Spiritualized - Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
(Plain)

Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space is truly a singularity. It's beyond rare for a record to embrace so many styles and approaches to making music. This record encapsulates a slew of traditions in music – gospel, free jazz-like improvisation, Phil Spector-like pop sensibilities, psychedelic rock, meticulous production and finely tuned dissonance. All of these characteristics are fused into the essence of this record. I can't think of another record that is as easy to meditate on as it is to sing along with. However it is not meant to be taken lightly. Its packaging states, “2 Tablets , 70 Minutes”, alluding to the intentions of its creator to take in this album as you would a chemical remedy. The same way that a man of forsaken faith has returned to his maker for absolution, this is how I come back to this record. Spiritualized began in 1992 as a spin off of the recently disbanded Spacemen 3, a band who like Spiritualized had dedicated their existence to connecting the dots between seemingly disparate kinds of music. Ladies & Gentleman was their third album and it is clear now that it was also their moment of self-actualization. It's an album about the religious nature of love and dependance (emotional as well as chemical), how in times of loneliness we intuitively offer ourselves to something larger, something that can ultimately save us from ourselves. At the time of its release, it was praised for its stark contrast to the superficial feel-good music of the time, and it's that kind of contrast that makes the music timeless to this day. Healing, revealing and ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL. (Adam)
Check out a track here.