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Needles Three

EDWARD KA-SPEL

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Cover ImageRelease date and tracklist

2001
NL CD-R Terminal Kaleidoscope/BLRR TEKA04
  1. Moments – [MP3]
  2. Chasing The Carrion
  3. Splash
  4. The Colour Xhine
  5. Mosquito Munch Full Glory
  6. The Unspeakable Revenge Of The Killer Grapefruit
  7. Fuse – [MP3]
  8. Charlotte! Stop Climbing The Curtains


Cover Image
July 2, 2020
NL MP3 self-released on Edward’s Bandcamp

  1. Moments / Chasing The Carrion
  2. Splash (version)
  3. The Colour Xhine
  4. Mosquito Munch (Full Glory) / The Unspeakable Revenge Of The Killer Grapefruit
  5. Fuse
  6. Charlotte! Stop Climbing The Curtains

 

Credits

  • Edward Ka-Spel – keyboards, voice
  • Lilly Ak – lady voice (1)
  • Stret Majest Alarme – guitar (3)

Notes

TEKA release:
Track 1 originally released on “Dance, China Doll”.
Tracks 2, 3, and 6 originally released on “Perhaps We’ll Only See A Thin Blue Line…”.
Track 4 originally released on the compilation “Tape A Break”.
Track 7 originally released as the b side to “The Man Who Never Was”.
Tracks 5 and 8 were previously unreleased.

Physically, the CDr has only one track (48 min 25 sec), containing all the songs mentioned above.

***

2020 Bandcamp release:
“Needles 3” is a long lost collection of stray songs from compilations and hard-to-find releases throughout the 90s.
It contains a number of pieces unavailable elsewhere, but has become a rarity in it’s own right since it’s initial launch in 2000.
Original “gimmix” covers were all handmade, resembling the image above, before a more generic edition on CDR was made available by Beta-Lactam Ring Records.

Chemical Playschool Volume 11, 12 & 13

THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS

<< back to the Combined Discography

Cover ImageRelease date and tracklist

2001
US CDx3 Caciocavallo CAD3

disc a: Excess (image)

  1. The Truth Is Out There
    In The Jar…O – [MP3]
    A Problem With The Natives
    In One
    London’s Burning
    In The Blink Of An Eye
    Further Further Further Further Further – [MP3]
    10th Shande
  2. Schatten

disc b: Where the Hell??? (image)

  1. Guinevere
    You Again – [MP3]
    Vavavavava
    Christmas On A Sunspot
    Shanty
    Rascal Helmut
    Bridge
    Where We’d Choose To Be
    Snarling At My Shadow
    And My Shadow Snarled At Me

disc c: I Can See Clearly Now (I Think) (image)

  1. Touched By The Moon
    No Names
    It’s Ticking (But Not For You)
    Cat
    On A Hot Tin Roof
    Sleeping (But Not Sick)
    Push The Pie
    Part Two
    Part Three
    Learning To Swim
    Still No Names
    Pedastal
    I Told You…No Goddamn Names
    OK, It’s Betsy The Bumblebee – [MP3]
    Bye Bye

***

10 February 2013
NL MP3 self-released on Bandcamp

  1. Chemical Playschool 11 Part 1 49:20
  2. Chemical Playschool 11 Part 2 17:59
  3. Chemical Playschool 11 Part 3 04:17
  4. Chemical Playschool 12 Part 1 38:14
  5. Chemical Playschool 12 Part 2 17:48
  6. Chemical Playschool 13 Part 1 40:35
  7. Chemical Playschool 13 Part 2 22:15

Credits

  • Edward Ka-Spel
  • The Silverman
  • Niels van Hoornblower
  • Martijn de Kleer
  • Edwin von Trippenhof
  • Ryan Moore
  • Patrick Paganini
  • cEvin Key
  • Paul Newman

Notes

3 x CD box set; Edition of 2000

“You Again” from CHEMICAL PLAYSCHOOL 12 is the only Legendary Pink Dots recording to feature both Martijn de Kleer and Edwin von Trippenhof. Martijn plays bass on this track and Edwin provides guitar.
It is also worth noting that there is a ‘glitch’ near the beginning of “You Again”. This is the result of a collapsing DAT recorder and is not a pressing error. Edward has said that an attempt was made to edit/cover the glitch, but the results were unsatisfactory and the Dots preferred to have the recording pressed with the error.

***

From Bandcamp:
Can a Human Being fly like a bird? Is that wax and those feathers really necessary?
Chemical Playschool 11-13 was about as ambitious as any project ever to have emerged from Chez Dots.The intention was a 3 hour epic psychedelic experience with no breaks resulting in the listener leaving his or her body and flying around a darkened room, connected yet disconnected with the “real” world.
Old tapes were trawled for sleeping caterpillars in order for them to be transformed into brightly coloured butterflies; many new pieces were fashioned in order to make the journey natural, yet full of strange surprises.
It took a year.  Every day of a whole year in fact….this creation crept forward bit by bit. In fact it became an obsession.
At around the 9 month mark , the idea came that the listener should in fact be tied to his or her armchair with the 3 cds lined up in a cd changer.That was when EK opted for once code per cd although there are many catchy songs embedded in this journey.Damn megalomaniac….
When CP 11-13 finally emerged in that blue box with the birds ,quite a few people picked it up but few talked about it.A humbling experience, and it took over 10 years for the next volume of CP to appear.
It’ remains a loved release here at Chez Dots..in many ways it’s everything The Legendary Pink Dots represent. For these impossibly speedy times it has been broken up ….a little.That’s also due to Bandcamp only able to allow uploads of a maximum of 600 MBs.
You are invited.No-one ever promised you an easy ride…

This remaster was made by EK during the course of an intense week in January 2013. It remains an obsession.

Estimated times

Freek Rupert has also outlined his best estimate for the beginnings of the songs:
CP 11

Track 1
1. 0.00 The truth is out there
2. 6.30 In the jar..O
3. 14.30 A problem with the natives
4. 19.10 In one
5. 27.30 London’s burning
6. 34.30 In the blink of an eye
7. 50.30 Further further
8. 57.00 – 67.30 10th shade

Track 2
Schatten

CP 12

1. 0.00 Guinevere
2. 6.00 You again
3. 12.25 Vavavavava
4. 16.23 Christmas on a sunspot
5. 18.10 Shanty
6. 24.13 Rascal Helmut
7. 27.20 Bridge
8. 28.00 Where we’d choose to be
9/10. 36.00 – 56.00 Snarling at my shadow

CP 13

1. 0.00 Touched by the moon
2. 8.00 No names
3. 14.00 It’s ticking (but not for you)
4. 24.15 Cat
5. 27.00 On a hot tin roof
6. 28.48 Sleeping (but not sick)
7. 31.30 Push the pie
8. 34.20 Part two
9. 39.00 Part three
10. 40.35 Learning to swim
11. 43.30 Still no names
12. 46.08 Pedestal
13. 52.36 I told you…NO GODDAMN NAMES
14. 59.00 Ok, it’s Betsy the bumblebee
15. 62.05 – 62.52 Bye bye

 
Reviews
 
This is definitely one of the most ambitious releases in months and is quite possibly the most ambitious LPD release to date. This three CD set is composed of nearly all unreleased music, with the exception of two tracks from the LP edition of ‘Nemesis Online’ (“10th Shade,” and “Schatten”).
The spirit recalls that of the very first Chemical Playschool cassettes. Volumes 1 and 2 were released together over twenty years ago, collecting various recordings that were either alternate versions, compilation tracks or completely unreleased songs sharing one common characteristic: they never graced a full-length LPD album.
In addition to that, unlike Volumes 8, 9, or 10, each disc contains nearly all the songs on one track. Just like good old cassette tapes, you hit play at the start and the hassle of scanning though tracks isn’t worth bothering enough to find your favorite songs. Another parallel is the expense of mediums: both in 1981 and 2001 the most expensive commonly produced music medium is vinyl (CDs weren’t -that- common until the mid-late 1980s). Cassettes were the most affordable medium then and CDs are the most affordable ones now.
Each CD in this set captures a similar “home made” feel to them: lying in standard jewel boxes, absent of UPC codes, URLs, and even copyright notices. The music is a much welcomed return to form–considerably a return to an absence of form–with varying styles from beat-less atmospheric tracks, rhythmic grooves, hypnotic loops, a waltz or two, proverbial Ka-Spelian stories, kraut-rock jams, sparse soundscapes with hammering guitar bits, flute pieces, and electronic noises.
The songs, strung together without silent pauses, have been collected over the years, dating back to as early as 1992 it seems, with very Shadow Weaver-like production qualities in parts, and more recent qualities in other parts. Home recordings from Ka-Spel and the Silverman sound like they have made their way onto the collection, as well as full-force band recordings where the drumming and bass guitar work is undoubtedly the work of departed member Ryan Moore. For any long-time LPDs fan whose interest has been waning over the last few years, a collection like this is certainly enough to re-ignite the love. The magic is back. It certainly has worked for me. Be careful as this Chemical Playschool set demands your undivided attention and doesn’t fare well as background music or driving music. – Jon Whitney, Brainwashed
 
Lyrics
 

CHEMICAL PLAYSCHOOL VOLUME 11: “EXCESS”

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

The promised land spreads wide its hands
And traitors at the gate
He thanks me for not choking, advises me to wait
Say cheese in 15 languages
Here comes the wine, the sandwiches
I thank you for your courtesy
Afraid I must recline
Outside these walls the black prince rules
The trains don’t run on time
Steer me swiftly to your leader
Point the way, I’ll float downstream
A house is not a home without a gently heated pool
Debutantes in deck chairs, mosaic on the wall
Everything’s at my disposal
Hide your eyes, I’ll cast these clothes off
By the blistered tongue of Bluebeard
Sir, you have a lovely wife
Blends nicely with the Brueghels
So handy with a knife
She’s ordered out to order in
He sets the timer, stabs his ring
And peacock feathers fly
Our host keels over with a stroke
We’re nudging forty minutes, still there’s nothing here to smoke
It melts the couch, bites the phone
I mute the channel, hear him moan
This is my religion
This is what I do
Have some too
You’ll like it
(end 6:28)

IN THE JAR … O

There goes another million
And I could not even taste it
Watch stars collide
Confiding in you, wasted
You just roll your eyes, now I’m shouting to the waiter
‘Cause the night is still so young
He taps upon his hearing aid, walks on and on and on
Now everything is spinning and I’m clutching both your wrists
Please put me down
I’m scared of heights
I’m scared of you
I’m scared of mice
They’re running through the kitchen
They are toying with my knife
Call the cavalry, exterminator
I believe in Jesus Christ
So save me, I confess to everything
I’m sorry, hear me scream ’cause I know that I’m not worthy
I believe for your eternal mercy
I need it now, oh can’t we strike a deal?
Take everything, it’s fine, signed, sealed — delivered.
[some voiced lyrics in background]
(end 14:31)

A PROBLEM WITH THE NATIVES

No need to dress for dinner here
We’re informal, we’re winners
We radiate success, relax
And gamble the rewards
And watch it all fall down beyond these walls
They’d break in, but they haven’t got the balls, the brains
The bullets rain, my my see how they fly to pieces
And sure, regrets? I’ve had a few, but after all, we’re the same
species
The same species — you get that?
I cannot sacrifice this life, so precious, so complete, it’s mine
So I remain vigilant and I watch the screen
And make sure no trespassers get in
My — our — heritage, our sin
But be assured, please be assured of this: {we’re} winners.
(end 19:08)

IN ONE

instrumental
(end 27:24)

LONDON’S BURNING

London’s burning, yes burning
I peep through the holes of this sack
As they queue for the bus
As the tenement cracks
And old Jack spies from trashcans
The flash of his blade under wraps
In a mac, in a gas mask
It’s raining, go under
Stay calm and collected
But please mind the gap
Electric, {so delayed?}
And they’ll wait in the flames
And they’ll bend to a queen that’s in {exile?}
Watch it all on {tv? vd?}
Red, green, we’re all stuck in amber
Take care now
It’s burning, still burning
(end 34:38)

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE

They all come to me
{The screams draw me up and behind the staircase?}
They just look the other way
{Only for the dream my sickle fermented?}
As I said, they look the other way
{Their hunger by a tree of destructions?}
{Hesitating gibberish?}
In fact, everything’s perfect. Clean as a whistle.
And now it’s time for me to say: thank you.
It’s 4 am and the old lady in blue has waited long enough.
It’s time for my date with an angel.
(end 38:25)

FURTHERFURTHERFURTHERFURTHERFURTHER

instrumental
(end 56:01)

10TH SHADE

It was a bit like waking up in a tunnel
Logic told me it must be morning, but still I had to stumble out of my
room
Groping for familiar things to hold on to, until I could emerge
Half dressed at the top of the stairs and realize that it was morning
Then it all came back: the dream.
Somebody close died in this dream and for some reason I felt like it
was my
fault.
I felt guilty, dirty, just had to wash it away.
And the best thing I could come up with was a nice cup of coffee
So I put the kettle on the stove, lit the gas and waited for the water
to boil
And I must have waited there for an hour, but no steam {ever came
through?}
And when I dipped a finger in, it was cold
It was as if the physical laws we depend upon ceased to be effective
And right now I needed company, so I switched the radio on
And I could hear the DJ shouting, cajoling, flirting and I didn’t
understand a word
Oh sure, he was speaking a language, but it was all fractured, maybe
backwards
I just couldn’t put it together.
And I concluded that it was still part of that dream in the tunnel
And that if I get back in bed, I’ll wake up once more and everything
would
be normal
But I couldn’t find the stairs.
Sure the house looked the same, everything in its place, but the stairs
were gone.
As if they’d never been there.
All I wanted to do was to get out.
But I couldn’t find the door.
I must have searched for an hour, just couldn’t find the damn door.
As if it’d never been there.
And then I scrambled out the window
(Then the angel landed, and said, fear not.)
Real company was what I needed now.
(This is just the waiting.)
And if it meant a mile or so of walking, I didn’t care, people was
enough.
(How long?)
Must have walked for three hours
(How long of a wait?)
still I hadn’t reached anywhere, seen anyone, heard anyone.
(No more patience.)
And night fell.
(No more patience.)
And then I couldn’t see anything at all.
And my senses told me it should still be early in the day
And I wondered if I was still trapped in that dream in the tunnel.
(And the night sky opened, and the stars flew together, swooped
around.)
Jesus.
It was the most beautiful garden I’ve ever seen.
I fell to my knees, and screamed to whoever or whatever may be
listening
To release me now
Because enough is enough.
But my voice didn’t carry
(And the night sky pressed itself against me)
And I tried to stand up but I couldn’t
The night sky seemed to have a shell an inch above my head
I shuffled forward, and my knees hit solid nothing
(Pressed itself against me)
Now I couldn’t get to my knees
And the night sky pressed itself against me
Like it wanted to hug me
I {blacked out?}, voices, solitary, waiting
But nothing happened.
And it still hasn’t.
I don’t care.
And who the hell are you?
{Cursed to keep the same thing?}
(end 1:07:20, end of track 1)

SCHATTEN

instrumental
(end of track 2)

CHEMICAL PLAYSCHOOL VOLUME 12: “WHERE THE HELL????”

GUINEVERE

He pitied her with flowers
Hung the key to her high tower
On a ribbon around his neck
But when the wolves were howling
He’d be more direct
And climb her ringlets
Climb inside
And he’d peek in
But she’d be so so shy
Yet so refined
This precious rose, of Jericho
Run dry
Yet she can slide
Right over him
This ocean, this oasis
Kept in stasis, lest
Some cruel unworthy hand
Should steal his dream away
So there she’ll stay
And there she’ll weep
Till that dark and fateful day
And he shall fall
(end 5:59)

YOU AGAIN

Step out from the restless shadows and show your face
You’ve been creeping through my laundry for far, far too long
And you don’t scare me anymore, Bogeyman
We’re all made of the same substance
The same building blocks
Face me! I demand it!
Or maybe I should just stop believing in you
And where are you, then, my friend?
Ah … Bogeyman.
(end 11:30)

VAVAVAVAVA

instrumental (other than “insane”)
(end 12:23)

CHRISTMAS ON A SUNSPOT

instrumental
(end 16:21)

SHANTY

One fine day our captain spied
A brutal whale some five miles wide
Jaws so big he’d drink the sky
Our captain just refused to die
Held a hand up to the clouds
A silver dollar on his heart
Asked the blessed Lord above
For those wretched waves to part
The monster made a growl
He fell into the darkness
We feasted for five years
Our captain Salt’s a brave young man
He may be short but all you landlubbers
Shudder when he speaks
Catch the rudder when he orders
(end 18:10)

RASCAL HELMUT

instrumental
(end 22:14)

BRIDGE

instrumental
(end 24:14)

WHERE WE’D CHOOSE TO BE

All we really wanted was a place to call our own
Nothing special, but secluded
We’ll call you when we’re home
Where seasons had their place
Where it was good to feel the space
And simply be
Address unknown
Someone’s out there
(I’ll hide behind a rock)
Someone’s out there
(I have to turn the lock)
He’s out there
(I wait and he will watch)
He’s out there!
I cannot find a reason why we’re chosen
Because there’s nothing here
{These little houses, seldom opened?}
Treasures we all {dear / dig?}
But they’re worthless, do you hear?
It’s the wrong place
Why don’t you just go look elsewhere
Leave us be
Address unclear
Someone’s out there
(It’s such a fright, the cracks)
Someone’s out there
(It creeps, this creep behind our backs)
He’s out there
(Now he’s ready to attack)
He’s out there!
(end 27:53)

SNARLING AT MY SHADOW

(vocals start 36:09)
Jede Frau hat irgendeine Sehnsucht
Einen Wunsch im Herzen ganz geheim … (can’t decipher the rest)
– (by Fritzi Massary, Jede Frau hat irgendeine Sehnsucht, 1932)
(end 53:40)

AND MY SHADOW SNARLED AT ME

(instrumental)
(end 55:57)

CHEMICAL PLAYSCHOOL VOLUME 13: “I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW (I THINK)”

TOUCHED BY THE MOON

In the summer dust we lay together
Waiting for the storm
Beneath the sobbing chestnut tree
Upon our bed of thorns
It’s hot down here
A rash of metals
Can feel the fever crawl
A touch is all I need
A touch is all I need
Take my blackened hand and lick it
Hold it to your breast
I need to feel you close to me
But Honey, please don’t press
Don’t let this love be turned to ashes
Willing is the flesh
A touch is all I need
A touch is all I need
There’s mouths to feed
I feel them {bleeding?} on my bleeding foot
Inheritors, they’ll clean the place
When you and I are soot
Life goes on, let’s steal a little more
Ah, that’s good
A touch is all I need
A touch is all I need
(end 14:00)

NO NAMES

In the sinister shed with shrunken heads
And toxic beds of snails
They’re nailing cents to rails
They sip blood from {rails?}
They slaughter quails
And jumped ad nauseam
All hail, let’s torture
Flail the {sights?} my Christian brothers
Nail those false apostles to the devil
All hail!
See those horns in every hovel
Give them my old shovel
Can’t you see he’s everywhere
All hail!
And I’m the simple soul who goes to heaven
Marks his heart with sevens
All hail!
Because he’s everywhere
All hail!
All hail!
(end 18:42)

IT’S TICKING (BUT NOT FOR YOU)

(instrumental)
(end 24:20)

CAT

Tiger tiger, burning bright with dignity, no fight
Etched upon those knowing eyes
Let’s leave that to the crowd
The front row’s empty lest those chains should snap
And tiger light growls gently, showing nothing
Nothing
Keeps it all inside
(end 26:59)

ON A HOT TIN ROOF

instrumental
(end 28:46)

SLEEPING (BUT NOT SICK)

Don’t give in
So much to live for
To give, sure
The past’s imperfect
Present’s tense
Be not dismayed
By mere events
It’s you, my friend
Who {resists?}
Yes it’s you, my friend
Who mends
Don’t give in
So much to live for
To give, sure
The past’s imperfect
Present’s tense
Be not dismayed
By mere events
It’s you
(end 31:22)

PUSH THE PIE

instrumental
(end 34:20)

PART TWO

instrumental
(end 38:49)

PART THREE

instrumental
(ends 40:23)

LEARNING TO SWIM

Talking to your picture
Walking with a ghost
Come close
You’re so real
I’m leaning on your shoulder
I’m sweating in your hand
It’s soft
There’s no fear
Now take me to the border
Guide me through the fence
I promise I won’t wince
As bullets fly
I’ll hide my eyes
And trust you
Now I trust you
Though you don’t hear
No, you don’t hear
(end 43:30)

STILL NO NAMES

instrumental
(end 45:46)

PEDESTAL

Five stars on your shoulder
Dripping from the hip
Seems you don’t get any older
See, no slips, no indiscretions
No sessions till the day breaks
It’s hard {wood?} upon your head
Should it burst now from the curtains
It’s / You’re dead
It’s the tapping of a key
It’s a thread pushed through the eye of a needle
A world we can handle
Where nothing’s ever trapped between lines
It’s all in black and white
Yes, it’s all in black and white
And our warriors they’re fighting on the screen
Hear it scream, it’s over there
It’s in the floodlights off the square
Catch me there, catch me there
There is nothing
It’s all in black and white
Yes, it’s all in black and white
And our warriors they’re fighting from a screen
Hear it scream, it’s over there
It’s in the floodlights off the square
Catch me there, catch me there
There is nothing
Nothing
It’s all in black and white
Yes, it’s all in black and white
And our warriors they’re fighting on a screen
Hear it scream, it’s over there
It’s in the floodlights that illuminate our sanitary square
Catch me there
There is nothing
Nothing to conceal except my breath
Don’t take my breath away
Don’t take my breath away
(end 52:37)

I TOLD YOU … NO GODDAMN NAMES

instrumental
(end 58:53)

OK, IT’S BETSY THE BUMBLEBEE

(end 1:02:05)

BYE BYE

(instrumental other than sample “bloody damn sure you’ll come back as a dolphin” from A Velvet Resurrection)
(end 1:02:52)
Transcribed by Nancy Thuleen, who also provided her estimates of where one track ends and the next begins.

 

Kollabaris

VARIOUS ARTISTS

<< back to the Combined Discography

Cover ImageRelease date and tracklist

2001
NL CD-R Terminal Kaleidoscope/BLRR TEKA05
  1. Artwork: Bring The Rain [MP3]
  2. Karolinek: A Small Swan Song [MP3]
  3. The Tear Garden: Bump (Version 2) [MP3]
  4. The Tear Garden: Georgie (Version 2) [MP3]
  5. The Tear Garden: Extract From The Empathy Sessions [MP3]
  6. The Legendary Pink Dots: Super [MP3]
  7. Lydia Tomkiw: Pretty Something [MP3]
  8. Mimir: Catchy Tune [MP3]
  9. The Tear Garden: Message 3 [MP3]
  10. The Legendary Pink Dots: The Bomb Bomb Loopapa Tribe Go To Swansea (And Eat It) [MP3]

28 May 2012

NL remastered MP3 self-released on Bandcamp

  1. Kollabaris Part 1 (31:09)
  2. Kollabaris Part 2  (04:18)
  3. Kollabaris Part 3  (12:04)

Notes

A collection of material from various LPD “guest appearances” and side projects, and the release is credited to “Legendary Pink Dots with Friends and Relations”. The Tear Garden and LPD contributions are previously unreleased tracks.

Lyrics

BRING THE RAIN

Little Marcus, little Moe
And mummy’s got a gun
Keeps the dogs
Clean off the garbage
Keeps the baliffs on the run
Cried for help so many times before
She’s numb from head to toes
Tried diving from the 15th floor but
The window’s always closed

Bring the rain
To wash away the pain
Make a better day
No-one is to blame

One grey day, the storm passed over
Brought the whole house down
Had to swim to find some shelter
On the darker side of town
Now they hang out on a liferaft
They all share an eiderdown
With some refugees from Venus
Who just never make a sound

Bring the rain
To wash away the pain
Make a better day
No-one is to blame

*Transcribed by ezust@brainwashed.com
and members of the Cloud-Zero mailing list

GEORGIE THE PARASITE

I read your mind and snapped your garter
Hung your conscience high up from the tallest tree
‘Cause I refuse to be a martyr to your wicked cause
(Cause, cause, cause)

When fall upon my knees
I’d rather creep inside your igloo
Sample fifteen kinds of snow
Until I’m foaming like the hound
That haunts your hall
(Hall hall hall)

I’ve spent too long on fences
‘Round your cold infected heart
And spinning ribbons in your hair
And I’m aware you never cared
Cared at all
(All, all, all)

I’m feeding feeding feeding on you…

*Transcribed by Adam K Rixey

MESSAGE 3

What a bunch of pompous, self-centered
Pitiful subservient fools you all are
I’ve been screaming at you for centuries
And it all goes in one ear
And straight out of the other, doesn’t it?

I don’t move in mysterious ways
I’m in your face, up front
How many earthquakes, tidal waves
Plagues do you want for me to make my point?

Worse still
You have the nerve to blame me
For all those ill-conceived little misadventures
Look at you now
Goddammit, you’re a disgrace!!!
A shame, I just wipe my hands of you

But I guess I’m just an old softie
Look, I’m going on vacation for awhile
You have one last chance to get it right
You heard me – get it right
Be seeing you

*Transcribed by Adam K Rixey

THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT

Synchronize your watches
‘Cause the party’s just begun
He holds the gun
Close to the temple
Of his lovely
One and only
Foaming from the balcony
No one’s listening in
We all tune out drop off and pull the blinds

It’s all been done before
He’s kicking crap across the floor
He’s kicking her across the floor
He’s kicking walls and windows, closet doors

Five years

All the next day nurses cry out
“What’s the deal, now what the hell?”
He’ll smile and say politely
“Just an accident, she fell”
She surely falls a lot

Five years

He seemed like little Romeo
But now he’s all she’s got
Now he’s all she knows
It’s better than a life alone

Five years

One starless sticky night
He came home a little late
She’d hung the chains up
Barred the windows
Built a barricade
A single finger
There was spray paint dripping down the door
She’d won the war and didn’t need a second shot

She picked her spot and fired and we stood back and admired

Crowned her princess of our spire
We disposed of his remains
And when they ask me what became of Romeo
I will tell them he’s now playing as a flower on a grave
So very far away
So very far away

Five miles

Eye Spy with My Little Eye

THE TEAR GARDEN

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Cover ImageRelease date and tracklist

2002
US CD Subconscious SUB026

  1. Perforated Man – [MP3]
  2. A Bitter Pill – [MP3]
  3. The Train To China – [MP3]
  4. Extract From Empathy #2 – [MP3]
  5. Splatterflick – [MP3]
  6. Black Curtains – [MP3]
  7. The Bomb Bomb Loopapa Tribe Drown Themselves In A Vat Of Marmite – [MP3]
  8. All The Stars Are Falling – [MP3]
  9. Extract From Empathy #3 – [MP3]
  10. Dr. Chang’s Tummy Rub – [MP3]

September 22, 2020
NL MP3 self-released on Bandcamp

 

Credits

 

Notes

Collection of unreleased jams by the original Tear Garden lineup.
Part of the Subconscious Communications FROM THE VAULT subscription series.
Both pressings limited to 1000 copies, SUB 026b is housed in a digipack
Tracks are said to range from very early (demos from 1986) to a brand new track
“Dr Changs Tummy Rub,” which was provisionally titled “Changer,” is dedicated cEvin Key’s cat Chang (1996-2002).
On the initial pressing, the back liner misspells “Drown” as “Down.”

2020 Bandcamp notes:
Part of Subconscious Communications “From The Vault” series. Many songs have their roots in the 80’s but were finished 20 years later, other songs are outtakes from TG in the 90s.

Lyrics

PERFORATED MAN:
This is our dear lord at heaven’s gate
See the wings upon his ankles
Here’s the chariot the angels
Five long years but worth the wait
Further down you have the serpent
I’m the master he’s the servant
I keep him caged because he’s nervous
For the dragon sleeps below
Far down below

This one is for my sweet beloved
Died at childbirth undiscovered
This one’s why I’m here
I suffered – covered every hall with tears
Now there’s nothing left to see
Tell your children you met me
The perforated man

Just aim your camera
While I flee
A picture’s all I can bequeath
You won’t be disappointed I guarantee
Tell your children you met me
The perforated man

A BITTER PILL:
Heard you on the radio
The morning show was stuck
Between a trailer and a bus
Didn’t we do well my friend
So how’s life in Las Vegas –
Are there alligators waiters
Drop-dead gorgeous babes in rugs

You said it in the papers
How you knew that you were never one of us
And I confess
I could not stand you with your poems and your pout
When they used you as a racehorse in the playground
I would cheer aloud

Some of us are sweating
Some of us are proud
So what’s it like out there
Remember standing in the crowd

Those we have victimized will come back to haunt us
Those we have vilified lie back and they taunt us
Those we have victimized will come back to haunt us
Those we rejected are high up on revenge – they will seek

Seek

THE TRAIN TO CHINA:
Bikini girls and hunks are showing us the joys of being perfect
Bouncing balls in June they’re cruising – surfing to those tunes we love
Hi-ho but get rubbing (?) please be careful with my tan
Rust-red as a washed-up can but warm enough to tempt the lifeguard

Save me (?) take me in your rickshaw far away to China
Save me (?) take me in your rickshaw far away to China

Get those lips around my waist I need resuscitation
Hammer on my heart and that old door of love will let you in
Hi-ho but get rubbing (?) please be careful with my tan
Rust-red as a washed-up can but warm enough to tempt the lifeguard

Save me (?) take me in your rickshaw far away to China
Save me (?) take me in your rickshaw far away to China

EXTRACT FROM EMPATHY NO. 2:
Instrumental

SPLATTERFLICK:
Reject spun his mutant eye on the tip of a finger
Which he had indelicately chewed off earlier that day
Surveyed the crowd above
They were always there
Beeping (?)
Drinking the squalor
Cherishing the misfortunes of ghosts discarded

For my next trick I will dissolve my navel with a globule of my acid saliva
He announced cynically
And coins rained in – bouncing off his collapsed cranium
So he took a bow – howled
Just howled like a trumpet call from a hag’s cauldron
Like a cry – like a scream from hell itself
From hell itself

BLACK CURTAINS:
Cancel the wedding renounce all the vows
I shall suck on those kisses – ride on a cow
To the monastery high over there in the clouds
Silent for 25 years

I saw you collide with a history teacher
Watched fingertips brush over coffee and Nietzche
If he is your type who am I to beseech you
To stay here for 25 years

You tell him I cared you say I was earthy
Steadfast and honest but not really worthy
See how I feel when you’re pleading for mercy
Baby in 25 years

Stones in my heart there’s a lump in my throat
Spare a cent for the misfit – a dime for his goat
I’ll love you and leave you my favorite coat
Had it for 25 years

Black curtains
Wish me well

Black curtains
Wish me well

THE BOMB BOMB LOOPAPA TRIBE DROWN THEMSELVES IN A VAT OF MARMITE:
Instrumental with Edward Ka-Spel’s voice threaded throughout in a backwards loop.

ALL THE STARS ARE FALLING:
Time to lose
Time to mourn
Time to guide this raft on
On through the storm
We’re counting to ten thousand
With our eyes closed

I’m sure that island’s on the other side – a blink away
Don’t shrink away
I offer you my flask – no strings attached
Just knock it back and count your blessings
Yes you found me
I’m your bounty
I’m the prize so take me proudly
Don’t open up your eyes

Don’t play with knots or say the wrong thing
I’m the captain of this ship
It goes where I decide
I make the rules
I write the script

Our mystery trip
God’s mercy on an open sea
And all the stars are falling
Yes all the stars are falling

Falling

EXTRACT FROM EMPATHY NO. 3:
Instrumenal

DR. CHANG’S TUMMY RUB:
Instrumental

 

 

Requiem Settings

THE SILVERMAN

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Cover ImageRelease date and tracklist

2002
US CD Soleilmoon SOL 119

02 August 2013
NL Remastered MP3 self-released on Bandcamp

  1. Requiem Settings 1
  2. Requiem Settings 2
  3. Requiem Settings 3 – [MP3]
  4. Requiem Settings 4
  5. Requiem Settings 5 – [MP3]
  6. Requiem Settings 6 – [MP3]

 

Credits

The Silver Man (Phil Knight)- all instruments

Artist’s Statement

While early glitch music experiments were the central feature of “Dream Cell’s” stylistic mix, its successor “Silvermandalas” concentrated on drone and trance directions.  By contrast, “Requiem Settings (1-6)” is a more linear work, with a greater emphasis on subjective association. Despite the title, a September 11 Requiem it isn’t – at least not by design (the CD was already completed by the time of the attacks in New York and Washington).

Two factors determined the project’s theme: my father’s death, and the place where I lived at the time these recordings began.  I was renting an apartment amongst the rolling hills of Groesbeek in Holland, and after finding two WW II grenades (one German, one American) in the woods behind the house, I began to discover the significance of the area.  These killing fields marked the battles that began Europe’s liberation from the Nazis.   Two metal fragments, possible shrapnel) discovered in this same area revealed a pleasing bell-like quality when struck together.  This bell-tine provides the static association in “Requiem Settings”, while the train sounds heard throughout the work represent the aspect of movement – the sense of journeying to another existence.  This sense is never more apparent than in the final setting – the Requiem itself, where the choirs drift in and out of radio static, all the time underpinned by a grandiose musical funeral procession.

The CD’s opening meditational settings feature the bell-tone bobbing back and forth like a buoy on an estuary, amongst a landscape of distant foghorns. America is peppered with towns brought into existence only through virtue of crossing rail lines, and the immense foghorn sounds of these huge freight trains dominate these places.  Forget it if you’re a travelling musician hoping for a good night’s sleep…not even ear plugs help as the very walls shake with each passing train.

“On my trips around America  I became enchanted by the distant sound of these train foghorns reaching my ears in the still night air.  The resonance of these sounds in the vast landscapes of the American continent seem to extract physical characteristics of these huge open spaces, making them audible to the discerning ear.   In a very real sense this acoustic phenomena could be said to be the “Sound of America” – not of it’s people or cities, but of the physical landscape itself.

The CD’s third setting is similarly born of the American landscape, but this time one of a particular nature.  Long fascinated by one of America’s best known historical figures, Chief Joseph, I was given the opportunity to spend time in his former heartland of Wallowa, Oregon.  While staying there, I set about making further recordings.  On a clear full moon night, in a landscape covered in snow, the undertaking took on surreal and magical proportions where nighttime was like day and I wore sunglasses to protect my eyes from the intense sparkle and shimmer of the moon’s reflections in the snow.   Strapping microphones to my boots, I embarked on a walk to capture the vivid and sumptuous sound world of pressed fresh snow and cracked ice.

Back home in Holland, I completed the piece using an American instrument invented in Chief Joseph’s time – the Appalachian dulcimer.  Using electronics to sound a dulcimer chord in the exact rhythm of my recorded footsteps, I then added played dulcimer melodies to finish the track.  Long after the piece was completed, I learned how Joseph and his people were pursued and hunted by U.S. troops in a 1200 mile flight of exodus from the Wallowa valley.  Unintentionally, my snow walk at Wallowa became a sound metaphor of this exodus.  – Silverman

 

Notes 

Thanks to:
Jozef Vrtiel (centre page photograph), Mark, Melinda, Charles, Dave, Das, Monique, Chris, Edward, Eric, Rachael, Nina, Christoph and Raymond.
***
From Bandcamp: 2002. Sometimes an album is released that you feel will be instantly embraced for it’s beauty, for the emotional strings it pulls, for the pictures it paints. Instead, the unthinkable happens- and that precious work simply falls between the cracks.
Perhaps it was the timing of “Requiem Settings” that caused such an oversight. It was The Silverman’s aural reaction to the events of 9/11 and The World had it’s right ear glued to the news channel.
Time for reappraisal with this remaster- although the enhanced sound only reflects how far technology has developed in recent years as this little pearl ALWAYS sounded great to these ears. -EK 
Review

The Silverman is keyboardist Phil Knight, a founding and current member of The Legendary Pink Dots. This is his third solo album following up on 1995’s ‘Dream Cell’ for Terminal Kaleidoscope and 1998’s ‘Silvermandalas’, also for Soleilmoon. Like the latter, this disc is simply comprised of numbered parts, in this case six interconnected tracks ranging from two to nearly 13 minutes in length.

The title is perfect as the album was motivated by the death of his father and the places Knight lived and visited while working upon it. Each setting is unique and incorporates found as well as synthesized sounds. Part one features ghostly metallic bell tones amidst a dense, shifting fog. Two moves into a more electronic territory as a sequence of synth notes, waves and background bass bumps plays out. Three glistens as a dulcimer and subdued electronics dance with an elegant array of winter sounds such as crumpled snow, cracked ice and water. It’s really something how it gracefully slips in and out of consciousness. Four and five are brief interludes of mechanical whirrings, swooping tones, more bells, rain (or maybe fire) and birdsong. And six is the requiem itself. Steady synth voices become masked by wind and the sounds of trains, evoking cross country movement as well as sorrow.

Much like David Tibet’s homage to his departed father, Current 93’s ‘Sleep Has His House’, The Silverman has respectfully paid tribute to his own father with a very lovely album, his best yet. – Mark Weddle, Brainwashed

 

Love and Loud Colours

EDWARD KA-SPEL

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Cover ImageRelease date

2002
US book De La Tour Saint Rapunza

This book can be ordered here.

 

 

 

 

Credits

  • lyrics, stories and fragments- Edward Ka-Spel
  • compiled and put together by Kirsten Janene-Nelson
  • transcriptions- Edward Ka-Spel, numerous Dots fans, Cloud Zero lyric archive, maintained by Alan Ezust and Lars Tängmark
  • artwork- Christopher Ryan Blair and Lana Crooks
  • illustrations researched by Daniel McKernan

Notes

  • 160 pages, printed on high-bulk textured stock, plus black endpages
  • 123 writings (lyrics, stories, and fragments) gleaned from more than 40 different recordings (TABLE OF CONTENTS pdf)
  • 67 black & white illustrations (Medieval and Renaissance etchings, line art, and woodcuts)
  • Hardback, covered in a fine-quality black cloth cover, with stamping on front and spine
  • Four-color gloss dustjacket, featuring a stained glass rose window from the Beauvais Cathedral and stylized stained glass saints crafted after Ka-Spel lyric characters: the captain and monkey, the bride, the witch, the soldier, the lonely figure, the nurse, the politician, the lovers, Tanith, and Lisa
  • Special features include lyrics linked with their art; lyrics linked with their page numbers, etc.
  • Print run: 2300 copies, the first 834 of which were numbered and wrapped in a silver ribbon (numbered copies are available only through this site). Unnumbered copies are available at North American Legendary Pink Dot shows and at Amoeba Music brick & mortar stores.