THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS MARCH 2010 NEWSLETTER
A TIME OF CHANGE
Sometimes change creeps up on you while sometimes it explodes inches away from your eyes.
The Dots experienced the latter in this , the 30th year, when first Martyn opted to step out , and then Niels followed suit.
The good news is that Erik Drost has rejoined the Dots on guitar, and for the first time since 1989, the band will be playing as a trio onstage with Raymond remaining behind the controls at the mixing board.
In fairness Martyn had been indicating for some time that he needed to find a more stable income, as nobody can argue that times have become much tougher for every small band in the last few years.
However Niels' decision was surprising ,but it can be that the occasionally rough circumstances the Dots encountered on the last tour represented a step too far.It was hard- EUROPE as a whole is very hard now. Attempts to play in even the cities which have always guaranteed large crowds have come to nothing (Stockholm? Strasbourg?), and it may be the point when we will call time on longer tours of this continent.
Happily the shows slated for April ARE going ahead, although there remains a disturbing gap where Greekshows should be, and we do hope for some positive news sometime in March.
Beyond April ,The Dots have a one-off in Amsterdam planned for 14th May, while a Polish festival appearance (July) and a concert in Moscow (September) should also go ahead.
It goes without saying that we wish Martyn and Niels success and joy in all their projects in the future.
Meanwhile some serious sessions are taking place in this new line-up and after the shock there is a feeling of real excitement once more.
The Legendary Pink Dots have created their most commercially appealing album to date with "Plutonium Blonde", the follow up to 2006’s "Your Children Placate You From Premature Graves". Frontman Edward Ka-Spel and his crew capture the listener’s imagination with lush and haunting songs. “A World with No Mirrors” is as beautiful and emotionally charged as any Belle & Sebastian song, while “My First Zonee” comments upon our narcissistic love affair with modern technology. “An Arm & A Leg” reminds us of the fragile state of our mental and physical health. "Plutonium Blonde" is more than just an album; it’s an aural and visual treat, a collection of stories that could have very well been written by a modern day Brothers Grimm.
So sit back, shut your eyes and dream.
compositions in modern music. The uniqueness of their work is due in large part to its
omnivorous ability to consume and transform a variety of styles into a new, cohesive
entity. The introverted folk of Nick Drake may be found here, as well as the graphic
cyberpunk nightmares of Frank Tovey (Fad Gadget), not to mention the rhythmic
permutations of Philip Glass. From Beefheart to Brahms, the sources of LPD's
quicksilver soundscapes are myriad. What holds them all together is Ka-Spel's dense
“Since their first recordings dating back to 1982, the LPD have been making
introspective and experimental music questioning the concepts of religion, science
fiction, nature, politics, thought, emotion, and self. Utilizing glacial rhythms,
concentrating on keyboard sounds that other musicians discard as unusable, and
topping it all off with the eerily haunting voice of Edward Ka-Spel, the LPD have
managed to worm themselves into a niche solely their own. Listening to their music is
more a long, insane, hallucinogenic acid trip through a demented carnival funhouse
than it is a "relaxing" musical experience, but all the same, there's something
seductive and alluring about it all.” – PITCHFORK
