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Recurring

 
Album Review: Recurring [15 Tracks]
 

  • Artist: Spacemen 3
  • Rating: StarStarStarStar
  • Release Date: 2004
  • Type: Contains explicit content
  • Genre: Rock

Review

By the time Recurring was recorded, Pierce and Sonic had all but come to blows, and the end result shouldn't be considered an album proper so much as two EPs, with completely different personnel supporting their individual creations, Sonic's tracks appearing first. That they were even able to release it as a Spacemen 3 album at all seems to have been a fraught affair, but somehow it happened, with original drummer Natty Brooker providing the cover art. The respective musical obsessions that would define Pierce and Sonic's post-Spacemen work were perfectly apparent in both sections -- while there have always been plenty of clear links between the two, the more individual parts of their natures started to flourish in full. Pierce's obsession with orchestration, gospel, and blues as transposed into psychedelia and proto-punk energy was in full swing, while his backing musicians would shortly thereafter form the initial Spiritualized lineup. "Feel So Sad," later recorded by Spiritualized as a dramatic 15-minute epic, is already well on its way via heavy space and echo on Pierce's vocals combined with sweeping arrangements. Sonic, again recording with Jazz Butcher associates (including the Jazz Butcher himself on flute) and with future Spectrum member Richard Formby, moved toward a more overtly experimental approach. They're still obsessively structured compared to many later Spectrum and E.A.R. explorations, but with the familiar wash of compressed yet dynamic production well in place, as the astonishing "Why Couldn't I See" shows. His lead-off track "Big City" is one of his best, Kraftwerk's propulsion filtered through Suicide's roughness and his own evanescent bliss, building to a soaring climax. An interesting inclusion was his cover of Mudhoney's "When Tomorrow Hits," originally recorded for a split single with them until he heard some irreverent lyric changes they did for their take on "Revolution." As with nearly everything the band released, Recurring has its own discographical oddities, with the original U.K. CD featuring four more tracks (all alternate versions and mixes) than the U.S. and European version. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Big City (Everybody I Know Can Be Found Here) Spacemen 3 (10:50)
Just to See You Smile [Orchestral Mix] Spacemen 3 (3:19)
I Love You Spacemen 3 (5:32)
Set Me Free/I've Got the Key Spacemen 3 (5:11)
Set Me Free (Reprise) Spacemen 3 (1:50)
Why Couldn't I See Spacemen 3 (6:37)
Just to See You Smile [Instrumental] Spacemen 3 (3:19)
When Tomorrow Hits Mudhoney Spacemen 3 (4:26)
Feel So Sad (Reprise) Spacemen 3 (2:46)
Hypnotized Spacemen 3 (5:57)
Sometimes Spacemen 3 (6:36)
Feelin' Just Fine (Head Full of Shit) Spacemen 3 (4:33)
Billy Whizz/Blue I Spacemen 3 (7:33)
Drive/Feel So Sad Spacemen 3 (5:34)
Feelin' Just Fine [Alternative Mix] Spacemen 3 (4:30)

Credits

Paul Adkins (Engineer), Spacemen 3 (Main Performer), William Carruthers (Bass), Anjali Dutt (Engineer), Pat Fish (Flute), Richard Formby (Guitar), Richard Formby (Guitar (Rhythm)), John Owen (Violin), Sarah Bedingham (Engineer), Jon Mattock (Percussion), Mark Refoy (Guitar (Acoustic)), Mark Refoy (Fender Telecaster)
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Wikipedia: Recurring (album)
Top
Recurring
Recurring cover
Studio album by Spacemen 3
Released 1991, 2005 (Reissue)
Recorded 1990
Genre space rock, indie rock
Length 78:33 (international version)
Label Dedicated Records; Arista Records; Space Age Recordings (Reissue)
Producer Peter Kember/Jason Pierce
Professional reviews
Spacemen 3 chronology
Playing With Fire
(1989)
Recurring
(1991)
Dreamweapon
(1990)

Recurring was the fourth and final Spacemen 3 studio album, finally released (after considerable delay) in 1991, some time after the band had broken up. By the time the album was recorded, relations between the band had soured to the extent that the record is in 2 parts - the first side by Peter Kember, and the second by Jason Pierce.

The album included "Hypnotized", a Pierce composition that was a minor hit in the UK in 1990.

Versions

The original UK and US pressings had only eleven tracks, with edited - and much shorter - versions of several key tracks. Most notably, "Big City" was cut in half, only the reprise of "Feel So Sad" was included, and "Billy Whizz" faded out before its "Blue 1" crescendo. Aside from that, the other missing tracks were alternate versions of "Just to See You Smile" and "Feelin' Just Fine", and a reprise of "Set Me Free".

The version of "Drive/Feel So Sad" included on the international (15-track) version is from the B-side of "Hypnotized". "Just to See You Smile" was the other b-side of that single, in an alternate mix listed as "Just to See You Smile (Honey Pt. 2)", owning up to the track's melodic affinity to the earlier Spacemen 3 tune "Honey". Elsewhere, "Why Couldn't I See" is another song whose main guitar riff is largely derived from the 45-minute improvisation Dreamweapon (the others were "Honey" and "How Does It Feel"); and "I Love You" features an uncredited sample of a Jan and Dean radio jingle for Coca-Cola (possibly written or cowritten by Brian Wilson, from 1963.

When Tomorrow Hits

The only track on which both Pierce and Kember appear is "When Tomorrow Hits", a cover of a Mudhoney song, originally intended for a double A-side split single, with Mudhoney covering "Revolution" from Playing With Fire. This release was scotched when Kember caught wind of the fact that Mudhoney had fitted "Revolution" with somewhat irreverent lyrics about methadone suppositories. The Mudhoney recording eventually surfaced as a b-side. There's a subtle continuity between both tracks, specifically duelling references to The Stooges; the Spacemen 3 track opens with the "look out!" invocation that began "Loose", and "When Tomorrow Hits" is mostly a rewrite of "I Want to Be Your Dog".

Track listing

Space Age Recordings 2004 reissue

# Title Length
1. "Big City (Everybody I Know Can Be Found Here)"   10:50
2. "Just to See You Smile (Orchestral mix)"   3:19
3. "I Love You"   5:32
4. "Set Me Free / I've Got the Key"   5:11
5. "Set Me Free (reprise)"   1:50
6. "Why Couldn't I See"   6:37
7. "Just to See You Smile (instrumental)"   3:19
8. "When Tomorrow Hits"   4:26
9. "Feel So Sad (reprise)"   2:46
10. "Hypnotized"   5:57
11. "Sometimes"   6:36
12. "Feelin' Just Fine (Head Full of Shit)"   4:33
13. "Billy Whiz / Blue 1"   7:33
14. "Drive / Feel So Sad"   5:34
15. "Feelin' Just Fine (alternative mix)"   4:30

 
 

 

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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Recurring (album)" Read more