Little Annie

New Yorker Annie Bandez moves restlessly across disciplines, yet the single constant throughout her path remains her given name. Known early on as Annie Anxiety and later as Little Annie, she works as a painter, writer, dancer, spoken word performer, actor, and musician, moving without friction between avant-garde, hip-hop, rap, punk, electronica, reggae, and rock idioms. At sixteen she fronted the ragged New York punk band Annie & the Asexuals; a year afterward she traveled to England for what was meant to be a fortnight and remained there thirteen years. In the course of her literal and intellectual journeys she also became an ordained minister, adding one more role to an already crowded résumé.

Bandez has published three books of prose, maintains an active and accomplished painting practice, and has performed in numerous stage productions and films. Her musical partnerships include Paul Oakenfold, Kid Congo Powers, Bim Sherman, Coil, and an array of additional artists. Under the name Annie Anxiety she issued the albums Soul Possession in 1984 and Jackamo in 1987, both on On-U Sound; recording subsequently as Little Annie she released Short and Sweet (On-U Sound, 1992), Short, Sweet and Dread (On-U Sound, 1995), Diamonds Made of Glass (Streamline, 2001), Little Annie & the Legally Jammin' (Italic, 2003), and Songs from the Coalmine Canary (Durtro Jnana, 2006).