Customer Reviews

Inky Bloaters

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It is good to see this album back in print, because Danielle Dax makes excellent music, and most of it is unavailable in stores. But all of the tracks on this CD except for one ("Born to Be Bad") also appear on her 1988 release "Dark Adapted Eye", which also features 9 additional songs. Although Danielle's releases on the Sire label appear to be out of print at the moment, if you have made it this far, it should be easy enough for you to click over to "Dark Adapted Eye" and purchase an inexpensive used copy, rather than paying import prices for this little gem.

Where has Danielle Dax gone? It was after this stunning record that she recorded her major lable debut (Blast The Human Flower) and then seemed to disappear. Still - she left us with some great records and Inky Bloaters is one of them. Dax's work started off being very minimal (on the Pop Eyes LP) and all of a sudden took a detour in to lush rhythms and sounds and a grab-bag of styles from Eastern to disco to pop to country. You get it all here, and what's more, it works.

I love 'Fizzing Human Bomb' where Dax squeals out a bizarre & great pop song over a T-Connection sample and Peter Gunn guitars. You also get (the Thatcher critique) 'Bad Miss M', the groovy 'Funtime' (written about her ex-musical partner Karl Blake, I believe) the disco-on-another-planet of 'Big Hollow Man' and the raucous raga of 'Where The Flies Are'.

It has dated, but Dax was so far ahead, above, below, beyond all of her contemporaries that her music still occupies it's own strange little universe. Why exactly she was adopted so lovingly by the gothic generation is beyond me, half of this is mutant country and western!

PS: In case you're wondering about the title an Inky Bloater is what my mother used to call 'Mr Nobody' - the unseen prescence that causes doors to close and things to move around. Listen to the title track for the rest of the story!

Imagine, if you can, pop music created by a glamorous and esoteric artist from an alternate reality where the lines of style and genre which divide music here do not exist. If you are capable of conceiving such a thing then you will have some idea of the audio treasures that await you on Danielle Dax's "Inky Bloaters".

Released in 1987, the music on this disc is an unlikely conglomeration of styles and influences - New Wave, Country, Gothic, Indian Ragas, Psychedelia and Rock/Pop hooks meld into a unique and mind bending listening experience.

The lyrics often read like poetry and range in subject matter from the occult and intangible ("Inky Bloaters", "Born to Be Bad") to scathing musical critiques of politics and organized religion ("Bad Miss M", "Big Hollow Man").

As a singer Ms. Dax is just as unclassifiable as the music on this disc. She displays on these tracks a voice of sometimes startling dexterity - scaling lofty heights and diving to somber lows with haunting ease.

Do yourself a favor and track this disc down if you are interested in truly unique and innovative music.

This is funky and sophisticated yet this is not Goth music and why someone would put this in that dategory, I do not know. The good thing is that this does not fit into any catagory except New Wave perhaps but there is a country tinge that makes it tweaky freaky. It is strage and yes it is pretty. You can dance to it, it has a good beat and original all at once. I wonder what ever happened to this artist. Seek and find.