Anna Domino (born 1955, Anna Virginia Taylor) is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

artist based in New York and Los Angeles who released several albums for Les Disques du Crepuscule and

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order (band), New Order, A Certain Ra ...

in the 1980s and 1990s. Domino has collaborated with musicians such as Matt Johnson of

The The are an English rock band from London, formed in 1979 by singer-songwriter Matt Johnson, the only constant member, and often the sole member. achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles, seven reaching ...

Stephin Merritt Stephin Merritt (born February 9, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the songwriter and principal singer of the bands the Magnetic Fields, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. He is known for ...

in The Sixths, Blaine L. Reininger and Steven Brown of

Tuxedomoon Tuxedomoon is an experimental, post-punk, new wave band from San Francisco, California, United States. The band formed in the late 1970s at the beginning of the punk rock movement. Pulling influence from punk and electronic music, the group, ori ...

Virginia Astley Virginia Astley (born 26 September 1959) is an English singer-songwriter most active during the 1980s and 1990s. Her songwriting career started in 1980, with her classical training significantly influencing her music. Although most popular in As ...

, Luc van Acker and

Ultramarine Ultramarine is a deep blue pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. Its lengthy grinding and washing process makes the natural pigment quite valuable—roughly ten times more expensive than the stone it comes fr ...

. She is also one half of the duo Snakefarm. Her stage name was borrowed from the Domino Sugar company in NY and is also a play on the term

Anno Domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used when designating years in the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian and Julian calendar, Julian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord" but is often presented using "o ...

Background

Domino was born in an American military hospital in Tokyo, Japan in 1955. Her father, James J. Taylor, was a private in the U.S. army translating for

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

, stationed in Yokohama, who went on to become a

videographer Videography involves capturing moving images on electronic media (such as: videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage), and can include streaming media. It encompasses both video production and post-production methods. Histori ...

documenting the performing arts in the Washington, D.C. area. Her mother, Mimi Cazort, was a Curator Emerita at the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

. Her brother, Alan Taylor, is a

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

based in New York City. During her childhood and adolescence the family moved frequently, starting in Tokyo, Japan and winding up in Ottawa, Canada. Her mother studied art history at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

and then moved with her children to live first in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy, while she did research for her dissertation, and then to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Canada, where she worked for the National Gallery as curator of the Department of Prints and Drawings. Though quite shy as a child, Anna was also a bit of a show off and her hobby of memorizing and reciting comedy records in high school led to her expulsion shortly before graduation. Leaving high school, Anna and her best friend Shelley McCreadie set off for several years of unsupervised exploration. Their adventures hitch-hiking across the US and down through Mexico, left her with a stubborn conviction in the basic decency of humanity. Anna followed up with several years of study at Toronto's

Ontario College of Art and Design Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD U, is a public art university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its main campus is located within Toronto's Grange Park and Entertainment District neighbourhoods ...

where she focused on sound recording, video editing and hologram photography. In 1977 Anna travelled to New York City for a two-week visit and stayed for 20 years.

Solo

Early in her career Domino played with a number of New York City bands but she was determined to find an outlet for her own song writing. In 1982, a cassette of original songs recorded by Anna in her bedroom was picked up by the Belgian record label

Les Disques du Crépuscule Les Disques du Crépuscule is an independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized ente ...

, who brought her to Brussels to work in an actual recording studio. Crépuscule released a single in 1983 titled "Trust In Love", followed by the EP "East and West" and a 12" single "‘Rythm’", in 1984. In 1986, her first full-length album "Anna Domino" was released. In the summer of 1986 she put together a band and headed off on a three-month tour of Europe. During this tour Anna got to know

Michel Delory Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

, guitarist for

Bel Canto , )—with several similar constructions (, , , pronounced in English as )—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing, and whose definitions have often been misunderstood. ''Bel canto'' was not only seen as a vocal technique ...

and

Univers Zéro Univers Zero (also known as Univers Zéro and Univers-Zero) are an instrumental Belgian band formed in 1974 by drummer Daniel Denis. The band is known for its dark style of progressive rock, heavily influenced by 20th-century chamber music. Hist ...

, and they collaborated on her second album "This Time", which garnered further positive critical attention and airplay. In 1989, Domino released another EP called "Colouring In the Edge and the Outline", followed by her third album "Mysteries of America" in 1990, her last with the Crepuscule label. Domino then returned to New York full-time and was joined by Michel Delory. They were married in 1992. In 2010 Anna Domino released two new songs on a compilation that included a number of her Crepuscule colleagues. The album was called "After Twilight" and the songs were "The Light Downtown" and "Wonderkey" as well as a new version of her song "‘Rythm’". A short tour of Europe in early 2013 sparked new interest in Domino's work and some welcome encouragement to finish unreleased material dear to her heart. Anna Domino is working on an album of new songs as well as another volume of traditional American ballads for Snakefarm (see below).

Snakefarm

In 1999 Domino and Delory formed the

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

outfit Snakefarm, with the idea of subjecting traditional American ballads to updated arrangements. They released an album, "Songs From My Funeral" in 1999, on Kneeling Elephant/BMG in the US, available on LTM UK. Their second album "My Halo At Half-Light" was released in 2011 on the Fledg’ling label in the UK.

Selected discography

Anna Domino

Albums

* ''East and West'' (Crépuscule, 1984) * ''Anna Domino'' (Crépuscule, 1986) * ''This Time'' (Crépuscule, 1987) * ''Colouring in the Edge and the Outline'' (mini album, Crépuscule, 1988) * ''L'Amour fou'' (compilation, Crépuscule, 1989) * ''Mysteries of America'' (Crépuscule, 1990) * ''Favourite Songs from the Twilight Years'' (US-compilation - Janken Pon, 1997) * ''Dreamback: Best Of'' ( LTM, 2004)

Singles

* ''Blood Makes Noise'' (EnT-T, 2010) * ''Johnny'' (EnT-T, 2012) * ''Lake'' (EnT-T, 2019)

12" Singles

* "Trust in love" / "Repeating" (Crépuscule, 1983) * "‘Rythm’" / "Target" (Crépuscule, 1984) * "Take that" / "Koo Koo" (Crépuscule, 1985) * "Lake" / "Hammer" (Crépuscule, 1987) * "Tempting" / "Always Always" (Crépuscule, 1988)

Vinyl releases on Factory Records

* FACT 165 ''Anna Domino'' LP * FAC 158 "Summer" (Arthur Baker Remix) / "Summer" (Arthur Baker Instrumental) 12" * FAC 158/7 "Summer" (Arthur Baker Remix) / "

The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" is a 1966 song written by Smokey Robinson. It was a hit single in 1967 for the American girl group The Marvelettes for the Motown label, from their self-titled album released that same year. The Marvelettes ...

" 7" (A side is edited version)

Snakefarm

* ''Songs From My Funeral'' (Kneeling Elephant, 1999) * ''My Halo At Half-Light'' (Fledg'ling Records 2011)

References

External links

Anna Domino biography
at LTM Recordings *
Ectophile Guide to Good Music entryOfficial Facebook page
on EnT-T {{DEFAULTSORT:Domino, Anna Musicians from Tokyo Living people American electronic musicians American women singer-songwriters Factory Records artists American women in electronic music 1955 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American women guitarists 21st-century American women