Anna Domino

Anna Domino (born 1955 as Anna Virginia Taylor) is an American indie rock artist based mainly in Europe who released several albums under that moniker, notably for Les Disques du Crepuscule and Factory Records. Notable performers Domino has collaborated with include The The, Blaine L. Reininger and Virginia Astley. She is also one half of the duo Snakefarm. Additionally, she sang lead vocals on the song "Here In My Heart" by The 6ths on their album Wasps' Nests.

Anna Domino
Birth nameAnna Virginia Taylor
Also known asAnna Virginia Taylor Delory
Born1955 (age 64–65)
OriginTokyo, Japan
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician, Vocalist, Songwriter
InstrumentsVocals, Guitar, Keyboards
Years active1984–current
LabelsCrépuscule
EnT-T
LTM
Fledg'ling
Associated actsSnakefarm
WebsiteFacebook page

Her stage name is a play on the term Anno Domini.[2]

Background

Domino was born in an American military hospital in Tokyo, Japan in 1955. Her father, James J. Taylor, was a private in the U.S. army translating for Voice of America, stationed in Yokohama, who subsequently held numerous jobs before becoming a videographer in Washington, D.C.. Her mother, Mimi Cazort, was curator emerita for the National Gallery of Canada. Her brother, Alan Taylor, is a successful film and television director.

Anna performed for parents and friends from an early age. Reciting comedy records in high school got her expelled and she never graduated. During her childhood and adolescence, the family (without her father) moved frequently. After studying art history at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Domino's mother took her children to live first in Florence, Italy, while she did research for her dissertation, and then Ottawa, Canada, where she found employment. Leaving high school, Anna and her best friend set off for several years of hitch-hiking through the US and Mexico, followed by several years studying electronics and sound recording at Toronto's Ontario College of Art and Design. In 1977 Anna travelled to New York City for a two-week visit and stayed for 20 years.

Recordings

Solo

Early in her career, Domino sang with a number of New York City bands, but didn't catch the attention of American record labels until she had released several albums with the Belgian record label Les Disques du Crépuscule, releasing a single in 1983, Trust In Love. Two E.P. releases, East and West and Rythm, followed in short order. In 1986, her first full-length album Anna Domino was released. In 1987, she met Michel Delory, guitarist for Bel Canto and Univers Zéro, and they collaborated on her second album This Time, which received positive critical attention and airplay in Japan. In 1989, Domino released another E.P., Colouring In the Edge and the Outline followed by her third album Mysteries of America in 1990. Since then Domino has not released any further albums under her own name—other than compilations, re-releases on the label LTM and a few new songs—due to intractable disputes with publisher.

In 2010 Anna Domino released two new songs on a compilation that included a number of her Crepuscule colleagues. The album was called "After Twilight" and the songs are The Light Downtown, Wonderkey and a new version of the song 'Rhythm'.

Also in 2010, Domino recorded two versions of Suzanne Vega’s classic Blood Makes noise for the Allergy To Consciousness singles series that was released on minimalist independent label EnT-T.

In January 2012, she collaborated with producer/remixer Dub Mentor on the single Johnny - which is based on the traditional When Johnny Comes Marching Home and Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya (also released on EnT-T). Domino also made the video for the song.

A short tour of Europe in early 2013 sparked new interest in Domino's work, giving her the opportunity to record again and the hope of realising projects in theatre and film. A few months later, the death of a good friend, a surprise legacy and a number of other shocks and demises, followed by the loss of her mother in early 2014, sidelined these ambitions.

On 2019, she was featured on Dub Mentor’s rendition of her classic Lake. Domino re-recorded the vocals for one of the versions and the second version, a spoken word version, featured the vocals of Stephen Mallinder. The double single was also released on EnT-T.

On February 2020, she guested on Hysteria (Wuhan Fight Dub) by producer Dub Mentor, a track that was conceived on the way back from troubled China, and came to life later at the studio.

Anna Domino is expected to return with new music.

Snakefarm

In 1999 Domino and Delory formed the folk rock alternative outfit Snakefarm and released the album Songs From My Funeral, a collection of traditional American ballads in the public domain. Their second album My Halo At Half-Light was released on October 11, 2011.[3]

Selected discography

Anna Domino

Albums
  • East and West (Crépuscule, 1984)
  • Anna Domino (Crépuscule, 1986)
  • This Time (Crépuscule, 1987)
  • Colouring in the Edge and the Outline (mini album, Crépuscule, 1988)
  • L'Amour fou (compilation, Crépuscule, 1989)
  • Mysteries of America (Crépuscule, 1990)
  • Favourite Songs from the Twilight Years (US-compilation - Janken Pon, 1997)
  • Dreamback: Best Of (LTM, 2004)

Singles
  • Blood Makes Noise (EnT-T, 2010)
  • Johnny (EnT-T, 2012)
  • Lake (EnT-T, 2019)

12" Singles
  • "Trust in love" / "Repeating" (Crépuscule, 1983)
  • "Rythm" / "Target" (Crépuscule, 1984)
  • "Take that" / "Koo Koo" (Crépuscule, 1985)
  • "Lake" / "Hammer" (Crépuscule, 1987)
  • "Tempting" / "Always Always" (Crépuscule, 1988)

Vinyl releases on Factory Records
  • FACT 165 Anna Domino LP
  • FAC 158 "Summer" (Arthur Baker Remix) / "Summer" (Arthur Baker Instrumental) 12"
  • FAC 158/7 "Summer" (Arthur Baker Remix) / "The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game" 7" (A side is edited version)[4]

Snakefarm
  • Songs From My Funeral (Kneeling Elephant, 1999)
  • My Halo At Half-Light (Fledg'ling Records 2011)

References
  1. Khan, Imran (29 October 2013). "The Domino Effect: An interview with Anna Domino". PopMatters. Retrieved 29 April 2016. Anna Domino made a tiny dent in the alternative music scene of the '80s with her moody, literate art-pop.
  2. Anna Domino 2015
  3. "Snakefarm - My Halo At Half-Light CD". CD Universe. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  4. "Vinylnet Record Label Discographies".
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