UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 12/07/2013. Enjoy, NØ.
Two disparate works by two members of LPD. Given the difference of these two works, it is possible to see some of the sources of the unfathomable depth that is Pink Dots musick.
Niels Van Hoorn aka: Niels Van Hoornblower, joined the Dots in 1988. He plays saxophones, flute, bass flute, clarinets, gadgets that need to be blown. He likes to wear loud, eccentric suits & uses light beam with his sax for a walk in the crowd.
Someone from LPD once remarked that when Niels made a solo recording, it would be the most abstract or 'avant-garde' thing to come out of the band. That's quite a challenge. So he created De Klaverland Klompen Voetbal Club (which I will post at a future date). DKKVC was recorded on location in Klaverland 2000. It is dedicated to the Independent State of Klaverland & its national sport, Klompen Voetball, in which the players wear 'klompen' or wooden shoes, using two small balls, one for the players & one for their dogs. There are no goals & no rules. DKKVC is to say the least extreme.
More accessible & showing more of his love of jazz, blues, & soul is 2002s Colours.
Tracklist -
Landscape
Indian Dakota
Space Horns
Desert Walk
Traffic Jam
Grand Canyon
Heritage part 1 & 2
Mist
Mellow
Strange Dream
Klaverland Sunset Jam (for a small taste of Klaverland)
All song by Niels van Hoorn except "Indian Dakota" & "Mellow" by NvH & Ryan Moore.
Niels plays: soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, & dubbel saxophones; bass clarinet; flute; Steiner wind synth; Arp2600 & Cat synths; & Boomerang loops.
Ryan Moore plays: drums; congas; Kurzwell K-200; & Moogerfoogers. He does: production; tape editing; & engineering.
Mastered by Raymond Steeg.
Ryan Moore played drums on studio & live performances for the Legendary Pink Dots throughout most of the 1990s. He departed to work on his own musical project, the Twilight Circus Dub Sound System, a reggae/dub band. He wrote & produced albums for Grammy Award winning singer Michael Rose of Black Uhuru. He has worked with other notable reggae figures such as Sly Dunbar, half of one of the most influential partnerships in reggae music, Sly & Robbie.
Martijn De Kleer joined the Dots in 1991. He plays guitars, fuzz bass, banjo, violon, exotic percussion, gadgets, string driven things-plucked, bowed, & processed. Pure, psychedelic, & rustic. He still loves Hank Williams. He recorded Flow at home with two microphones & a tape deck. If Van Hoorn was the abstract side, then this is the mellow side of the Dots coin. Mighty lucre it is.
Tracklist -
Beginning
Once a Road
Moon in Water
Birds
High Street
Sin
Invitation
Sunflower
Not Blind?
Daydream
Reflection
End
Martijn: vocals; acoustic guitar; fiddle; banjo; & hand drum. Mastered & additional sounds from Raymond Steeg.
Raymond Steeg joined the Dots in 1992. He does the mixing & is the engineering master. Works the sound, vibrations, gadgets, & more gadgets. Demands a perfect sound because anything less pisses him off.
Enjoy,
NØ
31 March 2009
19 March 2009
More More Dots Dots
UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 12/07/2013. Enjoy, NØ.
Individual LPD releases are so indicative of the bands mind-set or line-up of that particular time/space, encapsulating that unique moment so well, that their live offerings seem to better span the bands true genius, giving a better overview of their true excellence. Plus they seem to respond best to the vibe of the live audience.
Legendary Pink Dots began their live career in a local folk club in Ilford, where they resided at the time in a squat. They only played a few live appearances at folk clubs & a Anti-Nuclear Power CND festival. Their first 'real' gig was in Cologne in 1983, where they headlined a show in front of more than 400 people. Their next 'official' show was at the Melkweg (Milky Way) Club in Amsterdam in 1984.
In a setting reeking of marijuana smoke, Ka-Spel roamed the stage, draped in a torn flag, smashing an ironing board against the concrete pillars & stomping a synthesizer beneath his feet. Pandemonium reigned & the crowd love it. LPD was such a hit that for the next ten years they played the Milky Way every year.
Farewell, Milky Way was recorded in 1994. There is a nice blend of songs here from "A Crack in Melancholy Time" to "Space Captain". Edward & the band gel perfectly, bringing forth an array of sinister tunes that represent the essence of the group to date. Although the version of "9 Shades to the Circle" strays from the Nine Lives to Wonder original, it includes some great improvised lyrics & very haunting percussion effects. "Demolition 13" chills with its bitter edged bite of captivating words & changing melodies. The original version of "Needles" appears here as well, eerily coming & going, fading into a quiet, awesome & completely awe-inspiring extended version of "Space Captain".
The line-up: Edward Ka-Spel - keyboards & voice; The Silverman - keyboards; Martijn de Kleer - guitar & drums; Ryan Moore - bass & drums; Niels Van Hoornblower - horns; Raymond Steeg - sound wizardry.
This is one of my favorite live LPD sets.
Tracklist -
A Crack in Melancholy Time
On Another Shore
Vigil-Anti
Love in a Plain Brown Envelope
9 Shades to the Circle
Demolition 13
Bella D
Needles
Space Captain (extended version)
Enjoy,
NØ
Individual LPD releases are so indicative of the bands mind-set or line-up of that particular time/space, encapsulating that unique moment so well, that their live offerings seem to better span the bands true genius, giving a better overview of their true excellence. Plus they seem to respond best to the vibe of the live audience.Legendary Pink Dots began their live career in a local folk club in Ilford, where they resided at the time in a squat. They only played a few live appearances at folk clubs & a Anti-Nuclear Power CND festival. Their first 'real' gig was in Cologne in 1983, where they headlined a show in front of more than 400 people. Their next 'official' show was at the Melkweg (Milky Way) Club in Amsterdam in 1984.
In a setting reeking of marijuana smoke, Ka-Spel roamed the stage, draped in a torn flag, smashing an ironing board against the concrete pillars & stomping a synthesizer beneath his feet. Pandemonium reigned & the crowd love it. LPD was such a hit that for the next ten years they played the Milky Way every year.
Farewell, Milky Way was recorded in 1994. There is a nice blend of songs here from "A Crack in Melancholy Time" to "Space Captain". Edward & the band gel perfectly, bringing forth an array of sinister tunes that represent the essence of the group to date. Although the version of "9 Shades to the Circle" strays from the Nine Lives to Wonder original, it includes some great improvised lyrics & very haunting percussion effects. "Demolition 13" chills with its bitter edged bite of captivating words & changing melodies. The original version of "Needles" appears here as well, eerily coming & going, fading into a quiet, awesome & completely awe-inspiring extended version of "Space Captain".
The line-up: Edward Ka-Spel - keyboards & voice; The Silverman - keyboards; Martijn de Kleer - guitar & drums; Ryan Moore - bass & drums; Niels Van Hoornblower - horns; Raymond Steeg - sound wizardry.
This is one of my favorite live LPD sets.
Tracklist -
A Crack in Melancholy Time
On Another Shore
Vigil-Anti
Love in a Plain Brown Envelope
9 Shades to the Circle
Demolition 13
Bella D
Needles
Space Captain (extended version)
Enjoy,
NØ
12 March 2009
More Pink Dots
UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 12/07/2013. Enjoy, NØ.
"I think something must be wrong with me. I keep seeing Pink Dots."
"Have you seen a Doctor?"
"No, just Dots."
Because I was reminiscing about seeing LPD live, I posted their Live at... first, but I should really go back to the early days now. Most of their earlier material (Curses, Brighter Now, Basilisk,etc. which originally appeared in cassette format) have been re-released on cds. The earliest vinyl I have of LPD is Stone Circles (A Legendary Pink Dots Anthology) from 1987 put out on Play It Again Sam Records here in the U.S. It contains cuts from the above mentioned cassette releases as well as from other mid-80s fare (Lovers, The Tower, Asylum) plus a previously unreleased song "Gladiators Version Apocalypse" recorded in July 1987. This is a great starting point for the uninitiated as well as a treat for Dots fans.
Legendary Pink Dots - Stone Circles (A Legendary Pink Dots Anthology),
Play It Again Sam Records BIUS 1001, 1987.
decryption code in comments
Side One -
Love Puppets
Curious Guy
Black Zone
Hanging Gardens
Side Two -
Golden Dawn
Fifteen Flies in the Marmalade
Our Lady in Darkness
Gladiators Version Apocalypse
note - the last two minutes of "Hanging Gardens" is recorded backward, so I have included as a bonus track that section reversed or backward unmasked.
Enjoy,
NØ
"I think something must be wrong with me. I keep seeing Pink Dots."
"Have you seen a Doctor?"
"No, just Dots."
Because I was reminiscing about seeing LPD live, I posted their Live at... first, but I should really go back to the early days now. Most of their earlier material (Curses, Brighter Now, Basilisk,etc. which originally appeared in cassette format) have been re-released on cds. The earliest vinyl I have of LPD is Stone Circles (A Legendary Pink Dots Anthology) from 1987 put out on Play It Again Sam Records here in the U.S. It contains cuts from the above mentioned cassette releases as well as from other mid-80s fare (Lovers, The Tower, Asylum) plus a previously unreleased song "Gladiators Version Apocalypse" recorded in July 1987. This is a great starting point for the uninitiated as well as a treat for Dots fans.
Legendary Pink Dots - Stone Circles (A Legendary Pink Dots Anthology),Play It Again Sam Records BIUS 1001, 1987.
decryption code in comments
Side One -
Love Puppets
Curious Guy
Black Zone
Hanging Gardens
Side Two -
Golden Dawn
Fifteen Flies in the Marmalade
Our Lady in Darkness
Gladiators Version Apocalypse
note - the last two minutes of "Hanging Gardens" is recorded backward, so I have included as a bonus track that section reversed or backward unmasked.
Enjoy,
NØ
08 March 2009
I've Been Trapped in My Own Musick Mania
After the first of the year, I would visit other blogs around the interweb & read their suggested lists of the Best of 2008. & I'd be scratching my head, wondering what the fuck? Granted, I don't listen to all that much neu musick since the plethora of great musick from the past fills my time, ears, shelves & hard-drive. That being said, tho, I do listen to neu musick when I get suggestions from those whose opinions I give more than a grain o' salts worth of import. I try to be open to the possibility that not all neu musick & bands are shit. I hear others playing musick & if it catches my ear, I try to check it out enough to find out if it has any staying power or originality. But the Best Of... lists had bands like Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, etc. ad infinitum (my friend Jon called them ' Tivo on the Radio, MiGGT, the Feet Floxes, & Vampire Wackness '). I've seen these bands myself & they are across the board CRAP!
I was thinking about what bands I would put on a Best of 2008 list, thinking of more inspired picks from more trusted sources, but Microcastle seemed to have gone limp, the Walkmen needed new batteries, Receivers' Parts & Labor was 50/50, & Duke Spirit's Neptune was all right, but hardly god-like. They wouldn't even make the Top Ten cut.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' Dig Lazarus Dig was excellent, The Mars Volta's Bedlam in Goliath was obviously in the running, even Alejandro Escovedo's Real Animal beat out those other losers, but Best???
I thought about what neu releases I listened to most, affected me the greatest, pleased me the best. I got down to two that were also by two of my favorite hard-working, long-striving musickians & bands.
Steven Stapleton has been entertaining me with Nurse With Wound since 1978, & thirty years later he's still in the top two. Huffin' Rag Blues was a strange listen at first, but all NWW releases are a strange listen. The more I listened to Huffin', though, the deeper into it I sank, until finally I realized it is right up there with the best NWW stuff. At this sorry state of neu musick, I'll huff that rag anyday.
The musick that moved me the most was also from a band that started just two years after Nurse With Wound, whose frontman is also a genius madman. Edward - Ka-Spel & The Legendary Pink Dots have always been entertaining, thought-provoking, & unparalleled in excellence. I have more of their releases than any other single band (they are nothin' if not prolific...with LPD material, Edward's solo work, projects such as Silverman [keyboardist original member Phil Knight aka the Silver Man's solo releases], the Tear Garden with cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy).
Hotel Blanc - Edward Ka-Spel Down in the City of Heartbreak & Needles 1995
Serpent Time - Silverman Dream Cell 1995
Sheila Liked the Rodeo - The Tear Garden Sheila Liked the Rodeo 1993
15th Shade - cEvin Key w/Edward Ka-Spel & Genesis P'Orridge The Ghost of Each Room 2001
2008s Plutonium Blonde is the album I listen to most often, with the most enjoyment, yet I didn't see them on any Best Of... lists. I wonder to myself just what's wrong with musick aficionados today?
LPD played two shows at the Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco on November 14 & 15,2008 in support of Plutonium Blonde. I went to the Saturday show (11/15 - their last US date of the tour). It was a phenomenal show, the CDN being a great place to see shows. Before the show the band was hanging out front with everyone, very kool. The set was excellent, the band as whimsical as their musick, & there were two encores.
Syd Barrett, T-Rex, David Bowie, Throbbing Gristle, the Residents, Kurt Weill among others are name-checked when referencing Ka-Spel & LPD, but any of these comparisons are just for descriptive clarification. There is no imitation with LPD, they are one-of-a-kind originals. Plutonium Blonde sounds fresh & fertile, each song manifesting & evolving into an archetypical musickal experience.
This is where my musick mania kicked in full force. I gathered up all my LPD & related material & that's all I've been listening to since the beginning of February. We jokingly refer to it as KLPD radio (ALL PINK DOTS---ALL THE TIME!!!) around the Casa Nada. I have a ten cd changer in my Pathfinder & it's constantly filled with an ever changing selection of Dots. My family & friends are beyond the point of utter despair, but I can't stop.
I haven't been able to take this blogging thing serious because all I'm listening to is LPD. All I want to post is LPD. So now my disease is spreading to you. & I don't really care. I'm waiting for a friend who was at the Cafe Du Nord show to send me a boot of the show, but until then, heres a show from almost ten years to the day earlier...
The Legendary Pink Dots - Live at the Metro, Chicago, SPV (Poland) 150122, Nov.11,1998.
Spike
Aarzhklahh Olgevezh
Gang Green 98
Zoo
Saucers over Chicago
Fates Faithful Punchline
Pain Bubbles
Grain Kings 98
Andromeda
line-up: Edward Ka-Spel - voice, keyboards; The silver Man - keyboards;
Edwin Van Trippenhof - guitar, occasional bass; Ryan Moore - drums, occasional bass;
Niels van Hoornblower - horns, flutes; Frank Verschuuren - live sound;
Bert van Nijmeijer - lights; special guest Paul Newman - drums on Aarzhklahh.
Enjoy,
NØ
Steven Stapleton has been entertaining me with Nurse With Wound since 1978, & thirty years later he's still in the top two. Huffin' Rag Blues was a strange listen at first, but all NWW releases are a strange listen. The more I listened to Huffin', though, the deeper into it I sank, until finally I realized it is right up there with the best NWW stuff. At this sorry state of neu musick, I'll huff that rag anyday.
The musick that moved me the most was also from a band that started just two years after Nurse With Wound, whose frontman is also a genius madman. Edward - Ka-Spel & The Legendary Pink Dots have always been entertaining, thought-provoking, & unparalleled in excellence. I have more of their releases than any other single band (they are nothin' if not prolific...with LPD material, Edward's solo work, projects such as Silverman [keyboardist original member Phil Knight aka the Silver Man's solo releases], the Tear Garden with cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy).
Hotel Blanc - Edward Ka-Spel Down in the City of Heartbreak & Needles 1995
Serpent Time - Silverman Dream Cell 1995
Sheila Liked the Rodeo - The Tear Garden Sheila Liked the Rodeo 1993
15th Shade - cEvin Key w/Edward Ka-Spel & Genesis P'Orridge The Ghost of Each Room 2001
2008s Plutonium Blonde is the album I listen to most often, with the most enjoyment, yet I didn't see them on any Best Of... lists. I wonder to myself just what's wrong with musick aficionados today?
LPD played two shows at the Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco on November 14 & 15,2008 in support of Plutonium Blonde. I went to the Saturday show (11/15 - their last US date of the tour). It was a phenomenal show, the CDN being a great place to see shows. Before the show the band was hanging out front with everyone, very kool. The set was excellent, the band as whimsical as their musick, & there were two encores.
Syd Barrett, T-Rex, David Bowie, Throbbing Gristle, the Residents, Kurt Weill among others are name-checked when referencing Ka-Spel & LPD, but any of these comparisons are just for descriptive clarification. There is no imitation with LPD, they are one-of-a-kind originals. Plutonium Blonde sounds fresh & fertile, each song manifesting & evolving into an archetypical musickal experience.
This is where my musick mania kicked in full force. I gathered up all my LPD & related material & that's all I've been listening to since the beginning of February. We jokingly refer to it as KLPD radio (ALL PINK DOTS---ALL THE TIME!!!) around the Casa Nada. I have a ten cd changer in my Pathfinder & it's constantly filled with an ever changing selection of Dots. My family & friends are beyond the point of utter despair, but I can't stop.
I haven't been able to take this blogging thing serious because all I'm listening to is LPD. All I want to post is LPD. So now my disease is spreading to you. & I don't really care. I'm waiting for a friend who was at the Cafe Du Nord show to send me a boot of the show, but until then, heres a show from almost ten years to the day earlier...
The Legendary Pink Dots - Live at the Metro, Chicago, SPV (Poland) 150122, Nov.11,1998.