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Punk pioneers Crass continue their vinyl reissue series, re-pressing their limited releases by adjacent artists through Crass Records. The series, including over twenty bands and solo artists recorded at the legendary Southern Studios and produced by Penny Rimbaud, continues with two more historic pieces from the Crass Records catalogue; ‘Barbed Wire Halo’ by Annie Anxiety and ‘Neu Smell’ by Flux of Pink Indians.
“Trying to categorise Annie Anxiety is a futile task… [she] exudes a magnetic presence on anything she’s contributed to” The Vinyl Factory
New York City musical maverick and performance artist Annie Anxiety, aka Little Annie aka Annie Bandez, began her illustrious career (including work with Adrian Sherwood, Coil, Current 93, and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry) with Crass. They released her first solo single, 1981’s ‘Barbed Wire Halo’ alongside ‘Cyanide Tears’, an extraordinarily prescient piece of jagged electronics, samples, and skeletal rhythms, led by Annie’s nightmarish vocals.
She tells us; “When creating this single with Penny I hadn’t heard the word ‘avant-guard’ nor could I spell it - I only got explained ‘concretism’ via an interview I did in Berlin regarding some of my work three years ago - My father was a printer so I grew up with sound of printing press and subway train beats and always heard melodies and cross rhythms within those beats - I was just making dance music / disco tunes to my mind and Pen heard those same tunes I was hearing - my first recording, in retrospect I guess, was pretty ‘out there’ at its release, but to us it was dance floor for a club yet to be invented- one day”.
Penny Rimbaud expands; “Annie Anxiety is a total enigma, a passionate voice in the wilderness of consensual reason. Dada in instinct, Monroe in affection, Rambo in inflection, Annie rams it home with divine thunder. An instigator and innovator, she’s the bonkers angel of Yonkers, NYC. With no time to spare, Annie takes to the road with complete conviction, overtaking Kerouac halfway down 5th Avenue. Catch her if you can”.
Tracklist
A: Hello Horror
B: Cyanide Tears