Spacemen 3 - Playing With Fire / Recurring
(Superior Viaduct)

Superior Viaduct does the universe another solid with the next installment in their Spacemen 3 reissue series; their last two studio albums Playing With Fire & Recurring. For a band as seminal as Spacemen 3, it's difficult to label any one of their albums the best as each release helps build a definitive body of work. But for the sake of argument, I will say that Playing With Fire is their best album. It achieves perfection through its balance with all the variables that make this group so singular found here in their purest form. Their drugged out delicacy is paired against their militant minimalism, their Suicide- inspired hyper-monotony, and their fascination with spiritual sacrifice all come together in a way that the band either wouldn't replicate as a unit again. Which leads us into their final release, 1990's Recurring. By this time J. Spaceman and Sonic Boom were no longer on speaking terms, so their final effort is essentially two solo EPs released under a single moniker. Each side forecasts what each member was about to embark upon and in both cases, each side is some of the best material that either would ever release. Boom's side is a simpler effort relying on Kraftwerk-esque electronics and psychedelic pop, whereas Spaceman's side is the earliest incarnation of his soul-scraping project soon to be named Spiritualized, with drug frenzied prayers for salvation laced with Phil Spector-like pop sensibilities. For a long time, it’s been nearly impossible to find these albums for under three figures, so to have these albums back in circulation is cause for celebration. Let the revolution commence! (Adam)
Check out a track here.