If the name of Anni Hogan (she was Annie, back in the 80's) sounds new to you, you have to know that she was the woman in the shadows responsible of the fantastic piano/organ sound of various Marc Almond projects (Marc & The Mambas, Marc Almond and the Willing Sinners, then solo where she played with his band under the name "La Magia"). She played with Almond until the early 90's but she also collaborated with tons of other artists such as: Soft Cell, Simon Fisher Turner, Nick Cave, Paul Weller, Barry Adamson, Lydia Lunch, Zeke Manyika, Sex Gang Children, Yello, Caged Baby. After all these experiences she didn't quit the musical world as she's still active as a musician, dj, etc. This double edition of KICKABYE collects the only two 12"s she released under her name (in 1985 and 1988) plus a lot of unreleased tunes coming from the same period and new recordings of her performing four tracks she composed for Marc Almond. We have "The Frost Comes Tomorrow" (originally released on "The Stars We Are" by Marc Almond), "The Hustler" (originally released on "Mother Fist" by Marc Almond), "Blood Tide" (originally released on "Violent Silence" by Marc Almond), "Margaret" (originally released on "Untitled" by Marc And The Mambas). On these ones you can enjoy her touch and her capability to turn a piano melody into a romantic or a dramatic voyage. Also the unreleased tunes will amaze you, just check "Delirious eyes" (an outtake of the "Kickabye" E.P.) where her piano duet with strings sounding like a bullfight or "Senseless" (a song she performed with her later band Cactus Rain) where her voice is floating on piano, marimbas and percussions. The first CD, along with the original "Kickabye" version, contains also the Foetus version of "Burning boats" which was originally on the "The House Is Haunted (By The Echo Of Your Last Goodbye)" 12". The second CD contains three songs of recording session she did with Barry Adamson's production which were intended for a follow up to her E.P. "A place to belong", "Everything we do" and "Self" sounds like a mix between Marc Almond tunes and Aztec Camera and they sound really nice. "Story so far" and "Each day" are coming from the "Each day" 12" released in 1988 by Dinamo Records. These two mix introspection and pop with nice strings arrangements, piano and vocals. The sixth and closing track "Blue nabou" is coming from a Yello 12" titled "Vicious games". She met them when she was recording with Marc Almond in Bavaria during a pause and after a while they asked her to play into a particular jazzy electronic track. This is history and you won't miss it...