Bleep

There’s a voice you hear at the back of your head. It talks about something and nothing; a hypnotic amalgamation of deep-seated prophecy and the inconsequential details of everyday conversation, possessing the vague horror of Burroughs and the urban sensibility of Annette Peacock morphed through the strident spoken word vocals. Her name is Leslie Winer, and she’s been many things over her 30-odd years in the business: model, poet, musician, artist, author. However she thinks of herself, she is — and always will be — the definitive iconoclast.

To our knowledge, there has never really been a proper retrospective — until now. When I Hit You — You’ll Feel It spans the breadth of her career, each track a snapshot of her genius, occasionally formed in collaboration with her admirers across a trove of wildly diverse styles. Besides her own personal artistic development from drum machines and piano key intimacy to noir-ish dub narratives and drum & bass reroutes, the compilation features an essential set of extracurriculars with pioneering giants like Jon Hassell, Jah Wobble and Helen Terry, contemporary artists such as Diamond Version and Jay Glass Dubs -- as well a smattering of unreleased gems. Winer’s instantly recognisable, magnetically deadpan vocal — smoky as a dark alleyway and caustic as an old boozer who can't pry themselves from the bar — offers a guiding rope throughout the anthology's run-time.

That’s the thing with Leslie Winer; once you’re hip to her, you won’t be able to stop digging. Give her an inch and she'll go for your throat.