Spiritualized and Fat Possum Records are proud to announce the first stage of The Spaceman Reissue Program: definitive vinyl releases of the first four Spiritualized albums. Curated by Jason Pierce, the series will kick off April 23rd with Spiritualized’s classic 1992 debut LP: Lazer Guided Melodies.
Elevating the gritty, narcotic garage blues of Pierce’s recently disbanded Spacemen 3 into a crystalline space rock / pop wall of sound, Lazer Guided Melodies was recorded from 1990 to 1991, its 12 songs divided into four distinct movements. Reflecting on the transition from Spacemen 3 to the first realization of the Spiritualized sound, Pierce recalls:
“The last Spacemen 3 record was under-realized to me. When I listen back to that stuff it sounds like somebody finding their way. There was a lot of ideas but no way to put them into a space that would make them all work. So, there was a huge freedom forging over the last Spacemen 3 record and when Spiritualized started it was like, ‘OK it’s all yours. Go.’
We recorded the tracks in the studio near my flat which was a place where they predominantly recorded advertising jingles and it’s where we made all the Spacemen 3 records, but then the recordings were taken to Battery Studios in London, to explore a more professional way of making music… Once I approached that way of doing things it opened up a whole world and I was astounded that somebody could take those tracks and turn it into the record it became…”