You’d be hard pressed to find a bigger Spiritualized fan than myself. That’s why it was so surprising when I came across a live recording of theirs from the 1998 Flux Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland which I haven’t heard before. Although it doesn’t dethrone the ‘98 Roskilde taping as my favorite bootleg of all time by J. Spaceman & Co., the Flux Festival performance is one of the most unique live sets of theirs that I’ve listened to.

Backed on all tracks by a full choir leading to almost unrecognizable arrangements of Spiritualized’s most recognizable songs, it’s refreshing that the performance is more of a fusion of Jason Pierce’s space-rock music with standard church hymnals rather than a typical Spiritualized performance with some organ here and there. Although dedicating three of the eleven tracks of their live set solely to the choir may have been a bit much, the hybrid version of “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” makes it all worthwhile as it might be the best thing I’ve ever heard. It’s damn good.

No doubt the recording could be of better quality (keep in mind this was the pre-internet age), however, the roughness makes you almost feel like you are there witnessing the show alongside the sea of Brits. You can download the complete set here or, if you’re just interested in a taste, check out my favorites below:

Spiritualized // Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space (Live Flux Festival ‘98)

Spiritualized // Lord Can You Hear Me (Live Flux Festival ‘98)