Spectrum Meets Captain Memphis – Indian Giver [Birdman]

Spaceship commander Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3, Spectrum, & Experimental Audio Research) has traversed many foreign galaxies, but never has he landed in the alien land of Mississippi। Birthed in deep murky swamps, Indian Giver is the bazaar encounter of Spectrum and legendary producer Jim Dickinson, a।k.a. Captain Memphis at Dickinson’s hidden Mississippi estate. Captain Memphis has worked with fellow Spacemen 3 offshoot J. Spaceman of Spiritualized, the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Mudhoney, the Replacements, and Big Star. Recorded in 2003, the only testimony of this strange muggy meeting are the nine tracks featured on Indian Giver. Sonic Boom lays down classic Spacemen 3 supernova-grooves that shape the flow and texture of the entire session while Captain Memphis lends his hobo-blues, Captain Beefheart/Tom Waits/Charles Bukowski rants, which fit surprisingly well with the layers built by Sonic Boom and co. Indian Giver is Spectrums most palatable work since 1992’s Soul Kiss (Slide Divine) and yet the interesting motion in combining Sonic Boom and Captain Memphis reaches the perfect level of experimentation. The pinnacle of Indian Giver is a cover of Mudhoney’s, “When Tomorrow Hits,” in which a tsunami of fuzz soars into a melting universe. The racist title of the album is unnerving, but what can you expect from a kooky white-skinned producer and a space-obsessed Englishman in the backwoods of Mississippi.

Bardos Freedoom