Shadow Weaver (Legendary Pink Dots)
Alan Ezust
Date: April 25, 1995Shadow Weaver ties together as an album quite well, in contrast to
Malachai. It has a coherent flow from beginning to end, and I can honestly
say that there are NO songs on this album which I dislike.
It gets a lot more rotation time on my CD player than the other recent
releases. But it is by no means original, brilliant or ground-breaking, if
you compare it to some of the other LPD releases such as Golden Age, CVA,
Asylum and IOJ. It is however, much more inspiring than most of TMD.
Zero Zero: A mysterious ballad with lots of questions to ask... The
instruments are all very pretty and unimposing.
Guilty Man: A little more theatrical and harsh. Some eerie sound effects
and wailing electric guitars.
Ghosts of Unborn Children: A pretty ballad with cool distored bass sounds
- reminds me a little of really mellow pink floyd.
City of Needles: WHAT A SONG!! I love all the noise and sampled sounds.
But I feel it has more of a flow and meaning than the noise you hear on
Malachai... This one reminds me a little of Empathy for the devil on
Last Man to Fly.
Stitching Time: Patrick Q. is Back!! YAY!!
Twilight Hour: Not very good music to drive to...
The Key to Heaven: Another of my favorite songs, and contains as a lyric
one of my favorite quotes: "Now I found my key to heaven, but I cannot
find the door!" There are some elements of Tear Garden (TESB) in this
song, the way the sounds in the background go through some interesting
twists and turns...
Prague Spring: This is also one of my favorites - a very new-agey song with
violin, bassoon, sax, piano, and very bassey synths. Reminds me of the
LPD's "Golden Age"... ahhh, those were the days!
Leper Colony: This one, while it has a very different sound to Asylum,
reminds me of the song "This Could Be The End", a very depressing song
which on the surface is about leprocy, but is probably supposed to be
symbolic of the stigma of AIDS since leprocy isn't all that common
anymore.
Matt Van Dyke mvandyke@whidbey.net
I feel awkward reviewing shadow weaver because i know that it is my friend(and fellow reviewer) sam's favorite (at least favorite pink dots) album -
however, even though i was there the day he picked it up several years ago, i
could not get into it the same way he could - perhaps it was edward ka-spel's
voice that turned me off - more likely it was the clarinet scales that were
continuously played on 'zero zero' - i don't know - yet now when i listen to
this album i can't get over how amazing some of it really is - this is the first
album where the pink dots fully moved away from their keyboard roots -
although there are traces of keyboards still on the album, more heavily
effected conventional instuments are more dominant - my favorite of these is
probably the wah-wah guitar - i once heard sam say that no one should use
the wah-wah anymore because the legendary pink dots had already perfected
it - perhaps it could be true - another thing i like about shadow weaver is that
it remains consistent within itself - with malachai: shadow weaver part II it
seems that there are abrupt changes in styles which can tend to be unsettling
(i actually don't totally agree with this, see the malachai: shadow weaver part
II review) - yet on shadow weaver it seems that each song flows easily into the
next, and, apart from 'city of needles', the songs remain consistently mellow
and trippy - if you have never heard the legendary pink dots before and are
interested, this is probably the album to pick up (especially if you don't dig
keyboards all that much)
gbaillie@cs.strath.ac.uk
This was my first ever legendary pink dots CD I ever got.And I must say it is probably still my favourite.
The album gets off to a troumendous start and well,
doesnt really let up till the dying seconds. Its that good...
First up is "Zero Zero", a tune full of questions with few
answers, a low-end bass and a high-end piano, a sad
graft and a thoughtful melody.
Next up is "Guilty Man", the best of a very good bunch.
This is the track that I always copy for people when I
give them an insight into the wonderful world of the
legendary pink dots. It begins with some wandering
electronics and stretches into the most beautiful chorus i
have ever heard. The saxaphone soon starts and you are
taken on a trip to another universe somewhere or other.
Brilliant.
"Ghosts of unborn children" is a bit of a strange-un.
Just when you think its going to be a brooding ambient
piece it melts into a quiet Ed symphony. Then it goes a
bit spooky, and travels down a murky lane in a medieval
town somewhere. Practically four songs in one. What fun
"City of needles" is another stunner. Reminded me a bit
of Einsturzende Neubauten's "feurrio". Eds seeting
vocals build on top of an industrial collage of a
shimmering bass line and all manner of weird sounds
and bleeps. Not one your gran would like.
"Stiching Time" is another one with the sitar guitar on.
In some parts the vocals are so clear and up-front that
Ed could almost be in the same room. But I doubt it.
"Twilight hour" is probably the worst track on the
album. But its still pretty good. Its just that it doesnt
seem to go anywhere. Never mind.
Back to action with "The key to heaven". Some oriental
guitars and some smashingly good electronics set the
pace. Towards the end it develops into a bit of a funk
and blues extravaganza. But lovely all the same.
"Laughing guest" is sort of countryside robin hood style
music, you know? Except that it is set on the moon
probably. And the aliens kill the birds that are singing
and trample on all the nice flowers. Then they compose a
soundtrack for a wildlife sanctuary on a space station
far, far away.
Second to last is "Prague Spring" and is basically an
emotional wee piano tune, with some horns and violins
thrown in. Then the guitar comes and they all die.
The final track(Leper colony) is really good because it
has this trumpet like sound which is reminicent of the
trumpet from the Banshees "Your History" from a while
back. OOhh memories. Anyway it is a carefully crafted
collage of sound and a fitting end to a wonderful CD.
In short this is a must for anyone out there who is vagely
interested in Eddie and Co.
Review by Graeme
gbaillie@cs.strath.ac.uk
Rex <richwill@xsite.net>
Shadow Weaver (PIAS, 1992) is the first in a short line of Pink Dotsreleases to actively opt for a more organic, less electronic sound. As the
pieces are still drenched in melancholic synth and elaborate on the
psychedelics of the last album, the difference is hardly noticeable.
Additionally, the electronics are hardly absent, as seen on the strikingly
creepy tour-de-force "City of Needles." Other standouts include the
self-deprecating "Guilty Man," the trancey, existential "The Key to Heaven,"
and the minimal "Leper Colony," which is perhaps prime Ka-Spel at his most
desolate. Although a solid and impressive collection, there is an element of
fun missing which made the earlier albums so endearing. One of the darker
LPD releases, Shadow Weaver also relates a vague concept about a person
locked inside himself; the concept is continued on the studio album of the
following year.