We ran into Geoff Barrow after Beak>‘s Bowery Ballroom show the other day and he simply could not stop talking about another project that has nothing to do with Portishead: the self-titled debut of Anika, a political journalist who doesn’t sing so much as project strange vibes (think: Nico caught in a K-hole). According to Stones Throw, Anika’s album (due out this December) was “recorded in twelve days, live, with [Beak> and Anika] in one room. Dub with no overdubs. The collaboration is political, trashy, dub, punk, funk…a cohesive sound, and an experience in uneasy listening.”
As he told us in an exclusive interview, Barrow has always been heavily into hip-hop–especially the alien MPC transmissions of Madlib–so his presence on Stones Throw makes more sense than you might think. That said, he isn’t planning on recruiting any of the label’s producers for Anika remixes just yet. If anything gets dropped beyond the album, it’ll be extended dub versions of some key cuts since Anika’s approach is very much in line with the no-wave/punk-funk movement that was tailor made for disco edits and dub plates.
For now, here’s Anika’s take on Yoko Ono (“Yang Yang”) and the complete tracklisting to her cover-driven LP…
Anika:
1. Terry
2. Yang Yang
3. End of the World
4. Masters of War
5. Officer Officer
6. Sadness Hides The Sun
7. No One’s There
8. I Go To Sleep
9. Masters of War (Dub)
