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Anna Domino \ East & West [TWI 187]

East & West is the first album by Anna Domino, originally released by Crépuscule in 1984, and newly expanded on vinyl and 2xCD.

Anna's poised, and poignant, debut set was recorded at Daylight Studio, Brussels with guest contributions from Virginia Astley, Blaine L. Reininger (of Tuxedomoon) and Luc Van Acker. The five tracks on the original mini-album include her first single, Trust In Love (an NME single of the week), as well as a beguiling cover of Aretha Franklin's Land Of My Dreams.

Rare b-side track Repeating concludes the studio component. This is followed on disc one by seven live tracks professionally recorded at Parco in Tokyo, Japan, in January 1987. The band includes guitarist Michel Delory, and Alan Rankine on keyboards. Highlights here include two otherwise unrecorded songs (Change and Just Too Much), as well as an expansive 12 minute version of Caught.

The vinyl edition is currently available on black or red vinyl direct from LDDC (but red vinyl only in the stores). If you have a preference please email us when you place your order.

The 2020 CD edition includes a bonus second disc, North & South, featuring vocal cameos and covers recorded by Anna between 1984 and 2020. These include collaborations with Luc Van Acker, Marc Moulin, Kid Montana, Stanton Miranda, Jean-Michel Basquiat, The The, Stephin Merritt, Buscemi, Ultramarine and The Hood.

Artwork by Joel Van Audenhaege, with liner notes by Anna.

2xCD tracklist (TWI 187 CD)

Disc 1:

1. With the Day Comes the Dawn
2. Land Of My Dreams
3. Review
4. Everyday I Don't
5. Trust, In Love
6. Repeating
7. 'Rythm' (live)
8. My Man (live)
9. Take That (live)
10. Change (live)
11. Just Too Much (live)
12. She Walked (live)
13. Caught (live)

Disc 2:

1. Zanna (w. Luc van Acker)
2. Dreamback (w. Stanton Miranda)
3. Crime (w. Jean-Michel Basquiat)
4. Scat (w. Marc Moulin)
5. Joey Came Home (w. Kid Montana)
6. Here In My Heart (w. Stephin Merritt)
7. Pome On Dr Sax (w. Jack Kerouac)
8. December Sunlight (w. The The)
9. Pillar Box Red (w. The The)
10. The Light Downtown
11. Marbletown Girl (w. Snakefarm)
12. Arithmetic (w. Ultramarine)
13. Beautiful As Sorrow (w. Buscemi)
14. Spark From Flint to Clay (w. Ultramarine)
15. She Keeps (w. The Hood)

Vinyl LP tracklist (TWI 187)

A1. With the Day Comes the Dawn
A2. Land Of My Dreams
A3. Review
A4. Everyday I Don't
B1. Trust, In Love
B2. Repeating
B3. Zanna
B4. 'Rythm'
B5. Dreamback (demo)

MP3 + FLAC tracklist:

1. With the Day Comes the Dawn
2. Land Of My Dreams
3. Review
4. Everyday I Don't
5. Trust, In Love
6. Repeating
7. 'Rythm' (live)
8. My Man (live)
9. Take That (live)
10. Change (live)
11. Just Too Much (live)
12. She Walked (live)
13. Caught (live)

Available on vinyl, 2xCD and digital (MP3 + FLAC). CDs ordered from LDDC are slipcased. To order any format please first select correct shipping option (UK, Europe or Rest of World) and then click on Add To Cart button below cover image. Digital copies are delivered to customers by link sent via email.

Or, you can order with the option of tracked shipping from our friends at Burning Shed (click here to order)

Reviews:

"It's a bit surprising Anna Domino did not get more recognition and college radio airplay at the time. East and West + Singles presents a low-key, sultry, somnambulant, cosmopolitan art pop. It fits right in with what one might expect from the high-class Les Disques du Crepuscule label, which also released music from Paul Haig, Cabaret Voltaire, and the Durutti Column. Furthermore, the sound will be instantly familiar to anyone who is acquainted with fellow '80s purveyors of sophisticated art pop. East and West slots in effortlessly with the likes of Kate Bush, Julee Cruise, Bryan Ferry, and Peter Gabriel.

Like those artists, Domino makes pop music that sounds like it was created with a canvas rather than a recording studio. There are tribal polyrhythms, chilled-out horns, twangy guitar, and a steadily ticking drum machine, and that's just the intro of first track With the Day Comes the Dawn. It is a bewitching, evocative bed of sound onto which Domino's pleasant, laconic voice drops effortlessly. All that's missing is a David Lynch movie to go with it. Even better is the stunning version of Aretha Franklin's Land of My Dreams. Domino takes the swing and the soul out of the song, replacing it with keyboards that circle back on themselves claustrophobically. In place of Aretha's brassy emoting is Domino's naked, fragile croon. When she sings, "In the land of my dreams / You would love me so much more", it is with sadness rather than determination. She truly makes the song her own" (Popmatters, 05/2017)

"Originally released as a mini-album in 1984, East and West finally gets an expanded vinyl reissue on its parent label some 33 years later. And you know what - this stylish debut sounds more contemporary than most of the bedroom geeks knocking out lo-fi electro-pop today. This timely vinyl reissue includes the stately electro-pop of Review, the heady cover of Aretha Franklin's Land of my Dreams and the eerie Eastern influenced With the Day Comes the Dawn and the b-side (B-SIDE!!??!!) Repeating, as well as a slew of musical guests from the era, including Ravishing Beauty and John Foxx/Ryuichi Sakamoto cohort Virginia Astley, Tuxedomoon's Blaine L. Reininger and engineer extraordinaire Gilles Martin. It sounds like it was jammed in a squat, rehearsed in a light-starved studio and recorded while being fuelled by copious amounts of strong Belgian beer. And it probably was, judging by the revealing sleevenotes. It's great.

"In addition there's the similar-period electro-crunk of Zanna recorded with Luc van Acker and a curio demo variant of hard-to-find outtake Dreamback, recorded with Thick Pigeon's Stanton Miranda. I'm not sure what Rythm is doing here - it appeared as a single sometime after and fronted the first of her full-length albums so maybe it's presented as a transitional piece - it's so great anyway, you could include it on any Domino retrospective without embarrassment. Sleeve is replicated from the original on the front, rejigged on the rear with notes and credits - looks pristine as usual and way ahead of its indie peers of the age. Get. 9/10" (Flipside, 04/2017)

"The way Anna lingers out desire, as if wounded by apprehension, is quite exquisite" (NME, 11/1983)

"The wounded fragility of Anna's voice is a definite plus. Her approach is not a million miles away from The Raincoats, which is obviously no bad thing" (Melody Maker, 12/1983)

"Land Of My Dreams is a song of thrilling poignancy and confident, lonely calm" (NME, 03/1984)

"Tender panache, intoxicating sound" (Melody Maker, 04/1985)

"Fans of femme folk-new wave (Raincoats, Young Marble Giants etc) should check out this mini album even though the artist floats her lyricism in a gentle electronic wash, and doesn't appear to hail from Britannia. Me, I'm a fan of early Tom Tom Club, Velvets-era Nico, and Maureen Tucker singing Afterhours. Hypnotic with no cosmic aspirations, she could be labelled spaced out, but in a dreamy, nicely sophisticated way" (Robert Christgau, 1984)

"Though East and West record definitely has its poppy and appealing elements, there is also a pronounced air of slight unreality and a dreamlike, floating feel - moving possibly onwards towards nightmares. Tuxedomoon's Blaine L. Reininger contributes, perhaps bringing with him the mild sense of unease perfected in his parent group's quieter moments. However there's no doubt that Anna Domino was taking things in her own unique direction. There's a great version of Aretha Franklin's Land Of My Dreams, while Everyday I Don't resembles what I imagine a slightly more jaunty Nico would have sounded like: beautiful but full of regret. Repeating, the flip of single Trust In Love, has a strangely Eastern European/Polka flavour, with a very infectious groove that houses a world-weary song of cheating and deception.

"Subsequent single Zanna is also added here and features Domino duetting with electro titan Luc Van Acker - a good record that builds from a basic clip-clop percussion. The deliberately misspelt 'Rythm', recorded with Telex founder Marc Moulin, houses a swing-style ballad in some appealing electronica. This collection concludes with the previously unissued 1984 demo of a song called Dream Back, recorded with Stanton Miranda aka Thick Pigeon. It's tough to see why this song never received exposure at the time, as it is a pleasingly smoky piece of contemporary Jazz Pop. East And West is a chance to catch the early stirrings of a long running career of an artist whose delicately crafted strangeness was both accessible and infectious. It works as fine introduction into her world, off-centre and much richer than our own" (Louder Than War, 05/2017)