Spacemen 3
Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To

THE REVIEW

"Shoegazing." A musical movement of considerable respect, practically one of the few worth saving from the pathetic, ridiculous, and useless '80s.
Explaining what Shoegazing is, is exactly like explaining what Grunge is or what Stoner is. As in Grunge and in Stoner, Shoegazing includes groups that have nothing to do with each other. Quick example: if some Stoner bands had played in the '80s, they would have been shoegazers, and if some shoegazers had played in the late '90s, they would have been Stoner. If you want two names to throw what has just been said into practice: Spaceman 3 and On Trial. Is all this positive? I wouldn't know.

Perhaps an American '60s Psychedelia enthusiast has never heard a shoegazer because they believed it was an '80s Punk-electronic mix. Perhaps a Shoegazing-fan has never heard American '60s Psychedelia because they thought it was outdated and surpassed while they listened to modern stuff, they listened to shoegazing (eh!).
Maybe, in the end, all the groups from both movements lost album sales, and this only because "we" have the bad habit of creating genres and labels, and when we find something already done but revived and perfected, we're reluctant to say, "they do re-modernized '60s USA psychedelia in sound and mixed with Krautrock electronic delirium (another example I can't elaborate on, but there's much to discuss), but with a very Velvet Underground and/or '80s dark punk touch depending on the case (see above under "completely different groups inserted into the same movement), but they are from the '80s, not the '60s, so you can't call it Psychedelia given the times blah blah blah"... we find it much easier to say "they do Shoegazing (Period)." Simple, clear, precise, and easy to assimilate. Who cares if an ignorant person doesn't understand, actually, it's better because we who "know about it" cannot afford to share our knowledge with others, how cool are we, right?

1990. Jason Pierce (Spiritualized - Spectrum), Peter (aka "Sonic Boom") Kember (Spectrum), the two minds behind the project, decide that for Spacemen 3, it's time for bread & Nutella, after about 8 years as the number 1 seeds (according to some yes, according to others no, but they at least place on the podium) of this blessed shoegazing, it's time to let go.

And as a gift to the fans (and to those uncool who ignore the big mental spirals discussed above), they release this album of B-sides and rarities, a real gem with which they can finally take a load off their shoulders and explain to everyone what the hell this damn shoegazing is (for them but not for everyone, see again under "groups that don't belong with each other"): it's nothing more than "Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To". Never read an explanation with such a high simplicity-content ratio. The same motto of the psychedelic's rebels '60. Let's call the revival by its name, because there's nothing wrong with doing a revival, if it's done with enormous class like in this case. Rating 3/5 yes, but for a "Rarities & B-Side," it's a compliment with a bang.

Technical note: they are the favorite band of Patrizia.