Hierophant Nox

ALBUM REVIEW

Anni Hogan - Kickabye
Coldspring
I have been waiting for this Anni Hogan album for feels like a lifetime, and now its here? I’m not actually sure what to say about it. Yes its true, Satanic Muttley is finally lost for words! If you’re expecting the pure industrial dehumanised heartbeat I’d normally be expected to rave about… this won’t be anything like you’re ready for. Here instead is a collection of off kilter jazz/torch song/alternative piano led pieces, that will most likely confuse more ‘weekend’ Goths/Industrialists than will be enticed.
If you’re not already familiar with Anni, here is a sort of simplified breakdown of who she is, what she does, and why she’s so seminally important: Anni was one of THE original "Batcave" club DJ’s – she became revered simply through that… at first anyway. From there, she became a producer, arranger, songwriter, scene promoter etc. Her musical artistic resume is also breathtaking! Soft Cell, Tes Dept, Japan, Bad Seeds, Caged Baby, The The, Einsturzende Neuboaten, Paul Weller, Sex Gang Children… and many others.
Now given Anni’s past work with the likes of Marc Almond, Nick Cave, Yello, Lydia Lunch etc, perhaps you shouldn’t be too surprised at all at the left of centre approach taken here. Anni’s fluid and dexterous piano playing drives practically everything that effectively ‘is’ disc one, and it can be pretty jarring at times – its not meant as easy listening. You will also not be overly surprised to hear Messrs Cave, Almond, Gini Ball, Budgie (Siouxsie/Creatures), and Jim (Foetus) Thirwell appearing here. One friend commented that it was "not dissimilar to The Dresden Dolls…on a very bad acid trip!" ahem. I personally disagreed vigorously - bad tempered words were heatedly exchanged - tempers were frayed - we finally (for the sake of our friendship) "agreed to disagree" Ahem…Moving swiftly along…
Had my misguided friend bothered to wait for the second disc of this 2CD set, he would have had to eat his words (or so to speak). The second ‘set’ features Anni effectively ‘fronting’ Yello – and it is a very different prospect indeed. Bigger on both brass and strings, more melodic and directly accessible – dare I say the ‘pop’ word? Where the first disc features the aforementioned Messrs Almond, Cave, and other alternative luminaries too, and is quite ‘difficult’ to access, this second disc is utterly the opposite, it feels (to me anyway) to be a curious mixture of ‘80’s alternative and ‘60’s psychedelic pop… but it works either way.
In summation, quirky, diverse, both enchanting yet conversely disturbing, and well off the beaten track, "Kickabye" is a welcome diversion to the world of avant garde and to all things strange and not very normal at all! Come on in… the water is strangely sparkly…