In 1984 when ?Laugh China Doll? and ?Dance, China Doll? first appeared, it was difficult enough to try and suss the Legendary Pink Dots. For the few, the proud, the brave who actually had some of the early cassettes, it was apparent that LPDs had some serious avant-garde habits. For those who only had the LPD records as cosmological references, the progressive accents left a bizarre and refreshing taste in the midst of the early post wave synth landscape. So what now of all this China Doll business? Dance and Laugh shone like antebellum LPDs at the edges, but the Ka-Spel core proved a legendary dot of another colour. Edward off the LPD clock of those days had a more stripped down, economical sound. His brand of electro-minimalism, however, had nothing to do with the cold-wave synthers swarming en the buzzing, logues, electronic swells, sounds like broken down calliopes, and, yes, an a capella intimate, deeply engaging environment full of sonic movement. Always some fading loop or chirping trill or voices in the pockets. Envelopes and parameters shifting mid-song felt like levitation had finally been patented. A thus was the ante of the universe upped in 1984.