Edward Ka-Spel
Edward Ka-Spel (born
January 23,
1954 in
London,
England) is an
expatriate English singer,
songwriter and
musician residing in the
Netherlands.
Ka-Spel is probably best known as the
lead singer,
songwriter and co-founder (with
Phil "The Silverman" Knight) of the prolific
underground band
The Legendary Pink Dots. He has also released numerous solo albums 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).
His musical output has combined elements of
psychedelia, dark
folk,
goth,
industrial,
electronic, found noise, sampling,
pop and
rock in varying degrees. His
lyrics have been described as intensely personal and
mystical, incorporating recurrent themes from his own personal
mythos, and his songwriting and singing have been compared (usually favourably) to
Syd Barrett and early
Pink Floyd.
Ka-Spel's singing voice is distinctive, especially for listeners outside of
England, as it displays characteristics peculiar to the region of England in which he grew up. In addition to his
East London/
East Anglian accent, Ka-Spel's diction has what is sometimes misidentified as a
lisp, but is actually a form of
rhotacism, in which Rs are mispronouced as Ws. This is believed to be a
sociolect or a form of "permanent affectation" acquired as a child, rather than a speech disorder as such.
*
Cloud Zero/LPD Online, homepage for the mailing list dedicated to The Legendary Pink Dots, Edward Ka-Spel and related musicians, including a complete discography of Ka-Spel's solo recordings.
*
Thee Official Live Archive, contains complete live recordings for public download
