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Release date and tracklist

November 3, 2016
NL MP3 self-released on Bandcamp

1. The Special Relationship

Credits

• Edward Ka-Spel
• The Silverman
• Erik Drost
• Raymond Steeg

Notes

Walls are for painting with bright colours and ultimately knocking down, flags are for drying the dishes ,and politicians are for consigning to the history books even when they’re still alive.That’s as far as Im prepared to go .I’m happy to talk politics over a margarita in a bar and I have friends who disagree with my views radically…it makes me sad. Still ,when the discussion stops ,civilisation dies..and deep down I reckon we’re better than that.
EK

THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS

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Release date and tracklist

September 15, 2016
US 2xCD MT294 Beta Lactam Ring Records

Disc 1
Volume 19 Part 1

• (a) Real World
• (b) El Cid
• (c) So Gallantly Screaming Anno 30
• (d) Sunset Strip

Volume 19 Part 2

• (a) Impeccable Machine
• (b) How Many Fingers?
• (c) Dust

Disc 2
Volume 20 Part 1

• (a) Hysterical
• (b) Metamorphosis
• (c) iTranslate
• (d) A Moonlight Walk through Water
• (e) Amy in The Underworld

Volume 20 Part 2

• (a) Miss August
• (b) Carnival Cracker
• (c) The Answer (at least for today)

***

NL MP3 self-released on Bandcamp

1. Volume 19 Part 1
2. Volume 19 Part 2
3. Volume 20 Part 1
4. Volume 20 Part 2

Credits

• The Silverman
• Erik Drost
• Ray Steeg
• Edward Ka-Spel

Mastering by Ray Steeg and Peter Van Vliet.
All artwork by Jesse Peper from the 12″ x 12″ Art/Fact series.

Notes

An edition of 500 copies
Packaged in a book bound gatefold sleeve with artwork by Jesse Peper.

The Silverman, Erik Drost, Raymond Steeg and Edward Ka-Spel bring you once more into the Chemical Playschool, a concept almost as old as band itself that’s so unmistakably their own it’s almost become a musical genre unto itself, one that proves with each consecutive return that it’s as mesmerizing as it is timeless. Collages, samples, voices from above, beyond and every known and unknown directions, intricately detailed layers of electronics and guitar riffs that form mind-binding enveloping textures, relentless, intense and beautiful, mysterious, dramatic or hypnotic in turn – and at times even utterly funny.

The soundscapes can erupt at any moment into songs that refuse any boundary, complete with the lyrics of Edward Ka-Spel at the top of his storytelling game, bringing to life a gallery of characters old and new into his unique twisted and strange little tales. An uninterrupted 92 minute foray in four parts into the unmapped territories and the odd forbidden zone. Don’t call it experimental, these master craftsmen of psychedelia are in full control of their Art. It’s the perfect companion to its celebrated 2014 predecessor Chemical Playschool 16 & 18, picking up where it left off and pushing the envelope yet again. Book a ticket, lock the doors, kill the lights, feed the cat and stock well on biological yogurt – this journey starts on Sept. 10, 2016

Lyrics

EL CID

Faster than a speeding bullet
Nothing living matched his pace..
No strategy to speak of – just a need to win the race.
he crossed the line in five short seconds, raised his arms for our acclaim.
Took a small step to the left, the bullet drilled right through his brain.
And there he goes, another hero.
Here we go , a good man’s done.
But way up there on that high hill some fool is
advertising guns.
Guns for good guys shouts the cowboy.
Guns for good guys screams the priest.
There ain’t no superhero that can match this li’l baby’s reach.
And fuck you Charlton Heston.
Should be mouldering in your grave,
but cold dead hands cannot be idle
with battalions of slaves to drive through those black catacombs of hell.
And when you rise again on that last day,
you’ll see we listened well…

15000 years still firing .
15000 years not down.
And the newsguy says we’re winning…
So Im proud.
Oh so proud to have played my part in human happiness..

IMPECCABLE MACHINE

FOCUS ON THE FINER POINTS
DON’T LOOK UNDER THE HOOD
THE RULES ARE UNAMBIGUOUS
LET THIS BE UNDERSTOOD
ITS HERESY TO QUESTION
IT IS MADNESS TO REBEL
AND IT TAKES A CLICK TO SECTION YOU
AND LOSE YOU IN OUR CELLS
DONT CRITICISE THE SYSTEM YOU CREATED FOR YOURSELF
THE VOTE YOU CAST’S INVALUABLE
ESSENTIAL FOR THE HEALTH
OF THIS IMPECCABLE SOCIETY
THIS IMMACULATE MACHINE
WE TAKE YOUR COMMENTS
SERIOUSLY
AND ACT ACCORDINGLY

TAKE GOOD CARE NOW

THE ANSWER (AT LEAST FOR TODAY)

ITS BEEN SAID BY SOMEONE MUCH WISER THAN YOUR HUMBLE NARRATOR THAT NOTHING CAN BE CREATED OR DESTROYED.
IF THIS IS THE CASE,THEN THE CONCEPT OF AN EXPANDING UNIVERSE IS FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED.
IT IMPLIES THAT TAT WE MERELY INHABIT A PITIFUL PATCH IN A SPACE THAT STRETCHES IN ALL DIRECTIONS…FOREVER…
WE’RE DRIFTING
THAT’S HOW IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN, AND THAT’S HOW IT ALWAYS WILL BE.
FOR THE SENTIENT BEING THIS SCENARIO IS UTTERLY DISTURBING , AND ITS [ROBABLY BEST NOT TO DWELL UPON IT.
THE ONLY THING WE NEED TO BE CONCERNED WITH IS EFFICIENT DISTRIBUTION OF THE PARTICLES THAT ARE THE VERY BUILDING BLOCKS OF WHAT WE ARE AND THE ENVIRONMENT WE OCCUPY.
IF THE DISTRIBUTION IS TOO EVEN, THEN WE WILL CEASE TO EXIST. SHOULD IT BE TOO UNEVEN,THEN THE BALANCE IS DESTROYED AND WE WILL CEASE TO EXIST- THOUGH WE MAY WELL LEAVE OUR UNSIGHTLY BAGGAGE BEHIND TO FLOAT IN WHAT WOULD EFFECTIVELY BE A FORBIDDEN ZONE.AT LEAST WITHIN THE LIMITLESS BOUNDARIES OF THIS UNIQUE PLAIN OF EXISTENCE.
HOWEVER,THERE APPEAR TO BE INFINITE PLAINS OF EXISTENCE.
EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY WE ARE PRESENTED WITH THE NEED TO MAKE DECISIONS.
THE ALARM RINGS AT 6AM OR 8AM OR 9AM OR NOT AT ALL AND YOU, MY FRIEND, TURN OVER AND CONTINUE SLEEPING.OR THROW THE ALARM CLOCK AT THE WALL.OR EAT THE ALARM CLOCK BECAUSE IT TASTES LIKE BLUEBERRIES.OR SLOW DOWN THE TIMELINE UNTIL THE CLOCKS IRRITATING ,SHRILL RING IS TRANSFORMED INTO THE BELLS OF HELL ITSELF-IF ,INDEED, IT EXISTS.
IN FACT YOU DO ALL OF THESE THINGS AND INSTANTLY WANDER OFF ON VARIOUS- NO,INFINITE -TIMELINES CONVINCED THAT THERE’S ONLY YOU IN A BIG SCARY WORLD.
INDEED, THERE’S YOU,IN THE SPINNING HANDS OF INFINITE DESTINY MOVING IN INFINITE DIRECTIONS.
ALL THE EMOTIONS, ALL THE TASTES, ALL THE PAIN , ALL THE PLEASURE.ITS YOURS.
YET STILL YOU FEAR THAT THERE’S AN END IN A SPACE WHICH HAS KNOWS NO END OR BEGINNING.
SILLY YOU.
TRULY, THERE IS ONE BORN EVERY MINUTE.

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Release date and tracklist

July 30, 2016
NL MP3 self-released on Bandcamp

September 15, 2016
2xCD-r self-released on Bandcamp

1. Hypothetical Angel
2. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Decade
3. The Wall Street Spectre
4. Pagan Place
5. Seasonal Chill
6. The Witching Hour
7. Pink
8. Purple*

Credits

• Edward Ka-Spel
• The Silverman
• Erik Drost
• Raymond Steeg

Notes

Lovingly made 2 x CDR release in handmade cover designed and assembled by the artists personally. edition of 99

Phase One of our modest campaign to fund The Dots’ Tour of North America slated for Autumn 2016. “Festive” collects together all the “seasonal” releases by the Dots so far and presents them as a delightful 2 x cdr package. It is necessarily limited but we intend to keep this full set downloadable for the foreseeable future. 50 of the physical sets will be available for the Tour;  49 will be available via this site from around 28 OCTOBER 2016.

*Not Purple was the original title

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Release date and tracklist

May 1, 2016
NL MP3/CD-r self-released on Bandcamp

1. Premonition 5 / Deflated / Stoned Obituary (KK)
2. Vigil
3. Down From The Country / Thursday Night Fever (KK)/ Die With Your Eyes On / Opus Dei
4. Doppelganger / Flesh Parade (version 2)/ The End Of The World As We Know It
5. Spanish Bridge
6. Ideal Home (Version 2)
7. No Bell No Prize (Version Ridiculous) / Blessed Finale

Notes

The history of The Dots must appear like an impossible maze to the uninitiated. Some songs appear on several cassette releases, often re-recorded, sometimes reinvented for the myriad of compilations the band turned up on. Occasionally a 20 minute LPDs epic would include known songs morphing into atmospherics as with the rare “The End Of The World As We Know It”. The familiar becomes a little unfamiliar, the memory plays tricks. I blush to confess it was deliberate. Even so, this compilation is doing it’s best to play fairer, even if a song like, say, “Down From The Country ” can be found elsewhere. For the purist, we’re making a pristine new edition of “Kleine Krieg” on CDR, while ,for those who (understandably) jump up and down and shout “I don’t need “Defeated” yet again”, there is also this collection which largely avoids the repetition.  Cover art by the Silverman based on a painting by Emma Hyland-Arkley.

CDr edition of 199

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Release date and tracklist

April 22, 2016
US CD/MP3/2xLP Metropolis Records MET1016/MET1016D/MET1016V

Sept 2016
US 2xLP Metropolis Records

MP3 and CD-

1. Mirror Mirror
2. The Greatest Story Ever Told
3. D-Train
4. Credibility
5. Trending
6. Touching The Forelock
7. Prodigal
8. Don’t Go There / Page Aquarian / Jacob’s Ladder
9. The Weight Of Water Parts 1-4*

* Digital version only

2xLP-

Disc 1, Side A

1. Mirror Mirror
2. The Greatest Story Ever Told
3. D-Train

Disc 1, Side B

1. Credibility
2. Trending
3. Touching The Forelock
4. Prodigal

Disc 2, Side A

1. Don’t Go There / Page Aquarian / Jacob’s Ladder

Disc 2, Side B

1. The Weight Of Water Parts 1-4

Credits

• The Silverman
• Edward Ka-Spel
• Erik Drost
• Raymond Steeg

Mastered by Ray Steeg and Peter Van Vliet.  Artwork is an original painting by Daria Musienko.

Press Release

They promised us so much…

Naked hippies and soma fountains and patchouli rain from candy floss clouds and flowers and the summer that would never end. The Age of Aquarius.

The Age of Harmony and understanding and tolerance. Say it softly, like an Aquarian, The Age of ….Love. The Age of Love and HAIR.

Page One Aquarius. How does it look out there?

Bad hair, no hair. Covered up. Walls. And God is everywhere, splashed in red across those walls, and the fountains are dry, the ocean is full and they’re dragging the lost from the depths of the sea and tying them up with wire.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Are we in for 2,160 years of this?

I’m an Aquarian. I believe in this crazy stuff and I visualise big old Pisces lying there, dying there. Huge, wounded, angry because no one helps and every hot feverish cry brings a new storm, and every kick shakes the planet to it’s core. Big old Pisces. Huge but invisible so no one sees him except the irritating baby that tickles his nose with an oily feather.

Page 2,000 Pisces, the end of the cycle and it hurts.

It can’t last.

Page One Aquarius.

The World is Beautiful. Blessed be. EK

Notes

Digital version available on Metropolis’ Bandcamp Page
Order directly from the band

September 2016 2xLP- on pink vinyl.  Limited edition of 250.

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Release date and tracklist

April 16, 2016
US LP Noise Noise Noise 002

Side A

1. A Scented Candle
2. Divine Resignation, Chapter 6

Side B

1. Cover Version (unabridged)
2. A Quiet Night In

October 28, 2016
NL MP3 self-released on Bandcamp

1. A Scented Candle
2. Divine Resignation, Chapter 6
3. Cover Version (unabridged)
4. A Quiet Night In
5. Collecting Seashells

Credits

• The Silverman
• Edward Ka-Spel
• Erik Drost
• Raymond Steeg

Artwork by Sarada

Notes

Four brooding, emotional, quiet, and lovely tracks make this 12 inch mini-LP.  It is the first release of the “Noise Noise Noise ” label in California run by long term Dots’ family member Lisa Amend and her partner Dave James.  This is a limited edition of 400 copies plus 100 numbered and signed artists’ copies.

Available through Lisa and Dave through Facebook at www.factoryrecordsshop.com (email:facrecshop@gmail.com) and Soleilmoon Records.

Edward Ka-Spel writes It was created after Lisa Amend, who has literally been part of the LPD family for many years, announced that she was starting a new label with her partner Dave James. Happily the approach came shortly after a string of intense recording sessions, so the pool of material to dive into was deep. I spent some days with the sessions and “A Scented Candle” cast a little light into the room. I guess it deals with a slight addiction to the internet…reflecting on a sleepless hour or two in the middle of the night when you just HAVE to open the computer to make sure the World is still functioning. The second song expands upon this theme. Side two revisits our past with a 21st Century remake of the old LPDs favourite “Premmonition 5”.