Anhai
Country of origin:
Canada
Type of music generally:
Loud, alternative rocking, experimental. One of the beautiful and fierce. (Neile)
Status:
Most recent release, See You See Me (single, 2009).
See also:
Anhai's MySpace page
Comparisons:
Diamanda Galas, Kathleen Yearwood, Björk, Mari Boine. (Neile)
Covers/own material:
Own
General comments:
Kinda like Diamanda Galas doing solo guitar alternative/folk/rock. The sound is very individual, harsh & lyrical at once. Strong use of rhythm guitar and her powerful multi-octave voice. (Neile)Man, this woman can do things with her voice I never thought possible. I'm afraid her music is a little bit too far out and experimental for my tastes, but it could be that I just need some time to absorb it—it's like nothing else I've ever heard. (kamesan@geocities.com)
Comments about live performance:
Let's just say that she's got a beat-up old acoustic guitar with a metal plate across the hole under the strings (gotta love these technical terms :), which she abuses incessantly, all the while emitting noises no human should be able to intentionally make. She's supposedly singing in English, but you'd never know it. She's most definitely unique. (meth@smoe.org)
Recommended first album:
Any and all!
Recordings:
- Anhai (cassette-only release, 1994)
- live performance, Bremen, Germany (live ep, 2008)
- See You See Me (single, 2009)
Anhai
Release info:
1994—no label info on J-card—ACC-49506 (cassette only)
Availability:
Toronto, Canada only
Ecto priority:
Recommended for those who like the experimental edges of rock
Group members:
Anhai—vocals, rhythm guitar
Backing musicians:
Nilan Perera—lead, prepared and slide guitar
Don Kerr—cello, talking drum, drums, and bass
also with Kurt Swinghammer, George Koller, John Wyre
Comments:
This is a powerful collection, especially "Imagination" which has stuck with me a long time—it's the kind of song that makes you grab the tape because you need to hear it again. And again. (Neile)
live performance, Bremen, Germany
Release info:
2008—self-released
Availability:
Unknown
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended for fans of the unusual
Group members:
Anhai—vocals, rhythm guitar
Guest artists:
George Koller—bass guitar, lead bass guitar, African trumpet, additional vocals on track 1
Don Kerr—drums, Tibetan bells, cello, chimes, wind sound
Produced by:
"Recorded live performance by German National Broadcast"
Comments:
A five-song ep recorded live for the Women in Emotion Festival in Bremen, Germany. This is such astonishing music and a singular performance of it. Being there to see this must have been amazing. Listening to this she sounds like a force of nature. Not easy listening, but awe-inspiring. My only wish is that she had done "Imagination," too. Still, I'm grateful for what we have here. (Neile)
See You See Me single
Release info:
2009—self-released
Availability:
Unknown
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended for fans of the unusual
Group members:
Anhai—vocals, guitar, Tibetan bells
Guest artists:
George Koller—bass
Comments:
Three tracks. "See You See Me" is a clever, beautifully constructed song, every bit as brilliant as the song "imagination" which first caught my attention on Anhai's first release. Terrific stuff, powerful and odd. Only "Heart of Winter Calling" wasn't on her first cassette release--"See You See Me" and "heart Warm Up" were both on it. (Neile)
