“And it was always a favourite of mine. I liked the way the whole thing sounds. It sounded like it was complete. I like the fact that there’s a different mix in either speaker. You know, it was an enormous amount of work to get this kind of strange sound that makes the record work.”
These are the words of Jason Pierce, taken from a recent interview with this publication. He was speaking about Pure Phase, the second studio album from Spiritualized, the band he had formed three and a half decades ago and of which he remains the sole permanent member.
Next Friday marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Pure Phase and to celebrate the occasion Spiritualized are embarking on a series of five dates across the UK to play this extraordinary album in its entirety. Glasgow is the opening night of this tour and that the show is taking place in the historic Theatre Royal, the city’s oldest and Scotland’s longest-running theatre, adds to the gravitas and splendour of this event.
In through the elliptical entrance to the theatre – work was completed on this transformative foyer extension in 2014 – and then up the dramatic spiral staircase, before embracing the full Victorian grandiloquence of the magnificent auditorium itself. It is the perfect setting in which to experience this sonic masterpiece.
Jason Pierce on guitar and vocals, stands – in contrast to most recent concerts where he has been seated – stage left. Behind him in an anti-clockwise direction and forming a perfect semi-circle are two backing singers, a cello and violin player, bass guitarist, drummer, a three-man brass section, keyboards, and two more guitarists. Together these 13 musicians form a formidable, complete ensemble, assembled as they are in front of a huge projected image of a slowly revolving moon.
“Every day I wake up
And I take my medication
And I spend the rest of the day
Waiting for it to wear off.”
From the opening lines of ‘Medication’ you know that you are already stepping into a narcotic-induced territory. Pure Phase’s opening track is a woozy amalgam of rock’n’roll, blues, gospel, electronica, and kosmische musik. It is the sound of an unknown future.
A flute brings a pastoral perspective to ‘The Slide Song’ before ‘Electric Phase’ lives up to its name, an interpolation possessing a ferocious white-heat wipe-out edge. The melancholy dripping from the ducts of ‘All of My Tears’ brings us back down again.
Jason Pierce presses his foot firmly onto the metal for ‘These Blues’, the song’s inherent sorrow amplified by some blistering harmonica. ‘Let it Flow’ remains a thing of great spiritual beauty before ‘Take Good Care of It’ and the American avant-gardiste Laurie Anderson’s ‘Born, Never Asked’ seem to blur into each other, partially hidden by the dark side of the moon before emerging into the clearer light of day. It is spellbinding.
‘Electric Mainline’ is the axis upon which Pure Phase spins. With its incessant modal repetition it owes much to the psych-classicism of the American minimalist composer Terry Riley. Tonight it stretches out and luxuriates, one glorious pulsing rhythm. On the ensuing ‘Lay Back in the Sun’ the backing singers’ harmonies form a perfect counterpoint to Jason Pierce’s voice. As the song gathers momentum it hits the spot like some Phil Spector wall of sound. As the chap sat beside me so accurately put it, “fuckin’ incredible.”
‘Good Times’, given even greater impetus here by the impeccable brass section, sees Spiritualized enter the home straight as the title track, ‘Spread Your Wings’ and ‘Feel Like Goin’ Home’ collectively induce quite dizzying feelings of euphoria. The album’s original recording time of 68 minutes and 11 seconds has been expanded beyond an hour and a half. A record that was, and still is light years ahead of its time, it captures 30 years of cosmic history;
As if to replicate a remastered, re-released copy of Pure Phase, tonight comes with a bonus track, albeit one that would not appear until two years later on Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. ‘Cop Shoot Cop’ , in all of its 20 minute glory and complete with its familiar mid-section white noise freak-out, is a fitting finale.
Incidental photos: Simon Godley
