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Anything BoxLiving In Oblivion
The band's name comes from the title of a book of short stories by Zenna Henderson, The Anything Box.[2] In the title story, a young girl imagines the world as she would have it, apparently by staring at an empty space between her hands. Her school teacher discovers that the box is invisible, but real. Anything Box's most recent release is The Future
Past EP (Endpop, June 2007) which features a remake and remixes
of their 1990 fan-favorite "Carmen" as well as a Spanish version of the song. This marks the first time Anything
Box has released a song in Spanish, which has often been requested
by their fans. Anything Box was started by Claude S (also know
as the Claw, Claude 900, Claw 900, or 4bit) in Paterson, New Jersey
playing local clubs as Pipeline and The Loop Lounge. This is where
Claude met Dania Morales whom joined as a group shortly after.
Playing numerous shows and producing demo-tapes, they drew the
attention of Epic Records. The band moved to Orange County, California
where Paul Rijnders joined the group. They began recording their
first album, Peace which was released on Epic in 1990. The band
toured in support of the album. Following the success and praise for Peace in
the electronic music scene, Claude and Dania headed to Germany
to begin recording their second album, Worth with producer Gareth
Jones. Paul Rijnders had left the band to pursue personal goals.
The album was completed in 1992, but a dispute with Epic and eventual
break-up with the label prevented the album's release to the public.
It was later distributed by the band to members of its fan-club
as the band continued to perform shows despite the non-release
of the album. The album shows the softer side of Anything Box,
as many of the album's songs are slower, softer, and emotional. With Claude's brother Gary joining the band, Anything
Box recorded and self-released their third album, Hope on their
own label, Orangewerks. The album brings back the dance floor grooves
with such songs as "Answer Me", "Where Is Love and Happiness", and "Life Is Fun". The band tours in support of the album. The band releases the EP, Dance CD-5 which features
remixes of tracks from the Hope album as well as some unreleased
songs. Claude releases a solo-album under the name The
Diary on the Orangewerks label. The album, Page One was heavily
influenced by the music of Joy Division and New Order. It is generally
considered the darkest of Claude's albums. With a high-demand for Anything Box tracks and
the difficulty in obtaining singles mixes from Peace, the band
releases a collection of remixes and unreleased songs called Mixology.1
on Orangewerks. They also release a new version and new mixes of
their classic, "Living in Oblivion." The EP, Living In Oblivion MCMXCVI A.D. is released on Jarrett Records which
had merged with Orangewerks. Anything Box performs at the Synthstock
Music Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah where Paul Rijnders reunites
with the band for the song "Lady in Waiting" from Peace. Dania Morales departs Anything Box and Paul Rijnders
returns to the band. The band releases their new album, Elektrodelica
on Jarrett Records, including a deluxe version featuring a bonus
interview disc. The album marks a musical change for Anything Box
as Claude experiments in what he coins as an "Elektrodelic" sound. The album fuses the band's traditional synthesizers with Rijnders' guitar
playing. The album is considered the band's most ambitious and
daring effort and songs and sounds are considerably more diverse
and the album's focus much broader. The album contains soft melodic
tunes such as "Conscious" which is influenced by Claude's affection of The Beatles as well as loud, edgy
songs such as "45" which is a 45-second, punk rock influenced song. "Conscious" is released as a single and "45" as a video. With anticipation for a second Mixology album,
Jarrett Records instead releases Elektrospective which contains
alternate versions of songs from both the Peace and Worth albums.
Tension between the band and the label grow as Elektrodelika only
receives wide-distribution, two-years following its initial release
and Elektrospective artwork is mis-printed. The band leaves Jarrett
Records which later closes. Claude discovers a collection of older Anything
Box recordings from 1993-1995 on a nearly-destroyed DAT. Claude
recovers these recordings and remasters them. They are released
on album called Recovered 1993-1995. Recovered is released on the
band's new, self-owned, label, Presswerk.13. Following is the footsteps of Elektrodelica, Anything
Box continues its musical experimentation. The band releases 100%
Air-Friendly Groove Pak, an EP featuring the single "Clean" and a beat-box, hip-hop influenced B-Side called "Radio Static". The band follows with the album The Universe Is Expanding on Presswerk.13.
The album continues the band's fusion of synthesizers, guitar,
and bass guitar. Dania Morales returns to provides backing vocals
on several tracks, but does not perform live with the band. Dave
South joins the band on keyboards and bass guitar. Anything Box releases The Effects of Stereo TV
on Presswerk.13 as a long-awaited companion/follow-up album to
The Universe Is Expanding, a short, in-your-face experience. The
album continues the band's synthesizer and guitar sound, but while
some songs are soft melodies, others are abbrasive guitar-driven
rock songs. While debating the direction for the next Anything
Box album, Claude experiments with playing several instruments
on his own including guitar, bass, and drums. The result is his
most personal work to date. Returning as The Diary, he releases
Separate a lo-fi mixture of synthesizers and live instruments all
performed by Claude. Many of the song's lyrics are based on Claude's
life experiences including his near-death by drowning when he was
younger. The result is an album, truly from the heart as Claude
expresses himself is a manner he has never done so before. With Dania Morales returning to the lineup and
Dave South and Gary S departing, Anything Box comes full-circle
and returns to the same lineup as its original Peace album from
1990. Having played several "reunion" shows throughout the Americas, the demand for new material grows. Anything Box
renames its label Endpop and releases The Future Past EP in June.
The EP features a remake and remixes of the band's popular 1990
song, "Carmen". It also includes a version on the song in Spanish. This is the first Anything
Box song/release sung in Spanish. The EP also features remixes
of other popular Anything Box songs as well as some new material.
The band also begins releasing on the internet a series of short
films put together by Claude S called "Fan Tapes and Time Travel". These films are constructed from old video footage of the band throughout its
history which have been provided by its fans. It continues as a
work in progress. With a large collection of old Anything Box recordings
in his possession, Claude, after much deliberation, decides to
share some of this raw, early material from his past. Taking a
cassette tape of these old recordings, Claude remasters and repairs
them. The end result is "Nineteen", a short digitally released album. The songs date back to 1987-1988, with the
exception of the final track which is roughly from 1990. The sound
is darker, sadder, and quite a contrast to "Peace", which would be the band's first official release in 1990. Being a digital release,
the website with a back story and artwork was created in conjunction
with the album. The Book of Nineteen, features a collection of
Claude's own artwork, as well as offers a streaming version of
the album. On June 30, 2011 The claw release the worlds first "email" Emoticon [V] resembling the appearance of an envelope. The symbol is used a shorter way to indicate that you have sent or received an email message. The Emoticon became globally accepted within hours. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150229273828509&set=a.61975643508.71810.579148508&type=1&theater Claude S has released two albums as his solo-project The Diary. Paul Rijnders has several music projects including: Goodbye July (synthpop) and The Lamented (garage rock). He is also known as a mash up remixer under the pseudonym Kult Litre, best known for the underground drum & bass remix of The Doors "L.A. Woman". Dania Morales had a brief solo stint with Cellophane Flowers. Dave South currently plays bass guitar for The Valley Arena. Gary S is also known as "The Notorious B.O.X." for his beat-boxing skills. Claude S and a friend, Steve B, post a semi-monthly internet radio program called The Listen Show where they are often joined by other friends, including Paul Rijnders. The show is basically the participants playing and discussing a wide assortment of songs. It also serves as means of updating fans to the latest Anything Box news. Claude S regularly listens to mixtapes and production
from his favorite DJ,Caveman CG. It is rumored that a collaboration
project is in the works. Elektrodelica (Now on iTunes) Most of these can now be had on iTunes and CDBaby.com. Peace [edit] Anything Box Complete Discography 1988: Beat of Life / I Know What You Want 12" Single,
Demo single pressed on lacquer for loan to DJs.
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