Edward Ka-Spel

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Edward Ka-Spel (born January 23, 1954 in London) is an expatriate English singer, songwriter and musician residing in the Netherlands.

Ka-Spel is probably best known as the lead singer, songwriter and co-founder (with Phil "The Silverman" Knight) of the prolific underground band The Legendary Pink Dots. He has also released numerous solo albums 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.^[1]

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 Anglian accent, Ka-Spel's dialect has what is sometimes misidentified as a lisp, but is actually a form of rhotacism, in which Ws are mispronounced as Rs. This is believed to be a sociolect or a form of "permanent affectation" acquired as a child, rather than a speech disorder as such.

[edit] Discography

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 (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) Fragments Of Illumina (2005) A Long Red Ladder to the Moon (2007) Dream Logik Pt 1 (2008) The Painted River of Regrets (2008) Dream Logik Pt 2 (2008) Dream Logik Parts 1-3 (2008) Dream Logik X (a small voyage in 3 parts) (2008) Burning Church/Dream Logik 3333333333333

Singles & EPs (1984) Dance, China Doll (1992) The Char Char / Extracts from "The Inferno" (1993) Inferno / Illusion (1995) The Textures of Illumina (1995) DNA LE DRAW D-KEE (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

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

Live albums (1987) Apples (Big!), China Doll (2000) Public Disturbance (2000) Angelus Obscuros (16-5-85) (2002) Khalash Nykow, China Doll (4-4-86) Compilation Appearances (2003) Der Khataclimici 2 on Lactamase Bonus Compilation (2006) Sepia on Brainwaves

[edit] References

1. ^ Interview with Edward Ka-Spel , November 2007

[edit] 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.
• The Official Live Archive, contains complete live recordings for free download
• Beta-lactam Ring Records, a record label that puts out many albums by Edward Ka-Spel