Scanner
& Anni Hogan – Scanni (SFE)
CD
/ DL
26
February 2016
8
/ 10
Pianist and electronic musician collaborate on
first album together.
An interesting meeting perhaps of pianist and
arranger Anni Hogan (famed for her work with the vastly underrated Marc & The Mambas) with musician and sample Scanner (Robin Rimbaud). A partnership which holds much intrigue and
interest, and one which maybe has a lot to live up to before even a note has
been played.
The resulting ten tracks, nine of which feature
a guest artist were exchanged digitally between the two parties over a period
of two years. This method of recording
is of course advantageous and can create interesting results. The opening track A Life Well Lived has some
sumptuous vocals from Kate Smith of Barbieshop over a happy-go-lucky beat and
seedy trumpet maybe reminiscent of early Soft Cell work. It’s a promising opening although maybe could
have been trimmed by thirty seconds to avoid starting to sound repetitive.
Smith also features on two other tracks, the
simple piano heavy Mine Was Full Of Tears in all its haunting beauty, and a
duet with none other than Kraftwerk man (machine) Wolfgang Flur who provides
spoken voice over a view of Hastings. It
offers a lovely interlude towards the end of the album and again features the
trumpet of Louis Armstrong mentored Enrico Tomasso.
When the non-meeting of the pair works, it
works well, but sometimes it is obvious that two tracks have almost been
‘forced’ slightly and don’t always work.
One such track is Future with Jennifer John. With hints of Alison Moyet, she provides
strong vocals over a backing which doesn’t quite seem to fit. Her other contribution on Glorious seems to
work better and the singer who has worked with the likes of Elton John and
George Michael is able to show off a quite remarkable voice.
One other such voice sees the return of Thomas
Lang (Alone and With You In My Life) whose 1987 album Scallywag Jaz sparked
incredible interest in a voice that actually gave justice to Bill Paul’s Me And
Mrs Jones. His two vocals are faultless
and the jazz-pop man contributes two of the albums finest tracks particularly
the later which closes the album stunningly.
Remaining vocals come from Jarboe of Swans whose
angelic tones add uplift to Carelessly and Cinecitta (Feel Everything) which
are haunting balladesque moments.
Scanni is a brave album containing some elegant
alternative pop the like of which is rarely heard, and shows great promise for
a partnership that can bear some intriguing fruits in times to come.
Links
SFE Records
Scanni website
Anni Hogan on Bandcamp
Anni Hogan on Twitter
Anni Hogan on Facebook
Scanner website
Scanner on Twitter
Marc Almond on hiapop Blog
Alison Moyet on hiapop Blog
Published on Louder Than War 27/02/16 - here
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