Edward Ka-Spel- Happy New Year

Artist: Edward Ka-Spel
CD Title: Happy New Year
Label: Beta-Lactam Ring Records
Reviewer:Matthew Johnson
Date: 10-20-05

The endless stream of brilliant solo weirdness from the lead vocalist of the Legendary Pink Dots continues with this limited edition CD, which features two extended tracks. The first, entitled “Happy New Year,” was recorded (appropriately enough) on New Year’s Eve, 2004. Ka-Spel had decided to spend the evening recording at home instead of indulging in the typical year-end festivities, and the result is a pleasantly noisy ambient composition based around a gently warped piano melody. It’s quite soothing in a low-fi kind of way with its music box chimes and analog drones, and though it gradually gets noisier and more chaotic, it never moves into grating or painful territories. “What Goes Around,” the second track on the CD, is a bit weirder, starting off with insect buzz and deconstructed voices, but likewise avoids punishing extremes. While its status as a collector’s item will probably keep this out of the hands of all but Ka-Spel’s most devoted fans, it’s a fine example of his more experimental side; one can only hope that these two tracks might be issued on a wider release at some later date.

Visit Edward and his Legendary Pink family at www.legendarypinkdots.org