Edward Ka-Spel
Encyclopedia
Edward Ka-Spel is an expatriate
English
singer, songwriter
and musician
residing in the Netherlands
.
and co-founder (with Phil "The Silverman" Knight) of the prolific underground
band The Legendary Pink Dots
, in which he was initially known as D'Archangel. He has also released numerous solo albums (initially featuring other members of the Legendary Pink Dots, and later including contributions from Steven Stapleton
), and has worked in various side projects, including The Tear Garden (with cEvin Key
of Skinny Puppy
), and Mimir
(with Phil Knight, Christoph Heemann
, Jim O'Rourke
and others).
His musical output has combined elements of psychedelia
, dark folk
, goth
, industrial
, electronic
, found noise, sampling, pop
and rock
in varying degrees. His lyrics
have been described as intensely personal and mystical
, incorporating recurrent themes from his own personal mythos
, and his songwriting and singing have been compared (usually favourably) to Syd Barrett
and early Pink Floyd
. Ka-Spel is a fan of 70's psychedelia as well as Radiohead
.
His manner of dress is peculiar. He is rarely seen without wearing a long scarf and either pink or black sunglasses both on and off stage. Earlier on in his career, Ka spel drew black lines on his face and arms, which Phil Knight has referred to as "his cracks," presumably as they resemble the cracked lines in a crumbling statue. Again, as with the sunglasses and scarf, Ka-spel remained constantly in character, wearing the lines at all times. He also often performs barefoot.
Ka-Spel's singing voice is distinctive, especially for listeners outside of England
, as it displays characteristics peculiar to the region of England in which he grew up. In addition to his east London/East Anglia
n accent, Ka-Spel's dialect has what is sometimes misidentified as a lisp, but is actually a form of rhotacism
, in which Rs are mispronounced as Ws. This is believed to be a sociolect
or a form of "permanent affectation" acquired as a child, rather than a speech disorder as such.
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
residing in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Biography
Ka-Spel is probably best known as the lead singer, songwriterSongwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and co-founder (with Phil "The Silverman" Knight) of the prolific underground
Underground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
band The Legendary Pink Dots
The Legendary Pink Dots
The Legendary Pink Dots are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. Although far outside the mainstream , LPD have released more than 40 albums, have a devoted worldwide following, and tour frequently.-Overview:The Legendary Pink Dots formed in August 1980 in London...
, in which he was initially known as D'Archangel. He has also released numerous solo albums (initially featuring other members of the Legendary Pink Dots, and later including contributions from Steven Stapleton
Steven Stapleton
Steven Peter Stapleton is a British musician and the only constant member of experimental improv outfit Nurse with Wound...
), and has worked in various side projects, including The Tear Garden (with cEvin Key
CEvin Key
cEvin Key is the pseudonym of Kevin William Crompton , who was a founding member of the industrial music band Skinny Puppy, along with Nivek Ogre. In addition to his work with Skinny Puppy, cEvin Key has had several side projects, including Doubting Thomas, Cyberaktif, and Hilt...
of Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
), and Mimir
Mimir (band)
Mimir is a joint music project started by The Legendary Pink Dots member Edward Ka-Spel and the father of numerous other projects Christoph Heemann. On Mimyriad they were joined by musician and producer Jim O'Rourke, making them something of a left field supergroup...
(with Phil Knight, Christoph Heemann
Christoph Heemann
Christoph Heemann , is a German musician.Heemann has recorded under his own name, with the tape music group H.N.A.S., and with many collaborators in alternative rock, soundtrack production and visual arts....
, Jim O'Rourke
Jim O'Rourke (musician)
Jim O'Rourke is an Irish-American musician and record producer. He was long associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene...
and others).
His musical output has combined elements of psychedelia
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
, dark folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, goth
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
, industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, found noise, sampling, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
in varying degrees. His lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
have been described as intensely personal and mystical
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
, incorporating recurrent themes from his own personal mythos
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
, and his songwriting and singing have been compared (usually favourably) to Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
and early Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. Ka-Spel is a fan of 70's psychedelia as well as Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
.
His manner of dress is peculiar. He is rarely seen without wearing a long scarf and either pink or black sunglasses both on and off stage. Earlier on in his career, Ka spel drew black lines on his face and arms, which Phil Knight has referred to as "his cracks," presumably as they resemble the cracked lines in a crumbling statue. Again, as with the sunglasses and scarf, Ka-spel remained constantly in character, wearing the lines at all times. He also often performs barefoot.
Ka-Spel's singing voice is distinctive, especially for listeners outside of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, as it displays characteristics peculiar to the region of England in which he grew up. In addition to his east London/East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
n accent, Ka-Spel's dialect has what is sometimes misidentified as a lisp, but is actually a form of rhotacism
Rhotacism
Rhotacism refers to several phenomena related to the usage of the consonant r :*the excessive or idiosyncratic use of the r;...
, in which Rs are mispronounced as Ws. This is believed to be a sociolect
Sociolect
In sociolinguistics, a sociolect or social dialect is a variety of language associated with a social group such as a socioeconomic class, an ethnic group, an age group, etc....
or a form of "permanent affectation" acquired as a child, rather than a speech disorder as such.
Albums
- (1984) Laugh, China Doll
- (1985) Eyes!, China Doll
- (1986) Chyekk, China Doll
- (1987) AaΔzhyd, China Doll
- (1988) Khataclimici, China Doll
- (1991) Tanith & the Lion Tree
- (1995) The Scriptures of Illumina
- (1995) The Textures of Illumina
- (1995) DNA LE DRAW D-KEE (with Elke Skelter as DNA LE DRAW D-KEE)
- (1998) The Blue Room
- (2000) Red Letters
- (2001) Absence of Evidence
- (2001) Caste O' Graye Skreeens
- (2002) O'er a Shalabast'r Tyde Strolt Ay
- (2004) Pieces Of ∞
- (2005) O Darkness! O Darkness!
- (2005) A Long Red Ladder to the Moon
- (2005) Fragments Of Illumina
- (2007) Dream Logik Pt 1
- (2008) Dream Logik Pt 2
- (2008) The Painted River of Regrets
- (2009) The Whispering Wail (with The Silverman)
- (2009) Dream Loops
- (2009) Transmit Acoustique Abstraction Two (with Armchair Migraine Journey)
- (2009) Trapped In Amber
- (2010) Devascapes
- (2010) Red Sky at Night (with Alena Boikova)
- (2010) The Thirty Year Itch (with The Silverman)
- (2010) The Minus Touch
Singles & EPs
- (1984) Dance, China Doll
- (1992) The Char Char / Extracts from "The Inferno"
- (1993) Inferno / Illusion
- (1996) The Man Who Never Was
- (1999) Share The Day
- (2000) A Birth Marked Conspiracy
- (2000) Lactamase 01
- (2001) Meltdown
- (2002) Clara Rockmore's Dog
- (2002) 090301
- (2002) Lilith and The Rose
- (2005) Happy New Year
- (2008) Dream Logik X (a small voyage in 3 parts)
- (2008) Dream Logik 3333333333333
- (2008) Burning Church
Collections
- (1989) Perhaps We'll Only See A Thin Blue Line
- (1990) Lyvv, China Doll (cassette)
- (1993) Lyvv, China Doll (CD)
- (1995) Chyekk, China Doll / AaΔzhyd, China Doll
- (1995) Down in the City of Heartbreak and Needles
- (1996) Kowskijari
- (1997) The Carrion
- (1998) Down in the City of Heartbreak and Needles 2
- (2000) Needles Three
- (2007) Melancholics Anonymous
- (2008) Dream Logik Parts 1-3
Live albums
- (1987) Apples (Big!), China Doll
- (2000) Public Disturbance
- (2000) Angelus Obscuros (16-5-85)
- (2002) Khalash Nykow, China Doll (4-4-86)
- (2005) Live In Basel 2005 (with The Silverman)
Compilation Appearances
- (1985) Atomic Roses on 59 To 1 Cassette Nr. 6
- (1986) Jesus Wept on Is That You Santa Claus? Oscar's X-Mas Carols Vol. 3
- (1987) And The Lord Said, Rise on For Your Ears Only
- (1992) Hotel X on Mindfield
- (1993) The Colour Xhine on Tape A Break
- (1995) Dr. Blizz on The Gothic Compilation Part II
- (1996) The Forbidden Zone on Electrocity Vol. 7
- (1996) A Crack In Melancholy Space on A Blind Man's Gallery Of Mirrors
- (1997) Atomic Roses 1995 (Pt. 1 & 2) on Globus And Decibel
- (2002) Burdon on Electrically Induced Vibrations
- (2003) Der Khataclimici 2 on Lactamase Bonus Compilation
- (2004) Complex on See Beyond The Music
- (2006) Sticks & Stones (Version) on Not Alone
- (2006) Sepia on BrainwavesBrainwaves (compilation)Brainwaves is a compilation album put together by Brainwashed.com to commemorate the Brainwaves festival. The album is a 3 CD set, limited to 500 copies and comes with a Brainwaves logo badge...
- (2010) Elvis Of The Modern World on The Year 25 / 25 Years Korm Plastics
- (2010) Yam With Babe on Transmit Acoustique Abstraction 1/2
- (2010) The Bad Trip on Audiotron
External links
- The home of The Legendary Pink Dots and Edward Ka-Spel. They run their own mailorder service.
- Cloud Zero/LPD Online, homepage not only for the mailing list dedicated to The Legendary Pink Dots, Edward Ka-Spel and related musicians, including a complete discography of Ka-Spel's solo recordings.