Edward Ka-Spel

Edward Sharp, better known by his stage name Edward Ka-Spel, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, born in London on 23 January 1954, to a family with East Anglia connections. He is best known for his work with the band The Legendary Pink Dots, which he co-founded. He is also known for his work on The Tear Garden with Skinny Puppy's cEvin Key. In 2017, he collaborated with Amanda Palmer on the album ''I Can Spin a Rainbow''.

Biography

Edward Ka-Spel is best known as the lead singer, keyboard and electronics player, songwriter and co-founder of the band The Legendary Pink Dots, in which he was initially known as D'Archangel, Prophet Q'Sepel and other pseudonyms.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 398Carr, Daphne " Edward Ka-Spel Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2010-02-06 He has also released numerous solo albums (initially featuring other members of the Legendary Pink Dots, and including contributions from Steven Stapleton),Couture, François " ''Laugh China Doll'' Review, Allmusic, retrieved 2010-02-06" ''Chyekk, China Doll'' Review, Allmusic, retrieved 2010-02-06 and has worked in various side projects, including The Tear Garden (with cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy), and Mimir (with Phil Knight, Christoph Heemann, Jim O'Rourke and others). He is now recording an album with 48 Cameras, "Songs from the marriage of heaven & hell" according to William Blake.

Ka-Spel's solo albums range from abstract electronic noise to more traditional pop songs, incorporating diverse elements of psychedelia, industrial, avant garde, experimental electronic, art pop, classical music, folk (nursery songs), sampling, noise, collage, music concrete, etc. His lyrics have been described as mystically bizarre and ambiguous, and incorporate recurrent themes from his own personal mythos. Ka-Spel's songwriting has been compared to that of Syd Barrett and early Pink Floyd, though the artist describes the comparison as being a coincidence, not a direct influence. Ka-Spel has cited Iannis Xenakis, The Beatles, Nurse With Wound, David Bowie, Brainticket, Can, The Residents, Magma, and Throbbing Gristle as significant influences.

Ka-Spel often appears on stage barefoot, wearing a long scarf and either pink or black optic glasses. Early in his career, he drew black lines on his face and arms, which Phil Knight has referred to as "his cracks", presumably as they resemble the cracked lines of a china doll, an image very present in his early albums.

Discography (selected)

Albums

* (1982) ''Brighter Now''
* (1984) ''Laugh, China Doll''
* (1985) ''Eyes!, China Doll''
* (1986) ''Chyekk, China Doll''
* (1987) ''AaΔzhyd, China Doll''
* (1988) ''Khataclimici, China Doll''
* (1991) ''Tanith & the Lion Tree''
* (1995) ''The Scriptures of Illumina''
* (1995) ''The Textures of Illumina''
* (1995) ''DNA LE DRAW D-KEE'' (with Elke Skelter as DNA LE DRAW D-KEE)
* (1998) ''The Blue Room''
* (2000) ''Red Letters''
* (2001) ''Absence of Evidence''
* (2001) ''Caste O' Graye Skreeens''
* (2002) ''O'er a Shalabast'r Tyde Strolt Ay''
* (2004) ''Pieces Of ∞''
* (2005) ''O Darkness! O Darkness!''
* (2005) ''A Long Red Ladder to the Moon''
* (2005) ''Fragments of Illumina''
* (2007) ''Dream Logik Pt 1''
* (2008) ''Dream Logik Pt 2''
* (2008) ''The Painted River of Regrets''
* (2009) ''The Whispering Wail'' (with The Silverman)
* (2009) ''Dream Loops''
* (2009) ''Transmit Acoustique Abstraction Two'' (with Armchair Migraine Journey)
* (2009) ''Trapped in Amber''
* (2010) ''Devascapes''
* (2010) ''Red Sky at Night'' (with Alena Boikova)
* (2010) ''The Thirty Year Itch'' (with The Silverman)
* (2010) ''The Minus Touch''
* (2011) ''A Pleasure Cruise Through 9 Dimensions''
* (2012) ''This Saturated Land''
* (2012) ''Ghost Logik''
* (2013) ''Fire Island''
* (2013) ''One Last Pose Before the Ruin''
* (2013) ''800 Saints in a Day'' (with the Twilight Circus)
* (2014) ''Are You Receiving Us, Planet Earth?!'' (with Philippe Petit)
* (2014) ''Ghost Logik 2''
* (2015) ''The Victoria Dimension''
* (2015) ''Spectrescapes Vol. 2''
* (2015) ''CybersKapes''
* (2016) ''Spectrescapes Volume 3''
* (2017) ''I Can Spin A Rainbow'' (with Amanda Palmer)
* (2021) ''Prints of Darkness''

Singles and EPs

* (1984) ''Dance, China Doll''
* (1992) ''The Char Char / Extracts from "The Inferno"''
* (1993) ''Inferno / Illusion''
* (1996) ''The Man Who Never Was''
* (1999) ''Share The Day''
* (2000) ''A Birth Marked Conspiracy''
* (2000) ''Lactamase 01''
* (2001) ''Meltdown''
* (2002) ''Clara Rockmore's Dog''
* (2002) ''090301''
* (2002) ''Lilith and The Rose''
* (2005) ''Happy New Year''
* (2008) ''Dream Logik X (a small voyage in 3 parts)''
* (2008) ''Dream Logik 3333333333333''
* (2008) ''Burning Church''
* (2012) ''11.11.11.11''
* (2013) ''The Patriot / Last Man Standing''
* (2020) ''Permission To Leave The Temple''
* (2020) ''The Deep''
* (2020) ''A Red Winter Night's Dream''
* (2021) ''The Sympathy Portal''

Collections

* (1989) ''Perhaps We'll Only See A Thin Blue Line''
* (1990) ''Lyvv, China Doll (cassette)''
* (1993) ''Lyvv, China Doll (CD)''
* (1995) ''Chyekk, China Doll / AaΔzhyd, China Doll''
* (1995) ''Down in the City of Heartbreak and Needles''
* (1996) ''Kowskijari''
* (1997) ''The Carrion''
* (1998) ''Down in the City of Heartbreak and Needles 2''
* (2000) ''Needles Three''
* (2007) ''Melancholics Anonymous''
* (2008) ''Dream Logik Parts 1–3''

Live albums

* (1987) ''Apples (Big!), China Doll''
* (2000) ''Public Disturbance''
* (2000) ''Angelus Obscuros (16-5-85)''
* (2002) ''Khalash Nykow, China Doll (4-4-86)''
* (2005) ''Live in Basel 2005'' (with The Silverman)
* (2012) ''Live at Bibliotheque Hergé, Paris 2005''
* (2012) ''Live in Denver 19 May 2012'' (with The Silverman)
* (2014) ''The Greenhouse Effect'' (with The Silverman and Nicoletta Stephanz)
* (2015) ''Terremoto - Live In Chile 2008'' (with The Silverman)

Compilation appearances

* (1985) ''Atomic Roses'' on ''59 To 1 Cassette Nr. 6''
* (1986) ''Jesus Wept'' on ''Is That You Santa Claus? Oscar's X-Mas Carols Vol. 3''
* (1987) ''And The Lord Said, Rise'' on ''For Your Ears Only''
* (1992) ''Hotel X'' on ''Mindfield''
* (1993) ''The Colour Xhine'' on ''Tape A Break''
* (1995) ''Dr. Blizz'' on ''The Gothic Compilation Part II''
* (1996) ''The Forbidden Zone'' on ''Electrocity Vol. 7''
* (1996) ''A Crack in Melancholy Space'' on ''A Blind Man's Gallery of Mirrors''
* (1997) ''Atomic Roses 1995 (Pt. 1 & 2)'' on ''Globus And Decibel''
* (2002) ''Burdon'' on ''Electrically Induced Vibrations''
* (2003) ''Der Khataclimici 2'' on ''Lactamase Bonus Compilation''
* (2004) ''Complex'' on ''See Beyond The Music''
* (2006) ''Sticks & Stones (Version)'' on '' Not Alone''
* (2006) ''Sepia'' on ''Brainwaves''
* (2010) ''Elvis of the Modern World'' on ''The Year 25 / 25 Years Korm Plastics''
* (2010) ''Yam With Babe'' on ''Transmit Acoustique Abstraction 1/2''
* (2010) ''The Bad Trip'' on ''Audiotron''

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ka-Spel, Edward
English male singer-songwriters
Living people
English experimental musicians
Soleilmoon artists
The Legendary Pink Dots members
Musicians from London
English expatriates in the Netherlands
Third Mind Records artists
People from Nijmegen
Year of birth missing (living people)