The Turntabling Collection (my pretentious-yet-accurate name for the inventory of vinyl and CDs I sell online at at conventions) includes several titles by the one-and-only Legendary Pink Dots.
Those who don’t know the Dots aren’t hip to their unique brand of audio surrealism, psych-tinged epic journeys into the imagination that recall the best of Syd Barrett and like-minded fellow travelers. But if any or all of that description sound good, you owe it to yourself to become what some used to call a “Dotty phrend”. Here’s a selection of titles you should get to know:
Legendary Pink Dots Asylum double LP.
This is the record some reviewers and Dots fans describe as LPD at their most crazy, psychotic and creative. Standout tracks on this one include Echo Police, which sounds oddly reminiscent of the Liquid Sky soundtrack in places–at least at the start.
This is one of the older releases in the massive LPD catalogue, and the double vinyl presentation is pretty amazing. The artwork alone is worth a look…the album? One of the most unique even for the band itself. Here’s a video clip of LPD performing Echo Police from the Asylum album, shot live in 2008.
The Legendary Pink Dots album Island of Jewels is half experimental and half structured, featuring plenty of surreal wanderings, but does have a playful side at times. Some nice sax interludes give this a–dare I say–50s beatnik vibe in spots, which is not a bad thing for a fan of the Naked Lunch soundtrack.
Some fans call this album a must-own, others say it’s their least favorite in the collection. The band is like that–inspiring rabidly devoted followings but with wildly opinionated and divergent opinions on the group’s output. Call this one a good sampling of what you can expect from the rest of the band’s recordings and you probably can’t go wrong. The wild mood swings are all here, the sonic experimentation, the light-and-dark shifts…pretty fine, if you ask me.
The Legendary Pink Dots vinyl record The Golden Age shows you a side of the Dots that many love–surreal, beautiful, with a touch of what I call “morbid hippie”. Nobody does that quite like the Dots, with tracks like “Even The Vegetables Screamed”. The wonderful “Hotel Noir” is reminiscent of some other great LPD albums (The Lovers comes to mind–another essential title to find).
“The Month After” even has a little Simon Boswell/Italian horror soundtrack vibe going on there…very nice. I’m also sure it was unintentional, but no matter…
There are plenty of 12-inch singles which are sought-after too, including something brilliant called the Pre-Millennial Single and a wonderful little 12-inch called Princess Coldheart. This is a prime example of Dots storytelling at its finest–bizarre, twisted fairy tales that meld ancient medieval imagery with modern technology. Acid music? You’ll know for sure on the first listen–here’s a sample of that single, courtesy of YouTube. (see below)