Annie Hogan

The Colours of Darkness: Le Phonographique '81-'84

Genre: INDUSTRIAL / WAVE / ELECTRO, INDIE / ALTERNATIVE

2 X TAPE BOX

Boomkat Product Review:

Right in time for Halloween, pivotal new wave and goth protagonist Annie Hogan slays on a 3 hour 3rd volume of her cult mixtape series for Reel Torque: an ode to her role at legendary Leeds venue Le Phonographique ’81-’84 - arguably the incubator of goth music, where Annie’s sets cultivated a dark, sexy, playful sound that would inspire a generation of alternative music dancefloors.

As with Annie’s sought after mixes ‘Batcave ’83’ and ‘Amnesia ’81’, this 3rd volume charts the years of her inspirational tenure at a nightclub in the nether regions of the Merrion Centre, a shopping arcade in the centre of Leeds, where she would book the likes of the Human League and Soft Cell - the latter of whom would become close collaborators - and soundtrack the basement nightspot with her incredible record collection, collated during an already fascinating lifetime spent moving between Africa, Birkhenhead, and early years as a student in Leeds.

The word goth was just about edging into use for a strain of darker post punk during the time covered in this set, when Annie was instrumental in defining the sound with her judiciously playful DJing spanning the gamut of new wave, TV and film themes, early industrial and dark wave. Her sets are never not fun, and this one is an absolute peach, reaching ever farther into her bag of treats for a carousel of knockouts that assert history as it was played.

From the better known to the totally obscure, her picks perfectly toy with the ‘floor in a way that often escapes BPM-locked DJs, always keeping bodies entertained as she joins dots with her un-blinkered but deadly focussed picks and guess-again transitions. It’s a genuine joy to follow Annie’s meta-stylistic sequencing as she draws for deep cuts and anthems from a glorious era of flux and innovation that came to define goth as distinct from its punk forebears with a more elegant, classical urge that would eventually become a convention in its own right.

As with all Annie Hogan’s mixtapes, part of the sales profits go to her favourite animal charities, with this one fittingly going to the Bat Conservation Society, after previously donating to Birkenhead dogs kennels. And as always, we expect this one to fly like a bat out of the crypt.

Massive recommendation!

2 X TAPE BOX (0)