 2023
Dozens of activities for all ages in Ulster County this week
Community

Dozens of activities for all ages in Ulster County this week

May 31, 2023
All the art events in Ulster County this week
Art & Music

All the art events in Ulster County this week

May 31, 2023
Century-old Woodstock music venue hosts open house this Saturday
Art & Music

Century-old Woodstock music venue hosts open house this Saturday

May 31, 2023
Next Post

O+ Spotlight: And the Kids

Please login to join discussion

Trending News

  • In Kingston, an apartment complex gets a long overdue name change 1.4k views
  • Adopt A Pet today at the Ulster County SPCA 1.1k views
  • Thousands take to streets in New Paltz for LGBTQ+ Pride 836 views
  • Vintage baseball game in Hudson Valley will play by 1800s rules 554 views
  • Woodstock gallery celebrates the life and art of Carol Zaloom 515 views
  • Century-old Woodstock music venue hosts open house this Saturday 508 views

Weather

Kingston
◉
59°
Rain Shower
5:21 am8:28 pm EDT
Feels like: 57°F
Wind: 5mph NW
Humidity: 70%
Pressure: 29.63"Hg
UV index: 0
WedThuFri
75/50°F
64/48°F
68/48°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Movie Night Gift Subscription

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing