Anne Clark
Encyclopedia
Anne Clark is an English
poet
and songwriter
. Her first album, The Sitting Room, was released in 1982, and she has released over a dozen album
s since then.
Her experimental music occupies a region bounded roughly by electronic
, dance
(techno applies on occasion) and possibly avant-garde
genres, with varying hard as well as romantic and orchestral styles.
Clark is mainly a spoken word
artist. Many of her lyrics deal critically with the imperfections of humanity, everyday life, and politics. Especially in her early works she has created a gloomy, melancholy
kind of atmosphere bordering on weltschmerz
.
was finding its way into London's music scene and perfectly matched Anne Clark's emotions.
Clark soon became involved with the Warehouse Theatre
, an independently financed stage for bands, that was always low on cash. Although the theater's owners initially objected to the strange, pierced punk
scene characters and their leather outfits, Anne was able to successfully arrange the program. Anne Clark managed to fill the theatre with artists like Paul Weller, Linton Kwesi Johnson
, French & Saunders
, The Durutti Column
, Ben Watt
(who is now a member of Everything But The Girl
), and many others. She experimented with music and lyrics herself and first appeared on stage in Richard Strange
's Cabaret Futura with Depeche Mode
.
In 1985, Clark released the album Pressure Points. It was created in collaboration with John Foxx
, who wrote the music and plays on the first five tracks..
In 1987, Clark went to Norway for three years, where she worked with Tov Ramstad and Ida Baalsrud, among others. In cooperation with Charlie Morgan, she released the album Unstill Life in 1991 on SPV Records. Tracks included The Moment, Unstill Life, Abuse and Empty Me. This album was also released in the USA on Radikal Records. During 1992, she released a non-album collaboration on maxi-CD (SPV) with Ida Baalsrud, who both played the violin part and co-wrote If I Could; furthermore, there was also a remix of Our Darkness included on the last track of the CD. At the very end of 1992, in December, Charlie Morgan unexpectedly died of cancer at the age of only 36, which caused many planned collaboration projects to be abandoned.
After several months of reorientation, Clark eventually released The Law is an Anagram of Wealth in 1993, once again in collaboration with Tov Ramstad; the other musicians involved were Paul Downing
, Martyn Bates (of the band Eyeless in Gaza
), and Andy Bell (not of Erasure fame but talented musician and programmer) and completed a major European Tour.
Just one year later, in 1994, Anne Clark ventured into a style that she had not experimented with before: acoustic music. This eventually culminated in the release of Psychometry (1994), which featured a concert recorded live on stage in the Passionskirche in Berlin-Kreuzberg
.
Continuously, Clark went on following her musical roots and the influences of folk and classical music. Her 1998 album, Just After Sunset, a collaboration with Martyn Bates, featured poems by German poet Rainer Maria Rilke
translated into English. This album was re-released four years later in 2002 when Clark regained the rights to the album. The re-release included some additional video footage, although it was of rather poor quality.
In 2003, another album joined her series of acoustic albums: From The Heart - Live In Bratislava, which she recorded together with Murat Parlak (vocals/piano), Jann Michael Engel (cello), Niko Lai (drums and percussion) and Jeff Aug (guitars) in Bratislava
, Slovak Republic.
In 2005, Clark joined up with the Belgian act Implant for the album Self-inflicted, on which she delivered guest vocals. The album was released via Alfa Matrix Records
, which in the meantime had become her home label outside of Germany. She also appeared on the Implant EP Too Many Puppies.
2006 saw Clark back again in the recording studio
with Implant for the EP Fade Away, on which she delivered guest vocals and performed a duet
with Leæther Strip
's Claus Larsen. And she also appeared on the album Audioblender by Implant, again released via the Alfa Matrix record label
.
In 2008 Clark was in Germany
to record her next album The Smallest Act of Kindness, which was released in September 2008.
At the end of 2010, Anne Clark released the first chapter of an on-going project Past & Future Tense, the first release on her own label, After Hours Productions.
In January 2011 Anne contributed an arrangement of the Charles Baudelaire poem Enivrez-Vous (Be Drunk) to the audio book and radio play Die Künstliche Paradiese, (Hörbuch Hamburg/Radio Bremen).
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. Her first album, The Sitting Room, was released in 1982, and she has released over a dozen album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s since then.
Her experimental music occupies a region bounded roughly by electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
(techno applies on occasion) and possibly avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
genres, with varying hard as well as romantic and orchestral styles.
Clark is mainly a spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
artist. Many of her lyrics deal critically with the imperfections of humanity, everyday life, and politics. Especially in her early works she has created a gloomy, melancholy
Melancholia
Melancholia , also lugubriousness, from the Latin lugere, to mourn; moroseness, from the Latin morosus, self-willed, fastidious habit; wistfulness, from old English wist: intent, or saturnine, , in contemporary usage, is a mood disorder of non-specific depression,...
kind of atmosphere bordering on weltschmerz
Weltschmerz
Weltschmerz is a term coined by the German author Jean Paul and denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind...
.
Early life
Anne Clark was born the daughter of an Irish mother and a Scottish father. At the age of 16, she left school. She took various jobs, one of which was as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital. Clark then got a job at the local record store (and label), Bonaparte Records. Punk rockPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
was finding its way into London's music scene and perfectly matched Anne Clark's emotions.
Clark soon became involved with the Warehouse Theatre
Warehouse Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre is a professional producing theatre with one hundred seats in the centre of the London Borough of Croydon, south London, England based in an oak-beamed former cement Victorian warehouse...
, an independently financed stage for bands, that was always low on cash. Although the theater's owners initially objected to the strange, pierced punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
scene characters and their leather outfits, Anne was able to successfully arrange the program. Anne Clark managed to fill the theatre with artists like Paul Weller, Linton Kwesi Johnson
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Linton Kwesi Johnson is a UK-based dub poet. He became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Classics series. His poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican Patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British...
, French & Saunders
French & Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
, The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England. The band is an ongoing project of guitarist Vini Reilly who is often accompanied by drummer Bruce Mitchell. Other current members are Keir Stewart and Reilly's girlfriend Poppy Morgan...
, Ben Watt
Ben Watt
Benjamin Brian Thomas Watt is a British musician, DJ, and record producer, best known as one half of the duo, Everything but the Girl.-Family:...
(who is now a member of Everything But The Girl
Everything but the Girl
Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...
), and many others. She experimented with music and lyrics herself and first appeared on stage in Richard Strange
Richard Strange
For the Jesuit, see Richard Strange Richard "Kid" Strange is an English writer, actor, musician, curator, teacher, adventurer, and the founder and front man of seminal mid-seventies protopunk art rock band Doctors of Madness.-Music:Strange's first band was Doctors of Madness, formed in 1975,...
's Cabaret Futura with Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
.
Career
In 1982, Anne Clark published her first album, The Sitting Room, with songs written by herself. On the following albums, Changing Places (1983), Joined up Writing (1984) and Hopeless Cases (1987), Clark benefited from an acquaintance from the Warehouse: keyboardist David Harrow contributed as the co-author. The songs created by this team, such as “Sleeper in Metropolis,” “Our Darkness,” and “Wallies,” have since been considered milestones of the 1980s and 1990s.In 1985, Clark released the album Pressure Points. It was created in collaboration with John Foxx
John Foxx
John Foxx is an English singer, artist, photographer and teacher. He was the original lead singer of the band Ultravox before being replaced by Midge Ure, when he left to embark on a solo career in 1979...
, who wrote the music and plays on the first five tracks..
In 1987, Clark went to Norway for three years, where she worked with Tov Ramstad and Ida Baalsrud, among others. In cooperation with Charlie Morgan, she released the album Unstill Life in 1991 on SPV Records. Tracks included The Moment, Unstill Life, Abuse and Empty Me. This album was also released in the USA on Radikal Records. During 1992, she released a non-album collaboration on maxi-CD (SPV) with Ida Baalsrud, who both played the violin part and co-wrote If I Could; furthermore, there was also a remix of Our Darkness included on the last track of the CD. At the very end of 1992, in December, Charlie Morgan unexpectedly died of cancer at the age of only 36, which caused many planned collaboration projects to be abandoned.
After several months of reorientation, Clark eventually released The Law is an Anagram of Wealth in 1993, once again in collaboration with Tov Ramstad; the other musicians involved were Paul Downing
Paul Downing
-External links:...
, Martyn Bates (of the band Eyeless in Gaza
Eyeless in Gaza (band)
Eyeless In Gaza are a Post-punk musical duo of Martyn Bates and Peter Becker, based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. They have described their music as "veer[ing] crazily from filmic ambiance to rock and pop, industrial funk to avant-folk styles." Formed in 1980, the group went into hiatus in...
), and Andy Bell (not of Erasure fame but talented musician and programmer) and completed a major European Tour.
Just one year later, in 1994, Anne Clark ventured into a style that she had not experimented with before: acoustic music. This eventually culminated in the release of Psychometry (1994), which featured a concert recorded live on stage in the Passionskirche in Berlin-Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
.
Continuously, Clark went on following her musical roots and the influences of folk and classical music. Her 1998 album, Just After Sunset, a collaboration with Martyn Bates, featured poems by German poet Rainer Maria Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke
René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke , better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian–Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most significant poets in the German language...
translated into English. This album was re-released four years later in 2002 when Clark regained the rights to the album. The re-release included some additional video footage, although it was of rather poor quality.
In 2003, another album joined her series of acoustic albums: From The Heart - Live In Bratislava, which she recorded together with Murat Parlak (vocals/piano), Jann Michael Engel (cello), Niko Lai (drums and percussion) and Jeff Aug (guitars) in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, Slovak Republic.
In 2005, Clark joined up with the Belgian act Implant for the album Self-inflicted, on which she delivered guest vocals. The album was released via Alfa Matrix Records
Alfa Matrix
Alfa Matrix is a Belgian record label. Founded in 2001, the label releases various musical styles including aggrotech, dark elektro, synthpop and electronica....
, which in the meantime had become her home label outside of Germany. She also appeared on the Implant EP Too Many Puppies.
2006 saw Clark back again in the recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
with Implant for the EP Fade Away, on which she delivered guest vocals and performed a duet
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
with Leæther Strip
Leæther Strip
Leæther Strip is a Danish musical project founded on January 13, 1988 by Claus Larsen. Its influence has been most felt in the electronic body music and electro-industrial genres. Perhaps to a certain extent, it may have influenced various film score productions. Leæther Strip was one of the...
's Claus Larsen. And she also appeared on the album Audioblender by Implant, again released via the Alfa Matrix record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
.
In 2008 Clark was in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to record her next album The Smallest Act of Kindness, which was released in September 2008.
At the end of 2010, Anne Clark released the first chapter of an on-going project Past & Future Tense, the first release on her own label, After Hours Productions.
In January 2011 Anne contributed an arrangement of the Charles Baudelaire poem Enivrez-Vous (Be Drunk) to the audio book and radio play Die Künstliche Paradiese, (Hörbuch Hamburg/Radio Bremen).
Band
Current live band members:- Anne Clark, Vocals
- Jeff Aug, GuitaristGuitaristA guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
- Tobias Haas, DrumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s & Percussion - Murat Parlak, PianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Jann Michael Engel, CelloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Steve Schroyder, Keyboards & Programming
Discography
Albums
- 1982 – The Sitting Room (UK: Red Flame, Germany: Virgin SchallplattenVirgin SchallplattenVirgin Schallplatten GmbH was the German subsidiary of Virgin Records. It was consolidated into EMI Germany and is now the Virgin Music division of EMI Germany. Famous artists who recorded for the company include Sandra, Enigma, And One, RZA, and Reamonn....
, later: VirginVirgin RecordsVirgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
/EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
; LP) - 1983 – Changing Places (UK: Red Flame, Germany: Virgin Schallplatten, later: Virgin/EMI; LP)
- 1984 – Joined Up Writing (UK: Ink, later: Virgin/EMI; EP)
- 1985 – Pressure Points (UK: Ten, Germany: Virgin Schallplatten; later: Virgin/EMI; LP)
- 1987 – Hopeless Cases (UK: Ten; Germany: Virgin Schallplatten, later: Virgin/EMI; LP)
- 1988 – R.S.V.P. (UK: Ten; Germany: Virgin Schallplatten, later: Virgin/EMI; LP – recorded live at the Music Centrum, UtrechtUtrecht (city)Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, Holland, 1987) - 1991 – Unstill Life (SPV, later: Virgin/EMI; LP/CD)
- 1993 – The Law Is An Anagram Of Wealth (Germany: SPV; CD)
- 1994 – Anne Clark and friends: Psychometry (SPV, later: Virgin/EMI; CD – Live at the Passionskirche Berlin)
- 1995 – To Love And Be Loved (SPV, later: Warner ChappellWarner/Chappell MusicWarner/Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company, and a division of the Warner Music Group. The company traces its origins back to 1811 and the founding of Chappell & Company, a music publishing company and instrument shop on London’s Bond Street that, in 1929, began a rapid...
; CD) - 1997 – Wordprocessing: The Remix Project (Columbia EuropeColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
/Sony BMG, later: Warner Chappell; CD) - 1998 – Anne Clark & Martyn Bates: Just After Sunset – The Poetry of Rainer Maria RilkeRainer Maria RilkeRené Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke , better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian–Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most significant poets in the German language...
(Labor/Indigo, later: Warner Chappell, re-release 2002: netMusicZone; CD) - 2003 – From the Heart – Live in Bratislava (netMusicZone – Recorded at the studios of Slovak National Radio Broadcast during the European acoustic tour on 17 November 2002)
- 2004 – Notes Taken, Traces Left (netMusicZone – Audiobook, song lyrics and commentary from Anne Clark's book)
- 2008 – The Smallest Acts of Kindness (netMusicZone)
Singles
- 1984 – Sleeper in Metropolis (Rough TradeRough Trade RecordsRough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
Germany) - 1984 – Our Darkness (miscellaneous, licensed from Red Flame)
- 1984 – Self Destruct (Germany: Ten)
- 1985 – Sleeper in Metropolis (Remix with David Harrow) (UK: Ink)
- 1985 – Wallies (UK: Ink)
- 1985 – Heaven (UK: Ten; Germany: Virgin Schallplatten)
- 1986 – True Love Tales (UK: Ink)
- 1987 – Hope Road (UK: Ten)
- 1987 – Homecoming (UK: Ten, Germany: Virgin Schallplatten)
- 1988 – Our Darkness/Sleeper in Metropolis/Self Destruct (UK: Ink)
- 1990 – Abuse (Germany: SVP)
- 1991 – Counter Act (SVP)
- 1991 – Counter Act (Remixes) (SPV; single/EP)
- 1992 – If I Could/Our Darkness (Remix) (SPV)
- 1993 – The Haunted Road: Travelogue Mixes (SPV)
- 1994 – Elegy For A Lost Summer (SPV)
- 1994 – Elegy For A Lost Summer (Remix) (SPV)
- 1996 – Letter Of Thanks To A Friend (SPV; Bill LaswellBill LaswellBill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
remixes) - 1997 – Our Darkness ('97 Remixes) (Columbia RecordsColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
/Sony BMG) - 1997 – Sleeper In Metropolis ('97 Remixes) (Gang Go, Columbia Records/Sony BMG)
- 1998 – Wallies (Night of the Hunter) ('98 Remixes) (Columbia Records/Sony BMG)
- 2002 – Blank & JonesBlank & JonesBlank & Jones is a Cologne, Germany based Trance duo, consisting of the members Jan Pieter Blank , known as Piet Blank; René Runge , better known as DJ Jaspa Jones; and the producer Andy Kaufhold...
featuring Anne Clark: The Hardest Heart (Gang Go/Warner) - 2003 – Sleeper In Metropolis 3000 (Gang Go/Warner)
- 2008 – Full Moon (netMusicZone)
Compilations
- 1986 – An Ordinary Life (UK: Great Expectations/Ink; 15 tracks drawn from her first three albums LP/CD)
- 1986 – Trilogy (UK: Ink; compilation of the first three albums, omits two tracks from Joined Up Writing; CD)
- 1986 – Terra Incognita (Spain: Ink; LP)
- 1991 – The Last Emotion (Beehive Productions; 3 CD box set: The Sitting Room/Changing Places/Joined Up Writing)
- 1994 – The Best of Anne Clark (UK: Beehive Productions)
- 1996 – Anne Clark: Nineties - a Fine Collection (Germany: Steamhammer, later: SPV; CD)
- 2003 – Dream Made Real (Noble Price/TIM)
- 2007 – Remix Collection (netMusicZone)
- 2010 - Past & Future Tense Chapter One (After Hours Productions/Believe Digital)
- 2011 - "Die Künstlichen Paradiese" (Hörbuch Hamburg/Radio Bremen)
Videos
- 1992 – Iron Takes the Place of Air: Live in Berlin (SPV; Live Video, VHSVHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
) - 2008 - 2009 Anne Clark Live at Frankfurter Hof, Mainz (MMM Film GMBH)
Further reading
- Anne Clark: Notes Taken, Traces Left. Fotografien – Texte – Interviews. Edited by Jeff Aug, translated by Martin Müncheberg. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2003. ISBN 9783896024633. (328 pages, in English and German)