Spoon – Gimme Fiction (Deluxe Reissue) (2005/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Spoon – Gimme Fiction (Deluxe Reissue) (2005/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:20:09 minutes | 1,77 GB | Genre: Indie Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Merge Records

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Spoon classic, Merge will release a deluxe limited-edition version of Gimme Fiction on double-LP (180g) and double-CD. The reissue contains the album remastered by Howie Weinberg from the original tapes, a second disc with 12 previously unreleased demos from the era, nine additional bonus tracks via digital download, and a full-color book containing photos and an extensive oral history of the making of the album. The deluxe LP package will also include a 24” x 36” poster.

Gimme Fiction dragged the sonic pointillism of Kill the Moonlight further into dub-influenced weirdness as the increasingly confident Spoon went crazy in the studio, experimenting with everything from warped hip-hop samples to horse whinnies. How all this directionless Dylan worship and psychedelic goofing resulted in an album as sharply realized as Gimme Fiction is a testament solely to Spoon’s self-assurance and tastefulness (and some hard work, and a bit of luck, etc.). Whatever digging or strange alchemy had to go into it, they only produced more gold.

Gimme Fiction deserves special recognition because it’s the album where Spoon—backed into a corner—took some crazy leaps, all of them forward. It’s a “departure point” for a band that, lucky for us, has never made a real departure. And when it came time for a reissue, we knew it deserved a lasting place on vinyl, right alongside every other indispensable record in Spoon’s discography.

The three-year stretch between Gimme Fiction and Kill the Moonlight was the longest gap between Spoon’s albums since the end of their disastrous relationship with Elektra Records helped put two and a half years between A Series of Sneaks and Girls Can Tell. In its own way, Gimme Fiction feels like as much of a refinement on what came before it as Girls Can Tell did at the time: theatrical and seething with late-night menace, the album sounds bigger than Spoon’s previous work, with keyboards, guitars, and string parts courtesy of the Tosca Strings. But even within this scope, the band’s eye for detail remains. Everything about Gimme Fiction, from its artwork — which looks like photographer Irving Penn doing a surreal fashion spread on Little Red Riding Hood for Vogue Magazine — to the sound effects that embellish each song, is meticulous. Fortunately, “meticulous” doesn’t mean “precious.” The album’s first three tracks show that Spoon can make music that’s intricate and rousing at the same time: “The Beast and Dragon, Adored” is a slow-building preface, mentioning later song titles and introducing Gimme Fiction’s big, brooding sound. “The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine,” a string-driven tale of a mysterious gentleman/cad, boasts some of Britt Daniel’s cleverest storytelling, while “I Turn My Camera On” turns voyeurism and emotional distance into an irresistible groove that sounds like a tense rewrite of the Stones’ “Emotional Rescue” (later on, the intro of “They Never Got You” sounds strangely like Hall & Oates’ “Maneater” — it’s nice to hear them include ’70s and ’80s references that aren’t the post-punk and new wave influences borrowed by so many other indie bands, or even the Elvis Costello nods that shaped so much of their earlier work). The opening trio of songs is so strong that it tends to overpower the album at first, but other standouts eventually surface: “My Mathematical Mind” is one long verse, broken by instrumental interludes, that keeps building tension with riveting results. On the other hand, the relatively lighthearted “Sister Jack” and pretty but jittery acoustic ballad “I Summon You” emphasize just how moody and nocturnal the rest of the album is. Indeed, restrained tracks like “The Delicate Place,” “The Infinite Pet,” and “Merchants of Soul” seem to be more about supporting Gimme Fiction’s mood than standing out as great songs. “Meticulous,” “distant,” and “restrained” aren’t the most likely adjectives to describe a good rock album, but they fit Gimme Fiction perfectly. With this album, Spoon continue to build one of the most consistent and distinctive bodies of work in indie rock — even as they change and take chances from album to album, they end up sounding exactly how they should each time. –AllMusic Review by Heather Phares

Tracklist:
1-01. Spoon – The Beast and Dragon, Adored (04:18)
1-02. Spoon – The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine (02:58)
1-03. Spoon – I Turn My Camera On (03:32)
1-04. Spoon – My Mathematical Mind (05:02)
1-05. Spoon – The Delicate Place (03:42)
1-06. Spoon – Sister Jack (03:35)
1-07. Spoon – I Summon You (03:55)
1-08. Spoon – The Infinite Pet (03:56)
1-09. Spoon – Was It You (05:02)
1-10. Spoon – They Never Got You (04:59)
1-11. Spoon – Merchants of Soul (02:49)
2-01. Spoon – I Summon You (First Demo) (03:33)
2-02. Spoon – Was It You? (Home Demo) (04:20)
2-03. Spoon – I’ve Been Good Too Long (Home Demo) (02:51)
2-04. Spoon – Sister Jack (Piano Demo) (01:40)
2-05. Spoon – The Beast and Dragon, Adored (Home Demo) (04:00)
2-06. Spoon – My Mathematical Mind (Home Demo) (01:33)
2-07. Spoon – They Never Got You (Home Demo) (04:25)
2-08. Spoon – The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine (Home Demo) (02:36)
2-09. Spoon – Delicate Place (Home Demo) (03:41)
2-10. Spoon – The Infinite Pet (Home Demo) (03:31)
2-11. Spoon – Merchants of Soul (Home Demo) (01:54)
2-12. Spoon – Dear Mr. Landlord (Home Demo) (02:08)

Personnel:
Britt Daniel – vocals, guitar (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11), bass (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), piano (1, 2, 7, 8, 11), keyboards (3, 10), Rhodes (1, 8), sound effects (3, 6, 9), yamonica (4), memory man (4), tambourine (7), kalimba (8), organ (8), flute patch (9), sleigh bells (9), Wurlitzer (9), slaps (11), Moog (11), shaker (11)
Jim Eno – drums (1-9, 11), high hat (10)
Eric Harvey: piano (4)
Josh Zarbo – bass guitar (4)

Additional:
Mike McCarthy: snaps (3), string swoops (4), programming (10), flams (10), xylophone (10)
Ames Asbell – viola (2, 11)
Sara Nelson – cello (2, 11)
John Painter – trumpet (4), trombone (4), saxophone (4)
Eddie Robert – “creepy bass” (9)
John Vanderslice – rings (9), feedbacks (9)
Scott Solter – delay drum (9)
Eric Bachmann – backing vocals (3)

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