Anna Domino (born 1955, Anna Virginia Taylor) is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

artist based in New York and Los Angeles who released several albums for Les Disques du Crepuscule and

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Duru ...

in the 1980s and 1990s. Domino has collaborated with musicians such as Matt Johnson of

The The () are an English post-punk band. They have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer-songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles ...

Stephin Merritt Stephin Raymond Merritt (born February 9, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the songwriter and principal singer of the bands the Magnetic Fields, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. He is ...

in The Sixths,

Blaine L. Reininger Blaine Leslie Reininger (born July 10, 1953 in Pueblo, Colorado) is an American post-punk, new-wave and alternative pop singer, songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist (particularly violin), writer and performer. He is known for being a membe ...

and Steven Brown of

Tuxedomoon Tuxedomoon is an experimental, post-punk, new wave band from San Francisco, California, United States. The band formed in the late 1970s at the beginning of the punk rock movement. Pulling influence from punk and electronic music, the group, or ...

Virginia Astley Virginia Astley (born 26 September 1959) is an English singer-songwriter most active during the 1980s and 1990s. Her songwriting career started in 1980. Her classical training influenced her as did a desire to be experimental with her music. Alt ...

Luc van Acker Luc Van Acker is a Belgian singer, songwriter, and music producer. He began writing and releasing solo material in 1982, contributed guitar on Shriekback's 1984 album ''Jam Science'', and collaborated with Anna Domino on the track " Zanna" for h ...

and

Ultramarine Ultramarine is a deep blue color pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. The name comes from the Latin ''ultramarinus'', literally 'beyond the sea', because the pigment was imported into Europe from mines in Afgh ...

. She is also one half of the duo Snakefarm. Her stage name was borrowed from the Domino Sugar company in NY and is also a play on the term

Anno Domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...

Background

Domino was born in an American military hospital in Tokyo, Japan in 1955. Her father, James J. P. Taylor, was a private in the U.S. army translating for

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

, stationed in Yokohama, who went on to become a

videographer Videography is the process of capturing moving images on electronic media (e.g., videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage) and even streaming media. The term includes methods of video production and post-production. It used ...

documenting the performing arts in the Washington, D.C. area. Her mother, Mimi Cazort, was a Curator Emerita at the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

. Her brother, Alan Taylor, is a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

based in New York City. During her childhood and adolescence the family moved frequently, starting in Tokyo, Japan and winding up in Ottawa, Canada. Her mother studied art history at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

and then moved with her children to live first in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Italy, while she did research for her dissertation, and then to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Canada, where she worked for the National Gallery as curator of the Department of Prints and Drawings. Though quite shy as a child, Anna was also a bit of a show off and her hobby of memorizing and reciting comedy records in high school led to her expulsion shortly before graduation. Leaving high school, Anna and her best friend Shelley McCreadie set off for several years of unsupervised exploration. Their adventures hitch-hiking across the US and down through Mexico, left her with a stubborn conviction in the basic decency of humanity. Anna followed up with several years of study at Toronto's

Ontario College of Art and Design Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within d ...

where she focused on sound recording, video editing and hologram photography. In 1977 Anna travelled to New York City for a two-week visit and stayed for 20 years.

Solo

Early in her career Domino played with a number of New York City bands but she was determined to find an outlet for her own song writing. In 1982, a cassette of original songs recorded by Anna in her bedroom was picked up by the Belgian record label

Les Disques du Crépuscule Les Disques du Crépuscule is an independent record label founded in Belgium. The label was founded in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré. It also had a prominent associated sublabel, Factory Benelux. Both are now run by former employee Ja ...

, who brought her to Brussels to work in an actual recording studio. Crépuscule released a single in 1983 titled "Trust In Love", followed by the EP "East and West" and a 12" single "‘Rythm’", in 1984. In 1986, her first full-length album "Anna Domino" was released. In the summer of 1986 she put together a band and headed off on a three-month tour of Europe. During this tour Anna got to know Michel Delory, guitarist for

Bel Canto Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing. The phrase was not associat ...

and Univers Zéro, and they collaborated on her second album "This Time", which garnered further positive critical attention and airplay. In 1989, Domino released another EP called "Colouring In the Edge and the Outline", followed by her third album "Mysteries of America" in 1990, her last with the Crepuscule label. Domino then returned to New York full-time and was joined by Michel Delory. They were married in 1992. 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 were "The Light Downtown" and "Wonderkey" as well as a new version of her song "‘Rythm’". A short tour of Europe in early 2013 sparked new interest in Domino's work and some welcome encouragement to finish unreleased material dear to her heart. Anna Domino is working on an album of new songs as well as another volume of traditional American ballads for Snakefarm (see below).

Snakefarm

In 1999 Domino and Delory formed the

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

outfit Snakefarm, with the idea of subjecting traditional American ballads to updated arrangements. They released an album, "Songs From My Funeral" in 1999, on Kneeling Elephant/BMG in the US, available on LTM UK. Their second album "My Halo At Half-Light" was released in 2011 on the Fledg’ling label in the UK.

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 "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" is a 1966 song written by Smokey Robinson. It was a hit single in 1967 for the American girl group The Marvelettes for the Motown label, from their self-titled album released that same year. In 1980, Jamaican ...

" 7" (A side is edited version)

Snakefarm

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

References

External links

Anna Domino biography
at LTM Recordings *
Ectophile Guide to Good Music entryOfficial Facebook page
on EnT-T {{DEFAULTSORT:Domino, Anna Musicians from Tokyo Living people American electronic musicians American women singer-songwriters Factory Records artists American women in electronic music 1955 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American women guitarists 21st-century American women