That’s what I said: “Legendary?” I’d never heard of them and, well, legendary
implies legendary... like Miles Davis telling John Coltrane to take his mouth
away from the horn when he can’t figure out how to exit one his lengthy solos.
But the Legendary Pink Dots?? Thankfully, these days we can plug into our
glowing webbernet machines and click our way to discovery. Turns out they are
legendary. They’ve had a 26-year career and something like 50 CDs. Amanda
Palmer’s a fan. They are seriously one of the best synth-pop, avante-garde
(maybe even goth) bands you’ve never heard of. Call me an LPD convert. Their
latest release, Plutonium Blonde, is movie soundtracks with craaaazy
lyrics about our love affair with computers and overwrought
technology. They are about to launch a twenty-five day US tour
taking only five days off…that counts as legendary.
You know, I mentioned Coltrane before I had heard the first
note of their music, and really, it’s not far-off; if Coltrane had
played sax for “Welcome to the Machine”-era Pink Floyd. Go see
them. They are playing the Rock and Roll Hotel on Oct. 30th.
Combine the date with a club that was converted from an old
morgue—you know the LPD’s will dig that.
-Stuart Gunter
legendarypinkdots.org