The Legendary Pink Dots "A Perfect Mystery" Caciocavallo cad 11 2000 (68:31)

Lent (8:06)
When I'm With You (4:30)
When Lenny Meets Lorca (4:32)
Skeltzer Spleltzer (5:02)
Mood 159 (5:28)
Pain Bubbles (8:34)
Blue (7:09)
Condition Green (5:30)
Death of a King (6:32)
Godless (13:07)

Those responsible:  Ryan Moore - bass, drums, percussion, sound processing.  Martijn de Kleer - acoustic and electric guitars, violin, drums and bass.  Qa 'Sepel - vox inhumana, keyboards.  The Silverman - keyboards, filters, sound processing, voices from beyond.  Niels Van Hoornblower - baritone, alto, tenor, soprano and bass saxophones, flute, bass clarinet, percussion.  Frack Verschuuren - sound processing.

"A Perfect Mystery" is the Legendary Pink Dot's third proper studio album in just four short years and sees the return of multi-instrumentalist Martijn de Kleer to the fold.  As always, the Dots blend many sonic colors and styles:  psychedelia, pop, rock, krautrock, synthesis, collage, waltz, acoustic folk, etc. as backdrop for Ka-Spel's poetic tales.  Every member contributes equally to each song, probably more so here than ever before.  "Lent" and "Pain Bubbles" are jammed out excursions into psychedelic rock replete with intertwining guitar and horn solos.  "When I'm With You" 'rocks' for lack of a better word and features great horn work by Niels.  "When Lenny Meets Lorca", my personal favorite, is a melodically playful pop song that rides upon a krautrock bass/drums groove.  "Skeltzer Spleltzer" is a slow, strange and slightly annoying violin and synth led waltz.  "Mood 159" features a swirling sonic collage freakout with bits of everything from percussion to human sighs to horn blasts.  "Blue" is one of those melancholy drenched songs that only the Dots seem capable of ... the bass line and slide guitar are especially beautiful.  "Condition Green" is in the acoustic folk vein with Edward often repeating the line "I'll keep you alive".  "Death of a King" is a violin and hand percussion led waltz.  "Godless" brings back the tradition of ending albums with a lengthy track, much of which seems to be improvised.  So, overall?  Even after several weeks I'm still not sure.  It's been a bit of a mystery for me as to why this album has failed to grab me from the initial listen, start to finish, like the previous two did (see "Hallway of the Gods" and "Nemesis Online").   All the pieces of the puzzle seem to be here but they somehow don't quite fit together right.  At least, not yet.  Hopefully it will in time.  The cover is rather disappointing but is much more rewarding upon unfolding the nine panel poster insert.  The Dots are currently on tour in North America through July ...

The Legendary Pink Dots

Where did I get this cd? - RPM Records in Garland, TX.

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