Legendary Pink Dots schedule tour, releasing another album
by Bill Pearis
DOWNLOAD: Legendary Pink Dots – Russian Roulette (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Legendary Pink Dots – Endless Time (MP3)
Formed in London around 1980, the Legendary Pink Dots relocated to Amsterdam in the middle of the decade, using that city as the basis for an enormously productive and diverse career that — despite clear crypto-pop accessibility amid occasionally excessive psychedelic exotica — has remained well below commercial radar. Proceeding out of a hodgepodge of gloomy/fringey/hippie antecedents — Joy Division, Syd Barrett, Faust, etc. — but adding a classical sensibility, involuted mythology, found-sound sampling weirdness, plus all sorts of stylistic cross-mingling and experimentation, Edward Ka- Spel (vocals, lyrics, keyboards), Phil Knights (aka The Silver Man; keyboards) and a shifting collection of associates have turned the Legendary Pink Dots into an open- ended adventure. Although certainly prone to enigmatic risk- taking, the enormously resourceful LPD is a mellifluous and dynamically restrained proposition: this is one dip into the rock netherworld that won’t send you running for cover. [Trouser Press]
Long-running UK baroque psych postpunkers Legendary Pink Dots release their 27th (I think) album, Seconds Late for the Brighton Line, on October 5. You can download two tracks from it at the top of this post. The band are also embarking on their first North American tour in two years, including an October 29 stop at Le Poisson Rouge.
For the unfamiliar, finding an entry point into the band’s, voluminous, dense, often bleak catalog is a daunting task, though I’d probably suggest 1990’s Crushed Velvet Apocalypse which is a strong, relatively poppy place to start. Edward Ka-Spel and Phil Knight have kept the torch lit for 30 years with little, if any, interest in commercial appeal. Which is probably why they’ve remained relevant — and still wonderfully weird — three decades in.
All Legendary Pink Dots tour dates are below…
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Legendary Pink Dots – 2010 North American Tour Dates
Fri Oct 15 – Biltmore, Vancouver, BC
Sat Oct 16 – El Corazon, Seattle, WA
Mon Oct 18 – Club Sound, Salt Lake City, UT
Tue Oct 19 – Gothic Theater, Englewood, CO
Thur Oct 21 – Triple Rock, Minneapolis, MN
Fri Oct 22 – Double Door, Chicago, IL
Sat Oct 23 – Rumba Café, Columbus, OH
Sun Oct 24 – Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH
Mon Oct 25 – Magic Stick, Detroit, MI
Tue Oct 26 – The Mod Club, Toronto, ON
Thur Oct 28 – Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge, MA
Fri Oct 29 – Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY
Sat Oct 30 – DC9, Washington, DC
Mon Nov 1 – M Room, Philadelphia, PA
Tue Nov 2 – Thunderbird Café, Pittsburgh, PA
Wed Nov 3 – Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC
Thur Nov 4 – The Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
Fri Nov 5 – The Plaza Theatre, Orlando, FL
Sat Nov 6 – Orpheum, Tampa, FL
Tue Nov 9 – House of Blues Dallas, Dallas, TX
Wed Nov 10 – Elyslum, Austin, TX
Sun Nov 14 – The Rhythm Room, Scottsdale, AZ
Mon Nov 15 – The Casbah, San Diego, CA
Tue Nov 16 – Echoplex, Echo Park, CA
Wed Nov 17 – Sainte Rocke, Hermosa Beach, CA
Thur Nov 18 – The Detroit Bar, Costa Mesa, CA
Fri Nov 19 – Café Du Nord, San Francisco, CA
Sat Nov 20 – Café Du Nord, San Francisco, CA
Mon Nov 22 – Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR