Danielle Dax

condition (record/cover): EX / EX 

Starting off in an off-the-wall, post-punk/experimental group called Lemon Kittens, the debut solo album of Danielle Dax finds her moving on from the cluttered, utterly brilliant chaos that was found on her work with them, in favour of a minimalist approach. This is quite extraordinary as she did everything herself here, from vocals, lyrics, producing and even (impressively) playing all her own instruments. She had already gathered quite a name for herself on the underground scene for her strange, eclectic art and became something of a feminist icon, being the only woman at the time to undertake all aspects in making an album; a true one-woman masterpiece in this case! She manages to combine a range of musical instruments from around the world, ranging from guitar, tenor and soprano sax, drums, keyboard, banjo, flute, bass, trumpet , all of which she uses with great inventiveness, often combining these with an assortment of percussion, voices and toys! The amalgamation of styles captured on 'Pop Eyes' is impossible to pin down to one genre, even though it's often categorised as experimental art-rock, which may be a fair description, but it covers other styles here, too. It's fair to say, though, that this was not an album designed for radio or at attracting the mainstream!