THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS - "ANY DAY NOW" (1987)

Formed in London in 1980, the Legendary Pink Dots moved to Amsterdam in the middle of the decade. Members throughout the band's career have been Edward Ka-Spel (vocals, keyboards) and Phil Knight (keyboards), also known as the Silver Man, with a shifting supporting cast over the years. The Dots' music is by turns melodic pop and exotic psychedelia, with classical influences, sampling, and relentlessly dark, violent, apocalyptic lyrics. After several releases for Mirrodot and Inphaze during the early '80s, the group signed to Play It Again Sam distribution for 1985's The Lovers, and released much of their best material (1990's Crushed Velvet Apocalypse, 1991's The Maria Dimension) on the label. Even as the Legendary Pink Dots neared their two-decade anniversary, the group continued to tour Europe and America quite consistently, appreciated by several generations of dark industrial/goth audiences (and documented by the 2000 live album Farewell, Milky Way). After releasing Your Children Placate You from Premature Graves in spring of 2006, the band embarked on their 25th anniversary tour.More cohesive than Island of Jewels and more streamlined than Asylum, Any Day Now stands as one of The Legendary Pink Dots' best albums of the ‘80s, ex-aequo with The Tower. There is no specific unifying theme this time, although alienation and estrangement seem to permeate the whole project. The Dots' keyboard patches were starting to get old by 1988, but in retrospect, this gives the album a vaguely retro charm. Edward Ka-Spel is in top songwriting shape, with "Casting the Runes," "A Strychnine Kiss" and "Neon Mariners" standing out as particularly catchy songs. The latter is especially haunting, thanks to careful arrangements and one of Ka-Spel's trademark vocal deliveries. Any Day Now is noteworthy for its lack of long experimental tracks, which (without unfairly diminishing the artistic interest of such efforts) makes the album somewhat more accessible to newcomers. The only extended track is the 10-minute "Waiting for the Cloud," but it is through-written, with the song proper in the first half (and a strong one at that), followed by an instrumental development that showcases why the Dots were often perceived as the unlikely link between Progressive Rock and Industrial, and a final recap of the song. Patrick Wright's violin is mixed somewhat higher on this album, giving more presence to his elegant lines. The original Bias release consisted of nine tracks (ending with "Cloud Zero"). Subsequent reissues added the complete Under Glass EP released the same year, a set of three weaker and somewhat more mainstream songs, including some slap bass in "The Plasma Twins" and a stadium rock-like double solo of violin and electric guitar at the end of "The Light In My Little Girls Eyes." (allmusic)

Altre info su "Any day now"

Tracklist:

1 "Casting the Runes"
2 "A Strychnine Kiss"
3 "Laguna Beach"
4 "The Gallery"
5 "Neon Mariners"
6 "True Love"
7 "The Peculiar Fun Fair"
8 "Waiting For the Cloud"
9 "Cloud Zero"
10 "Under Glass" *
11 "The Light In My Little Girl's Eyes" *
12 "The Plasma Twins" *
(*) Included only on CD versions – taken from the Under Glass 12".

Band Line-up:

The Prophet Qa'Sepel (Edward Ka-Spel) - voc, keyb

The Silver Man (Phil Knight) - keyb, soundscapes

Stret Majest Alarme (Barry Gray) - guitar

Graham Whitehead - keyb

Patrick Q (Wright) - violins, violas, pianos

Jason (Salmon) - bass, perc

GUESTS: Lady Sunshine (Marylou Busch) - vocals

Tony Copier - drums

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