Described as "part two of the Aaazhyd trilogy," referring to one of Ka-Spel's earlier solo efforts, Khataclimici China Doll finds Ka-Spel and company, in this case one Stret Majest Alarme on various instruments and Legendary Pink Dots collaborator the Silver Man on clangs, in attractively dark... [+] Expand

Described as "part two of the Aaazhyd trilogy," referring to one of Ka-Spel's earlier solo efforts, Khataclimici China Doll finds Ka-Spel and company, in this case one Stret Majest Alarme on various instruments and Legendary Pink Dots collaborator the Silver Man on clangs, in attractively dark form. Consisting of seven tracks, Khataclimici China Doll has a deeper, denser feeling in comparison to some of the earlier solo effort percussion hits, slamming rather pulsing, heavily echoed, and looped howls crawling out of the mix and other off-kilter touches cropping up throughout. Even the comparatively minimal "The Shadow Box," opening with just a recurring chime and Ka-Spel's voice before some dramatic keyboards appear later, sounds like it was recorded in a mysterious cavern. As always with Ka-Spel's solo work, the rock-oriented throb of the Pink Dots is set aside in favor of an electronic collage, though Alarme does add the occasional feedback squall here and there. "Hotel Rouge," in contrast, has a perfectly psychedelic electric guitar loop at its core, treated to almost sound like a sitar, while Ka-Spel's softly echoed purr slips among the keyboard fanfares like a delicate dream before the song shifts into a trippy extended coda full of bells and muffled string synths. "Another Tango," perhaps best of all the songs, captures the sense of looming, just-around-the-corner threat of destruction so often invoked in Ka-Spel's work, the slow-building bass pulse and ghostly keyboards mixing with Alarme's heavily treated guitar work beautifully and creepily at once. In a nice touch, the seemingly carefree opening of the increasingly fractured "Dotz Song" has the longtime Pink Dots/Ka-Spel motto as the core lyric: "Sing while you may." Later CD releases include the nearly half-hour-long "Tszrnikowskiyarrh the Baptist," a gripping, dark collage, as a bonus. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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