''The Crushed Velvet Apocalypse'' is an album by the Anglo-Dutch band
the Legendary Pink Dots
The Legendary Pink Dots (aka LPD) are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. In 1984, the band moved to Amsterdam, playing with rotating musicians and having, as core members, singer/songwriter/keyboardist Edwar ...
, released in 1990. The album is a cult fan favorite. Niels van Hoorn contributed on flute, saxophones, and clarinet.
Critical reception
The ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' wrote: "Using instrumentation that includes electronics, guitar, sitar, flute and oboe, the longtime-cult-favorite Pink Dots craft a sometimes-stark, sometimes-elegant, sometimes-dreamy outing of neo-psychedelia and alternative pop that's imbued with a pronounced eccentricity of vision and a captivating originality of execution."
[ '']Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...
'' noted that "Green Gang" "runs sitar/tabla meanderings into twittering flutes and winds up building a quietly disturbing skein of motorway noise."
In 2016, ''LA Weekly
''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...
'' included ''Crushed Velvet Apocalypse'' on its list of classic goth albums. '' Salt Lake City Weekly'' called the music "lush, luxurious and sensual, yet also dark and sinister, with a sense of mysticism that is foreboding more than comforting."
Track listing
(*) Not included on LP and cassette editions – taken from the ''Princess Coldheart'' 12".
(+) Unreleased CD bonus track.
Personnel
*Qa'Sepel ( Edward Ka-Spel) – voices, keyboards
*The Silver Man (Phil Knight) – keyboards, samples, devices, percussion
*Bob Pistoor – guitars, sitar, bass
*Niels van Hoorn – flute, saxophones, bass clarinet
*Hanz Myer – electronics, oboe, tymphanis
Additional personnel
*Hanz Myre – engineer
Notes
*The SPV edition contains different artwork than that of the other editions.
*The album title references the Velvet Revolution of Czechoslovakia in 1989.
*The Safe Way references a grocery store on the west coast of the United States.
References
{{Authority control
The Legendary Pink Dots albums
1990 albums
Caroline Records albums