Where are you, Sow?
Sow was a short-lived but prolific project of spoken word artist Anna Wildsmith, her once boyfriend Raymond Watts of Pig and several members of KMFDM. Among other gritty eclectic compositions on their 1998 album “Sick”, the title track stood out and forged itself into my brain. Wildsmith screeches, cries and whispers through some of the strangest lyrics you’ll ever feel forced to pay attention to. Appearing fully nude on all of “Sick” album art, Anna carries the theme over into the vocal tracks, too. Her voice, though beautiful at its core, is distorted into nerve-endings and vocal chords stripped raw – commanding, compelling and frail.
Sow only released two full-length albums: “Je M’Aime” in ’94 and “Sick” in ’98, but remains one of my favorites to this day. Since, there have been 3 newish tracks released through Euphonic Productions which can be heard here. Little is known about Anna’s current whereabouts. During a 1999 interview with Release magazine she was living in a primitive French village, writing and hoping [though not especially planning] to release more albums. If anyone knows what she’s up to these days, I’d love to hear about it.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I remember this stuff! I really enjoyed it. I preferred “Je M’Aime” to “Sick”, but both were really good. I wonder if I still have those CDs.
January 25th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I heard her on “Pig Vs Sow” back in the day. She was gorgeous and intriguing and she had a cool name. I remember her being sort of elusive back then as well. I never got my hands on her full-length albums cuz the Sow bin at my local record store was always empty. I could’ve just ordered it through the mail I suppose, but I started to enjoy her as a mysterious figure. This is the same reason it took me forever to watch a Maya Deren film :)
January 25th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
She’s just gone! I’ve been scouring and coming up dry. It’s almost refreshing how someone who had what was hailed “one the best industrial albums of 98′ can disappear so completely. That interview I linked to in the article is pretty interesting. Her tone, especially.
January 25th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
@Zo…”It’s almost refreshing how someone who had what was hailed “one the best industrial albums of 98′ can disappear so completely…”
Would it really be that hard? The genre isn’t exactly in its prime at the moment and hasn’t been for some time. 98′ is pretty much an eon ago now…so any info about her would probably have to be found the way you search for anybody…find out who she was in contact with and try to find out from them. That could take some time but it’s worth the hunt!
On a side note…I kinda miss the net’ from that era…it was a bit easier to find certain artists directly. I had quite a few emails from artists I was a fanboy over…or did until Hotmail broke my heart one day.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
I remember that face – had the most awful crush on that woman when i was a youth.
January 26th, 2008 at 5:34 am
@Zo…”It’s almost refreshing how someone who had what was hailed “one the best industrial albums of 98′ can disappear so completely…”
It probably helps too that she was willing to live in “a small, primitive village in France; a place that Raymond Watts once described as “hardcore fucking poverty””
I bet even Britney could dodge about 95% of her paparazzi if she were willing to live in a barnful of South Dakota pig shit for awhile.
January 26th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I remember adoring a few tracks years ago, most notably Blood Sucking Bitch. It would be nice to see/hear more, but I suppose that’s about as useful as hoping Neubauten will tour again.
January 26th, 2008 at 11:24 am
There was that Sick City comp in 2002 with a couplea tracks. I never had a chance to pick it up, but I do remember being pretty excited about the Pig Orchestra tracks on it.
http://www.discogs.com/release/281561 has the track listing, although I’m not terribly sure whether those tracks had been released as/on something else.
(ok, so I see that “no candy” is already in the posted myspace link, what about the other track?)
February 4th, 2008 at 3:02 am
As of the end of 2007 Anna has recorded a new Sow album with Raymond being involved but as yet no record company has picked it up. This according to people close to Raymond via http://www.theswining.com/ forums. It might get released around the same time as the new Pig album, which is due out sometime this decade… Fingers crossed.
February 4th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
“It might get released around the same time as the new Pig album, which is due out sometime this decade… Fingers crossed.”
Cool thx Nainz :) I remember waiting a REALLY long time for “Genuine American Monster” though…actually “Black Brothel” was the name I remember waiting for. The music landscape is pretty different now…maybe Ray n’ Anna will forego label distribution and put it out themselves.
February 8th, 2008 at 4:26 am
http://www.earpollution.com/vol2/oct00/profiles/nicoleblackman/nicoleblackman2.html
Speaking of remixers, I’ve heard a rumor–probably read it somewhere–that Raymond Watts has quit music and become a chef. [Raymond Watts aka Pig remixed “Ride” for the Dead Online EP –ed.] I hope this is just a bad rumor.
Nicole: I love Raymond. No, his ex-girlfriend–Anna Wildsmith [who worked under the name Sow as well as in collaborative projects with Raymond –ed.]–she opened a restaurant and she was a chef for awhile. It got really popular. Raymond ended up with Louise and they got married and they have a baby–Oscar. He’s not interested in doing Pig anymore–he doesn’t want to be a musician anymore–he just wants to sit at home and bounce his baby Oscar on his knee.
That’s so sad. I love Pig.
Nicole: I know. But he’s happy.
March 22nd, 2008 at 6:45 am
Hello
I have just come across this page on the net. I am still alive and well and pleased to see that there are people out there who have appreciated my work. I disappeared into the french pyrenees for a while and have only just become “connected” (broadband has just arrived in my remote village). I have recently finished a new album entitled “DOG”, but have not yet found a record company to release it. If anyone has any ideas, please email me on : [email protected]
peace love and full destruction