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A Guide to The Mammoth & Prodigious Work by Enigmatic & Experimental Gods: The Legendary Pink Dots & Edward Ka-Spel. Pt. 1: 1981-2000

Updated: 5 days ago



With Understanding Comes Appreciation


One of the most prolific careers in music history is the career of virtuoso and enigmatic experimentalist Edward Ka-Spel and his Legendary Pink Dots (and countless of solo/side projects and collaborations), whose music ranges through numerous music styles such Alternative/Indie Rock, Experimental, Neo-Psychedelia, Post-Punk, Synth Pop, Ambient, Industrial, Minimal Wave, Electronic and many others that people have tried to label with very little success. With over 400 recordings (studio, live, compilations and countless formats), this post attempts to guide fans of any kind —curious, casual, die-hard— to the massive official discography of the Legendary Pink Dots and the solo/side projects by his founder Edward Ka-Spel. Since the catalog is immensely large, I have divided the post in four parts based on time (decades); i.e. since 1980's when Edward started to release recordings to date; so, follow this post and subscribe to my blog to stay tuned, because our Experimentalist God is constantly releasing new material. This first delivery considers his work from 1981 to 2000. The second part will consider his work through 2000's, the third through 2010's and the fourth through 2020's (to date). I’m also sharing a Public Playlist which gathers all the official catalog listed in these series of posts and that is available for streaming on Apple Music. On Pt. 4, I will also share public playlists on Apple Music which will gather each Type of the albums available for streaming decscribed below—Official Studio Album Playlist, Official Live Album Playlist, Official Compilation Album Playlist, etc. The latter will save you days if not weeks of manual assembling. Again, follow this post and subscribe to my blog to stay tuned.


But before listing and giving details on how the catalog was built, let's take a brief review of the career of The Legendary Pink Dots and his enigmatic founder Edward K-Spel.


The Legendary Pink Dots are an influential, staggeringly prolific group led by enigmatic frontman Edward Ka-Spel. Emerging from the early-'80s post-punk underground and sometimes categorized as industrial due to associations with bands like Skinny Puppy, the group's music is nearly impossible to pin down, drawing from Krautrock, ambient, folk, synth pop, and numerous other styles. The Dots' music is by turns melodic pop and exotic psychedelia, with classical influences, sampling, and relentlessly dark, violent, apocalyptic lyrics. Ka-Spel's rhotacistic vocals are instantly recognizable, and somewhat resemble a cross between Syd Barrett and Coil's John Balance. Aside from the group's only two constant members, Ka-Spel and keyboard player Phil Knight (also known as the Silverman), the Dots have consisted of a shifting supporting cast over the years, including Canadian dub reggae producer Ryan Moore (Twilight Circus), engineer Raymond Steeg, and guitarist Erik Drost. The group has toured relentlessly since its inception, and has released well over a hundred albums, EPs, and compilations on dozens of labels, including numerous limited cassettes and CD-Rs. Early releases such as 1982's Brighter Now consisted of quirky, minimal synth pop, and their work grew more ambitious and mystical, with expanded instrumentation and more adventurous, free-form song structures. The group released some of their best-known releases, including 1988's The Golden Age and 1991's The Maria Dimension (newcomers, the latter is a safe place to start) on Play It Again Sam before switching to Soleilmoon with 1995's From Here You'll Watch the World Go By, additionally releasing material on ROIR, Beta-lactam Ring, and other labels throughout the coming decades. An increasing number of digital releases appeared during the 2010s, including live recordings and archival collections, while studio albums appeared on Rustblade (10 to the Power of 9, 2014) and Metropolis (Pages of Aquarius, 2016).


Formed in London in 1980, the Legendary Pink Dots began contributing to underground compilations and issuing cassettes of dark, twisted synth pop in 1981, including Chemical Playschool 1+2 and Kleine Krieg, both on Mirrordot. Official debut LP Brighter Now was released by In Phaze Records in 1982. Curse followed in 1983, as the group continued releasing cassettes and further volumes of Chemical Playschool. Politically fueled LP The Tower appeared in 1984, and Ka-Spel has regarded the album as one of the group's most significant works; when the album failed to make a significant impact in the Dots' home country, they moved to Amsterdam, where they remained, incorporating many musicians from the Dutch underground music scene.


Also in 1984, Belgian label Play It Again Sam signed LPD; the label's first release was the group's mini-album Faces in the Fire. The band remained on PIAS into the '90s, releasing much of its best material (1988's The Golden Age, 1990's Crushed Velvet Apocalypse, 1991's The Maria Dimension) on the label. The group's sound evolved significantly, embracing non-electronic instruments such as saxophones and strings, as well as live drums. Ever prolific, Ka-Spel also issued numerous solo albums and experiments on smaller labels, and participated in many side projects, most notable the Tear Garden (with Skinny Puppy's cEvin Key) and Mimir (with Christoph Heemann).


Following 1994's 9 Lives to Wonder, the Pink Dots ended their association with Play It Again Sam. Released in 1995, From Here You'll Watch the World Go By was their first release on Soleilmoon. Several more albums would appear on the label, as well as its sublabel Caciocavallo, which reissued much of the band's back catalog. Even as the Legendary Pink Dots neared their two-decade anniversary, the group continued to tour Europe and America quite consistently, appreciated by several generations of dark industrial/goth audiences (and documented by the 2000 live album Farewell, Milky Way). The 2002 album All the King's Horses was Ka-Spel's direct response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, and was one of the group's most melancholy releases. Its sister album, All the King's Men, was the Dots' first release on R.O.I.R., which would release a few of the group's more accessible releases. Poppy Variations appeared on Terminal Kaleidoscope in 2004, with the vinyl edition issued by Beta-lactam Ring Records, which has released much of Ka-Spel's solo output since 2000.


After releasing Your Children Placate You from Premature Graves on R.O.I.R. in the spring of 2006, the band embarked on its 25th anniversary tour. The more experimental Alchemical Playschool surfaced on Caciocavallo that year. After two more albums for R.O.I.R. (2008's Plutonium Blonde, 2010's Seconds Late for the Brighton Line), the group released Chemical Playschool 15 on Rustblade and two CD-R releases, The Creature That Tasted Sound and Taos Hum. The Dots remastered and digitally reissued nearly their entire back catalog in 2013, including several solo albums and side projects as well as several new releases of outtakes, live performances, and other archival material. A few more limited albums appeared on Beta-lactam Ring and Rustblade that year, while Metropolis issued the group's proper studio effort The Gethsemane Option. 10 to the Power of 9 appeared on Rustblade in 2014. The label also released The Shock Exchange, LPD's limited split LP with kETvECTOR, in 2015. Studio album Pages of Aquarius was released by Metropolis in 2016, while The Maria Sessions appeared on Soleilmoon that year. Mini-album The Tunnel was issued by Noise Noise Noise Records in 2018, and Dutch label Des Astres d'Or released 8118 the same year. In 2019, Cleopatra released LPD's 2015 limited album Five Days along with its instrumentals as Five Days... Complete, in addition to issuing an expanded CD version of 2013 digital release Come Out from the Shadows II. Obviously as you will see out there is way more, but let's go to the catalog now.


Each album will show you some key information as follows:

Official Numbering


The catalog is ordered accordingly to the original release date.


Year


Titles are listed under the year of their original release date.


Streaming


Availability for streaming on Apple Music.


Click Here to be redirected to the Playlist of The Entire Offcial Discography of TLPD & Edward Ka-Spel' Side Projects which are available for streaming on Apple Music.


Artist


LPD- The Legendary Pink Dots

DB- Dustbombers (Erik Drost)

EKS- Edward Ka-Spel

MdK- Martijn de Kleer

MMR- Mimir

NVH- Niels van Hoorn

OS- Orbit Service (Randall Frazier)

SLV- The Silverman

TC- Twilight Circus (Ryan Moore)

TG- The Tear Garden

Other*- Other projects and collaborations involving The Dots will have an asterisk and a short description.


The solo projects listed here are limited to the releases that were made during the time that the musician was in the band.


Titles


Many of the releases in this list were limited editions made for a particular event or with unique packaging and may no longer be available, or very difficult to find. Titles are often re-released after a time in a more general or current format. Conversely, The Dots also release new material on older formats such as LP, cassette and in one case, on 8-track.


I'm sharing the links of the reviews of each album at The Official LPD web page. I'm also sharing the Bandcamp links of each album in case you want to stream and/or buy your fav album.


Type


Studio

Live

Compilation LP/Single Video Side (This refers to side/solo/collaboration projects)


Formats


8-track, tape (cassette), 7″, 10″ & 12″ vinyl LP, CD, CD-r, MP3 (digital file), VHS, DVD, DVDr, Book


With each title is a list of all the formats that it has been released on at one time or other.


Disclosure


Most part of the information presented here, was taken from reliable sources like The Official LPD Web Page, nevertheless it is not exempt of inaccurate or erroneous data, so if you find errors or inexact information let me know to correct it. I'll really appriciate it.

#

TITLE

YEAR

TYPE

ARTIST

STREAM

FORMAT

1.         

Kleine Krieg  info

1981

Studio

LPD

No

90 min. tape/CDr/CD

2.         

Dots on the Eyes info

1981

Compilation

LPD

No

30 min. tape

3.         

Chemical Playschool 1+2 info / Bandcamp

1981

Compilation

LPD

Yes

2×90 min. tapes/MP3

4.         

Only Dreaming infoBandcamp

1981

Studio

LPD

No

60 min. tape / MP3 / CD-R

5.         

Brighter Now info / Bandcamp

1982

Studio

LPD

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

6.         

Premonition info / Bandcamp

1982

Studio

LPD

No

60 min. tape/ MP3/CDr/LP+7″

7.         

Atomic Roses info / Bandcamp

1982

Studio

LPD

No

45 min. tape

8.         

Apparition info / Bandcamp

1982

Studio

LPD

Yes

30 min. tape/MP3/CDr

9.         

Curse info / Bandcamp

1983

Studio

LPD

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

10.   

Chemical Playschool 3+4 info / Bandcamp

1983

Studio

LPD

Yes

2×90 min. tapes/CD/MP3/4xCDR

11.   

Basilisk info / Bandcamp

1983

Studio

LPD

No

60 min. tape/CD/MP3/CDR

12.   

The Lovers info / Bandcamp

1984

Live

LPD

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

13.   

Faces in the Fire info / Bandcamp

1984

LP/Single

LPD

Yes

EP/CD/MP3

14.   

The Tower info / Bandcamp

1984

Studio

LPD

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

15.   

Dance China Doll info

1984

Side

EKS

No

EP/CD/MP3

16.   

Laugh China Doll info / Bandcamp

1984

Side

EKS

No

LP/CD/MP3

17.   

Primeval Waltz *Moisten Before Use (The Silverman and Clive Richards) info

1984

Side

MBU* (SLV)

No

60 min. tape/CDr

18.   

Prayer for Aradia info / Bandcamp

1985

Studio

LPD

Yes

30 min. tape/CD/MP3/ CDr

19.   

The Terminal Kaleidoscope info / Bandcamp

1985

Live

LPD

No

60 min. tape/CD/MP3

20.   

Asylum info / Bandcamp

1985

Studio

LPD

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

21.   

Eyes China Doll info / Bandcamp

1985

Side

EKS

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

22.   

Chyekk China Doll info / Bandcamp

1985

Side

EKS

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

23.   

Curious Guy infoBandcamp

1986

LP/Single

LPD

No

EP/CD/MP3 (The Lovers)

24.   

Island of Jewels info / Bandcamp

1986

Studio

LPD

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

25.   

The Tear Garden info / Bandcamp

1986

Side

TG

Yes

mini LPCD/MP3 (Tired Eyes…)

26.   

Premonition 11 (Dsordne on side B) info / Bandcamp

1987

LP/Single

LPD

No

7″

27.   

Aa∆zhyd China Doll info / Bandcamp

1987

Side

EKS

No

LP/CD/MP3

28.   

Apples (Big!) China Doll info

1987

Side

EKS

No

46 min. tape

29.   

Tired Eyes Slowly Burning info / Bandcamp

1987

Side

TG

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

30.   

Any Day Now info / Bandcamp

1988

Studio

LPD

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

31.   

Underglass info

1988

LP/Single

LPD

Yes

EPCD/MP3 (Any Day Now)

32.   

Traumstadt 4 (instrumental) info / Bandcamp

1988

LP/Single

LPD

Yes

60 min. tape/CRr/MP3

33.   

Traumstadt 3 (live) info / Bandcamp

1988

Live

LPD

Yes

60 min. tape/CDr/MP3

34.   

Traumstadt 2 (retrospective ’81-84) info / Bandcamp

1988

Compilation

LPD

Yes

90 min. tape/CRr/2xCDr/ MP3

35.   

Traumstadt 1 (retrospective) info

1988

Compilation

LPD

No

90 min. tape/CD

36.   

Dot to Dot (live, Hanover Germany ’88) info / Bandcamp

1988

Live

LPD

Yes

90 min. tape

37.   

Stone Circles (compilation) info

1988

Compilation

LPD

Yes

LP/CD

38.   

Khataclimici China Doll info / Bandcamp

1988

Side

EKS

Yes

LP/CD

39.   

Traumstadt 5 (retrospective ’81-84) info / Bandcamp

1989

Compilation

LPD

Yes

60 min. tape

40.   

Blacklist info / Bandcamp

1989

LP/Single

LPD

Yes

EP/CD /MP3 (Golden Age)

41.   

The Golden Age info / Bandcamp

1989

Studio

LPD

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

42.   

Greetings Nine info / Bandcamp

1989

Live

LPD

No

mini LP/CD/MP3

43.   

The Legendary Pink Box info / Bandcamp

1989

Compilation

LPD

Yes

3xLPs/2xCDs/MP3

44.   

Live in Dallas info

1989

Video

LPD

No

VHS

45.   

Perhaps We’ll Only See a Thin Blue Line info

1989

Side

EKS

No

LP

46.   

The Crushed Velvet Apocalypse info / Bandcamp

1990

Studio

LPD

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

47.   

Princess Coldheart info

1990

LP/Single

LPD

Yes

EP/CD (Crushed Velvet)/MP3

48.   

Four Days info / Bandcamp

1990

Studio

LPD

Yes

cassette/CD/MP3/2xLP

49.   

Der Aussiedler * with Bee Queen info / Bandcamp

1990

Side

LPD/BQ*

No

7″/12″ / MP3

50.   

Lyvv China Doll info / Bandcamp

1990

Side

EKS

Yes

90 min. tape/CD

51.   

Live at “Centralino” info

1991

Live

LPD

No

90 min. tape

52.   

The Maria Dimension info / Bandcamp

1991

Studio

LPD

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

53.   

Tanith and the Lion Tree info / Bandcamp

1991

Side

EKS

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

54.   

Mimir info

1991

 

MMR

No

2xLP/CD/MP3

55.   

Shadow Weaver info / Bandcamp

1992

Studio

LPD

Yes

CD/MP3

56.   

The Last Man to Fly info / Bandcamp

1992

Side

TG

Yes

tape/CD/MP3

57.   

Malachai- Shadow Weaver Part 2 info / Bandcamp

1993

Studio

LPD

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

58.   

Inferno/Illusion info

1993

Side

EKS

No

10″ pink vinyl

59.   

Mimyriad info / Bandcamp

1993

Side

MMR

No

CD/MP3

60.   

Sheila Liked the Rodeo info / Bandcamp

1993

Side

TG

Yes

CD/MP3

61.   

Nine Lives to Wonder info / Bandcamp

1994

Studio

LPD

Yes

2xLP/CD/MP3

62.   

Tryst 7 * split cassette with Big City Orchestra info

1994

LP/Single

LPD/BCO*

No

cassette

63.   

Siren (music video) info

1994

LP/Single

LPD

No

VHS

64.   

From Here You’ll Watch the World Go By infoBandcamp

1995

Studio

LPD

Yes

CD/MP3

65.   

Chemical Playschool 8+9 info / Bandcamp

1995

Compilation

LPD

Yes

2xCD/MP3

66.   

Scriptures of Illumina info / Bandcamp

1995

Side

EKS

Yes

CD/MP3

67.   

The Textures of Illumina info / Bandcamp

1995

Side

EKS

Yes

10″LP/CD/MP3

68.   

Down in the City of Heartbreak and Needles Vol. 1 info

1995

Side

EKS

No

CD

69.   

DNA Le Draw D Kee info / Bandcamp

1995

Side

EKS

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

70.   

Dream Cell info / Bandcamp

1995

Side

SLV

Yes

2xLP/CD/CD-r/MP3

71.   

In Dub Volume 1 info

1995

Side

TC

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

72.   

Remember Me This Way info

1996

LP/Single

LPD

Yes

CDep/MP3

73.   

It’s Raining in Heaven (Greetings 9 + Premontion 11) info / Bandcamp

1996

Compilation

LPD

Yes

CD/MP3

74.   

Canta Mientas Puedas (compilation 1990-1995) info / Bandcamp

1996

Compilation

LPD

No

CD/MP3

75.   

Lullabies for the New Dark Ages (Brighter Now, Curse, Faces in the Fire and The Tower in a box set) info

1996

Compilation

LPD

No

4xLP/4xCD

76.   

The Man Who Never Was/Fuse info

1996

Side

EKS

No

7″

77.   

Kowskijari info

1996

Side

EKS

No

CDR

78.   

Other Worlds of Dub info

1996

Side

TC

Yes

CD/MP3

79.   

To Be an Angel Blind, The Crippled Soul Divide info  / Bandcamp

1996

Side

TG

Yes

CD/MP3

80.   

Hallway of the Gods info / Bandcamp

1997

Studio

LPD

Yes

2xLP/CD/MP3

81.   

Stained Glass Soma Fountains (compilation of early recordings) info

1997

Compilation

LPD

Yes

2xCD/MP3

82.   

Ancient Daze (tracks from early days) info / Bandcamp

1997

Compilation

LPD

No

2xLP/CD-r

83.   

Live ’85-’88 info

1997

Live

LPD

No

CD-r

84.   

Live ’89 info / Bandcamp

1997

Live

LPD

No

CD-r

85.   

Under Triple Moons (tracks from early days) info Bandcamp

1997

Compilation

LPD

Yes

CD/MP3

86.   

Chemical Playschool 10 info / Bandcamp

1997

Compilation

LPD

Yes

CD/MP3

87.   

Sterre info

1997

LP/Single

LPD

No

CDep/MP3

88.   

Binshaker Dub info

1997

Side

TC

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

89.   

Nemesis Online info Bandcamp

1998

Studio

LPD

Yes

2xLP/CD/MP3

90.   

Pre-Millenial Single info

1998

LP/Single

LPD

Yes

LP/CDep/MP3

91.   

Live at La Luna info

1998

Video

LPD

No

VHS(NTSC&PAL)/DVD

92.   

The Blue Room info / Bandcamp

1998

Side

EKS

No

2xLP/CD/MP3

93.   

Down in the City of Heartbreak and Needles Vol. 2 (collection of early recordings) info

1998

Side

EKS

Yes

CD/MP3

94.   

Silvermandalas info / Bandcamp

1998

Side

SLV

Yes

CD/MP3

95.   

Dub Plate Selection info

1998

Side

TC

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

96.   

Live at the Metro info / Bandcamp

1999

Live

LPD

Yes

CD/MP3

97.   

Poi Poka Mozhesh (anthology) info

1999

Compilation

LPD

Yes

CD/MP3

98.   

Share the Day/Dream Stealer info

1999

Side

EKS

No

7″

99.   

Third Album info

1999

Side

MMR

No

LP/CD

100.               

Dub Plates Volume Two info

1999

Side

TC

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

101.               

Horsie info

1999

Side

TC

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

102.               

Farewell Milky Way (live ’94) info / Bandcamp

2000

Live

LPD

Yes

CD/MP3

103.               

A Perfect Mystery info / Bandcamp

2000

Studio

LPD

Yes

CD/MP3

104.               

A Guide to the Legendary Pink Dots Volume 1: The Best Ballads info

2000

Compilation

LPD

No

CD

105.               

Red Letters info / Bandcamp

2000

Side

EKS

No

CD/MP3

106.               

Public Disturbance (collection of live and improvised recordings) info / Bandcamp

2000

Side

EKS

No

2xLP/CD/MP3

107.               

A Birthmarked Conspiracy info

2000

Side

EKS

No

LP

108.               

Dub Voyage info

2000

Side

TC

Yes

LP/CD/MP3

109.               

Crystal Mass info  / Bandcamp

2000

Side

TG

No

CD/MP3


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